Ellie Bridgman

Animation IFY

FYR103 apply

I had two main ideas for what I wanted to pursue for this project - Arcane and The Last Of Us.

The Last of Us is a game with a recent TV show adaption set in an apocalyptic world overrun by a virus. the main characters are Joel and Ellie. Joel is tasked with escorting Ellie, who is immune from the virus and their journey to escape the virus and the development of their friendship despite it all. I decided to not explore this as I could not find a strong enough societal issue to base my project on.

Arcane is an animated series set in the League of Legends universe with the genre of Steampunk Action Adventure. The series follows the storyline of sisters Vi and Jinx in the Utopian city of piltover and the underground city of Zaun. These characters fit in the sister game 'League of Legends' and are well-known heroes. this series shows the backstory of them both. The themes I will explore for the world issue are the class divide and the inequality within the societies presented. I chose this series as I love the style and it has a strong societal issue which I can build from in my work.

Arcane uses 3d characters in a 2d hand rendered space. It is rooted in realty whilst still maintaining strong stylized aspects and therefore gives a strong base for this project and deals with topics such as love, death, mental illness, violence and substance abuse and shows how capitalism could impact the future

pinterest board for initial initial ideas

I have decided to base my project on Arcane as it has a well-developed storyline, world design and style and therefore will also have lots of points to reference. Class is shown through two main sections – Upper City/ Piltover and Lover City / Zaun. They are shown as different through their shape language and their outfit styles. For example, piltover has a richer look with clothes prominent in formal suits, and plentiful gold accessories and may be described as a ‘light academia’ aesthetics largely inspired by late Victorian era fashion. Zaun on the other hand is more cyberpunk, found and refurbished clothing which is a lot more worn and dirtier. This clearly shows the divide in wealth and power between both cities as Zaun is a lot less focussed on appearance, rather looking for practicality. However, the characters of Silco and the chem-barons who even though they are from Zaun, still wear fashion that is popular in the topside but has some undercity influence which could be representative of a kind of middle class in this situation. I will also focus on the strong ideas of GOOD VS BAD that also appear in Arcane and link strongly to class divide and class struggle. This is because, most of the time, the antagonists are seen to be the good guys as they are the people with the most power: The council in the upper city but also Silco who has a lot of power in Zaun. They are seen as bad as they corrupt the lands and cause destruction. Silco does this through his seeking of Zaun's independence which he stops at nothing to achieve However, even though he helps Zaun, he is seen as a villain due to him having conflict with Vander, a protagonist, which furthers his negative view. However, we do have some very prominent protagonists that maintain that way throughout the series – most evidently Jinx and her sister Vi. They actively work against the bad guys, and we see much vulnerability in these characters and their situations. Therefore, we sympathise more with the lower city characters and their stories and therefore see them as good for most of the story.

I am going to create concept art for a 2D character design. I’m not completely sure whether I am going to focus on an upper or lower city character as it will affect the character's look due to differing wealth and hierarchical status. If I create a lower city character, then I can keep into consideration that they’re supposedly a more liked character through the shape language rather than an upper character that’s going to be seen as more of a threat from the audience. I possibly think that an upper city character would be more interesting to create due to the outfits being more detailed and extravagant whilst the lower city’s outfits are a lot more basic and do contain more aspects of modern-day cyberpunk-esc outfits. Therefore, I need to keep this into consideration whilst I research both to find what I can present best.

Other products that show the theme of class divide that can help develop my ideas

Class divide/class struggle

- hunger games (districts vs capitol)

- Uganda (massive class struggle)

- the Simpsons (especially S7E14 Class struggle)

- Chicken Run (rebellion against power)

- fantastic beasts secrets of Dumbledore

-divergent (faction divide)

-the 100 (the council or nobility and the working class or proletariat)

Class Struggle and class divide is the societal issue I have chosen for this project. It refers to the political and economic tensions between the social classes and social hierarchy in society and is typical in a Marxism society but also present in most society's to an extent. Arcane shows a really clear exaggerated view of this struggle with a literal city divide between the wealthiest and the poorest parts and have a lot of resentment between the both. it also shows a clear class conflict within this IP.

organisation

week 1 -

proposal form

start research and decide on theme for project

rewatch arcane - research and style studies

week 2 -

complete and send a proposal

continue research - YouTube videos - websites/articles

do some mood boards

week 3 / 4

further mood boarding and researching

outfits

initial design idea - link to the class divide

consider board styles for final pieces

historical research

week 5 -

character designs

I continued to use the same form of organization for this project as the last one. i found that it was successful in helping me stay on top of things and be realistic about my days. I also wanted to create a weekly plan in the journal to stay focused on the final goal

Research notes from the video essay - Arcane Advantage by Cview

upon its debut, Arcane hit number 1 in 52 countries on Netflix

piltover - futuristic, progress-focused, wealthy.

ran by the council - seemingly successful.

Zaun - lower city/underworld, issues with homelessness, poverty, crime and drugs

home to Vi and Powder/Jinx
controlled by drug lord - silco
piltover enforcers attacked Zaun and Zaun people were left with questions - 'why can they control us when they caused all of this' - Zaun was flooded as they failed to create space for trade opportunities which ended up flooding and turning the city into a toxic swamp.
rich were able to move away and form piltover whilst the poor were forced to suffer.

Jayce - a scientist, sought human progress but the council worried about what it might mean for the future and feared what could be done if the underworld got ahold of these inventions

he believes it could change the world - solve world issues/poverty
comparable with a young Mark Zuckerberg - who wishes to connect and bring people together. jayce thinks his inventions help Zaun and create equality for everyone
council allows Jayce to grow his company - seen as a tool for control and power

contrasting character perspectives

themes of duality in the show
- poor vs rich, weak vs powerful, valuable vs unwavering
different stories give different solutions and answers towards the same problems - solutions are imperfect, and reflect real life. - counterpoints to situations

vi and powder/jinx

vi's red hair and imposing nature. - chosen leader qualities, capable
contrasts with powders blue hair and scrawny nature - clumsy, quiet, overlooked, people doubt that she'd meet expectations.

the hope for the maintained relationship between both holds the story and stops the divide. - holds themes of divisions of breaking

Combines 2d and 3d animation. - The strengths of both

environments are all hand painted - characters are mainly 3d CGI

graphic textures to fit aesthetic

motion blur - and cinematic look. - adds to the fluidity of action sequences.

hold frames to empathise action

fresh perspective of animation and animation aesthetics

real-life study - United States

The global significance of the resurgence of class struggle in the United States - World Socialist Web Site (wsws.org)

class struggle throughout the world, in particular in the United States is the force that drives historical development
summer of 2008 - global financial crash. the revival of class struggle
upheavals in Tunisia, Iran and Greece, industrial strikes in Germany, working-class position against the rich and powerful in France, class battles in India, Sri Lanka and South Korea, worldwide revolt by educators, spanning Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa.
suppression of class struggle allowed the ruling class to carry out redistribution of wealth from the bottom to the top
obama - financial speculators who crashed the economy were bailed out and stock reinflated through virtually free credit - depended on preventing the rise of inflation
division of American society into two sections - denied struggle
3 billionaires - Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and Warren Buffett. the same amount of wealth as the bottom 160 million people
The top 1% of American households own more wealth than the bottom 90% combined.

links to arcane through this stark class divide and difference between those that are most powerful vs everyone else. the problems in the show may seem exaggerated but does reflect real-life scenarios and give good insight into how class division could show itself in the future.

I did an initial style study using watercolour and fine liner. I especially focused on colour, shape and line weight which are the main features in the arcane style. I started with a pencil sketch using this reference of Vi and created the basic shape of the face and also blocked in some of the forms. I then layered up watercolour until I got the right definition but then I used a fineliner to bring out the linework in the piece. overall I think I was able to capture the style using traditional media. most importantly, I was able to focus on the contours that are widely used in the arcane style especially using the linework that exaggerates them.

I also did a pencil study of a reference photo from Pinterest which I also decided to digitalise to experiment with colour and how it works with form. I experimented with the use of opacity and blend modes on the piece and settled on a similar style to the original sketch. overall I like how the effect looks and will continue to use it throughout other pieces.

I wanted to find some ideas for outfits, I found that the upper city fashion was what I was interested in pursuing as it showed the wealth divide between both cities. I used Pinterest and key aesthetics such as 'early Victorian-inspired fashion' and branched out into an almost pirate style through the corsets and waistcoats. through this, I could identify very earthy core colours, with the most prominent browns, reds and whites.

I also looked at military wear. I found both Arcane references and real-life references. I like the gold detailing used in many formal dresses. I found that the uniform that most represented an arcane style is the Russian Military dress wear, specifically with the gold details and jacket style. the dark blues and purples are very prominent in both uniforms and represent power or royalty, especially in arcane use.

INITIAL CHARECTOR DESIGN

i created an initial WIP for my idea of what i wanted to create. Here, she is in formal dresswear. i wanted to make her look like she is wealthy and uppercity so i did this through the accessories and fabric use especially. i used the first moodboard as inspiration for the outfit, espeically as i found a strong use of the colour red in many of them and felt this would help her stand out and show her strong, rebellious personality that i want to express through this charector design. i also wanted to use white hair as an indication of her power. Furthermore, in anime, white hair is seen to show, off the bat that a charector is the antagonist or villian from the start which could influence my final ideas and basic backstpry for her.

In order to establish a style i mainly focused on the face to do most of the heavy lifting by using strong outlines of depth. However, I think I gave her too much of a roundish face for her age. therefore this could be seen as a age down / flashback / late teenage version of her final design (such as the charectors in the start of the show instead of the 25-30 year old charector i want to express. i feel i did achieve this more in the design sketch below.

at this point, I decided to research more into military and enforcer clothing. I maybe do want to create alternate clothing using her formal attire but I feel like a more military style would solidify her status and place in Arcane society. However, I wanted to be able to get more creative with the uniform rather than just placing her in Caitlyn's uniform as most of the different uniforms have different roles or statuses within. I used different parts from different uniforms -for example, I used the frilly collar and purple/blue accent colour from Caitlyn's design and the colour also borrowed from Silcos design showing a lower city adaptation of colour and her position of power, the gold shoulder pads and gold chains were inspired by Russian military's wear but similar also is prominent in the arcane uniforms, the undershirt with flared sleeves is inspired by some of my research into the late Victorian and pirates styles, the waistcoat is an adaption of the blazer styles with inspirations of corsets, the boots are a direct inspiration from Vi's and need a bit of developing.

overall I think it's a pretty believable style considering its similarities with other styles. I want also to create some sort of hat or mask to be more realistic to other uniforms, especially Caitlyn as it's the only real in-depth female enforcer that we see the most of and therefore gives us a good idea of what it would be like. In addition, I might adapt the leggings because I added them as I felt they were more practical than a skirt but as they are the only darker element in the design I might change the colour or design in order to not be the main focus and give more leniency to the more important features of my design

final design

self evaluative reflective study of project

throughout the Apply module, I found many challenges and chances to innovate with new ideas and practices. I decided to research the series - arcane it’s tackling with the issue of class divide and how I can reflect this through my work in the project. I felt that by designing an upper city character, I would be able to communicate this world issue more successfully using materials and colours. For example, the colours of dark purple and gold made the character appear more important and wealthy which gives a stark contrast to other, more powerful characters in the show which I feel communicates this message well.

I felt that I mostly gave myself a realistic plan as I gave myself the time to research and create a character with a style that fit the IP. I especially benefited from the style studies as I was able to see the aesthetics of the world to create a successful product in the end. However, my original plan was to create outfits for the character – especially with the enforcer outfit and then a possible formal outfit to tie into the first mood board I did. However, I decided to prioritise the enforcer outfit as I felt it most reflected the stance the character has in society and how they attack the lower city simply for existing. This also ties into class conflict which is a subcategory in the class divide along with class struggle. Furthermore, I created a front and back view of the character but I needed to create a quick side view of the character too I didn’t leave myself enough time to do this before the final week. Therefore I did a basic side pose using a reference that I found and then altered the sketch to fit into the proportions and style aspects of the original. I felt this was a lot easier for me than to create a whole new pose and I was able to create this in less time. I also did not fully shade this one and just blocked out the colours. Next time I would learn from this and draw each of the views at the same time to not get burnt out from fully completing one or two poses to create a similar decent-looking third pose. This would also make it easier and probably faster so I want to try this in the future for character designs.

I created the character design first traditionally as I know I am less focused on perfection on paper and can trust the process more easily. It also allowed me to visualise what I wanted to create without too much difficulty and experiment with different colours and such. This was very beneficial as it allowed me to see that the black trousers I initially planned on were way too dark in contrast with everything else and therefore drew attention away from the rest. I then tried different colour combos to see what colour allowed the purples in the image to shine through so I decided on the brown in a similar hue to the purple. I also decided on using white hair as it often represents wealth and innocence which the upper city people tended to be, even though they were the reason that the issues are so prominent and the cities are so divided, yet also shows experience and wisdom which shows that she is very competent and possibly wants to make a change but doesn’t know how. I used a lot of inspiration out of Caitlyns character for this as she was the most prominent character for me in the show and I feel these two would share a very similar upbringing and

In this process, I most enjoyed trying new things and getting out of my comfort zone to create a character that I definitely want to continue using and also finding what processes work for me and which don’t which I can use for not only the next projects but also develop in the future.

bibliography

‘Arcane (TV Series)’. 2021. Wikipedia [online]. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcane_(TV_series).

CABRAL, Matt. 2021. ‘Arcane TV Review | Common Sense Media’. www.commonsensemedia.org [online]. Available at: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/arcane#:~:text=Arcane%20is%20mature. [accessed 20 Dec 2023].

MORAN, Ruby. n.d. ‘Arcane: An Analysis and Review’. The Science Survey [online]. Available at: https://thesciencesurvey.com/arts-entertainment/2022/03/13/arcane-an-analysis-and-review/.

‘Social Class Inequality: Concept & Examples | StudySmarter’. n.d. StudySmarter UK [online]. Available at: https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/social-studies/stratification-and-differentiation/social-class-inequality/.

SWITZER, Eric. 2021. ‘Has No One in Arcane Ever Heard of Social Services?’ TheGamer [online]. Available at: https://www.thegamer.com/arcane-league-of-legends-netflix-politics-social-services/ [accessed 23 Dec 2021].

WANG, Rebecca. 2022. ‘Arcane Analysis: Season 1 Themes | the Workprint’. https://www.theworkprint.com [online]. Available at: https://www.theworkprint.com/arcane-analysis-season-1-themes/123.

WHITE, Jerry. 2018. ‘The Global Significance of the Resurgence of Class Struggle in the United States’. World Socialist Web Site [online]. Available at: https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/05/09/jwmd-m09.html [accessed 18 Jan 2024].

ZETROT592312. 2022. ‘[S1 Spoilers] Arcane and Class Warfare.’ Reddit [online]. Available at: https://www.reddit.com/r/arcane/comments/vguq8t/s1_spoilers_arcane_and_class_warfare/ [accessed 18 Jan 2024].

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