The Classical Element Development: Character design and storyboard

Character design is the next development I did for my animation. The feedback I received from the previous crit encourages me to investigate various characteristics on the balloon to a certain extent. I tested out different style of eyes and face which provide more ideas instead of restricting myself from the initial concept art. 

I have chosen the balloon with eyes with the white part (If that make sense). I chose it because it is not a style I have tried before and the emotions of the character travel more directly to the audience due to the diverse use of those simple shapes and the eyebrows. However, the consistency of the drawings could not be easily maintained and therefore I need to draw slowly in order to make sure the shapes are similar. 

Character design of the kid. 

I have not decided on the gender yet but this character is probably a little boy who is not talkative. The odd hairstyle and 'mouth-less' state his introvert personality and he wants a good friend in his life just like any of us. In these drawings, he has eyes but not in the storyboard. The comments I got from the class is that they like he without the eyes,(It was just a mistake as I forgot how long his fringe is) and this mistake has confirmed the final look of the boy. I am happy with the result and hopefully the this dialogue-free character will not be too eye catching.

Storyboard. 

Compare with the previous storyboard, this is way shorter and simpler. There is more time to express less which could slowly build in the atmosphere. I did not like to rush the information therefore this is the ideal length of the animation. I have asked Matt and Max about what they feel about the story and they said the story is sweet and expressive. They like the characters and how I made the yellow balloon to stand out by only giving it eyes in the whole story. 

Anamatic

I feel like this is the right timing as each key moment will be shown in an appropriate time, allowing the audience to digest and interpret and hopefully this length of time allows effective story telling.