Final Character Bible for 'Gaudium'

Gaudium: Character Bible

Height Comparrison and Silhouette Sheet

The two pages where all three characters are displayed together and can get a real feel for what they are like as a set I worked out the height of each character based on the hero as I knew I wanted him to be about 6 foot so was a good midway point to work out the other two.

Final Props

I used the previous design page as a starting point and then adapted the designs according to what Justin told me a couple of weeks ago and what I felt needed the objects needed to be in order to suit the character.

Leonis

The final ritual staff and ring for the hero, I carried on the primitive theme with the idea of objects constructed from natural forms, creating basic designs. The ring doesn't feature on the final concept because it is part of Leonis's light power source but only uses it in dire need.

Vipera

The final hand morphed blade/s and carnival mask for the villain, I carried on the design of the villain's spikiness and random flowing shapes. Neither of these props feature on the final concept because they are an extension of Vipera's powers. The blade morphs from her hand, fingers, and thumb. The mask allows Vipera to mask herself with her environment and remain undetectable.

With each character's props I have used the colours that were used in the characters so that they would feel right in using them and Incorporated the appropriate shapes so that it is very clear which prop belongs to which character.

DVD Artwork and Case Artwork

I have edited the design for the front cover and used a second font for the more important information e.g course name to stand out.

Final Character Turnabouts

I now have improved the originals in photo shop and made amendments where needed.

Leonis

Lingua

Vipera

Official Title Page for Gaudium - The Character Bible

Text, Front Cover/ background ideas

These were intial text ideas all using the font: Sucker Font because the style instantly stuck out and felt fitting for a fantasy type show.

These were some different ideas I thought didn't quite work as some of the images would of been re-used and it would be clear before the pages displaying the final concepts what they looked like. I also tried combining existing images to capture the other planet vibe but that felt too realistic. I did keep the text and colour because it stands out clearly and felt right as an identity.

This is the final front cover design, I decided to distort and change the colour of the silhouttes so they look different from the original and work well within the composition. I need to put 'The Character Bible' text in again because part of the 'r' is missing but I have now decided on background and text on the other pages.

Final Character Concepts

I have been working back into the characters I left off to complete each one, they have line work added in now and a background, where I looked up the theme fantasy and the lilac and orange were two colours I felt wouldn't take over the main character concept. I also added shadows to give them a bit of weight.


Vipera

Final Concept

Below is an image of where I left the character off and how it has changed and developed since then.

Leonis

Final Concept

Below is an image of where I left the character off and how it has changed and developed since then.

Lingua

Final Concept

Below is an image of where I left the character off and how it has changed and developed since then.

I will now work on the height comparison page and silhouettes to show more about their size and shape.

Title suggestions for 'show' Character Bible

I have come up with a few ideas:

• Gaudium - (name of planet, feels like a fantasy title)
• Leonis, Defender of Gaudium - (A He-man - like title)
• The Legend of Gaudium/Leonis - (too generic
• Battle for Gaudium
• Leonis, Gaudium's keeper of the light

I prefer Gaudium as the title because it is simple but effective and works well as a fantasy genre show title.

If anyone has any other suggestions then please comment and let me know your thoughts

Draft Turnabouts for Characters

These are the turnabouts for my characters, I will make these neater in photoshop and sort out some of the problems e.g the placement of the head on the sidekick when I come to produce the final versions.

Leonis

Vipera

Lingua

Final Expression Sheets for Characters

Using the previous attempt and rough final idea sketches I was able to get the seven expressions for each character that I wanted.

Progress on Final Sidekick (Lingua)

I have taken my final character to the stages of the other two, with basic pose and colours.

Silhouette for Lingua, based on the rough final idea, I made the tip of the tongue more pointed as he is meant to have a barbed tongue but rounded it to keep to the guidelines of a sidekick.

Black and white toned

These are the colour tests for Lingua I struggled as to what colour I could have as it is a Chameleon so all could be right. I tried green, purple and yellow but also in the blue idea I tried different flecks of colour and a light blue tongue but feel this idea is too busy and visualises the tongue as electrified.

This is the one I chose because the colours identify that the character is working for the villain. I need to tweak the pose slightly, the closest arm needs to be higher and maybe change the eye shape.




I now need to refine and sharpen my characters, giving them outlines to get three finished characters. The silhouettes may change which I will add to the progression stages if needed. I have enough for my characters now to produce the final expression sheet and body action poses so is a case of more refinement and tweaking to produce three overall characters.

Progress on Final Hero (Leonis)

I have taken my hero to the stage I left the villain.

Silhouette, I have based this on the rough final sketch and used some of the better ideas to work this pose.   

Black and white toned

These are some Colour tests for Leonis, I tried using colours that felt primitive and considered the primary colours as well for the mane or flesh tone but it felt too bright.

This is the one I have chosen, I'm not sure about this one as the costume may be too dark, the features need work and the hands and feet. I quite like the pose showing he is a protector and warrior but not sure whether to keep on with this or try again but will see if I can resolve this one first before making that decision.


Again,  Comments are welcomed.

Progress on Final Villain (Vipera)

With a lot of developing ideas and with only a week before the crit I felt I needed to begin the final process of design for my characters.

I have started with my villain and I have got to the basic colour stage, I have produced colour tests and selected which one I think works best.

I started using the drawing of the rough sketch I did before but I didn't want a side on view for the final concept because I felt this would not visual show or explain the character enough so I then produced a three quarter view of Vipera and edited the design according to what had worked in my previous ideas and what I wrote in my development notes.

Black and White toned

These are the colour tests, I had figured that the combination should be green and purple to strengthen the idea of this character being vile and toxic as well as the obvious 'evil'. I tried different shades of green and purple and flipped over the shades of the skin and armour in one of the designs to explore variation of the idea.

This is what I have chosen for now, there is a lot I still want to do this before achieving the final result but I want to get the other two characters to this stage before pushing through the final concepts.



In the meanwhile if anyone would like to comment then please do as I would like to resolve this as soon as possible and any feedback would be grateful.

Character Costume Experiments 2

This time I worked from the rough final designs I created for Leonis and Vipera to work from and also thought more about what colours to use.

Leonis

I tried a few more variations of the drapped cloth and thought of orange and green as extra earthly colours, I asked some of my colleges and they preferred the orange design on the left as it looks most primitive and I think this would be most suitable to the character and practical. 

Vipera

I tried to sort out the issue of the new body shape caused to my previous armour design and tried an extra colour of red armour. In terms of design I quite like the right image incoporating a lot of spikes but I would remove the ones on the gauntlets as I feel they no longer work and would choose purple for the colour, the original shade in the left idea which I carried across from the previous design.

With the costume issues sorted I will start constructing the basic concepts and produce colour ideas for the actual characters themselves as this is the last remaining part to figure out.