Thumbnailing and layout composition

After doing research, working visually with the script and getting some referencing photographs, I was ready to start working on the actual backgrounds themselves. I decided that it would be best to start with the most complicated scenes first which were the market scene and the bathhouse scene. In order to make them look as close as possible to the way they looked at that time, I believed it was essential for me to focus on the little details that would help bring them closer to the historical era. Therefore, I started to design the way the market stalls would look like by looking at both book and online references. I looked at various different styles and types of market stalls, combining different elements together from initial drawings until I was happy with the one I wanted to use. As per the storyboard the market stalls were pretty much in every shot of the market scene, I thought focusing and designing it would be essential to create the right type of atmosphere and setting.

Similarly with the bathhouse, I had to look and combine elements from various references in order to create a recognizable setting. I did come across some issues, however as when I first started deadpanning the establishing shot of the bathhouse I did not realist that there were both female and male bathhouses that looked quite different from each other. After realizing, I then had to go back and not completely change but redesign the bathhouse that essentially turned out to be more of my own interpretation rather than a completely similar to the original photographs taken at that time. However, I did not feel that as a problem as I still had the essential elements that helped to emphasise and show the time and place of the setting effectively but also as I didn't have exact images or references of a bathhouse it was mostly left to my own interpretation.

After designing background elements and doing some rough sketches, Sophie and I decided to look at the composition and the different type of camera shots we wanted to use. Whilst looking at the script together, I also started to thumbnail some sketches with notes of where we wanted the camera to be positioned and talked about which angles would be most effective in each shot. It was essential for me to have thumbnails/sketches of the backgrounds as then Sophie would be able to take them and use them to create the storyboard and the animatic. So, after we discussed each scene and decided on the different shots we wanted to use, I then typed them all up and put them on trello so everyone could access it when needed. After that I developed my thumbnails from my sketchbook and decided to continue drawing them digitally instead making easier both for myself and for Sophie who could access them a lot quicker.