Character - Idea Refinement

Narrative - Model Set

Narrative - Spirit Rig

Narrative - Hero Tree Workings

Narrative - What a Chopper

Narrative - 3D Model Workings

Narrative - 3D Model Workings

Narrative - Lumberjack is Ready for some chopping

Narrative - Cabin Development

Narrative - Cabin Development

Not a final version, but testing out elements to see if they work

Character - OGR

Narrative - Lumberjack Rig

The Lumberjack is all rigged and working, ready for Skinning.

Narrative - Lumberjack Model

Final model for the Lumberjack

Narrative -Lumberjack Modelling

Might need some arms, but getting there

Narrative - Moonshine Lighting Test

Narrative - Wood Chippings

A better attempt at the wood chippings for the LumberJack, timing and modelling of tree needs work, but the idea is getting there.

Narrative - Rim Lighting Test

Placed in some Rim lights and lighting closer to the sun, to highlight the ground, though there is a hill in the foreground so creates a hard line from this Angle

Narrative - Sunset without Physical Sky

After Alan suggested not to use The Physical Sun and Sky - A Simpler version of a lighting systems, That I feel looks so much better. The trees where kind of just quickly placed to see if shadows worked. Below is the older test for comparison. 

Narratrive - Dead Trees

Narrative - Tree Workings

After some Maya tests to figure out how to try and model trees, we have decided that the leafy option did not fit with the concept art and feel of the animation, so a couple quick tests on a poly version of trees to see if they suited better. A little rough at the moment, but we felt much better for what we wanted and further development will be worked on this way.

Narrative - Tree Tests

Quite liking this effect for the trees

Narrative - Sunset Test

With and without atmosphere, though too dark and too muddy

Narrative - Test for Wood Chippings - Failed

Not sure this is the correct way, as it did not work ;) and the tree would be falling the wrong way

Narrative - Test Animatic angle

Very early rough visuals of storyboard - nowhere near final comps and real basic shapes at the mo, but just getting head around the landscape and where I need to start placing cameras and matte paintings. 

Narrative - Wood and Debris Test

Testing to find a way to create fallen debris, does not have to fall in animation, but thought a nice way to achieve natural placement - we have a rouge energetic splinter in there, but it comes come to rest, just out for frame.

Character - Further Development

Archetypes - Labyrinth

Fig 01

If you grew up in the 80’s, you will probably remember sitting down as kid to watch the fantasy world of Labyrinth  directed in 1986  by Jim Henson and produced by George Lucas. In a child’s eye, the film is a typical fairy tale adventure, with funny looking fury characters that sing and a pond that has farting stones when you walk across them. However, from a adults perspective, the film has darker undertones that depicts the ego of heroine ‘Sarah’ Jennifer Connelly as she begins her journey from childhood into adulthood. 

Sarah ‘The Hero’, is a daydreaming teenager, that is locked into a imaginary world with the help of aids that clutter her room, from Labyrinth board games, Fairy Tale books, stuffed toys and M. C. Escher’s Staircase art, that all become significant characters and environments as she travels through the film. Having to babysit her younger brother ‘The Child and Herald” ’Toby’ as her parents are going out, she throws a typical teenage hissyfit as she is unable to carry on her child like games, and forced to take more adult responsiblities with the choir of Toby. Wishing her brother to be taken away to the Goblin Palace by the imaginary characters in her make belief world, Sarah has set the path for her own discovery of adulthood and the journey into her psyche begins. “In Jung, the Labyrinth is also an image of the individual’s unconscious psyche. We will see Sarah fall several times in the film, deeper and deeper into the labyrinth. In “The Process of Individuation” by M.L. von Franz in Carl Jung’s Man and His Symbols, explains of the meaning of the labyrinth as subconscious” Dyer. J, 2010,

Sarah is given the option, by ’The Shadow’, ‘The Goblin King’ (Fig 03) to stay at home and stay young, or to enter the labyrinth and save Toby. Deciding to enter the Labyrinth we enter into Sarah’s psyche as she takes the first steps of discovery. Seeing as this is intended for child viewing, there are some very graphic innuendos and symbols (Fig 02, 03) that also shows the sexual journey, that does not really make sense to adolescents of the transformation between child and adult. The film is littered with phallus objects and scenes of a hidden sexual nature. “Sarah is trapped inside an “orb” and the ballroom scene. Phallic references are rife amongst the adults who wear demon masks. At one level, this is Sarah passing into the realm of adulthood, whose pleasures don’t make sense to her. The Goblin King, as the devil character, decides to take the virgin bride for himself (as Sarah is dressed in white). While drugged, she is initiated into The Goblin Kings cult in a “dance” that clearly hints at orgy”. Dyer. J, 2010. (Fig 05, 06, 07) 

                                            Fig 02                                            Fig 03                                       Fig 04

Fig 05                                            Fig 06                                       Fig 07

Before Sarah enters the Labyrinth, she stumbles across “Hoggle”, “The Shape-shifter” who is urinated into a pond. Again there is sexual connotations for the adult viewers that the child wont get. After his relief, Hoggle sets about poisoning fairies with what seems like nerve gas, offending Sarah as she thinks fairies are innocent creatures, only to be bitten by one she tries to help, showing to the viewer that not all is what it seems when you are child.  After mind games Hoggle reveals the entrance to the Labyrinth ‘The Threshold Guardian’ and Sarah begins her journey. Being misled by Hoggle, but as the story unfolds there begins a attraction between the two characters and Hoggle comes to save the day and destroy another ‘Threshold Guardian’.

Once inside the Labyrinth, Sarah is faced by confusion and riddles, from the hidden passages in the walls to characters that turn her markings around on the paving slabs (Fig 08, 09), causing her distress of not knowing what is going on, only for the film to fall deeper into her psyche “She thinks she has it figured out, and assumes she has solved the Scotty-dog’s riddles, but as a result ends up “falling” even deeper into her subconscious” (Fig, 010). Here there seems to be a good boundary between good and evil. Sarah finds her “Allies”, ‘The Trickster’ Ludo, who is being attacked by the Goblin kings hench trolls and ’Sir Didymus’ who guards the bridge at ‘the bog of eternal stench’ it seems that these characters symbolise the good qualities needed in adult life, Ludo, the caring giant and Sir Didymus, my word is my bond (Fig, 11).

                       Fig 08                                                  Fig 09                                                 Fig 010

                                                                                    Fig 11

Once Sarah reaches the Goblin Palace, she is confronted by M.C Escher’s painted stairs, Toby and The Goblin King defy gravity walking along walls and upside down stairs, This seems to be the beginning of the realisation that she is now a adult, and taking a leap of faith, into her ego, crumbling the Goblin Palace and is confronted by the Goblin King who wants to keep her in her child like state. But as Sarah has taken the step to becoming a adult, destroys 'The Shadows' ego, returning her back to reality.

Bibliography:

Dyer, J. (2016) Film Review: ‘Labyrinth’ At: https://jaysanalysis.com/2010/04/16/bowies-labyrinth-esoteric-analysis

Illustration List:

Figure 1. Labyrinth [Poster] At: https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/YS1Xerl30G9IYGPVMm9LMw-/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjtzbT0xO3c9ODAwO2lsPXBsYW5l/http://media.zenfs.com/en_US/News/USAFPRelax/labyrinth.31bea102924.original.jpg Accessed on: 12/09/2016

Figure 2. Maze At: http://www.astrolog.org/labyrnth/snap/maze1.jpg Accessed on: 12/09/2016

Figure 3. Bowie At: http://www.angrymenreviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/david-bowie-goblin-king.jpg Accessed on: 12/09/2016

Figure 4. Sarah At: https://jaysanalysis.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/sarah-labyrinth.jpg Accessed on: 12/09/2016

At: http://images2.fanpop.com/image/polls/320000/320650_1257004561807_full.jpg Accessed on: 12/09/2016

Figure 5-11. Labyrinth Accessed on: 12/09/2016

Narrative - Lumberjack Cabin Drafts

Trying to help with the visual for the Lumberjacks cabin, these are not final as Lewis will be putting his twist to them.

Narrative - Character Help

We were getting a lil lost in our group character designs, so a few quick sketches to try and help for the comps of the characters, was just thinking about shapes and not attire, but they are all pretty much the same!

Character - Initial Character Ideas

Character Workshop - Take Trumps Personality and make a Superhero

Wow, this was a toughy - Not interested in Donald Tramp, and the drawings look happy, unintentional

The Crow - The Hero's Journey

“His soul is escorted to the next world by a crow, but when a spirit is unhappy there because of unsettled business on earth, sometimes the crow will bring him back again”.

Using Joseph Campbell’s philosophy on the ‘The Mono-myth’ Alex Proyas , directed ‘The Crow’ 1994, could be see to have ‘The Hero’s Journey’ rules applied through out the film. However, the film is shot in a non linear fashion to start with. Starting with sections of the ‘Initiation’ the Apotheosis is first explained with the flight of a crow, having the ability to transfer souls to and from the next world, and also giving the deceased immortal powers when back in the land of the living (As long as the crow stays alive). The Hero ‘Eric Draven’ suffers this fate, with the brutal murder of his wife ‘Shelly Webster’ and himself. In a morbid may this is ‘The Call to Action’ as his life and world have been prematurely ended in a horrific way. But seeing as ‘Draven’ is now deceased, his ‘Refusal of the Call’ is sad one, in that you can’t really do much when you are dead!

However, one year later the Crow, also the ’Supernatural Aid’ brings Draven’s soul back from the land of the dead, so that he can finish unsettled business to the Henchmen and Mob Boss, that committed the crimes. This scene pulls our Hero into ‘Crossing the Threshold’ Draven is now alive and ready to take his revenge. As he died one year ago on Halloween, it is again Halloween ‘Devils Night’ and the Henchmen ‘Tin Tin, Funboy, T-bird and Sickbay’ are up to their usual ways causing chaos across the Gothic city. Ordered once again by Mob Boss‘Top Dollar’, Draven is now truly in n ‘The Belly of the Whale’ with his ‘Road of Trials’ The hunting down and assassination of all parties that where involved, firmly cemented in his mind.

Having the ability to see the past when touching items connected to Shelly, Draven gets both happy memories of time spent, but also the sexual and brutal emotions of her feelings on the night of the murder, Shelly’s role of ‘Temptress’ shows how Draven must take revenge, but also the calmness of his soul before the events happened and how by eradicating the vigilantes will preserve him back to peace with Shelly in the land of the dead.

On the Road of Trials, Draven’s ‘Temptation’ is increased with having heightened senses and powers that the Crow brings. Vision through the Crows eyes, makes for easy tracking, the ability for immortality , makes Draven take bigger risks and dramatic entrances when introducing himself to each of his victims. Slowly spreading the word that something different, something supernatural, is taking revenge on ‘Devils Night’. 

Slowly eradicating each of the villains and making his presence well known with symbols of the crow and by word of mouth ‘The Ultimate Boon’ is a large section of Alex Proyas ‘The Crow’. However connections between Draven’s powers and his supernatural aid of the crow are made, Kill the crow, Kill Draven. Again the ‘The Refusal of Return’ is out Draven’s hands, with the crow being captured and injured by Top-Dollar, Draven loses his immortality and with the ability of dying with out putting his soul at rest, he still will be kept away from the peaceful reunite with Shelly in the land of the dead.

Draven’s connection between the Cop ‘Albrecht’, ‘Rescue from Without’ who is the lead officer on the murder scene one year previous, seeing all the pain of Shelly’s injuries before she passed away, grows throughout the film, with Albrecht realising who Draven is and giving him the key to winning ‘The magic of Flight’. This stage could be scene as the final showdown between Draven and Mob Boss Top-Dollar. Having his supernatural power taken away, Draven looks as though he has lost, but with the memories of Shelly’s pain that was passed on by Albrecht, Draven passes these over to Top-Dollar by touch, causing so much psychological pain, he is distracted and sets the events to his death, creating ‘Crossing the Return Threshold’.

Having eradicated all the vigilantes that where connected to his murder, Draven’s soul is now free to be reunited with Shelly - Returning them both to peace in the other world. The ‘Freedom to Live’ is also a sad one in this film, as the hero returns to be dead, but in peace, so that is nice.