Character Design

Miss Muffet - Colour inspiration

In these pieces Miller uses neutral colours, mainly browns and tans, but what is interesting to not is the subtly n the shift in tone to create depth. The reds and pinks aren't just "colours from a tube" they are mixed with different hues and tones. The pinks he uses are soft, so as to blend with the rest of the image but pop at the same time.

The Rescuers - Note the different shades of pink

Bambi - fabulous use of colour, amazing and subtle.

Tanks for nothing - Style mainly influenced my design, not so much the colour.

Moodboards

Deep blues, greens and greys establish a sinister feeling. Inspired by the forest scene in Snow White.

Another colour palette option to establish a creepy scene. The neutral browns and natural colours add a "realness" to the scene.

Neutral, pale/dull colours also have a realness to them. The neutrals juxtaposed with the dark - almost black tones create a creepy ghostlike quality.

Colour Inspiration

"The legend of the Scarecrow"

I like how the colour palette changes as the film progresses to different stages. Colour clealry sets the mood and helps to establish the beginning middle and end.

The Neutral, pale tones in the middle scene is really nice. The colour pallette has obviously had a lot of thought put into it. The subtle changes in tone are really effective. The saturation of the background is somewhat grey which would be perfect for Miss Muffet.

There is a significant change in palette in the final scenes. The mood becomes very dark and sinister, which is helped along my the different shades and hues of blue. This abrudpt change in palette may work for this animation, but not for mine. I will keep my colour palette very limited thoughout the sequence.


"Snow White"

This forest scene is really great. The colours really help to establish Snow Whites fear. The exaggerated blue and subtle changes in tone effectively create and creepy atmospheric scene.

Colour Analysis

In the beginning of my animation Miss Muffet is walking along eating her ice cream. She then gets frightened and runs away. Thus the beginning of my animation will have a warmer more inviting atmosphere than towards the end where Miss Muffet is terrified and screaming. John K. Curriculum states that rich colours with a limited palette and neutral tones and tints help to establish a more real and inviting scene. It is the subtle tints and shades that help to establish the mood and so it is important for my background to have a thoughtful colour scheme.

Yogi Bear - The painter establishes what's important in the scene through colour. 

Visual heirachy still needs to be taken into consideration however. As Miss Muffet is the focal point she will have the lightest colours. The background will be subdued so as to make Miss Muffet stand out. This can be done by considering the saturation of the colours - how much or little grey is added, and also the value - how light and dark it is.

Note in this image, how the characters dress consists of different shades of read.
The dress is solidly filled in. This creates contrast with the textured background.

Miss Muffet is the victim in this nursery rhyme. Her own imagination gets the better of her, and it's this youthful ignorance that I want to portray. Her attire will consist of soft reds and pinks. I want to keep with the simplicity of the styling so her colours will be flat in contrast with the textured background.

Reference for fearful characters

Snow White - The forest scene

Really good scene where she's running through the forest afraid. I like how we see the tree first, then the eyes appear, the same with everything she screams at. First we see the object, then we see it in Snow Whites perspective. I could possibly adapt this idea into my animation. So first we see the shadow, then the shadow merges into the monster that Miss Muffet imagines.

Inspiration - animation style

Tanks for nothing by Joshua Armstrong

I like this style of animating. The black outlines around the characters and the 

subtle faded details of the characters environment in the background. Also the shadows in this animation work really well.

Nice geometric silhouettes as a representation for moving character.

Character has a lot of personality, with minimal details and textures. Nice strong black strokes for her outline, and solid fills that are shaded by the lighting.

Elements of the scene that the producer wanted the audience to see 

are outlined in black. The rest of the scene is faded with no outlines. 

"Me and My Shadow"

Style Inspiration

"The Legend of the Scarecrow"

Photoshop - nice environment style "secret tower"

Alternative styling examples

Little Miss Muffet Environment

Setting Development

A link to my storyboard - animated "Shadows"

Lofty Thirst

I like the cleanness and the solidity of the colouring.

The innocent puppy

Monster Inspiration

The Shadows

Character Developments

Little Miss Muffet

I wanted a character that was quite innocent. Kinda cheerful, a child, because some of our deepest fears come from childhood experiences.

Idea 3

Shadows

1. Miss Muffet walking along, a normal, sunny day, she's eating an ice-cream.

2. Starts to get darker. 

3. She heads towards the city, past some tall brick walls.

4. She mistakes a shadow from a fire-hydrant as a monster or something scar.

5. Suddenly she is aware of all the shadows around her

6. She becomes delusional, the shadows start to morph, she's even afraid of her own shadow.

7. She starts running and drops her ice-cream

8. Hides in an alley-way

9. Looks up and sees a shadow coming towards her

10. Runs away.

11. Its is revealed that the shadow was that of a puppy

12. Puppy trots off set

13. The shadow stays.

Idea 2

1. Miss Muffet checks under her bed
2. In her closet
3. She's obviously nervous about something
4. Climbs into bed
5. Turns off the light
6. Monster appear all around her - a representation of her fears of the dark
7. She turns on the light
8. Nothing is there
9. Doesn't sleep all night
10. Morning comes
11. She opens the curtains and light pours into the room
12. Muffet climbs into bed and sleeps in the sunlight

Themes Behind the Muffet

I think that the underlying message of Little Miss Muffet - and the message that I would like to convey - has to do with fear. Miss Muffet is so afraid of something that it forces her to flee/ stop going about her daily routine. The fact that it was a "spider" means that it was probably something she didn't have to be afraid of - she overreacted. Essentially it was the fear that drove her away, not the thing itself.

Idea 1

Little Miss Muffet re-interpreted 1.

1. Little Miss Muffet walking through a forest

2. Sits on a "tuffet"

3. Black silhouette figure comes up behind her, while she eats curds and whey

4. She turns around...

5. Sees a monstrous spider towering over her

6. She shrugs and turns back to her curds and whey

7. Spider comes next to her

8. Muffet invites it to sit with her

9. Muffet gives spider some curds

10. Spider dies

11. Muffet drops her curds and runs away.

I Think that perhaps this idea is too literal. It has a nice twist to the story at the end, but it doesn't convey any strong message.