character design

This is the original idea for my scarecrow named sam^ i like the painting kind of idea.

^FRONT PAGE

Character Research 2

I found these pictures on a website named deviant art. I wanted to explore differnt styles, and because disney changed winnie the pooh from a book character to a very animated cartoon character i thought it was a good place to start.

I like the cuteness of these characters, the large eyes and the flowing features, also the bright colours, i think its really impressive.

Here is an image of beast from beauty and the beast^  i love his posture, and the strength in his movement, but also the simple line technique and form.

I thought this images was inspiring because of it colour variation of different characters, each character has a set colour to refere too. i think this is very generic of disney.

Here is another example of the style i really find interesting^ its a new take on the 3d film 'Tangled', it has the look of originality and looks more 'hand-drawn'

My idea for my main character is a scarecrow. Traditionally, Scarecrows look quite cute and happy, but recent takes on the appearance of scarecrows makes them look really spooky and scarey, like a halloween character. I prefere the older version, i think they look very cute and they are a very original main character. I think they look very wise, strangley and i love the way they are thrown together.

I think the best way to look at scarecrows is the jolly characterisation on the scarecrow in the wizard of oz.

Character Research

I really love Winnie the Pooh books, and the cartoons i think theyre really fun and creative. I think the character of winnie the pooh is very relatable too, as he isnt perfect he is flawed, and he is also very under the control of the fact hes a teddy bear, his stuffing comes out, his stitching bursts and he has to fix himself, so hes very dispoable really. I like this sense of mortality to a character. I think it makes it even more innocent and relatable too, especially to young kids.

I think the style of winnie the pooh is also really good, its fresh and original but vintage. In this world of 3d graphics and HD this and that, it almost seems refreshing to see.

Also the style of the books is very cute, quite fun and easy for kids to read as the character interacts with the words and letters.

Its a very full of life animation, with very defined characters, with obvious flaws, i really like this concept.

Futures research

Summary of idea

A Scarecrow names Sam is hung up in a feild, he is stuck on the cross fulfilling his duties and scaring crows. He comes across lots of different characters will with over exaggerated personalities. He helps them resolve their individual issues. They transform into better creatures and they slowly become more and more happy as they're bad personality traits are corrected. But unfortunately, the scarecrow only has so much wisdom to give out, and with every characters rehabilitation, he looses some of his stuffing.

Aims:

Age targeted: 1+

Episodes: 10

Style influences: Dr.Seuss books, alice in wonderland, esops fables, winnie the pooh

Intention: Ethical, funny

Examples of personalities in the episodes:

Tumble weed-

The dancer

The Dingbat

The man 'With-the-Plan'

Lord mariati

EPISODE ONE:

LORD MARIATI

Lord Mariati is a pigeon he 'fought' in the second world war. Unfortunately he lost his memory, and has gone completely crackers. Every time he enters the feild where the scarecrow is he enters with a new identity, a wizard, an artist, an actor, a world famous business man ect. He tells everyone around the tales of his life. As the lowly scarecrow hears the new tales everyday, he grows tired of his lies. Sam starts to investigate why he has to make such flamboyant tales. He finds out that, he just simply cannot remember what happened to him, and he feels sad because he doesn't have a sense of achievement. He puts him through a series of crazy tests to see what he is good at. They give up as they cannot find out what he was. In the end lord Mariati leaves angrily and in his anger he moons the crop feild, on his bum he has a tattoo, the royal army service.

EPISODE TWO:

THE LITTLE SCARCROW

The little scarecrow is Sams daughter, her name is tumble weed, she is silly and stupid, over exiteable and at times absent minded. Shes quite fun and honest with people. She meets up with her father and notices hes becoming thinner, his stuffing is beginning to come out, she finds him some new straw and fluffs him up. She does have a problem though, she is in love with a boy, but feels she is too short for him. She trys all sorts to make herself appear taller, stilts, high shoes, standing on her tip toes, but nothing works. Sam explains to her that she should be proud of who she is, and that he loves her for who she is. She goes on a date with the boy and the boy falls in love with her shortness.

EPISODE THREE:

THE DINGBAT

The Dingbat is the farmer who owns the feild, weeding his way though puzzles in the newspaper, in books and in magazines with sudoku. Every day he finishes his puzzles and leaves happily. One day he looks distressed, as he walks past the scarecrow. He sits and talks to the scarecrow for a while, and doesnt move for days. He stays in the same place the next day and then next. Sam eventually goes to ask whats wrong with him. He tells him that he is in love with a girl, the most complicated puzzle he's ever met. She doesn't follow an order, or algorithm, she is random and unpredictable and he cannot solve the mystery of her. Hes written down numerical calculations all over his hands. He explains to him that women are that way, they are unpredictable as are men. And love is a complicated game that cant be solved, and he has to accept that and accept all the different things that she does and go with them. He soon realises what he says is true and leave, uneasily but happily. The next day he comes past with his girlfriend. They set up a game of chess and play for a while, before she changes the game to dafts, and then snake and then scrabble.

EPISODE FOUR:

THE MAN WITH THE PLAN

The Man with the plan is a crop theif who filters through feilds, desperately trying to find a 'get rich quick' solution, by stealing crops. He wears scruffy clothing, covered in paint and always brings a rucksack filled with bubble wrap. He never works, just sifts though books trying to find a solution to his money problem. Sam trys to help him on his quest to get more money, trying to save the farmers crops, but hes not very good at any kind of work. He collects so many books he asked if he would sell any, or loan them. He starts a market stall as a library to the public, he gains enough money and opens up a real library, he gets lots of money and doesnt appear at the feild anymore. Time passes and eventually he comes back into the feild wearing the same old clothes and carrying the same bag. He shugs and begins to steal crops again.

EPISODE FIVE:

THE DANCER

The dancer is a girl who always wanted to dance. She comes into the field to practice, one day she comes holding a ton of books. She sits down to read 'Chinese for dummies', then scans over more books on foreign languages. She looks bored and uninterested. Sam asks why she looks so gloomy. The dancer explains that she always wanted to dance, but no one will employ her, so she's trying desperately to become a multi-linguist. Sam tells her its silly to give up on her dreams, but the girl continues to read anyway. Sam asks her to teach him some dance moves, and the girl once again falls in love with dancing, and teaching to dance. She leaves the shop happily and sends back postcards from all around the world, doing different dances with different cultures.

EPISODE SIX:

THE PANDA AND THE STAR

The panda walks past, very gloomy one day. Sam asks why he is so sad. The panda explains that his best friend was a star, that returned to the sky. The scarecrow is very taken aback by this, as it sounds very odd. He tells the Panda that he should try and build a ladder to get to the star, he watches and supervises as the Panda builds and builds and builds. The scarecrow falls asleep, and soon after he wakes up, he looks int the sky and sees two stars next to each other, he realises that the panda reached the star and feels happy.

EPISODE SEVEN:

TUMBLE WEED

Tumble weed sees that her father is starting to look very thin, his stuffing is lost and hes starting to look a little bit tired. She goes off on a mission to find more hay to stuff him with. By the time she returns he is very thin, she deparately tries to pack him with the straw she found, but its not enough, it keeps falling back out. He stops talking because hes so tired, but hugs her loosely. She goes to find help from all the creatures and people that Sam has helped in the past.

EPISODE EIGHT:

SAM

Sam is hung on a lonely hill, very pale and thin, he cant move because he is so tired. Tumbleweed returns not begin able to find anyone but Lord Mariati, they try and find some hay, but they both know its near the end for Sam. She stays close to Sam, and trys to cheer him up. Lord mariati sits quietly on a gate as the sun sets on Sam and tumbleweed. She trys to speak to Sam, but he doesn't reply, he shakes him, but he doesn't move. She begins to cry. The morning comes and there are shadows on the horizon, Tumbleweed, still clutching Sam groggily wakes up. Lord mariati had flown around in the night and found everyone, bearing hay, and new clothes. They stuff Sam with all the hay, and new clothes and he groggily comes back to life. They all celebrate and hug eachother.