A cat in the POV of an animal cartoonist is a gentleman.
Cat keepers in the POV of a cat is a maid.
Cats in the POV of Schrodinger are experimental material.
Schrodinger in the POV of cats is a murderer.
Research and developments:
The theme of this set of works is supposed to be humorous and absurd. So I choose to use the style of Early American comics…
… and also futurism.
According to these two styles, I came out with my first set of draft design.
I tried to combine the character design of American comics together with the color scheme and set designs of futurism. But the characters are too cute and their emotions were not featured well through my drawings.
So I changed the proportions of the figure, and made my second draft.
But in this draft, the background is too messy, and the composition is not impactful enough.
So I decided to change the compositions and the style of drawing figures.
However, some of the designs are still not impactful enough, and some of the compositions cannot communicate well (eg. The file named ‘maid’). So I redesigned some of the characters and compositions.
When refining my drafts, I also looked for some picture references for my character designs.
cartoon cinderella scrubbing floors
Coloring:
Compared to neutral colors, colors with maximum saturation make the designs more powerful and lively.
I also did some experiments on the color scheme.
Also, I tried to add color halftone effects to my designs. But I found the pictures turn blurred after test print.
So I printed the final outcome with sharp outlines instead of with halftone added.
The first clip ‘Time Battle’ tells the story of a girl with super power. She can freeze time and let it flow again. In the clip, the girl is resigned a task to kill a monster hiding in a church. She successfully finds the monster, but it breaks the roof and escape into the city area. So she followed the monster to the city area, then she freezes time and set bombs around the monster. And when time flows again, the bombs exposed and the monster is killed.
Reference on hero characteristic: Over The Hedge
Inspiration:
Genre: Family/Art film
The second clip is about a girl stand on the beach and recall her past grandma who is a victim of a cruise sinking accident. She dives underwater in order to overcome her sadness. But the silent environment makes her recall the dialogs between her and her grandma and the change of her attitude towards her grandma. She regrets, but there is no more chance for her to recover.
Script:
Granddaughter (VO):
当海风吹起的时候，你在想些什么？当海浪涌起时，你又在想些什么呢？
我啊……我在想，风能传递思念吗？浪，能找回回忆吗？
When the wind blows and when the surging waves, what are you thinking of?
Me? I am thinking if the wind can help to pass my grief to her and if the surging can help me to find my memory?
Granddaughter:
奶……奶奶！奶奶！奶奶！
Gran…gran…Grandma! Grandma!
奶奶！你看！今天美术课，我画了你！像不像嘛！你快说像不像嘛！奶奶！
Grandma! You see! I drew you during the art lesson! Is this look like you? Tell me! Please! Tell me grandma!
喂，奶奶，你什么时候来城里住嘛？大学？好啊！那你等我考上大学哦！
Hello grandma? When will you come to the city to live with me? When I am in the university? Okay! Wait for me to go to the university!
Yes…Yes…I am going to attend the University Entry Exam (A-level) tomorrow… Fine…fine… I am fine… Don’t worry… I don’t need you to bring anything. What? Lucky red eggs? We urban residents do not believe that at all! Okay… I know, I will not be nervous. I have to study now! Bye!
哦？去坐游轮吗？那敢情好啊！您好好玩！也别三天两头地打电话啦，我这上大学，忙着呢。
What? A cruises trip? That sounds great! Enjoy! And you don’t need to call me so often. I am busy in my assignments!
The State Council has approved the investigation report of Dongfang Zhi Xing Cruises sinking accident…the trip started from Nanjing…sank…caused 442 passengers…the bodies of all 442 victims have been found…
Granddaughter (VO):
可是，风是冷的，浪是苦的，人是健忘的。
But the wind and the wave cannot help me, because it is easy for busy human beings to lose their memories.
我甚至已经想不起她样子和声音。
I already cannot recall her face and her voice.
Kid:
大姐姐！你全身都湿了……在等谁吗？
Sister! You are wet from top to toe… Are you waiting for someone?
Granddaughter:
在等一艘永远也回不来的船。
I am waiting for a cruises that will never arrive.
Kid:
嗯？
Huh?
Granddaughter:
小孩儿，你有奶奶吗？
Kid, do you have grandma?
Kid:
嗯！
Yes!
Granddaughter:
要好好爱她哦。
Please try your best to love her.
Inspirations:
MV Dongfang zhi Xing (Chinese: 东方之星; pinyin: Dōngfāng zhī Xīng; translated as Oriental Star or Eastern Star) was a river cruiseship that operated in the Three Gorges region of inland China. On 1 June 2015, the ship was traveling on the Yangtze River in Jianli, Hubei Province with 454 people on board when it capsized in a severe thunderstorm.
On June 13, 442 deaths were confirmed, with 12 rescued.[3] It is the deadliest peacetime maritime disaster in China’s history, and the worst since the Taiping sank in 1949, killing over 1,500.[14]
Tomb art refers to any work of art forming, or placed in, a repository for the remains of the dead. It plays an important role in Chinese art history. Especially in Qin Dynasty, the special condition of the society made it possible for the emperor to build a tomb with plenty of grave goods. Terracotta Warriors in Qinshihuang’s tomb were discovered in 1974. It is indicated as an outstanding archeological discovery in the 20 century among the world (Man, 2010) in terms of its quantity and quality. The tomb is large in scale. It has four pits that contain more than 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses. (Portal, 2007) At the same time, every figure is extremely detailed crafted but distinct in their characteristics. By comparing the two Terracotta Warrior figures, one can easily know that every figure is distinct in terms of appearance, gesture, even its emotion.
The terracotta warriors make tomb art to reach one of the peaks in the Chinese art history, and the political and cultural environment then makes it possible. Firstly, the terracotta warriors were made during the Qin Dynasty, which is the first dynasty when China is united from six separated small kingdoms. Hence, Qin Dynasty has a powerful and stable economy and political structure. That can provide the emperor, Qin Shihuang, with enough resources to build his tomb. Secondly, in order to deterrent the other countries and his own people from attracting or renegading, in another word, to propaganda, Qin Shihuang had to build a huge underground army to show his power. Last but not least, Qin Shihuang was deeply influenced by Taoism, which believes afterlife. (Man, 2010) So that it is believed that he wanted to use these terracotta warriors to continue to rule the heaven after his death. Hence, he crafted these realistic terracotta warriors.
By comparing the following two figures, one can see how high the Terracotta Warriors’ quality is.
Similarly, both of these two figures are real-sized. Their sizes are exactly the same as real humans. Also, their faces are carefully sculptured. That makes their facial features can be clearly recognized – even the muscles on their cheeks can be seen. Moreover, the textures of their clothes are expressed well although they are wearing different types of clothes made by different type of materials. One can feel the softness of the cotton cloth and the hardness of the armor by just looking at them. In one word, similarly, these two figures look realistic and they are crafted in a very detailed manner.
