All the questions below I hope will affect my final design I hope to take the information that I learned and infiltrate it into my overall design and then hopefully the storyboard process later.
Questions I have –
- Where do bats live ?- Hibernation roosts, corner of a chimney, hollow trees, caves, buildings, hanging tiles/boarding, mountains, farmlands, rain forests and roof spaces.
- Can bats see in the dark?– Yes they can but at night their ears are more important as they use echolocation.
- Are bats nocturnal?- Most bats are nocturnal but some do hunt during the day.
- Whats is a bats wing span + Body weight?- The smallest bat, and arguably the smallest extant mammal, is Kitti’s hog-nosed bat, which is 29–34 mm (1.14–1.34 in) in length, 15 cm (5.91 in) across the wings and 2–2.6 g (0.07–0.09 oz) in mass. The largest bats are the flying foxes and the giant golden-crowned flying fox, Acerodon jubatus, which can weigh 1.6 kg (4 lb) and have a wingspan of 1.7 m (5 ft 7 in). Link
- Are bats endangered? -24 bat species are critically endangered.
- What are bats main source of food?- Insectivores, eating moths, wasps, beetles, gnats, mosquitoes, midges and mayflies.
- How many species of bat are their?- “1,300 bat species distributed across six continents; about 50 bat species live in national parks across the United States, and Indonesia hosts 219 bat species”.
Next I began looking at bats within films to get an idea for character design but I think we’ll end up going for Caitlin’s design as hes the reason are short is based on a bat. Below is a mood board on bat characters that I found interesting –
(All images used can be found on google)
Next I began looking into the places that bat’s might chose to inhabit below is the source images that I found and hopefully will take inspiration in. What I think drew my eye the most would be the attic/barn areas which. was also suggested by Chloe I think this would be a great idea and I’m already thinking through concept designs for these areas.
As I mentioned above I liked the idea of the barn/attic so I did a little mood board into what I was imagining –
As it was mentioned in the brief to explore narrative not only in the character but through the environment as well I already began thinking through modeling later and lighting which I’ve also created a moldboard for.
To me I began thinking through a secondary character maybe which I thought could be a firefly to help aid the baby bat through the dark and experience the night in all its glory. As you can see above I’ve already thought through how light would affect the room through various crevices and windows so that the narrative that. I explained earlier can be told. (The window indicates the sunset and the baby bat growing increasingly nervous.)
Shannon Murray - University of Ulster Animation 