July WIP - Summer School

Erin.Cortese

Here are my initial thumbnails for the July contest. The concept is kids stuck at summer school. The top thumbnails are more on the creepy side, in an old dilapidated school with a creepy teacher. The bottom ones are of kids trying to sneak out of summer school, and getting caught by the teacher (shown mainly by a hairy arm and big belly). I am leaning toward the bottom set. Any feedback is appreciated!

I definitely like the idea of these kids sneaking out of summer school. Great interpretation of the prompt!

ArtofAleksey

I like both ideas! Either way you choose to go I think would work.

Personally I know I’d have more fun with a spooky theme and a creepy teacher that looks like an evil witch.

Erin.Cortese

@Aleksey The spooky theme is right up my alley too, I just feel like the comps are not as good. But you have me thinking it mat be worth reworking them.

Erin.Cortese

Here are my next set of thumbs. They are all pretty similar, but I am really trying to focus on layout and space, and work with cropping early. I am leaning toward 5, mostly because of the spacing, and I really want to work that skeleton in! I am thinking of using the light from an overhead projector (off canvas) as a spotlight.

Erin.Cortese

@Alicja-W Thanks, I felt like the kids sneaking out worked too. It was the only thumbnail where I used more active positions.

@Erin-Cortese
Great thumbnails so far! I'm thinking about how much more impactful you're scene could be if you tried moving the 'camera' and maybe showing this same scene but from a little below and positioned at the teacher. This way you'll get this big looming figure and the two students, one who will be facing the viewer unaware (perfect for depicting his facial expressing) and the other who realizes they're busted. Could be something to explore! Let me know if this is unclear and I can sketch up what I was thinking. Granted this could potentially mess with the readability of the summer school sign, which is important in this scene.

Erin.Cortese

@Alicja-W I’m not sure if I’m picturing your suggestion correctly. Would the chalkboard be on the right in this view, or still in front?

@Erin-Cortese
Apologies for the very quick sketch. The chalkboard would be on the right. This is definitely just a suggestion, and something that came to mind when I saw your piece so take it with a grain of salt.

I imagined a more frontal/confrontational view of the teacher, with one of the students unaware of having been caught yet, and the other trying to alert them.

Erin.Cortese

@Alicja-W Thanks for taking the time to sketch it out! I do worry about how the board would read in that angle. I see what you mean by it having more impact though, but I’m not sure how I could make it work. I am trying to go for a more simplistic rendering this time around, and I am hoping the spotlight from the overhead projector will help add interest. I will try to experiment with the camera angle a little more. Thanks!

@Erin-Cortese
It seems like you've already got a vision for your piece, and I'm excited to see how you execute it! Best of luck!

Erin.Cortese

Here is a more detailed sketch of one of my thumbnails. I was thinking the kid on the right will have a cell phone in his backpack, the light from the screen will show through the pouch to give the idea that it made a sound and alerted the teacher. Feedback welcome!

lmrush

great concept!

Nyrryl Cadiz

@Erin-Cortese hi, Erin. Perhaps add a door to the left to emphasis that the kids are sneaking out and move the teacher to the right with his arms crossed. Great concept here.

Erin.Cortese

@Nyrryl-Cadiz I think your suggestions are great, but I can't seem to get the door on the left to work. I have everything centred in the background, and the door throws everything off. I see what you mean by placing the teacher on the right, but I'm not sure that I am making it work either? Do you think the teacher is still better on the right if I do not add the door?

Nyrryl Cadiz

Hi, Erin. Perhaps you can do something like this.

Erin.Cortese

@Nyrryl-Cadiz Ahhh now I understand what you meant! Thank you for taking the time to draw that out. The main issue with recomposing it that way is that I could not use the spotlight effect and close crop that I am going for. You and @Alicja-W have both suggested a change in perspective and I can see why - the perspective I chose is generally not very interesting and not great for storytelling. But I am hoping this will be an exception to the rule ! There is a good chance this will come back to bite me Lol. Nonetheless, your comments have made me realize I am going to have to use layering and other methods to try and get some depth. When I first had the idea for this layout the book cover below came to mind, I thought it used a spotlight, but it doesn’t. Loosely, this is the perspective I had in mind.

Nyrryl Cadiz

@Erin-Cortese no worries. I like your vision

Erin.Cortese

This is my final sketch minus the “Welcome To Summer School” text. I am going to leave that until the final rendering stage because I’m not sure what texture will work best.

@Erin-Cortese
It looks great! I love the facial expression of the kid on the right! Can't wait to see it colored