@Alan - Minor - Rough Story and Character Notes

Setting: 1600s (fantasy twist, mages and elves etc), Oak Island Treasure. (might rename)

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Rough story:

In times of old, before people walked the land there were 2 groups. One of light and one of darkness. They got on well, keeping balance in the world. One day the group of light decided to create life to live on their world, creating people of different races and gifting them with elemental magic. The group of darkness, however, created one race called the Grimm. Gifting them with the power to destroy. The two groups fought and eventually settled on a deal. Their races would live on the earth in harmony, live their lives, but the magic and powers would rarely pass down through their offspring and the groups would no longer exist, leaving their creations to coexist. However, the group of darkness left one last “gift” to the people, hidden away. A powerful relic that would bring back the two groups and reset their world. And thus began life in their world...

The story takes place in this present-day world (1600 setting) where two groups are looking for the relic left behind by the group of darkness. One is a group of pirates, hired by the Queen for this task in order to bring the relic under protection so it doesn’t fall in the wrong hands. The other is a group of Grimm, the last of their race, searching for the relic left by their ancestors the group of darkness. The leader wants to reset the world to rebuild it so the Grimm can have a better chance in the new world.

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Races:

Humans: Normal people, no natural magic, nothing special about them. Can only use magic through use of rare enchanted amulets.

Eleva: Elven like folk from the mountains. Most of the natural magic users come from this race.

Grimm: Look similar to humans? Very few exist and those that do work together to study their ancestors of the group of darkness.

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Protagonist: Leader of a Pirate crew hired by the Queen to find the treasure before Antagonist does. At first, only doing it for the money, but quickly figures out the Antagonists plans and develops a goal to stop them.

Antagonist: Leader of a powerful group of Grimm that wants to reset the world for the good of their people. Needs the relic from the Island to do this. Barely shows emotions, cares deeply for their people. Doesn't want to reset the world but believes it is the only way her people can have a chance.

Environment: Oak Island Swamp. Bayou. Old trees, vines. Relic exists way deep in a system of labyrinthian caves. Many who have tried to find the Relic have died.

@Alan - Minor - Initial Character Design

Character Sketches / 1-9

Character Sketches / 10-12

Some initial sketches for the character design. I'm leaning toward 2-5, 8 and 10 the most.

2,4 and 8 for the Pirate character and 3,5 and 10 for the antagonist. I'm going to develop these ideas next to get a better idea of the direction of the characters.

Minor - Workload

I decided to draft up a workload table for this project and how I'll split the work between minor and major. Depending on how fast or slow I get things done, bits may move to and from minor and major as I work. (eg. modelling may take a while so UV and Texturing could get moved into major and put after rigging, etc.)

Now I'm going to start on preliminary designs for my pirate captain and the antagonist. I'll aim to get one or two "sketch dump" pages per character.

Minor - Mini Update

In the last post, I said I was going to do my second idea of the 1960s superhero/villain world.

Since talking to Alan it was actually decided the other idea would bring more results and I absolutely agree so in the last week I've been researching my Oak Island idea instead. I'm very excited to get into it.

For reference, this is the Oak Island idea:

"Set in 17th-century Europe, a group of alienated individuals (who/why?) plan to lead a rebellion against the masses. Hired by the main kingdom, our heroes (a group of pirates assisted by the Queen's guard) set off to end the revolution and stop countless of innocents from dying.

Again this could work and has a nice period setting. It's still a little vague though - Basically, it needs more detail about the 'alienated individuals and their reasons'. Missing character specifics too. Have you heard of the 'Oak Island' treasure?. Look it up. There is potential in that islands 'real' mysteries in relation to this story.

(I can see the oak island treasure being something that the two groups fight over somehow. maybe its something the alienated group need for their plan, or its some kind of ancient magic.)"

My plan for the outcome of the project is similar to the other idea. I'll work on Designing maybe 2 or 3 characters depending on which idea I choose, orphographs, palette exploration and such. Plus I'll also design a key environment that they would be in for the vignettes. Then after I can start modelling and uving/texturing. And in Major, I can focus on the rigging/skinning and animating the vignettes. And through it, all document it in a Character Bible/Making of document. It would be nice to have something concise and to the point, I can show to potential employers when I graduate of how I got from A to B to C etc, and what I can do.

So far I've been putting together a Pinterest board of clothes from the period setting, pirate clothes, and environments (pirate ship and the oak island swamp).

I have a lot more on my Pinterest board than these, but I felt these represent what I have in terms of visual research the best.

Minor - Decided on idea

After thinking about it and getting feedback from a few friends i've decided to to with this idea from my last post:

Bought up in a family of super villains, this naive young girl is torn between continuing her families legacy, and joining the side she deep down knows it right. (set in modern-day UK, where superheroes/villains are known to exist, but not common)

This has potential, but its missing a better setting. Modern day is a little dull for pulp design. For example, you could combine it with the idea and setting below (1960's UK). On one side, a young 'villian' girl wants to be good. On the other side a prophecised young Hero wants nothing to do with his destiny - Both are rejecting their 'lot in life'. Its possible that the hero is rejecting his status by opting to 'being bad'. May be they need each other?

Chosen by prophecy as a hero that could change the world, this young man is doing everything in his power to avoid his responsibilities as a hero. (set 1960s UK) - Above

(This i can absolutely see being like a prince and the pauper story. with the two switching their roles)
As for what I want to accomplish by the end of 3rd year, I think I want to stick with a character-based project with short vignettes. So, designing, modelling, rigging and skinning, texturing and animating short vignettes with them. And also having a character design bible as an outcome.

So during minor, I'll work on Designing maybe 2 or 3 characters depending on which idea I choose, orphographs, palette exploration and such. Plus i'll also design a key environment that they would be in for the vignettes. Then after I can start modelling and uving/texturing. And in Major, I can focus on the rigging/skinning and animating the vignettes. And through it, all document it in a Character Bible/Making of document. It would be nice to have something concise and to the point, I can show to potential employers when I graduate of how I got from A to B to C etc, and what I can do.

Minor - Expanded Ideas

After talking back and forth with Alan over the past week we've narrowed down my ideas a lot.

My first set of ideas was set on writing down random "this but with this" concepts.

1. Alice in Wonderland (fairytales in general?) but it's set in a Post Apocalyptic future.
2. Cinderella but it's set in the 1950s.
3. Seven Deadly Sins but they’re pirates.
4. Romeo and Juliet, but they’re Demons in opposing Mafia.
5. Red Riding Hood, but she’s an assassin tasked to kill the wolf.
6. Esmerelda from the hunchback of Notre Dame, but she’s a hunter/archer.
7. Wendy from peter pan but she steals/manipulates shadows
8. Hansel and Gretel witch hunters

They were quickly shot down and I was given some advice to make better concepts.

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My next set of ideas were much better already but still needed tweaking.

1. Sentenced as a witch in a previous life, this undead girl seeks revenge on those who wronged her. However whilst doing so she uncovers an organisations plot to use gathered magic to destroy the world. Can she stop them before its too late?
2. In the world of Guelliera, there is an alienated race leading a revolution against the masses. Hired by the main kingdom, our heroes (a group of pirates assisted by the Queen's guard) set off to end the revolution and stop countless of innocents from dying.
3. Bought up in a family of super villains, this naive young girl is torn between continuing her families legacy, and joining the side she deep down knows it right.
4. Chosen by prophecy as a hero that could change the world, this young man is doing everything in his power to avoid his responsibilities as a hero.
5. In a world where people are born “souls” that emit energy, this young person has 2. One is dormant and doesn’t bother them until an event at their high school ball awakens it and their life changes forever.
6. A young girl who is shunned by her friend group and told to kill herself for no reason develops PTSD as a result of the abandonment. As she grows up, she struggles to make and keep new friends, but one has stuck with her throughout it all. How will she cope when her only true friend begins to drift away.
7. In hell, there are 7 royal families known as the Seven Circles. When two of the families merge through marriage, the Circles start a competition to crown the new Seventh Circle. Only the one who survives in this contests fight to the death can win.
8. Hunted by humans her whole life, this young demon finally comes across a camp of others just like her. Growing up alongside them she falls in love with their leader. However, one day she finds out that this group of people are not all they seem, and she must work with those who previously hunted her to save the world.
9. A witch abandoned at a wizarding school is cursed with bad luck powers. Struggling to keep up with her studies when everything keeps crashing and burning (literally), a new exchange student with healing powers befriends her. Attacks happen to the school and her curse isn’t doing much to help the schools defences. Will she be able to keep her powers under control with the help of her new friend?

Alan suggested I give them some real-world grounding, a sense of 80% and 20% fantasy.

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1. Wrongly sentenced as a witch and left for dead, this girl seeks refuge in the woods. Taken in by a wise magic wielder, she learns the hidden magic of the realm. She becomes the very thing her village feared, but will she take revenge? Or will she choose to help them? (modern-day Salem?? 1690 Salem?)
2. Set in 17th-century Europe, a group of alienated individuals plan to lead a rebellion against the masses. Hired by the main kingdom, our heroes (a group of pirates assisted by the Queen's guard) set off to end the revolution and stop countless of innocents from dying.
3. Bought up in a family of super villains, this naive young girl is torn between continuing her families legacy, and joining the side she deep down knows it right. (set in modern-day UK, where superheroes/villains are known to exist, but not common)
4. Chosen by prophecy as a hero that could change the world, this young man is doing everything in his power to avoid his responsibilities as a hero. (set 1960s UK)
5. In a world where people are born “souls” that emit energy, this young person has 2. One is dormant and doesn’t bother them until an event at their high school ball awakens it and their life changes forever.
6. In hell, there are 7 royal families known as the Seven Circles. When two of the families merge through marriage, the Circles start a competition to crown the new Seventh Circle. Only the one who survives in this contests fight to the death can win. (unsure how to link this one to the real world.. Could just be a strangely done monarchy based in the real world instead of hell. But I also like the idea of linking the seven deadly sins and the circles of hell to something.)
7. Hunted by humans her whole life, this young woman finally comes across a camp of others just like her. Growing up alongside them she falls in love with their leader. However, one day she finds out that this group of people are not all they seem, and she must work with those who previously hunted her to save the world.
8. A young girl cursed with bad luck is abandoned at a secret wizarding school. Struggling to keep up with her studies when her world is changing and everything keeps crashing and burning (literally), will she be able to keep her newfound powers under control when an unknown force starts to attack? (set in a public boarding school in the 2010s)

Alan shot down a few of these ideas and gave me a few things to look into to improve them. This was his feedback

1. This still needs a bit of 'magical lore' and character specifics, but it works. The visual potential is in the period setting not modern day.
2. Again this could work and has a nice period setting. Its still a little vague though - Basically, it needs more detail about the 'alienated individuals and their reasons'. Missing character specifics too. Have you heard of the 'Oak Island' treasure?. Look it up. There is potential in that islands 'real' mysteries in relation to this story.
3. This has potential, but its missing a better setting. Modern day is a little dull for pulp design. For example, you could combine it with the idea and setting below (1960's UK). On one side, a young 'villian' girl wants to be good. On the other side a prophecised young Hero wants nothing to do with his destiny - Both are rejecting their 'lot in life'. Its possible that the hero is rejecting his status by opting to 'being bad'. May be they need each other?
4. Above
5. Interesting but very vague.
6. Nope!
7. Vague and no setting/character specifics
8. Interesting (albiet a little bit Harry Potter). Not sure how much depth this idea has beyond one character flaw?
9. 
   

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After this, I chose 2 of these ideas to develop. My plan is to do a character design project, working toward designing, modelling, rigging and skinning, texturing and animating short vignettes with them. And also having a character design bible as an outcome.

1. Set in 17th-century Europe, a group of alienated individuals (who/why?) plan to lead a rebellion against the masses. Hired by the main kingdom, our heroes (a group of pirates assisted by the Queen's guard) set off to end the revolution and stop countless of innocents from dying. - Again this could work and has a nice period setting. Its still a little vague though - Basically, it needs more detail about the 'alienated individuals and their reasons'. Missing character specifics too. Have you heard of the 'Oak Island' treasure?. Look it up. There is potential in that islands 'real' mysteries in relation to this story. - (I can see the oak island treasure being something that the two groups fight over somehow. maybe its something the alienated group need for their plan, or its some kind of ancient magic.)
2. Bought up in a family of super villains, this naive young girl is torn between continuing her families legacy, and joining the side she deep down knows it right. (set in modern-day UK, where superheroes/villains are known to exist, but not common) - This has potential, but its missing a better setting. Modern day is a little dull for pulp design. For example, you could combine it with the idea and setting below (1960's UK). On one side, a young 'villian' girl wants to be good. On the other side a prophecised young Hero wants nothing to do with his destiny - Both are rejecting their 'lot in life'. Its possible that the hero is rejecting his status by opting to 'being bad'. May be they need each other? Chosen by prophecy as a hero that could change the world, this young man is doing everything in his power to avoid his responsibilities as a hero. (set 1960s UK) - Above - (This i can absolutely see being like a prince and the pauper story. with the two switching their roles)

Next, I plan to do more research surrounding these ideas to figure out which one I want to take forward and would have more fun with.

Minor - Initial Ideas

I've been looking into high concepts and trying to come up with my own (though i am struggling a little), and this is what i have so far:

"Fighting Game (like Smash or Street Fighter), with characters based very loosely on existing premises. I’d focus on the design of each character and their personalities (maybe making 2 or 3 total), 3D model, rig and skin them and animate their move pool as a final outcome for major. It would be set in a futuristic or Post Apocalyptic future.


Concepts:

1. Alice in Wonderland (fairytales in general?) but it's set in a Post Apocalyptic future.
2. Cinderella but it's set in the 1950s.
3. Seven Deadly Sins but they’re pirates.
4. Romeo and Juliet, but they’re Demons in opposing Mafia.
5. Red Riding Hood, but she’s an assassin tasked to kill the wolf.
6. Esmerelda from the hunchback of Notre Dame, but she’s a hunter/archer.
7. Wendy from peter pan but she steals/manipulates shadows
8. Hansel and Gretel witch hunters"

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Another Idea I've had is based on an old college project (that back then in my youth i lovingly called cloudland).

The basic premise of it is as follows:

"In the world of Guelliera, there is an alienated race leading a revolution against the masses. Hired by the main kingdom, our heroes (a group of pirates assisted by the Queen's guard) set off to end the revolution and stop countless of innocents from dying."

The setting would be fantasy, with magic and non-human (but still humanoid) races included. Over the summer I did do some initial sketches into what some of the characters could look like.

From left to right we have:
An uptight grumpy elven mage, right-hand man to the captain and quartermaster of the ship.

Captain of the main pirate fleet, elven in nature and ruthless.

A seductive but no-nonsense rare human mage.

The head of the Queen's guard, very smart and always has a few tricks up her sleeves.

The newest addition to the Queen's guard, another elven mage who hides a dark past.

The boatswain for the ship, fun-loving and rarely takes anything seriously.

Minor - Project Update

As annoying as this is to do and as much as I don't want to do it, I'm reluctantly changing my project and starting fresh for third year. After talking to Alan it was decided to drop my previous project due to lack of progress and the fact that it would be hard to do animatic work and pre-production work while also doing production work. It's not practical and would cause time management issues in the long run.

After a very quick chat with him, it was decided my best approach would to be to work toward a goal of short vignettes for a group of characters. Therefore he's instructed me to look at High Concept as a starting point since I struggle with coming up with world ideas.

High Concepts are basically pitches for films, games etc that describe the premise of a story in one line.

Some examples:
Treasure Planet is just Treasure Island but in space.
Princess and the Frog is The Frog Prince but set in New Orleans.

Alan has suggested that I come up with some of my own High Concepts as a jumping off point which I can then use to create an idea and characters for a series of vignettes.

Right now I want to create characters for a kind of Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat inspired game idea. A series of characters that look visually appealing and have their own unique personality and movements that would fit with the world. The vignettes would be a small compilation of their move pool.

Toolkit 3 - 5 Minute Speed Pose Week 1

Personal - Summer Sketches 2019

A small selection of some of my favourite sketches I did over the summer holidays.