Here is some further research I have conducted that focuses more upon similar examples relating to my idea for my animation piece:
In terms of the idea itself, my piece needs to follow the typical iconography of similar generic pieces. following the traits and archetypes of these will ensure that not only will the style of my piece carry a sense of authenticity, but it will also make the style of my piece much more recognisable to my audience.
The short animation ‘Vincent’ by Tim Burton is a prime example of some of the conventions that I hope to portray. The idea of creating a black and white piece is somewhat appealing, however in order to make my piece slightly more lively, I intend to incorporate colour, but with low contrast. Additionally, perhaps if I made my protagonist the only thing with brighter colours, it would help him stand out more to my audience. Moreover, Burton’s use of music in ‘Vincent’ highlighted the importance of not only including a soundtrack, but also one that reflects the changes in mood of the narrative. This is why I am paying special attention to mine. I am doing this through bolstering my knowledge with the program ‘Logic Express’. I have already had some previous experience with this program and intend to continue with it due simply to the fact that it allows for much more freedom in creating music, as opposed to other more restrictive programs such as ‘Garageband’.
Furthermore, I have also debated about whether or not I should employ a voiceover in my piece. This would address my audience far more directly in terms of transmitting the backstory etc. On the other hand, it may conflict with the other music I wish to incorporate and potentially detract away from the actual animation.
My protagonist, James Napier, is naturally the main focus of my piece. Therefore, it is important for him to be drawn well. The aim is to create a believable teenage character but in a distinctly cartoon style, making it easier to craft things such as movement and emotion. In terms of research on other cartoon protagonists, In intend to take inspiration from the drawing style of characters such as ‘Ben 10′, the newer crafted episodes of ‘South Park’ and older style cartoons such as ‘Top Cat’ and ‘Wacky Races’.
As for the ghosts, I want to maintain a consistent cartoon theme throughout the piece, meaning that the style of the ghosts should somewhat resemble the style of the protagonist in terms of drawing. My main source of inspiration on this are the ghosts from the vintage video game ‘Pac Man’.
Naturally, my versions will be much smoother and slightly more ‘life-like’. Hopefully, the simplicity of the ghost drawings in this style will mean that they will be easy to transfer over to the flash program, and will be easier to animate in terms of movement etc.
Finally, in terms of the settings, I intend to make all of the backgrounds completely fixed, keeping the focus of the audience primarily on the characters/action. For the opening flash sequence, the backgrounds will likely be simple block colours, bar the establishing shot of the ‘Morgan Mansion’. The drawings I’m currently working on have taken inspiration from my research in to generic cartoon horror scenes, such as the Nintendo video game ‘Ghoul School’ and various backgrounds used in the hit television series ‘Scooby Doo’.
Additionally, I want to keep them partially simplistic, allowing me to apply simple animations to them if I wish, such as on the establishing shot of the mansion in the opening sequence. This also allows for a somewhat of a ‘before and after’ shot, showing the change in the mansion after all the ghosts have been vanquished by the protagonist.
The next step is to mock up all of these drawings in order to work towards creating a storyboard for my piece.
