For the final piece of the imagined worlds and imagined sounds I need to evaluate and analyse a concept artist as well as produce a piece in a similar fashion to their style.
The artist I have chosen to analyse is Rafael Martin. I specifically chose him for his work on Nike's 2014 world cup advert title 'The Last Game' which follows the story of the best footballers going up against their clones.
Practice:
Rafael Martin is a concept artist providing animations to the film and TV industry but has worked closely with many companies to produce adverts promoting events like tournaments and the world cup. I've already stated my favorite of his work is 'The Last Game'. I also am fond of his 2015 rugby world cup animation and 2016 All-Star Event: Fire and Ice in Barcelona where he was utilized as a background artist. Additionally, He also has made many book covers for Spanish authors where he showcases characters more then the environment. He's clearly showcased he can provide realism as well as a cartoon look. He specializes in concept art and matte painting which as a result landed him a job working with Jellyfish UK.
Environment:
The first thing noticeable to me from the environment is how eye drawing it is. From what I see its Rafael's use of lines which make it stand out so much. Looking at concept art from 'The Last Game' the buildings shown stand out because they are slanted. This adds to the cartoonish effect as well effectively being eye catchy to make the viewer notice the angled lines more then anything.
What the environment speaks to me is the story of the footballers showcased within the animation. The favela scenery reflects the 2 Brazilian players (Neymar & David Luiz) who grew up in areas like these. The environments shown for Brazil are well lit and show a range of colours with bright hues. A quick glance makes the area seem like a nice colourful environment but as we all know the reality is that the favelas in Rio de Janeiro are slums filled with poverty and gangs where football is the only real escape for the kids living there. I feel looking at it the whole thing is juxtaposing with the colourful football side connoting positive things which go against the reality of the location. I believe this also represents the footballers lives which juxtapose. This is because the public all sees them as elite athletes who earn millions per year which drastically contrasts to the life of poverty they grew up in.
Additionally, as well as representing the characters backgrounds its a perfectly represent where the characters in the animation are. In the story the characters have all been replaced by their perfect counterparts and find working class jobs which is reflected in the environment. The environments depicted all show forms of being worn out with rust and cracks in the walls showing. The character in the shopping outlet is on metal floors noticeably rusty as well as the light in the scene showing everything but the characters face showing at this point he is no one of importance and irrelevant from the world of football.
Tone:
Overall the tone shown varies through the different pieces of concept art shown in the pieces. The piece which from a tonal point speaks to me the most is the piece featuring Wayne Rooney working at a harbor. the tone for this is rather bleak and sad. The use of oranges represent rust showing the scenery is run down showing a working class man grudging on with manual labor. Additionally, the most common colour noticeable appears to be brown which can have negative connotations but as their matte colours I would say they're there to represent how dull of an experience it must be for the character setting a bleak tone. Additionally the use of greys for the weather creates an effect of pathetic fallacy where the character is feeling sad and down on his luck as he's been replaced in his line of work.
In addition to this the piece centered around Rio de Janeiro demonstrates the feeling of the sublime. It encases everything that builds the city into it showing the slums around the mountain opposing the higher class areas surrounding it. The building which stands out the most to me is the Estádio do Maracanã. I think that is important as the whole animation is based around football it shows the stadium bringing in the whole of the capital. overall seeing the whole city is beautiful and really encaptures how sublime it.
Application:
Overall I feel that Rafael Martins work couldn't be better. For me he perfectly shows great cartooinsh environments with a realistic feel that also captures and reflects the characters that inhabit the world created. Especially The way how he has tied football into environment like the ones in Rio and how centered it is in relation to football. Nike must have also felt the same about Martins work because his work translates onto the final animation. Looking at his artwork before watching the animation you can really sense his presence in the animation because of how well it correlates on screen.
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