Another Shot at the Girl

So I really need to start modeling the girl's clothing soon if we expect to make the deadline of having the fully rigged and ready character before semester starts. Wanted to draw one last proposal before our meeting tomorrow. This is a Photoshop paint over of the 3D model, so everything here is proportionately accurate to the model I did months ago. I did it this way so I could get an idea of how old she looks, and get a closer preview to a final result. I also deliberately made her hair shorter and took out a long dress because it can cause big headaches trying to fix dynamic simulations.

To me she looks in her early to mid teen years, which I am fine with. May not be quite as young as what we may have been imagining in terms of story, but let me explain why this age is ok with me.

To start, it is incredibly difficult and time consuming for me to make age corrections. Sure, it's an easy fix drawn out, make the eyes, forehead, and cheeks bigger, and scrunch the mouth and nose closer together, but with 3D comes another complication. I have consider what I like to call the porciline doll effect:

An example that comes to mind is a Christmas Carol. The children look well, like porcelain dolls. To me it is a bit out of place in contrast to the other characters, but it's done for a reason. It's not just Zemeckis' movies either. Take a look at this new trailer for Toy Story 3. Notice Andy, as a teenager, and the children look like they could literally be from different universes.

There is a trend with 3D films of greatly stylizing children characters for a reason, more realistic children look downright awkward and creepy. Watch Polar Express if you are not following. So for us, if we choose to go even younger I would have find the happy medium between a less awkward stylized look and a look that fits with the other characters and world. Quite frankly I'm not so sure it exists.

In conclusion I would much rather have a slightly older girl that fits in, than a younger child that either looks awkward or feels out place in the universe. That is just my opinion however, perhaps you feel differently.