I'm gathering here a list of image references to guide us with the look of the animation. These images are NOT concept design for Juko, nor are they my own work, nor do I have any right to publish them here (except for my own drawings, of course), so they're here just as reference, to help us find a look for the opening credits.
So first of all, I'm thinking this is a comedy, you want a cartoon animation as opening credits, so things can be light in nature, and children-illustration-like maybe, or maybe more towards minimal, clean, simple. Especially because this is a real film, and not an animation, I'm thinking the look of the opening credits should be more towards clean and simple, rather than dense and full of textures (because the film itself, being real photography, is dense and full of real world textures). I'm thinking more like light textures and maybe a lot of negative space (empty space around the characters and objects). I presume you need some space anyway for the credits, right? But I'm going to explore several directions, to see which one you would prefer, and of course, we should talk about these things and figure out what would work best, as I get to understand more about the characters and the story.
My first idea would be to use my own design style, or something around that, especially for the characters. Or maybe a way of using my own kind of work in a different, specific context, or maybe a mix of things. I see you encouraged personal style, so I'm thinking this might be the best thing to do. That doesn't mean I'll draw your characters exactly the way I draw my puppetzoids :D but that they might have something in common :) A mix of things is sometimes the most creative and interesting thing to do, and so I'm thinking we can mix my puppetzoid concept with a certain design direction that we agree upon.
So let's start with the images, 'nuff talk :P First, a sample of my own work, you've seen it maybe, but it should be here as a reminder of what I'm talking about when I say puppetzoid design... (also see http://virgil.weebly.com/1/post/2010/03/some-more-puppetzoids.html)
So first of all, I'm thinking this is a comedy, you want a cartoon animation as opening credits, so things can be light in nature, and children-illustration-like maybe, or maybe more towards minimal, clean, simple. Especially because this is a real film, and not an animation, I'm thinking the look of the opening credits should be more towards clean and simple, rather than dense and full of textures (because the film itself, being real photography, is dense and full of real world textures). I'm thinking more like light textures and maybe a lot of negative space (empty space around the characters and objects). I presume you need some space anyway for the credits, right? But I'm going to explore several directions, to see which one you would prefer, and of course, we should talk about these things and figure out what would work best, as I get to understand more about the characters and the story.
My first idea would be to use my own design style, or something around that, especially for the characters. Or maybe a way of using my own kind of work in a different, specific context, or maybe a mix of things. I see you encouraged personal style, so I'm thinking this might be the best thing to do. That doesn't mean I'll draw your characters exactly the way I draw my puppetzoids :D but that they might have something in common :) A mix of things is sometimes the most creative and interesting thing to do, and so I'm thinking we can mix my puppetzoid concept with a certain design direction that we agree upon.
So let's start with the images, 'nuff talk :P First, a sample of my own work, you've seen it maybe, but it should be here as a reminder of what I'm talking about when I say puppetzoid design... (also see http://virgil.weebly.com/1/post/2010/03/some-more-puppetzoids.html)
Something that I think goes hand in hand with my kind of puppetzoid design is Oliver Jeffer's work, see some images below. I could experiment in this direction for example.
Although I'm thinking I'd go more for crayon and different kinds of textures/colors but if you prefer aquarelle, that's nice too. I'm not so crazy about the aquarelle look a.t.m. but it does kind of have a romantic feel which might go nice with a romantic comedy... (not sure how romantic the film is, in terms of overall atmosphere, I'm just saying it because of the love theme :D )
Btw, here's an example of the simple, minimal design I'm having in mind, with incomplete, only sketched background elements (from Ghibli's My Neighbors the Yamadas).
Btw, here's an example of the simple, minimal design I'm having in mind, with incomplete, only sketched background elements (from Ghibli's My Neighbors the Yamadas).
OK, let's see something a bit different, maybe you'd like something more geometric and without cartoon lines, something like this:
Or maybe you'd like thick, slightly wobbly, a bit naive, cartoon lines :D
Or child-like drawings the hardcore way... but I'm not sure about that, I just added it here for diversity :P
But I'm thinking you probably need something elegant rather than messy, so let's go back to ol' minimalism, with a touch of primitive art :) I'm thinking this is a viable possibility, it's simple and elegant (please take into consideration the overall feel or design of things, don't interpret them too literally :D ).
Along the same line we could go for a stick-figures look, maybe a bit too simple, but there are many interesting and creative ways of using stick figures. Here are some examples (the first 2 from Don Hertzfeldt, whose work is superawesome :) )
About the background elements, maybe you'd like something more like this?... Layered, cardboardish stuff... I would prefer sketched, as in the Yamada example, but... just in case. I think I should give you more examples of landscape elements, but I thought more about the characters for now...
The good thing with the layered cardboardish approach is lends itself to creative mixes.
But yeah, I would prefer something simpler and cleaner, like the Yamada or the minimal stuff in the Lady in the Water opening.
OK, let's go back to some of that ol' cartoon goodness, I kind of like this simple cartoon line thing, might be more effective than any other method.
OK, let's go back to some of that ol' cartoon goodness, I kind of like this simple cartoon line thing, might be more effective than any other method.
(works nicely with the sketched incomplete background design)
OK, on a different note though, I could also try to do some crayon stuff. I like the way Bill Plympton hatches his drawings and the overall look of this crayon-hatch style. Preferably black and white or a very limited color palette though...
OK, on a different note though, I could also try to do some crayon stuff. I like the way Bill Plympton hatches his drawings and the overall look of this crayon-hatch style. Preferably black and white or a very limited color palette though...
And I like the crazy look of this:
And this (yet again, aquarelle, with ultra-minimal background):
Or how about this weird little thing... (OK, I know it may be hard to see a connection between some of these drawings and your film, but, such is the case with these last images, try to feel rather than think about them, and well.. get the overall feeling of the image :D )
OK, last image, I found this thingy, it really clicked because it was something close to what I do, but with simple cartoon shading. I like this a lot, especially the shading - the way light wraps around the character and creates light and shadow - and I see it in a combination with simple sketchy backgrounds, such as those in the Yamada example.