Cody has had some design changes in the gap between semesters, mostly because I was breaking their design in my animation tests and I decided to lean into it. One of the biggest things is that Cody’s hair is actually going to be down for the majority of the animatic. I realized there wasn’t a good point where they could have their hair up like in the old turnaround, so I’ve decided to leave it down until the very end of Part 1.
I sort of went back to the idea of giving them short hair to begin with and then it gets longer in Part 2 to show the passage of time, but I wasn’t vibing with what I was coming up with because it just kind of didn’t look like Cody to me.
So I went back to the long hair idea, and I just really liked having the hair draping over their shoulders. Their facial anatomy also started changing with these sketches, something about the big nose really gave Cody some extra personality in my opinion. I also really locked down their ponytail look here, keeping the round shapes from the old design.
Cody has two costume changes through the whole animatic. The first is what I have named Going Out, and it’s Cody’s usual clothes for leaving the house. I thought about giving them a collared shirt + sweater vest combo, but that got complicated quickly for an outfit that’s only going to be in a couple of shots. I went for a simpler jumper in the end.
The other is what I have lovingly dubbed the Depression Fit, though this one is also technically only in a few shots. Cody will have the same outfit from Part 1 until the wardrobe shot, and that’s where they put on the hoodie.
The expression gesture sheet has two expressions per costume change, and it was a challenge to get the vibes across for the versions with bangs covering the eyebrows. I focused a lot more on the shape of their eyes and their mouth to get the expression to read correctly, while I can rely a lot more on the eyebrows for Going Out.
Cody also holds a lot of props through the animatic, and I will probably do another sketch page or study for hands holding stuff like toothbrushes, smartphones, etc. because I struggle with hands holding small or flat objects.
Their construction sheet is pretty simple, mostly just outlining the rules for their face. Cody has kind of morphed into my personal style over the course of their redesign, and it’s really just their face that’s kept some of the elements from their old design and the references I used for it. The sort of shoulder seam triangle is definitely one of my personal drawing habits, and it really makes Cody feel more like my own character.
The last thing here is Nala’s updated construction sheet outlining some more particular rules for drawing her.
I also do have a beatboard video timed out to some music, but it’s like 4 minutes long so I’ll probably try and split it into Part 1 and Part 2 and see if that uploads properly.
