Here's the final paintover of the greyscale environment I had previously selected to represent the Land of Smoking Skies environment.
Unfortunately, I was unable to get anywhere near as much time as I would have liked to have spent studying the necessary techniques to produce a high-level, detailed illustration, so I opted to resort to what techniques I knew in order to get this piece to some kind of completion.
I'm not entirely happy with the end result, but it will have to do for now.
For the second part of the project assignment - interior set design - I planned on producing a design for the bath house scene, where the character Robin is washed by her captors.
The bath house is located within Bahaara's Temple of Dreams, the location of the bad guy's stronghold.
In the Death Dealer book there isn't too much of a description for this environment, so I figured I had a bit of free reign here. My initial research came from a quick Google search of temples and church interiors. After a glimpse of some of the resulting images, I set to designing my own environment, choosing to not rely on reference for this one. Rather, I tried to let my visual memory guide my design.
Although the brief states that this part of the project should be a line drawing, I decided to go ahead and use Google SketchUp to produce this image. In hindsight, this may have been the wrong choice to make as I might be marked down for not following the brief accurately. On the other hand, time was a deciding factor on my decision; although I could have drawn an image such as this - with some difficulty - I wanted to present as detailed a design as possible with the resources and time available to me.
My focus was on creating a relatively simple design for the set, focusing on bold shapes and atmospheric lighting potential.
After rendering out the final image, I sketched in the 3 characters who would be present within the scene, to show their general placement on set.
Skipping ahead to part 3 of the project brief - "Design
a scene which changes over three frames. This can be an arbitrary movement, a
dramatic or action orientated scene, a camera movement, a mood change, etc." - I've chosen to present a 3-stage shot focusing on Gath (Death Dealer) stalking through his homeland, The Shades; a densely overgrown, dark forest full of danger and threat.
It was my intent to have the camera initially situated high in the trees, spotting Gath as he walks through the forest, partially masked by overhanging vines and leaves in the FG. From there, the camera will swoop down from the tree and skim along the forest floor before coming to rest at Gath's feet, looking up at him, silhouetted by the moonlight streaming in through the branches behind and overhead.
I chose to use plenty of strong foreground elements as silhouettes throughout each stage so as to emphasise the busy feel of this setting, both on the ground and within the treeline. I think I was fairly successful in this approach, and I feel it helps to add a claustrophobic, oppressive atmosphere.
I chose this kind of shot as a way to bring the viewer into the setting, presenting the environment and the character in one swoop.
The perspective of each shot is important to achieve this effect; the first shot is 3-point perspective, with focus on catching a glimpse of Gath from above, with just a tease of the environment; the 2nd shot opens up the area for the viewer to see the depth of the forest by pulling them from the high tree and pulling them into the undergrowth, to sit level with the floor and see Gath a little closer in 1-point perspective; shot 3 is the final stage of the transition, by which point the camera has ended its swoop along the forest floor and now looks up to Gath's silhouette, slightly backlit for imposing purposes. The 3-point perspective of the 3rd shot mirrors that of the first in that the camera now looks up rather than down; this variation allows the viewer to see the forest from yet another angle - for variety - and also lets them know that Gath is a powerful figure.
My colour palette for this stage is relatively simple as it is a night-time scene, so plenty of blues are used for the cold shadows, with some green lights bringing a little colour variation.
It's worth noting that my inspiration for this shot came from a mood/inspiration/reference board I compiled, full of screengrabs from the original Predator movie.
