Setting the Scene

Now that my idea for Character and Narrative has been finalised, I'm almost ready to start animating!

Before that however, I have to make my props and set the scenes where my animation will take place. His body language and movements are very important to tell the story, so I will use my reference to get the positioning right.

Here's my first scene in development:

This is roughly the position I want Moom to be in - sat on the bed leaning over slightly with a tired facial expression.

The eye lids will be on show, roughly a third of the way down his eyes, and a quarter of the way up from the bottom lids. I think this combination works the best because as you can see bellow, his eyes look puffy which gives the impression of tiredness.

The rest of his body should be hanging down, his shoulders will be low, the hands will rest on his knees with the backs of his hands facing towards each other; His back will be arched over to suggest that he's struggling to keep his head up.

The facial expression for every scene.

I will make his teeth invisible for the final piece, so I can focus on the positions of the mouth without the teeth sticking through his chin...










My second scene will be the most difficult to complete, because the broom is made up of separate shapes, and I have to use the parent tool to move the broom with the hand. I added in a couple of panels in a portrait position to give the impression that he's inside a room.

Scene 2

Scene 2 with background panels.

My third and final scene requires a cloth in Moom's hand. I will have to use the parent tool again to allow the cloth and hand to move in sync. I then put the character in the starting position of the first frame, and set up the camera angle ready to animate.

Scene 3.

Positioning of the body.

Scene 3 camera angle.

Now that my character is set up in all 3 scenes, I will start animating them!