Environment Design cont.

13/8

Scrambled together some sketches of objects that might be scattered throughout the battlefield, used for the close-up establishing shots of the battlefield.

The mindset for these sketches were the general devastation of a warzone, to underline the wasteful conflict between the two fighters. This is to create stark contrast to the end scene set against a brilliant sunset.

And with some subtle Photoshop magic...

Studio 2 Week 4 - Environment Design

Now that we have some storyboards to build from, we can start thinking about the kind of world that our heroes will inhabit.
The whole story takes place on a battlefield, and doesn't shift anywhere else. A desolate, war-torn type environment I think would suit here, in order to underline the waste of life that the conflict between these characters represents.

Here's a bit of concept art I drew up:



And with a little Photoshop colour manipulation:

Character Design cont.

And now... the CHAOS AGENT!

Ok, I want this guy to be based on a simple principle: he was born to hurt people! This is a being who was made as an engine of destruction, to bring about utter ruin and chaos wherever he treads. I think to convey this he should be considerably superior in stature to our two antagonistic protagonists. Say, twice or maybe three times as tall. I think also he should have a physique that would utterly put Senor Schwarzenegger to shame. These two qualitites will make a nice start towards acheiving a nice contrast to our heroes.

But what will he look like?

I think the classic demon look is a good start, as that is what he represents; hell manisfested. But there are many different kinds of demons! I think those which incorporate a more animalistic, wild appearence will be ideal, as they add even more contrast to the Chaos agent's foes.


For the sake of my poor hands and my limitied timeframe, I think a bit a combination of all of these different head designs suits our purpose quite nicely.

Studio 2 Week 3 - Storyboards

Ok, so we have some crazy characters to play around with, but what to do with them? Put them in a movie, that's what! XD

I spent this week whipping up some storyboards featuring the characters, courtesy of Toon Boom Storyboard (thx Cheryl!) The basic storyline so far is as follows:

On a charred battlefield, two fighters face off. After a brief exchange, they are accosted by a powerful monster, who quickly defeats them both. The two opponents realize their only chance of victory is to put aside their differences and fight together. The monster attacks again, but this time one fighter counters and manages to hold the foe powerless. The second fighter then leaps in with a mighty slash and finishes the monster off. After a brief exchange of mutually respectful gestures, the fighters part ways, leaving their weapons as a testament to their ongoing alliance.

The biggest difficulty by far with these storyboards has been scanning them into the computer individually, as it is very time consuming.

Toon Boom Storyboards really helped a bunch with this process, enabling me to quickly and efficiently combine my scanned storyboard images into a single video without having to resort to a program like After Effects or Final Cut.

Studio 2 Week 2 - Character Design

So, we have an agent of life and death (rebirth) vs each other, until an agent of chaos or destruction comes down to ruin their day. Cool!

But that would take a hell of a lot of dialogue or backstory to convey all of that. I don't plan on having much dialogue at all, if any in this animation. Or for that matter, a dialogue- or textual-based introduction. Hence, I need to build this backstory into the design of the characters themselves... (prepare for some super-awesome concept art too!! XD)

THE LIFE/DEATH AGENTS
The first and most important thing to convey with the design of these characters is how similar these characters are, but also fundamentally different. They are essentially light and dark, but also two sides of the same coin. Both agents are anatomically similar, what sufficiently takes care of similarities. But I think a more subtle approach to the differences is needed, to convey the differences. Here is where we can start to bring in some of their beliefs and prejudices and weave those into their costumes and props.

So, sun for life, moon for death. Good start!

I imagine the Life agent as a sort of fiery, passionate individual with a samurai-like attitude towards honour and duty. A sword would therefore be a good choice as his/her weapon of choice, but more on that later. Costume-wise, this guy/girl is going for functionality over form. His/her costume has to allow a degree of movement and finesse, as that is what he/she relies upon to be an effective fighter. Pants, therefore would be preferable over something like robes or a cloak. The Life agent would probably maintain a more sparse philosophy when it comes to accessories, as it is less practical to have things dangling off of you whilst streaking through the air landing death strokes on everyone within reach. Therefore I think he/she would incorporate his/her heraldry and identifying symbols into his/her clothing, so that it is still openly apparent to his/her foes but less constrictive. I think bright, or even majority white would make a good colour scheme for the life agent, reinforcing his/her role as a champion of the Day.

The Death agent, therefore, is the polar opposite. I envision him/her being a more mystical, priest-like type, calm, cold and calculating. Long sweeping robes and a hood come to mind, as this person is all about concealment, being an agent of darkness and shadow. From that, the mind instantly leans towards a dark, sweeping decor with bright areas to highlight any glyph or symbol important to the agent. Being mystical, the Death agent could have pendants and wards incorporated into his/her costume, as his/her strength is drawn from without rather than within.

As for a weapon, I think a staff or scythe would comfortably reinforce the reaper/priest association of the agent of Death.

coming soon...

THE CHAOS AGENT!

Character motivations II

I like the idea of life and death being a central motivation of the conflict between these two. A classic battle between two forces of life are birth and death. Which brings to mind an image of a baby fighting a skeleton. Nahh, lets not go there (but maybe come back to that notion later...).

Life is a cycle, with birth, death and rebirth. Perhaps this battle can take place between agents of Birth and Rebirth respectively. Here we can introduce the notion of belief; one opponent wants to preserve life in its current form and the other wishes to hasten life's rebirth into a newer form, through death. And the force which brings them both together with the common purpose of protecting life utterly? A force of destruction, in its purest form seems efficient.

So, we have two beings, fighting in the name of different beliefs/philosophies but with ultimately the same purpose, coming together to combat something which threatens both.

Narrative & Character motivations

I'm mulling over the two foe's I've concocted, trying to figure out who they are, and why they are fighting in the first place.

The Warcraft 3 clip shows a battle between a human and orc, in a fantasy world with- nope. That's been done to death. BORING!!

Sci-Fi is definately my favorite genre of anything, so that's a good starting point. Two people from two worlds fighting for land? Resources? Women? I think belief is a good place to start. Belief is the cause of so much conflict in the world today, why not echo this with these two foes? Cool. But then, what would drive these two bitter enemies to put aside their differences and stand as one? Survival! I'd sure rather grudgingly accept the help of a enemy than face utter annihilation!

So, what is the conflicting belief in question here? Is it differing religions, or scientific philosophies?

I play Warhammer 40k, which is set in the far future in which every race in the galaxy is embroiled in conflict, each for a bunch of reasons. Of all these races, the two who stand out for me are the Necrons and Eldar. The Necrons are a race of immortal machines who forsook mortal lives to exist forever, where the Eldar are essentially future Elves; wise, elegant and on the brink of extinction. Why do these two stand out from the others? They have been at it for millions of years, before most of the other races even existed. The concept of two foes ceasing hostilities after millions of years of conflict is laughable... or is it? Perfect scenario for my concept!

While there are plenty of big nasty things to draw upon to have them fight together against. But I think the more pertinent quesiton is: On what common ground do these previous foes fight?

I like the idea of life being the central theme here. Life is such a brief and often violent thing, which some of us are forced to fight for every day. How about two foes fighting over life, whether that be to destroy, create or preserve it. Something big and nasty comes along and threatens both opponent's goals. Suddenly they find themselves postponing their previous conflict in light of the greater threat.

This creates intrigue in itself. Are these two truly stronger united than divided? Can they overcome such a foe? And most important of all. What happens if they DO defeat the big nasty? Do they continue to fight, or do they reconcile? Going back to my previous thoughts on this, I like the idea of a grudging admittance of respect, and a parting of ways. This leaves us with no illusions of the opponent's supposed 'friendship', but also gives us that traiterous seed of hope: perhaps these two people can come together in peace.

Studio 2 Week 1

Week 1 Studio Lab:

What do I do this semester for a studio project? Question asked. Answer? Play to my strengths, and create a monster of a product to go out with!

So, what are my strengths...?

During my time at Monash Uni, I've found that I have a profound hatred for programming. In fact, anything "technical". Why won't this work? That tiny line of code? Get out. Web Design or Flash Application ruled out. Instead, I love making pretty things with a purpose. I love to create a transportation for someone, to a faraway place where they can escape the world. Animated Short Story ruled in!

Which leaves me with a choice. 2D or 3D? I love both! How to resolve this...

Back to Plan A. Play to my strengths. My 3D modeling skills could get me over the line, but animation? Trip at the finish. I love to sketch, scan and Photoshop meddle. And I love Flash. And After Effects. 2D wins.

So, what am I actually going to create an animation of...?

Back to Plan A again. Pretty with a purpose. Purpose... People have a sense of purpose. In fact, two people with opposing purposes often end up in conflict. Good start for a scenario! But what are these people fighting over? Does it matter? Do we care?

War isn't the answer, as the saying goes. So how do these two opposing people resolve their differences? I cast my memory back to 2002, to the release of Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos. Great game. Why? Well for many reasons, but the one for me was that it told a great story of people (many people, in fact) uniting in the face of a bigger, more terrible foe. This video gives you the basic gist of things:

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f96hKqkY_Y

Great basis for a narrative! But it doesn't have an end... Being the happy and optimistic person I am, I'd like the new friends overcome their new foe. But then, what becomes of them? Do they resume their old conflict? Or is this the blossoming of a shiny new friendship. OK, I'm not quite THAT optimistic. People who have deep-running differences don't simply become friends, even under these dire circumstances. Perhaps a compromise then, between two grudging allies with newly-found respect for one another.

Narrative, check. But how to bring these characters to the screen...? That shiny cinematic was 3D, and hence the enemy of my existence... I want to go crazy with the character design, but animating a whole bunch of armour plates and a hundred other such details? How to achieve both, but remain within the 12 week time frame...

Casting my memory back again (possibly 2002 again), I remember another game: Homeworld. This game makes extensive use of pre-rendered cutscenes, all hand drawn and featuring a simple yet elegant form of animation. Peruse here:

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrW4jkQdmjI
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPxLqlDmJ8c

Using this style, I draw in as much detail as I liked, whilst maintaining very simple animations and selectively animating only the important parts.

Time to go away and whip up some character concepts and storyboards...

Cheryl suggested a great animation package:

- http://www.toonboom.com/products/toonBoomStudio

Apparently this software is oriented more closely towards animation than Flash (more of an all-rounder). Good to know, when I come to some serious character animations later on. In addition, I=it is readily compatible with Flash. Win on all fronts.

Mo.