In creating my short film, I need to consider both the story and technical elements of the project. Before designing the robot character, I will need to research household objects and machinery. I want the robot to have a homemade feel, like it was made in a garage with whatever was laying around. I will also look into the robot designs in films such as Star Wars and Wall-E for inspiration when designing the character. Another important area of research would be the 12 principles of animation. This will be essential to know when planning my storyboards and animating the character.
Technical considerations include character modeling, animation, UV mapping/texturing, and lighting. This research will primarily be done through the Maya documentation and Youtube tutorials. If I decide to use Blender instead of Maya, I will need to learn that program. I will also examine films that feature CGI characters, such as Star Wars and Jurassic Park. This research will aid me when filming scenes featuring the robot character. Knowing how to film a character that is not real will assist in making the robot character more believably blend in when it is composited into a live action environment.