Wednesday 27 November 2013

Scene development: The battle for Gabbler's Ford




At Gabbler's Ford we met the foe,
The fearsome northern hordes,
They thought to feast upon our bones
But bit down on our swords.

Unknown Elfkin Bard


My unstructured scene development process
1. Read/develop/interpret basic script outline.
2. Rough out storyboards to identify key characters, objects, settings and action sequences. Opportunity to think about visual storytelling.
3. Develop characters, props and environment reference. Be prepared for production!
4. Enhance. How might one enrich the mood/purpose of the scene? with lighting, framing, etc..
5. Repeat/iterate. Destroy/create.


Initial sequence
 
Concept development

 

Original mood sketch



Design notes for next iteration:

I decided to make it snow! Weather will be used to visually differentiate past events from scenes set in the present day... but shouldn't characters now be dressed appropriately? Hats, scarves & elfkin mittens. Breath visible on cold air.

Goblinoid chieftain is boring/generic... make him memorable. What's his weak spot? Special weapon? Don't waste the creative opportunity. Any ideas guys?

Better integrate the environment into the scene. Use the setting, make it so the events could only happen in this specific location. Troops fighting in the icy water, the makeshift bridge should be a centerpiece for the sequence. Blood in the snow.

Follow the Mysterious Path on Twitter or Google+


What is this Mysterious Path?
Mysterious Path is half comic, half 8bit RPG, half choose-you-own-adventure. Mysterious Path will be an interactive experience playable on your phone, tablet or desktop... eventually. Imagined by the one man army that is Grey Wizard (and some occasionally helpful retainers)

2 comments:

  1. This is lovely - or at least extremely adorable. As to the goblin chief issue - why does he have to big? Sure that sets him apart, but as you say it's standard fare. Maybe he's he's something odd instead - a normal sized goblinoid, but with a giant head and equally huge helmet, maybe he's three goblins stuffed into a suit of oversized armor. Maybe he's just got a giant arm in a huge glove. If you're going to make him big and buff, perhaps play off that? A Greased up goblin in armored tack pants, with bad tribal arm tattoos who wields a spiked barbell? Just go more whimsical.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Gus. I'm lovin' the head/giant helmet idea, he could have a devastating roll attack. Gonna sketch that up!

      Hmmm, I could also use the goblin glue concept from the previous post and design an interesting spliced warrior. (http://blog.mysteriouspath.com/2013/11/goblin-glue.html)

      Delete