Chosen Audio Clip: Character Synopsis

I decided to first identify the clip I intend to use before creating my characters with the Morpheus Rig. I didn't want to create my characters firstly, and then fall short on the quality of the clip because I've limited myself to a specific criteria of character. I am happy with my chosen audio piece and therefore began constructing what characters I imagine would be in such a scenario.

The interviewee character has a very youthful and quirky voice, therefore I decided to create a young adult female character for her part. The interviewer character has a voice that is far more mature and authoritative and therefore I imagined her character to look older in appearance than her co-star.

The chosen clip does not make much sense to an audience on its own as it is just a small section taken from a whole scene between the two women. Therefore I thought it would be best to create my own character synopsis for the main character to imagine my own scenario and unique take on the scene. I've decided not to write a character synopsis for the interviewer character as she has limited number of lines which only act as a contrasting rebound and driving force to the big personality and comedy of the first character.

Character 2 (Interviewee)

Born into a family of wealth, Character 2 has had a rather spoon-fed life. Living glamorously from her parent's generous allowance,  she is a socialite who loves to have fun and doesn't take life too seriously. However, her mother and father have taken great care in giving her the best education to set her up for the future, knowing that some day she will have to stop relying on them and prove her own worth.

Quite the mathematician, Character 2 has a bright future ahead of her, although her lazy ways leave her at a disadvantage of becoming an independent adult and a working young woman. Her charm and cunning had kept her living comfortably thus far and safe under her father's radar, however the strain of watching their young party-girl put her knowledge and talents to no use had gone too far. In fear that she would not change her ways, her parents felt that the best thing to do was to cut her allowance and arrange a job interview for her in accounting.

Character 2 is happy the way things are, and she's not ready quite yet to leave it all behind. Reluctantly, and after much persuasion, the feisty heiress finally agreed to at least attend the interview, however she understood that this didn't mean she actually had to take the job. She is no stranger to getting what she wants and she knows that this time will not be any different. She will do anything, even sabotage the interview, so she can keep her perfect life. 

Chosen Audio Clip: Dialogue Script/Audio Timed Breakdown

Character 1: I have been uhm... looking over your resume and I have to say, I am very Impressed. 

0:12 - 0:16 (4 seconds)

Character 2: Oh, thank you.

0:16 - 0:17 (1 second)

Character 1: You know, actually I think, to be honest you are over-qualified to be an accountant. (laughs)

0:17 - 0:23 (6 seconds)

Character 2: Oh well that's okay, I don't intend to work very hard.

0:23 - 0:26 (3 seconds)

(3 second pause)

Character 1: Uh... Really?

0:29 - 0:31 (2 seconds)

Character 2: Absolutely. In fact, I only intend to show up when I feel like it. Which is good because I have a wide variety of extremely annoying personal habits and absolutely no sense of hygiene. 

0:31 - 0:42 (11 seconds)

30 seconds total.

Chosen Audio Clip: "Interview With An Applicant"

I chose this short comedy sketch from Director Paul Del Vecchio for 'Triple E Productions'. It shows a moment of confusion and comedy between two female characters during a job interview. The section specifically that I am using begins at 0:12 seconds to 0:42 seconds, lasting exactly 30 seconds in total.

 I chose this section in particular as it shows a clear change of emotion and character, and really turns a casual and 'normal' situation in to something unbelievable and funny. The interaction between the two women is a great moment and the voices are of good audio quality, clear and concise which is extremely beneficial to make the lip sync as simple and flowing as possible.

Below is the audio I will be using between 0:12 and 0:42 seconds:

Lip Sync: "You Feeling Alright There Phil?"

Our tutor gave us a short audio file of a male voice saying "You feeling alright there Phil?" We were given the Morpheus Rig head to work from and were required to alter the shape of the mouth whilst using the audio file on the Maya timeline to create a convincing lip sync. 

I found the best way to create a realistic lip sync was to work from personal reference. I recorded myself multiple times reciting the phrase- fast and naturally, slowly and precisely, accentuating the mouth movements and with different emotion. Once I was happy with my reference footage I began working on my lip sync, working between assumption and common sense, and the reference footage.

Here was my first lip sync test:

I did the first test without any facial animation, solely focusing on the lip sync and animation of the mouth. Making sure to replicate the natural movement of the lips, teeth and tongue by keeping the shapes asymmetrical. I tried to keep the movements realistic and true to life as opposed to an exaggeration.

I then began to add facial animation, tilting the head slightly and giving it more free movement as it is rare that when interacting with something we will keep our head still. When I tilted the head, I changed the expression slightly by changing the expression of the eyebrows, squinting the eyes and I kept the pupils facing the centre point. I felt that this added a more natural feeling touch to the lip sync and animation. 

Here is my finished lip sync:

Life Drawing: Silhouetting Exercise

Morpheus Rig: Posing the Rig

I used my customised rig to create a variety of dynamic poses which expressed various emotions and gave character to the rig. I created an ecstatic/happy pose, a distraught/sad pose, a confident/flirty pose and an unimpressed/sassy pose, each accompanied by a 3D rotation turntable to fully exhibit each pose.

Happy

Sad

Flirty

Sassy

Morpheus Rig: Customising the Rig

We were asked to download the Morpheus Rig for our character performance unit. The rig was easily customisable and we were given the task of creating our own unique character by changing the pre-set features of the face, hair and body.

This is the original Morpheus file without any alteration:

And this is is my customised 'Morphy' character:

I changed the body shape to a more feminine one with curves, emphasising the chest and hips. I decided on a darker olive skin tone, changed the hair to red and gave the bodysuit a slight green hue. I made the nose more defined and narrow, the lips wider and fuller ,and the eyes and pupils larger and more deep set in to the face. All of this combined created a feminine rig with features that are suggestive of youth, beauty and innocence.

 As well as altering the 3D features of the character rig, I also took the face map and painted over it in 'Paint Tool Sai' using a graphics tablet. I added a dark tint and hand drawn eyelashes around the eyes and a darker terracotta red coloured lip to make the character seem more womanly and feminine. I also added slightly pink blushed cheeks with freckles to make her appear more innocent and youthful. Here is a before and after of the face map.