Initial Character Design Sketches

Here are the some of my first rough character design sketches:


Lonely Bear & Girl Bear

Fox

Owl

Character Research and References

I have been researching what animals can be found in the same environment as a polar bear and I now have a list of animals that the main character, lonely bear, will meet on his travels:

• Arctic Fox


• Great Grey Owl


• Moose


• Common Seal

I have also been gathering images of each of these animals that I will use as references for designing the characters for the animation.

Polar Bear Reference Images

These are just some of the reference images I have gathered that I will use to help create the lonely bear character.

I also found this great video of a mother bear emerges from her winter long sleep with two new arrivals. With brilliant images of mother polar bear sledging down the slopes and cute cubs first taste of the Arctic air. Every time I watch it, it makes me smile.

Arctic Fox Reference Images

Here are some reference images of arctic foxes.

Here is a video showing arctic fox cubs playing together.


Great Grey Owl Reference Images

These are some of the images I will use for reference when designing the owl character.

This video has some great footage of the Great Grey Owl and also includes some interesting facts.

Moose Reference Images

Some images of moose.

Common Seal Reference Images

A few reference images of seals.

iPad e-books for kids

Children's books are all about big, splashy pictures and wild colors; elements perfectly suited to iPad screens but the iPad can do a lot more than just display static pages. It can read stories aloud and it can enrich classic tales with amazing interactivity.

Alice in Wonderland

This beautifully illustrated version of the classic tale incorporates animation and interactivity like no other e-book to date. Readers can tilt the iPad to make Alice grow and shrink; shake it to watch the Mad Hatter's bobblehead bobble; and so on.



Dr Seuss

There are three Seuss titles available for the iPad;"Dr. Seuss' ABC," "The Cat in the Hat," and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas".



Jack and the Beanstalk

This title is described as a "childrens interactive storybook". The interactivity comes in the form of games, activities, hidden Easter eggs, and the like. It features great artwork and is also available on the iPhone.



Toy Story

Toy story shows how children's e-books should be done, Disney's highly interactive app uses the iPad's potential to the full. Not only does it read the story out loud, it also allows children to record their own voice and become the narrator. Each animated page features tap-to-play sound effects and character voices, and some can morph into coloring pages, complete with simple onscreen coloring tools. Songs, movie clips, and mini games round out the experience.

How Penguin Will Re-invent Books With iPad

I came across an article about how Penguin Books are utilising the iPad as an ebook format.

"Many of Penguin’s iPad books seem hardly to resemble “books” at all, but rather very interactive learning experiences, from its Dorling Kindersley and kids imprints - the Vampire Academy “book” is “an online community for vampire lovers” with live chat between readers, and the Paris travel guide switches to street map view when placed on a table."

The demo shows different ways Penguin is using interactivity to enhance their ebooks.


click the link to read the full article:
http://paidcontent.co.uk/article/419-first-look-how-penguin-will-reinvent-books-with-ipad/

BBC - Little Animals Activity Centre

I have been looking for some examples of childrens interactive stories online and I came across The Little Animals Activity Centre on the BBC's website.

The website has three stories which are basic Flash animations containing simple interactivity; mainly clicking on objects when prompted. The stories are clearly targeted at pre-school or lower primary school children.

click the link to visit the site and see the stories:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/laac/story/sbi.shtml

Interactive Narrative and Children

While I'm talking about the BBC I thought I'd include a bit about an article I read by Tom Kenyon who is a senior development producer for BBC Children’s Interactive. In the article he talks about the thinking behind the latest digital projects spanning online and television at BBC Children’s Interactive and interactive narrative and children.

"In this post I want to write about how we think when developing online stories for children and to introduce our latest projects.

The first and most important point is children’s audiences are different.

For a child all narrative is interactive: a story doesn’t stop because the book, film, TV show or comic has ended. They will take the characters and locations found in toys or engaging linear stories and expand them through play, using whatever means are at their disposal – be that a games console, a web site, a doll, a costume or even a broomstick and a cardboard box.

Children don’t discriminate between platforms. They expect to find brands they love on all the screens in their life. In fact, the more pervasive a brand is, the higher its perceived quality.

Part of Disney’s success comes through omnipresence. If I like High School Musical I can watch the show, I can play the game, I can wear the bag, hang the curtains, wear the pyjamas – I can define myself through merchandise as someone who likes HSM, all the while imagining that I’m part of Zac’s beautiful gang."

To read the full article visit:

http://www.futurescape.tv/2010/05/innovative-digital-narrative-projects-at-bbc-childrens-interactive.html

Vtech Storio

I saw an advert on TV the other day for Vtech Storio, a system that uses interactive animated stories to help teach kids to read. They say it is "the world’s first animated e-Book Reader for children".

Storio is aimed at ages 3-7 years and will get children motivated and excited about reading, in a fun and informative way. Some of the stories include well known characters such as the Mr Men, Scooby-Doo and Shrek.

This is one example of how interactive narratives are presently being used as a tool for educating children.

Story Outline

I have come up with a basic outline for my story.
It is about a lonely polar bear who wakes up from a long winter hibernation and, after so much time on his own, decides to go out and make some friends.
He travels to different locations and meets lots of different animals on the way who he tries to make friends with but each of the animals has an excuse or a reason why they can't be friends. Just when he thinks he won't find anyone to be friends with, he meets female bear who is also looking for a companionship. They become friends and they live happily ever after...