Adaptation Part B: Interim Crit 27/03/15 - Oiwa Character Bible

Adaptation Part B: Interim Crit - Oiwa Character Bible

Adaptation Part B: Oiwa Orthorgraphic Sheet

Adaptation Part B: Oiwa Digital Paintings

Adaptation Part B: Oiwa Design Sheet

To decide on the final design, I decided I wanted to ask on social media for input, I had a decent number of responses which mainly leant towards 5. This helped me finally decide on the design to take forward.

Adaptation Part B: Process Research

One of the things Alan asked me to do was research into how exactly I'm going to model Oiwa for this project. I collected a few different processes for reference, mainly for her clothing and hair.

Adaptation Part B: Character Research - Ghosts and their kimonos

Since I've decided on developing my character as an onryo, I looked into more paintings that have depicted ghosts. As mentioned before, the typical design that represents ghosts is their white kimonos and long, straight black hair. Some are simple, others have extra layers for their kimono.

Kimono thumbnails 1-12:

Adaptation Part B: Character Spectrum

During my tutorial with Alan we discussed what type of character Oiwa will be like. On one side of the spectrum she could be a hysterical spirit like Regan MacNeil in the Exorcist, which Oiwa is depicted as in the original kabuki play or on the other hand I can depict her as an ominous presence such as characters like; Jennet Humfrye from the Woman in Black, Samara from the Ring or Kayako Saeki from the Grudge.

Design-wise, if I were to go with the "hysterical" character, the main design focus would be Oiwa's face deformations and balding hair.

For the more ominous characterisation, the main focus would be on her kimono, adding extra details like another layer, the obi design etc. As when it was being discussed, Alan suggested having her worldly injuries disappear once she becomes an onryo. The atmosphere for the final short animation will be considerably more haunting just with her eerie presence.

Adaptation Part B: Onryō Silhouettes

Using watercolours I quickly painted out simple silhouettes for Oiwa's onryō self.

Adaptation Part B: Edo Style Studies

As mentioned in this post, I'm looking at the types of kimonos in the Edo Period. I did some quick drawings of the furisode, kosode and the burial kimono.

 Furisode

Kosode

Burial Kimono

I also looked into the tied up hairstyles from both the working class and samurai class.

Adaptation Part B: Watercolour Practise

For this project, I want to give a traditional feel to my 3D character and I decided that I wanted to do all my textures by hand.
I've never used watercolours before or own any so I went out and bought myself a set so I could practise with. These are quite messy and I have a lot more practising to do, but I wanted to give myself feel for what I need to be doing for my textures later on.

Adaptation Part B: Character Design Research

For the character Oiwa from Yotsuya Kaidan I've been researching into her outfit. There are three outfits I'll be developing before deciding on one to take to the final stages of her design. There are a few things that I need to take into account.

Firstly, if I want to be historically accurate, Oiwa would have come from a rich family (during the Edo period, which Yotsuya Kaidan is set in, the samurai were of high class, so considering that her husband was a samurai we can assume she was in a wealthy family). There's also the fact that her father, Samon, wanted her to separate from her husband Iemon too (divorces cost money, and the fact that Oiwa's family doesn't need to rely on Iemon's wealth also suggests that they are of wealth).
With that in mind, the typical dress wear for a woman in the samurai class would wear a kosode, a short sleeved kimono.

However Edo fashion was influenced by the design and style that courtesans and entertainers wear. Outside the samurai class, women experimented with a more elaborate kimono - the furisode, which is often seen on the Kabuki stage. Characterised by long, flowing sleeves, the furisode kimono was accented by a large, loosely tied obi.

The third outfit I've decided I wanted to develop is the white burial kimono, which Oiwa is depicted in when she becomes an onryō (vengeful spirit).

Traditionally, onryō and other yūrei (ghosts) had no particular appearance. However, with

the rising of popularity of Kabuki during the Edo period, a specific costume was developed.

Highly visual in nature, and with a single actor often assuming various roles within a play, Kabuki developed a system of visual shorthand that allowed the audience to instantly clue in as to which character is on stage, as well as emphasize the emotions and expressions of the actor.

A ghost costume consisted of three main elements:

• White burial kimono, shiroshōzoku (白装束) or shinishōzoku (死に装束)
• Wild, unkempt long black hair
• Face make-up consisting of white foundation (oshiroi) coupled with face paintings (kumadori) of blue shadows (藍隈 aiguma) "indigo fringe", much like villains are depicted in kabuki make-up artistry.

1. tengan: 天眼 the heavenly eye
2. menpu: 面布 veil 
3. juzu: 数珠 rosary; string of beads
4. tekkou: 手甲 covering for the back of the hand and wrist
5. sudabukuro : 頭陀袋  sack; carry-all bag 
6.  六文銭 (roku mon sen - 6 images of sen [old coins]) is in the sudabukuro. (The coins are to pay passage into the after-world when crossing the Sanzu River)
7. kyahan: 脚絆 gaiters
8. The sudabukuro is hung from the neck. 
9. Obi: 帯
10. tsue: 杖 cane; walking stick; staff
11. tabi: 足袋 Japanese socks with split toe
12. zouri: 草履 Japanese footwear sandals
13. burial kimono: 経帷子 white kimono in which dead person is dressed

Adaptation Part B: Further Style Research

As discussed with Alan in my previous tutorial, I need to work out how I will achieve the painting style for my 3D character. I've looked into other artists attempts at combining ancient Oriental style paintings and CG.

Laura Hutton's digitally painted textures gives it an ancient Oriental painting style (similar to the style in Okami): 

Andrew Hazelden modelled polygon geometry that approximated the shape of each object in the scene. He then loaded the Wu Guanzhong painting layer elements into Maya as a series of Photoshop PSD nodes. Each PSD node was projection mapped onto the geometry using a camera mapping technique that transfers the texture from the painting onto the 3D surfaces.

Adaptation Part A: Periodic Table of Fast Food Infographic & Art Of

The Periodic Table of Fast Food Infographic from Gemma Titchmarsh on Vimeo.

Periodic Table of Fast Food Art Of

Adaptation Part A: More Designs and Animation Tests

CG Artists Toolkit Mudbox: Hammer

Modeled and UV ready:

Celtic patterns:

Hammer head and texture exported to Mudbox:

Reduced strength on sculpt layer:

Adaptation Part A: Initial Storyboards

Rough storyboards for my infographic:

Adaptation Part A: Infographic Designs

Title design:

Food designs 11/?:

Title art design, as previously mentioned I want to go for a "retro" look for this, so I looked at the colour schemes from the influences I posted before and also added a paper texture.