EMMA - Field Research 01

So, what would be the first term that'd come to mind when talking about my interests? Right: Concept Art. It is a wide and varying term, used throughout many different visual projects.

Below you can see some random examples from my image folder, each showing different designs.









The topmost is from the latest 3D Disney movie Scrooge (A Christmas' Carol), then a picture from the game Guild Wars, another Disney design from Sleeping Beauty and finally some concept sketches from Disney's Mulan. (Truly, I've chosen too many Disney movies...)
These images all represent work made in the conceptual phase, where the first visuals are made to finally converge into a single (coherent) style. However, within these hundreds upon hundreds of sketches, I often find a few outstanding ones that capture all essence of the movie/game in a single frame! And very very often, the style that is chosen for that single frame, often differs greatly from the style that will become the 'final style' of the project! One of the most striking examples is the Pixar movie Ratatouille.





Above you can see the concept art that has been made. Very lively, scribbly, but an extremely direct visual style. Below, you can see a render from the final movie. There is nothing scribbly! I find the often 'clean' end results very disappointing.
I have discussed this subject with quite a few people, and even though I haven't done extensive research as of yet, many came to the conclusion that the concept art would've been undoable to translate into a moving image. (Which would also communicatie to a large audience, and keep their attention for 90 mins). This is definately a possibility.
However: Pixar went a step further with their concept art to prove that their translation into a moving image would be no problem at all. The end credits. My jaw just dropped when seeing these immensely characteristic mice, which personalities did not translate on the 'clean renderings' as good as these cute little animations. These credits were a joy in itself, showing that the very essence, the very core of the ideas that have been (especially) present in the very first sketches - could be brought to live!



In my personal view, Concept Art is regarded as a blueprint for the final product. If there are such capturing and different (!) sketches in the beginning, what is the influence of them on the final product? So what does Concept Art say about the final product?
Seeing that I also enjoy the ever-expanding field of videogames, I can ask the very same question here as well.
However - both animation and videogames' concept art need to undergo a certain translation before it can be used in the final product. It is this change, and this translation that I am currently interested in. Both the translation from idea to concept - or from concept to final product.