Original Dissertation Ideas

Bowerick Wowbagger

My first idea was to create a 2D animation based on The Hitchhicker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. I would create the animation in Flash, after drawing a storyboard on paper. The animation would be based around a side-character in the series: 'Wowbagger The Infinitely Prolonged', who could be used to make a very interesting story. The reason I chose not to pursue this idea any further was because it required too much work on the story and other elements which didn't need it: it wasn't focused.

My second idea was to create a series of character animations in Flash, which all react to different weather and time conditions, which are controlled by the player through a simple UI. The characters could be displayed in a similar fashion to the 'Mii Plaza' on all internet-connected Wii consoles, where multiple  characters would run across the screen at once. The reason I decided not to go for this idea was because I decided that I should focus on learning a skill I'm not already efficient in, and want to pursue as a future career. I feel very comfortable working with Flash already for 2D animation, so I felt that doing something in 3D would be sensible.

BeMo from Adventure Time

My third and final idea is to make a short animation in Audodesk Maya which simply demonstrates my ability to animate a lively cartoon character in 3D space. The story revolves around a smartphone with arms and legs (think BeMo from Adventure Time) who has to chase after its' owner to give him a reminder about an important event. The animation will involve the character jumping, tripping and running over obstacles in a house in order to catch up to its' owner. The backgrounds for the animation will all be very simple models which basic colouring, which will not require marking; if I have time towards the end, I may try to make them look nicer. The same goes for the lighting, which will be fairly basic unless my time allows it towards the end of the year.