Further Background Work

Continuing with backgrounds using the Animatic pictures as a template. Experimenting with colour and history.

There are a series of tests I did to see which ones look the best suited for the sequence in the animation. I thought about the time of day and the location because it's simple things like that that the audience will take information from. That means it's important to get it right. 

I originally did the 'Barn Door' and 'Interior' shots during the day but I thought that it might be more effective if it was at night or evening. It shows the scarecrow has had another unsuccessful day, almost like a hectic day at work, and is planning the next day.

Or, because there are a load of scrunched up blueprints on the floor, it could say that he's spent a great majority of the day thinking of new plans.

I was playing with continuity here. Because it's very cartoony I could work alongside how Wile E. Coyote does it. During those cartoons he would come up with 5+ plans in one episode but it always appears to be in the same day. In the real world it wouldn't take a few minutes to come up with a plan and then actually build it. 

Barn Door no. 1

I like this one because it could work alongside the 'Interior Shot no. 2' 

Warmer colours that would match a reddish sky.

Barn Door no. 2

This one is darker with colder colours representing night. 

This one could be used with 'Interior Shot no. 3'

I like how the light comes out of the door, but I don't think it's distinctive enough. However if it was more specific it would show that there is an extremely bright light inside which the next shot would show that it's actually quite dim.

Barn Door no. 3

Right... this one looks like a hellish gate...

I was just playing around with light and glows after the thought from the previous barn door occurred.

Interior no. 1

Original digital picture with day sky outside and light inside.

Interior no. 2

Same as previous picture only with a late afternoon shot.

Interior no. 3

This is a spot the difference game!! 8]

This shot has a lantern on the desk to show where the light is from and obviously a night sky outside. I darkened the objects in the foreground to match the light from the lantern. I'm liking this shot as well as the afternoon shot 'Interior no. 2'. I think showing it in the afternoon gives the scarecrow plenty of time to build the hang glider ready for the next day. This will show nicely if the next background is shown during the day.

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All of these images are Photoshop Files. Obviously the Barn Doors have the foreground as a separate layer for the animation. With the Interior, the foreground; being the chair and the tins of paint with rubbish, are also separate layers. I also made the chair at the desk a separate layer because it opens the door for the scarecrow to move between that and the desk.