Module: Character Design
Assignment 1: Presentation & Design Portfolio of an original charcter
(due in week 6 - 17.03.09) mark weighting: 50%
Breakdown:
- Character Concept 20%
- Annotated Sketches (all angles, poses) 20%
- Character Biography 10%
- Character Interaction Diagram 10%
- Storyboard of Actions 10%
- Sample Dialogue / Sounds 10%
- Market Research 10%
- In-class Presentation (10 mins max) 10%
Assignment 2: Full 2D or 3D Design
(due in week 14 - 29.05.09) mark weighting: 50%
Breakdown:
- Digital Artefact of Character
- Show Reel (all angles, at least 3 action poses)
- Presentation of Show Reel (5 mins max)
- Creative Log / Blog
...which is where this comes in. Whilst we were running through the module study guide I was already concocting ideas for my character. Straight off the bat I decided against a basic human because it's next to impossible to think up a really original human design theme that hasn't been done a thousand times over. The presentation we watched had plenty of ideas for monsters and horror-themed characters and having just finished a 2D project with a cycloptic monster, I was also biased against that route.
So then I started thinking animals. I do fall back on badgers as a sort of go-to idea so I went against that and did some research on other types of animal that could fit into an interesting story. In order to pick one, I needed a story.
I decided I liked the idea of a distant future where roles are almost reversed and humans are on the verge of extinction, where animals have evolved so that they can utilise technology and communication on a level with... say 17th to 20th century humankind, for instance. This got me thinking of a scenario where natural adversaries had also taken their fight up to that level.
Reading through Animal - The Definitive Visual Guide to The World's Wildlife (Ted Smart, Dorling Kindersley 2001) I found a good rivalry and scene: Wolves versus Wolverines in a snowy forest. This immediately made me think of the Bastogne episodes from Band Of Brothers and so I pictured a battle between animal alliances in a cross between military and nature documentary, the sort of scenario that would work well as a dramatic series or game.
"Wolverine" obviously makes you think of the famous Marvel character so any visual similarities need to be avoided. The battle of Bastogne is also very well documented and probably still quite fresh in people's minds from (the excellent) Band of Brothers, so I'm also going to try and avoid straight references to World War II if I can. Looking at natural habitats for the animals, they seemed to share territory around Scandinavia so this gave me the idea of referencing Norse mythology and Old Norse culture in general. Anyway that's a lot of boring text to kick off the blog, so here is some more in the form of the character biography I drafted.
So then I started thinking animals. I do fall back on badgers as a sort of go-to idea so I went against that and did some research on other types of animal that could fit into an interesting story. In order to pick one, I needed a story.
I decided I liked the idea of a distant future where roles are almost reversed and humans are on the verge of extinction, where animals have evolved so that they can utilise technology and communication on a level with... say 17th to 20th century humankind, for instance. This got me thinking of a scenario where natural adversaries had also taken their fight up to that level.
Reading through Animal - The Definitive Visual Guide to The World's Wildlife (Ted Smart, Dorling Kindersley 2001) I found a good rivalry and scene: Wolves versus Wolverines in a snowy forest. This immediately made me think of the Bastogne episodes from Band Of Brothers and so I pictured a battle between animal alliances in a cross between military and nature documentary, the sort of scenario that would work well as a dramatic series or game.And so I picked my character: An evolved wolverine soldier.
"Wolverine" obviously makes you think of the famous Marvel character so any visual similarities need to be avoided. The battle of Bastogne is also very well documented and probably still quite fresh in people's minds from (the excellent) Band of Brothers, so I'm also going to try and avoid straight references to World War II if I can. Looking at natural habitats for the animals, they seemed to share territory around Scandinavia so this gave me the idea of referencing Norse mythology and Old Norse culture in general. Anyway that's a lot of boring text to kick off the blog, so here is some more in the form of the character biography I drafted.
Linky
Next up: sketches (I promise!)
