Our character is going to be 'robot' in some way. We want to capture a sense of isolation from other people, of 'the norm', and have been looking at a range of films, including Spike Jonze's 'I'm Here'. An element of depicting this isolation, and difference is through a robotic style, or a style in which the character seems human, but face is covered up. It's an interesting costume choice, as in a way it dehumanises the subject, yet if used well, can create empathy and sympathy from the audience.
The 'cardboard box head' idea stuck with me when we were talking about this 'robot'-like character, as it is simple, definable and clear. A worry is that if the design is over complex the character would be overshadowed by it's look. The 'cardboard head' style conjures up images of play, and if we are messing with idea of the character not being a literal robot, but more a 'metaphorical' one, then having a more illustrative design may help this. For example, this advert below shows how simple the design can be whilst still being striking.
Therefore I've been playing with designs mainly for the head of the character. Practically too, if we have a striking head piece, we don't have to worry about a complete body piece for the character, allowing more movement and a more 'human' element to come through whilst simultaneously making it easier on ourselves cost/building wise.
I attempted some designs that varied from the square head, but felt they were a little too busy. The 'layered' effect in the bottom central images could still be incorporated in the final design however. The 'square head' slowly became a little battered and deflated, to avoid the cliche 'box head' look, whilst still having it. It also hopefully shows how tired the character is becoming.
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