Work: Narnia- Tree in the Garden

This is a rendering of the Tree in the Garden where Polly and Digory have to go and collect a magic apple for Aslan. In the book the description of this tree is quite basic so it left me quite a lot design space to play with. The book does describe the other trees in the garden as being “not only green but also blue and silver”, so I adapted this for the central tree and made it purple, green and silver- this makes it stand out a bit more showing it to be more important.

Work: Wood between the Worlds SECOND render

Render number two, this is slightly more what I envisioned in my head but I still don’t think its right- yes it shows the look but it doesn’t quite feel like it’s giving enough information. I might do some tree concepts to try and explain the Idea a bit more; this would help give a wider picture of the whole design...I’m conscious that I'm running out of time though so it may have to do.

Work: Wood between the Worlds render

I’ve finally started designing the Wood between the Worlds... only slightly behind schedule. I started by sketching the design out then running it through Photoshop. It proved very difficult to render and I got quite frustrated with it, and almost gave in to despair! But then I tried a different rendering style using a little bit of photo collage to create a different look, resulting in this...

It’s not really what I want but as an image I think it looks quite nice and dynamic so I’ve kept it as some development work. Now I have to try and render it how I want it to look...however that may be.

Work: Charn- Window of the Gods NEW render

I previously uploaded a render of “the window of the gods” showing the stained glass detail. Now I’ve done a complete rendering of the whole wall that runs the length of the Great Hall. On this version of it I’ve overlaid the brick pattern and CAD brickwork to show greater detail. I think it works quite well to get across a basic understanding of the style and atmosphere.

Work: Charn- Window of the gods

I’ve been working the design for the Great Hall of Charn up in CAD...its proving most difficult! This has defiantly been the most stressful bit of design so far. Trying to get all the arches, pillars, windows, Hammer beams, Doorways etc to line up and look good almost defeated me but its nearly finished now so the end is in sight.

Along the outer walls of the Great Hall are 13 colossal windows, 21meters high by 4 meters wide. Here is a visualisation of the stained glass within the windows. They represent god-like women of Charn (possibly Jadis herself). Again I have kept with the colour scheme of Charn and have over stylised the gods into twisted representations of people. Scary but beautiful is the tagline for Charn.

Work: Charn- Stained Glass Windows

Here are some of the designs I’m working on at the moment. The Charn Great hall needs to be vast in size and epically lit, therefore I decided to incorporate a huge Stained Glass window on the back wall, enabling me to play with light and shadows throughout the room.

This is a quick render of the central clock motif. The rose in the centre represents Charn’s hatred and fear of nature and the organic. Clockwork has almost completely taken over in this world so the rose imprisoned in the glass is trying to represent this.

This is one of the smaller windows to the side of the central rose window. The bound hands represent the cruel nature of Charn and their use of slaves and hostages. The colours that run through Charn are reds, blacks and greys.

This is a half rendered visual of the back wall in its entirety. The size of the door indicates the scale. The broken clockwork on the wall represents the clockwork nature of the world and becomes a common motif throughout the Great Halls design.

More visuals of the great hall itself to come.

Work: Some more Flora

The concept designs for some Narnian plants are getting nicely underway. Here are the latest developments in the world of plants.

These first sets of 4 trees are designed to be decorative trees. They are very well trimmed and naturally quite ordered in their appearance. They could be suitable for the Garden Scene I am designing for later but for the moment I’m quite happy with letting them sit on the back burner for a bit.

The Bare Birch is a nocturnal plant, in that during the day it looks like a leafless twig, but at night it comes alive, emitting a turquoise glow from its sap that gathers in pockets on its branches. This creates the illusion of glowing leaves, only visible in the darkness.

This is a Candelabra Birch. Still a member of the Birch species it has the distinct white bark. The Candelabra is so named because of its branch structure which forms vertical catkins that grow upwards like candles.

This is a Fire Bud Tree. Its delicate leaves grow upwards, matting together to create a plume-like head, which resembles a tongue of flame.

 

The final decorative tree is the Flowering Horn. This simple leafed bushy plant grows naturally into the pronged form, where a single rose-like flower blooms all year round. If the flower is removed the plant withers.

This walking tree is one of the talking trees chosen by Aslan himself to become part of the Council to help look after Narnia. Its distinct yellow colouring is present in all the council members, distinguishing them from the other inhabitants of Narnia.

This is my second rendering of the Glowing mushroom- I tried to soften some of the edges under the mushroom to make it look a bit more organic and less strait edged. I think it works better now these changes have been made.

This final plant is my first water based plant. The Semi-Aquatic Giant Lily grows out of the water until it suspends itself by its strong roots above the water’s surface. This plant still needs a little bit more of a back story about its purpose etc

Style: Film references

Using our new Format (see previous post) we found some good film references; some past, some upcoming and some behind the scenes.

The first is Coraline (2009) which is “hand crafted in Stop-motion animation”. The author, Neil Gaiman, says that “Stop motion is such an interesting Medium because there is a realness, but you can also stylize your reality”. Stop motion therefore lends itself for mine and Hannah’s project as we really want the gritty textures of puppets but with that realness of stop motion movement. As said it also allows the reality to be stylised which is a key area in our design concept. In Coraline they also used Post Production effects to remove all the joins from Corallines various face moulds they used- this idea of using CG to enhance the stop motion is something I want to use for the set designs.

“It doesn’t try to be human...it is what it is, it’s very clever and slightly disturbing” Ian McShane

The next film is Frankensweenie (2012) a new Tim Burton film due for release this year. It is another stop motion film with a Post Production finish adding extra details and erasing marks. It looks crisper then a standard Stop Motion render and as said this is something I want to make use of. Its other unique feature is that it is in Black and White. I will be using a similar de-saturated look for Charn when I design it.

ParaNorman (2012) is from the makers of Coraline. It uses Stop motion mixed with some special effects. The movement, especial facial movements, in some of the scenes in the trailer look stunning and quite lifelike while still maintaining their character and texture of stop motion puppetry.

"It allows us to unite the versatility in design and mechanics of CG with the richness and solidarity of physical objects" (themakingof.com)

This final video is a short film by Carlos Lascano; A Shadow of Blue. It’s beautifully made using Stop Motion elements with CG backgrounds, Models, Post Production Animation and Live Action shadows. This is a good clear example of the techniques me and Hannah will be using for our telling of the Magicians Nephew. The puppet and its immediate surroundings, in this case the bench at the start of the film, will be stop motion animated and miniature set builds, with then fully CG backdrops. I also like how they use a key colour of blue near the end of the film, this is the same idea I will use for designing Charn but Red instead of Blue.

 

Theory: Dystopia

Dystopia or Cacotopia is defined as “a society characterised by human misery, as squalor, oppression, disease and overcrowding” (Dictionary.com), this is in contrast to the more well-known Utopia meaning “any real or imaginary society, place, state, etc, considered to be perfect or ideal” (World English Dictionary, Dictionary.com).

There are several variations on the dystopian idea, looking at different social elements; society, social groups, politics, economics, nature, caste systems, technology etc. In most cases of the use of Nature in a dystopian society, Nature is considered dangerous, hostile or something to be feared; like in Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.

A good example of a Distipian World would be that found in film The Matrix (1999), Directed by the Wachowski brothers. The real world, as opposed to the virtual world of the Matrix, has undergone total destruction by machines, leaving it void of animals and plants. Humans are now grown in huge metal farms for producing energy for the machines, the sky is tainted and the atmosphere pushed out of balanced. A total sense of chaos and destruction has taken over the planet.

Dystopia is a good idea to base the world of Charn on for my project. Jadis, The White Witch, has destroyed all living things in her world using the Deplorable World, leaving behind a dying sun hanging over a deserted palace. Dystopia would fit well in Charn.

Research: Charn

I just put some images together into a mood board to show some possible looks and characteristics I could use for Charn. The images were all created by a Concept Artist called Daniel Dociu (tinfoilgames.com)

Work: Plant Adaptation- Clockwork Tree

I’ve been designing some fantasy plants again but this time I’ve been trying to stick with the Style Guide that we produced for the Magicians Nephew. I decided to design a Clockwork tree combining a Willow-style tree and some clockwork mechanisms.

Clockwork Tree sketch

I sketched out some Ideas and decided on the following design. I Scanned in my sketch and put it through Illustrator (which I’m still getting to grips with). I tried rendering it in Illustrator but I still can’t quite get the look I want using Illustrator so I put the illustrator outline into Photoshop to Digitally Paint.

Illustrator render

In the style guide we said we wanted the look to be quite dark and a little bit sinister so I rendered the tree using dark colours making it look creepier. I also decided to add a eerie glow as if a light source was hidden within the Willows branches- this added a bit of mystery to the design. My colour pallet comprised of mainly dark greys and cool blues.

Original Painting which printed too dark

Photoshop Render

On my screen the final image looked fine but when I printed it, it was very dark and hard to define so I had to go back and play with the levels. The dark nature of this tree would fit well in my project as part of Charn’s environment or even the outskirts of the Wood between the Worlds.

Second Render

I did a rendering variation of the tree but this time increasing the lightness and adding some blue glowing fireflies around the trees. This makes the tree look less sinister and more magical...I’m not sure this is quite suitable for Charn but maybe appropriate for Narnia.

Alice: Madness Returns

"...the worlds that Alice leaps around are stunning, mind bending, and unbelievably cool."

GamePro.com

I recently purchased a book called The Art of Alice: Madness Returns. It’s the design accompaniment for the Video game by American McGee and Spicy Horse Games. The story behind the game is that Alice has recovered from psychotic episode in which she was locked away in an asylum. The game is based on her realisation that the death of her family, for which she blamed herself causing her breakdown, was in fact the doings of another. Just as her own world has been turned upside down and ruined, her beloved Wonderland has also been taken over by a dark force rendering it evil, twisted and on the verge of collapse. Alice must find the evil in both Wonderland and the real world in order to survive.

Ken Wong was the Art Director for Alice: Madness Returns, American McGee and the design team at Spicy Horse Games produced the Art Of book showing stunning visuals and descriptions of the process they went through to create the beautiful yet frightening world of New Wonderland.

The Following is a trailer advertising the game and showing many of the environments Spicy Horse designed for gamers to explore:

Here are some of the images taken from the book that are significant for my own project of the Magicians Nephew:

Martins F, Kerslake B, Lei H, Lei (ART) J, Melo (ART) L (2011) Art of Alice: Madness Returns. Dark Horse Books, Milwaukie

This is the Cover design for the Art Of book. It instantly captures the mood of the game and what people can expect as the venture into the world of Wonderland. This is a good way of showing for a film (or in this case a game), what kind of atmosphere and visual impact a production is going to make.

This is an early exploration for the forest environment by Sun GuoLiang. I love the idea of a floating forest or tree structure, existing in the clouds above us. It feels quite magical.

I like the use of colour in this visual. The monotone effect with a single focus colour works well to create an exciting atmosphere.

This is a good example of clockpunk being graphed onto organic elements. Clockpunk is one of the styles we are going to incorporate into our telling of The Magicians Nephew so as a visual reference of how this can be effectively done this image is useful.

Another example of clockwork being fused with nature (inside the trees).

Again I like the use of colour in this image. The chrome base with highlights of blue work well to create a sinister atmosphere. I also like the illustration of the Caterpillar- this looks like it was done using a graphics tablet.

MAPS!!! Its all about Maps! We really want to create a Map for MN showing how the all the worlds around Narnia link together through The Wood Between The Worlds. This would not only be a useful visual explanation of how the story proceeds but it also has the potential for a beautiful visual.

Another stunning visual incorporating Clockwork. I like the panoramic quality this visual has and good use of colour.

Some examples of how the design department made trees look more 'fantasy-like'- using a stylised colour pallet, mushroom-like canopies and placing it on top of a giant snail.

Nice monochrome visual with a single colour to add significance.

I like the composition of this image- the dark ship at the bottom and swirling light effects overhead.

Nice use of contrasting colours with the Blue being the main colour of the image with highlights of orange. We wanted to use contrasting colours in our design to create drama.

The oriental style motif works well here and its stand-alone nature makes it a nice example of how I could sketch develope ideas before I place them into an exact environment.

This is a good idea for how we could design the elements for Charn (the dying world)- the tower formations would look good as the twisted towers of Charn and the figure heads are useful for Hannah when she looks at the statues of the kings and queens found in Charn's Great Hall.

I like the way this image of the Queen of Hearts Castle has been rendered- it looks like photo collage and illustration combined- the photos give it a realy nice texture giving the whole thing a rough and gritty feel about it.

This is a Colour Script they created to show the different colour schemes and moods through all the different worlds. This is good practice used in the film industry also to show at a glance the kind of mood each location has or needs. We will produce one of these for MN.

I’ve really enjoyed looking through this book- they have made some stunning images and really creative ideas for the environments. I will try and take on board some of their techniques when I do some of the designing for MN. I think Atmosphere is one of the most important things I’ve got from looking through the book- without an appropriate atmosphere a scene will have no depth and won’t look visually interesting, without atmosphere the storytelling cannot be enhanced.

Film Focus: Avatar

"For years to come it will define what movies can achieve"

Richard Corliss, The Times

In 2009 James Cameron’s Avatar was released and soon became one of the most popular sci-fi/fantasy films to hit the big screen. Showing in 3452 screens in its opening week it earned $77,025,481 in the USA alone, and by November 2011 had grossed $2,782,275,172 worldwide (IMDB).

The art department itself won countless awards, in 2010 alone they won:

Oscar
                Best Achievement in Art Direction

                Best Achievement in Cinematography
                Best Achievement in Visual Effects

Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA, Saturn Award
                Best Director
                Best Music
                Best Production Design
                Best Science Fiction Film
                Best Special Effects

Art Directors Guild, Excelence in Production Design Award

BAFTA Film Award

                Best Production Design
                Best Special Visual Effects

Broadcast Film Critics Association Award, Critics Choice Award

                Best Action Movie
                Best Art Direction
                Best Cinematography
                Best Editing
                Best Visual Effects

...and the list goes on (IMDB).

With a budget of $237,000,000 (estimate) (IMDB) the designers behind this movie phenomenon created an entire ecosystem including plants, fungus, animals, humanoids, geology, weather systems etc to enable Cameron’s vision to become a reality.


I’ve been reading through two books:

Fitzpatrick L, Jackson P, Landau J, Cameron J (2009) The Art of Avatar: James Cameron’s Epic Adventure. Abrams

Wilhelm M, Mathison D (2009) Avatar: An Activist Survival Guide. HarperCollins


Together they make an excellent guide to the world of Pandora and Avatar. The books are filled with beautiful concept art, visual references and insider information about the entire world of Pandora. Avatar is an excellent visual reference for my own project because of the amount of detail into the planets flora and fauna that the art department carried out. The activist’s survival guide has pages and pages on all the different plants and animals that were created for Pandora and how they work and what their purpose is within the ecosystem.

The following are some images used in The Art of Avatar book:

Floating rocks of the Hallelujia Mountains

Examples of plants created to populate the Pandoran echosystem

Example of how the Na'vi may use plants to produce clothing

Visuals of Pandora

Concept sketches of the Tree of Souls

Sketch of plantlife on Pandora

I can use these images as examples of how an art department develop the look of a film in the Pre-production stage using concept sketches, illustrations, detailing and 3D modeling.

If I can produce images of a similar quality I will be very pleased!!