Geography - Buildings, Landmarks, Bridges and Subway Stations / Lines
New York City, Manhattan Island
Times Square (A) - the central building and focal point in my establishing shot background
The Empire State Building (B) and The Chrysler Building (C) are the secondary points of focus. This screenshot shows them in respect to Times Square (A)
Other buildings and landmarks
Originally, I was going to include the Statue of Liberty, a sign for Central Park and Grand Central Terminal in my establishing shot to really emphasise where my story is taking place, but after researching the landmarks, in particular the size and location, as well as speaking to Ella about New York City (since she has been there some years ago), I've decided to keep with just the three buildings which can be seen in my concept art. I've also asked Ella what she thinks about the setup too.
Bridges
I was contemplating whether to include a bridge in my layout but after researching the positions and directions of New York's bridges, I've realised that it wouldn't work in my film for two reasons, one, the bridge would have to be really big to be seen from the low angle that my diner is set in and two, it would be facing the wrong way in my layout. For these reasons, I have decided to leave out a bridge in my background as it wouldn't support the aesthetics of my film being set in Manhattan.
Subway Stations
After researching which subway stations and lines run near Times Square, I've come to realise that there aren't any elevated subway lines or station near the Times Square which means technically my establishing shot shouldn't have a subway station in the background either. To make sure of this, I placed a New York subway map on top of the Google Map image in Photoshop and cross referenced them. As you can see, the red line I drew (to indicate the subway line I have in my establishing shot) doesn't match up with any of the nearby lines.
Placing the New York subway map on top of my geography in my scene
Although my layout doesn't support the exact New York geography, I am going to keep my elevated subway station in the background because it adds to the aesthetic of my film being set in New York.
Fashion
Waitress
The waitress character in my film is in her mid 20's so she is full of life and positive about herself. This means her uniform and shape grammar has to reflect her view on life to get across the fact that she is the protagonist in my film.
Businessman
The businessman however, is the antagonist, so we have to know there's something up with him before he starts acting strange and his motive becomes clear. His shape grammar has to reflect both his attitude towards life i.e. always thinking he's on top of everyone around him as well as his hidden motive of trying to score one over the waitress by using his look (both suit and posture) to fake an impression of him being rich.
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For the final scene in my film which takes place during the party as the clock strikes midnight, I have decided to go for a glamorous look for the waitress and her friends. This is because it will both compliment the setting of New York during a New Year's Eve party as well as making the humiliation towards the man in the waitress uniform even more humiliating because he'll feel out of place, both for his pride, since he always thought he was on top of the world and everyone around him, and his dignity because he's been forced to wear a waitresses' uniform. To make things worse, he's starting the New Year off by serving food at a diner party for people.
For the glamorous look of the party people and their clothing, I've looked at the icons of the 50's like Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Martha Hyber Sabrina etc. I think using icons as inspiration for the party people will work for the audience as they'll connect with what's on screen better.
Vehicles -
For my establishing shot, I've decided to model a few low poly models of vehicles for my city exterior. They won't be predominant in the scene but rather I'll use them to emphasise both the era and setting of a busy New Year's Eve as well as the waitresses' craving to leave the diner and join the celebrations. The models won't be rigged for animation, but rather I'll just animate the wheels to spin and vehicle body to bounce a little with offset so they create a sense of fun and celebration in the air.
I think that three cars, a bus, a police car and the subway train arriving in the background will be enough to establish the business of New York. I'm also going to be clever with framing the vehicles entering and exiting the scene. In terms of design, the vehicles will have some curves but I'm going to be clever and use as little polys as possible to get away with simple models that will work.
Cars
Buses
Police Cars
Subway Cars
I've decided to look at photographer's work of capturing New York City during the 50's since I find it so interesting and a useful source of inspiration. I've found several photographers that I think really captured the mood and setting of a post war New York. Below are some examples of their work that really inspire me.
French photographers Andreas Feininger and Elliot Erwitt as well as Vivian Maier and Berenice Abbott were popular urban photographers who documented the city during the 1950's.
Culture
I think a huge part of 1950's American culture is the slang and phrases that were popular during the period. At the start of this project, I had planned my characters would talk and had the intention of using some 1950's American slang to pull my audience in further to the 1950's New York I envisioned in my head.
I researched this unusual form of slang and found some of the phrases to be quite peculiar. Due to this, I decided to leave out any speaking from my characters and use the graphic art style I am going for and the style of slapstick animation to tell the story of my characters and their encounter with each other.
History
Post World War II and Cold War
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