So anyway, I am one of the character designers for the commercial. If I had to guess why this is, I would have to say that I was either vastly underqualified compared to my peers to do anything else or because I threatened to leave the class if I was put on the 3D team...
Anyway, the class loved my initial designs for the toy itself, and I am going to show them to you.This first one is my favorite personally. Originally, he was in a more classic wheelchair because I thought the sillouette was much more interesting with the handles on the chair, but when I got to working he seemed to fit better in a power chair (which almost got tank treads).
Ultimately this design -though popular- was passed over because he looked too much like a former president and not enough like a generic war veteran. Personally, I love the face. The expression is great.
This is the design we went with, though there are going to be a few modifications before it's done -we added an oxygen tank, corncob pipe and slippers instead of loafers. I still like this one, though personally I think it's a little too generic, it's also pretty much exactly what I pictured the first time we began talking about this.
What really seemed to sell this one to the group was the pull-string...they REALLY like that pull-string idea. However, I am personally happy again with the face, especially the glasses which took quite awhile to get right.
Eventually this will be a 3d model (thankfully, I am not in charge of making it) which will be rigged along with the children for the commercial which will be completed hopefully by the end of next quarter.
I will of course add more on this project as it becomes available. And now for your viewing enjoyment, the children I designed for the commercial. The only thing that survived to the final design (headed by my vastly more talented teammate) was the curly hair from the middle kid.
I hate that middle kid. He looks creepy, unrealistic and the pose was half assed, mostly because originally it looked like he was groping the kid in front of him. He is the byproduct of one guy on our 3D team who will only design realistic characters and the fact that I watched Honey I Blew Up the Kid the other day. Yeah... That first kid on the other hand, I really like his design."You cheap bastard! You moved the headstones but you left the bodies!"
-Craig T. Nelson
