Ted Stapletons University Blog

  Turnarounds and concept art Body Progress

 

Facial explorations. Different noses, ears and even eyebrows. Gorm beard explorations. Also clothing is heavily based on historical and more fantastical influences such as the horned helmets for a more cartoony aesthetic.

Blocking plan for the virtual set

The island which my animated short takes place on. The layout was heavily influenced by fjords and the landscape of scandanivian coastal regions particularly Norway.

The animatic showcases the first interviews of the characters - Hendrik and Bjorn. The voice acting is placeholder. ogr_01 by ted stapleton on Scribd Hendrik Sketch Script by ted stapleton on Scribd Bjorn Sketch Script by ted stapleton on Scribd Asger Script by ted stapleton on Scribd Runa the Ruthless Script by ted stapleton on Scribd Gunnar Script by ted stapleton on Scribd

First iteration of Hendrik with his trusty sword engraved with runes and his armour adorned with the symbol of Odins spear. 

Concepts for the body plan most of my characters will follow. A rough final design. A combination of options B and C with a neck but bulbous head. 

Tree concept art based on flora native to Scandinavia. Their simplisitc shape and grainy texture is supposed to be reminiscent of plastic toys. The circular base is akin to a lego prop.

Background concept art. Ideally I want to prevent getting too close to the water.  Shield concepts. These will either be carried by a character or lying about the scenery

Different body types sketches. Since my premise will contain multiple different characters I would have to use the same body type (and rig) to for them. I concepted these body types one of which will be expanded upon. Below is a influence map showing media that inspired this decision. As you can see many of the characters have different appearances but roughly the same body type. This will make it easier to animate and texture my characters and make the project less work intensive. 

Quick concept sketches I developed for the characters of my premise project.

Concept for a Viking character for my Premise project. He was based on the real life Viking Erik the Red and the art style was influenced by illustrations of Matin Brown for Horrible Histories and that of Aardman Studios.

A collapsed mouse burrow Looking up at a way out.

Originally the main character was going to be a soldier. The concepts above show various ideas for headgear from the time period. Mouse movement concepts Mouse concepts showing expressions, professions, poses and classes.

The Taj Maha if it was a centre of scientific research One concept for its interior Another more refined concept of the interior.

Mel concept art. The shirt and tie implying his nature as an intern. Dim clothing concepts. Stage concept art.  Prop Concepts and references.

Concept art of the island setting for my project with influence taken from the real-life Galapagos Islands.