Expressing

Continue here tenth account of operative agent animator.
Facial expressions and lip-sync. Images of this animator "facial gestures references".

After studying my own images and other character references I modelled several faces of Torquemada to be used as "blendshapes" or morph targets.

Moving

Begins here ninth account of operative me, agent animator Daniel Arce. Starting to bother with movement. Now that Torquemada has a body, skeleton and skin. How should he move? Well now this is a awkward position, cause all those months we've been trained basically in cartoon animation, but certainly Torquemada is not a cartoon character. So he's an inquisitor, he's serious, very serious, he got the power, control, he can't let any feeling to betray him. He is a rock. So now this is quite contradiction if hes is a rock, how a rock-man should move, does he move?
I went back to see references, and as I though the inquisitor in The Name of The Rose, moves quite subtle but the opposite to Bernardo Gui, Torquemada doesn't explodes.
The target is to talk in silence, to express movement in stillness. Tricky question.
Fortunately I received some pieces of advice from an actress drama student: Bruna Lungo, we had a conversation about the concept of dynamic immobility and also se commented an acting technique named "The corporeal mime" which means briefly how to use every single part of your body with a purpose: drama.
Well I guess is easier if I show you:



Here you can watch a beautiful moving/animation reference. "The sandman" Shortfilm directed and animated by Paul Berry and Batty Berry Mackinnon - 1992
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjgHbRrnjhU

Featuring Torquemada

3D model with UVs and textures.


One scene preview.

3D Character: Torquemada

Some snapshots of Torquemada's 3D model. Work in progress.

Synopsis

As expected after the second coming of Christ, human beings nearly find their end, destroying almost everything even their memories through several years of world wide wars. Torquemada the new General Inquisitor tries to rebuild a government and a society following the ancient Catholic Inquisition system and doctrines. But he also has a lack of memory, thus he needs to commit heresy in order to remember what happened to God.

Animatic Work in progress. (Torquemada is a 3D animated CG shortfilm).

Inspired by...

In the meantime let me show you some two different film references about inquisition.
One is the well known Umberto Eco's book "The name of the Rose" and also the film directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud.


A quite different and bizarre version of the Inquisition times. Ken Rusell's The devils.

Character design: Torquemada

Inspired by Fray Tomas de Torquemada I create a newer version of the old first General Inquisitor of The "Santo Officio". Here I got some sketches before the CG version.

My previous versions were pretty similar to other comic character so I tried giving him a mask instead of a face... Naahh.

Torquemada test version by Angelica del Valle, a Colombian Graphic designer and very talented illustrator.


Well. There are the final "blueprints" drawings for 3D modeling.

About Torquemada project Pt.II

Following Don Justino´s eyes I ended into Spanish Inquisition and is hard to talk about that institution without naming Fray Tomas de Torquemada, the General spanish Inquisitor. And researching deep into it I discovered the "Directorium Inquisitorum" by Nicolau Eymeric (1376 aprox.), and I could read about the doctrines which rules the inquisition and discover terrified about some ludicrous laws and "logical" arguments to find, judge and condemn the heretics.

What I pretend with my short-film is to show how absurd and arbitrary is the idea of holding an ineffable truth, a dogma, interpreting gods thoughts and wishes and I say absurd because what is truth now can be the greatest falsehood tomorrow, what is a sin can be be a virtuous. What is god, can even be the devil in other time or furthermore, just for other people. Or even for ourselves in different contexts.

Inspired by

This new project was inspired by a specific painting: Portrait_of_Don_Justino_de_Neve. By Bartolome Esteban Murillo
-You can see the painting in my previous post or visit:
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/bartolome-esteban-murillo-portrait-of-don-justino-de-neve

Despite the fact that this is a portrait, Don Justino de Neve is not posing at all, in other words, he is not faking a pose.
His hieratic, freezing, static posture doesn´t seems to be artificial, even if is an static and non relaxing position, his back is unnaturally straight and slightly separated from the back of the chair, his hands holds very gentle, on the one hand a small book and on the other he rest and at the same time supports his posture. We are watching a non relaxed person. That doesn`t means he is stressed, is just that he has control of his body and emotions all the time, that´s why despite the fact he is holding a quite hard position, he seems to be in peace. De Neve is in peace with himself, he is not happy, not sad, is very hieratic, neutral, inexpressive; his eyes demonstrates confidence, but, that peace includes or could include terrible actions, like unfair imprisonment, torture or even murders but murders in the name of God, in the name of the truth. But even if he has some crimes in his hands he doesn`t think them as sins, mistakes or crimes, those actions are just the natural consequence of fighting heretic believes, and he, Don Justino de Navas probably owns the supreme power, the unique truth the infallible power to condemn the sinners, the heretics and also the humanity.

About Torquemada project

Finally after lots of days and nights, drawings and pixels, wrinkles and gray hairs, this course is coming to an end but we'll see the return of Fray Tomas de Torquemada, an incomplete and also sinner version of the Spanish Inquisitor in form of a CG character (what a blasphemy).

The short film "Torquemada" is my final project for the Postgraduate Dip in Character Animation at Central Saint Martins College of Arts and Design. (University of the Arts London), in collaboration with The National Gallery http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/

For this occasion we're compelled to create a short film inspired by a painting from The National Gallery.
Well, here there is my chosen one.

PORTRAIT OF DON JUSTINO DE NEVE by Bartolome Esteban Murillo 1665