Going Live Update 04/2/23

 Going Live Update                                                                                                                                            04/2/23

Figure 1: Map of oz: https://oz.fandom.com/wiki/The_Marvelous_Map_of_Oz

Following on from our second meeting with Wild Child on our Going Live project, we've moved onto refining the characters and making them into one or potentially two grayscale models with a 180-degree turnaround.  They also told us to narrow down the age demographic we're targeting from four to seven years old so that the designs can be simpler and the plots can be more concentrated as if they're being made for five-minute segments. As part of my role for concept artistry on props and assets, I've been assigned to create a map of Munchkinland, which we've chosen as our background location for the project, with a realistic layout for the modellers to create an environment with tastefully placed assets and props.  The basis the tutor suggested for the map included a range of theme park maps including Disney World, Gulliver's Theme Parks, Alton Towers etc.  The references for the children's programming they suggested included Toyland from Noddy, the Munchkinland set from "The Wizard of Oz" (1939) and the environments from Aardman's Timmy Time.  The project will be animated on Maya due to its accessibility within the college and the utilization of the software by Wild Child.

Figure 1: Initial Munchkinland map

This is the first draft map I've designed for Munchkinland, inspired by a backdrop created by TheatreWorld, which makes projections for stage shows.  I chose this because of its colourful, child-friendly aesthetic and colour scheme.  The backdrop also appears to be inspired by the Wizard of Oz theatre production.  My Munchkinland map attempts to recreate this environment without plagiarising it completely, with the red and yellow swirl remaining the centrepiece and surrounded by the hills in the back, a large pond with bridge in the foreground and a series of stairwells.  For the hills, I attempted to do an effect similar to the terrain indicators on Google Maps with grey shading to indicate slopes and higher altitudes.  Whilst my first version is suitably colourful, it needs something more saturated and vivid to capture the attention of the intended audience.  I think creating the next draft on Illustrator might yield more fruitful results.

Figure 3: Munchkinland backdrop: https://www.theatreworldbackdrops.com/backdrops/munchkinland-007-00360

Figure 4: Munchkinland moodboard