Mindmap & Initial ideas

We have begun a new module in OUDF504: Visual Effects And Animation for Film Production, with a brief of creating a one minute effects shot about an alien invasion. Thinking of the brief, I didn't want to create another alien due to the last module, however I soon found out that the 'alien' could be anything we wanted. I was quite interested in doing something with robots, so I began creating a mindmap with various robot designs from  film and video games.

I looked into many robots and saw that there were many variations on the basic idea. I knew that I wanted a more human looking robot in anatomy but not necessarily too complicated. I particularly liked the robots with a screen or television set for a head, such as the robot from FLCL. Other things I took from this was the use of basic geometric shapes to form bodies and the use of an arm cannon.

The TV head style is something that I think looks really nice and it will help me avoid complicated head models and rigging. I also feel it will give the character a more unique look than more traditional robots.