Evaluation

I've always seen and known that concept art is a vitally important aspect of film and games but I never appreciated how difficult it can be. This module definitely gave me a look into what goes into planning and creating concept art and the various elements that must match to make something believable.

I could've (and should've) done a LOT more planning/research before starting my character. I stuck to my first idea of 'I should do a robot' and even though I feel the character what for what I had planned, I should've explored different routes such as human, alien, monster, animal. I completely forgot that your first idea isn't always necessarily the best. I searched various places from Google Images to DeviantArt for inspiration and came up with a basic moodboard for what would influence my character. I had the basics down had built a story around it.

The background story to SID really captured the scene and how SID reacts to his surroundings, I would've liked to have got opinions on how to improve this but overall I'm pretty happy with how it turned out and felt I could carry the story though the entire development process.

The model turn around came out very well and I could easily grasp proportions from them which is essential for turning concept into 3D. I feel the colour and shading on the model was good however from feedback after the presentation I can clearly see that from the environment I described, the colours and shading wouldn't be as clean as I had portrayed it. I done two attempts at this and realised late into the project that the rust I had painted on isn't how rust would actually act. I went ahead and changed this and felt the second was a massive improvement on the first. This part taught me a lot about how to use different layer types for masking which allowed me to add on top of the image without editing the base colours. It also taught be how to effectively use different types of brushes and brush dynamics to acheive different effects.

The prop were pretty basic, but with a back story to them they made sense as to why they were used. SIDs background was he was built from scrap parts in the near future after an apocalypse. The fact the only available objects nearby with any use was from the scrap heap, SID was given an Iron Pipe and Oven Door to use as a shield and weapon, also as he had 3 large fingers, it would be impossible for him to use a conventional firearm. The overall block colours and design worked out well however I ran into the same issue as I did when shading and lighting the model sheet... They appeared too clean despite it being from a post-apocalyptic scrap heap. If I could go back to them, I would've dirtied them by adding a scratched metal, a lot more rust showing random flecks of paint barely on the prop and change the lighting so that the rust was not reflective. This would convey the feel of the scenario a lot better.

Lastly my environment ran into issues similar to the previous ones. It definitely did the job of portraying a small store but it didn't fit in the overall scenario. I felt if I changed the lighting to be a lot more murky/dull and added small rays of light beaming through the holes in the wall and ceiling, it would have given the illusion that something was wrong, this was enforced after feedback from the presentation. I probably would've changed the objects around the store as well. For example, while a single fridge is toppled over, none of them have large dents or holes in them and appear to be quite clean and unaffected by the devastation outside. It was a similar story with the shelves. Overall I'm happy with the environment but disappointed in how it fit into the scene.

This module has taught me so much. How lighting and perspective can place an object, how to use PhotoShop to achieve different effects using layers, mask, marquee, airbrushes, etc. The work that goes into creating concept art, how to achieve different styles and so much more. I definitely have more respect and understanding for concept artists from this and continue to watch tutorials to improve my own skills.