Showing posts with label Character Design. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Character Design. Show all posts

Sunday, 9 October 2011

Character Design: Show's Tone, Atmosphere and Target Audience

Following the Character Biographies and Shows Synopsis, I haven’t made the tone of the show too clear.

Target Audience:
Targeted towards a child-male audience. The type that usually watches the show and buys all the toys and action figures related to the show. :D



Tone:
The inspirations for tone of the show are primarily the cartoons G.I. Joe (1987), and M.A.S.K (1985).
The tone of the show will be played towards overblown plans by the villain, and half-thought out actions by the villain’s goons that are usually defeated by the Hero and Sidekick.
Of course, like every great 80’s Film/Cartoon. One of the main elements of the show would be the writers always genius cheesy one-liners.
"I'd like to uninvincible you, snake breath"
"Now for the Final Stroke!"


Atmosphere:
I’d like to push on towards 80's (Give or Take) rock culture, in particular:
Def Leppard (1977)
Bon Jovi
Guns N' Roses
However, I would not like to restrict myself to it- as it is a reboot of an 80's show. I would also like to bring in tone from Oasis, or Black Rebel Motorcycle Club:


Essentially I want to give the impression that the hero and villain are badasses. Whilst everyone else (sidekick as well as villain’s supporting cast are generally goofs/comedic reliefs)
The Villain organisation's tone is drawn from inspiration to Bebop and Rocksteady from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles


Pwing! Pwing!

Saturday, 8 October 2011

@Justin- Character Design: Biographies

Hero: Victor “Ironfist” Stormrage
Allegiance: Ironfist
Personality: Alpha Male, Tough Guy, Dedicated


Influence Map:






Backstory:
Victor “Ironfist” Stormrage is a 32 Year-old, White, 6”4, Muscular-built male with a very high stamina rate and Street-Smart intelligence, Previously a member of the United States 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (1st SFOD-D) and Sergeant in the Los Angeles Police Department. He has experience in Close-Quarters Combat, Marksmanship and Demolitions. He earned the nickname ‘Ironfist’ after during an operation his right arm was severed, causing military doctors to replace his arm for an augmented metal replacement.
He was Dishonourably-discharged from the Army in 2175 for disobeying orders from an officer to rescue his team from Terrorists inside a Nuclear Plant, causing the deaths of 1 of his teammates and 12 hostages as well his right arm. He was also fired for misconduct from Los Angeles Police Department in 2178 for harassing his superiors for letting go a convicted mob boss who was suspected of causing the deaths of his closest friend.
Despite his not-so-lucky past, he is very dependable person, known for giving results and never losing attention on what he sets his mind to. He proudly lives up to his word and never hesitates to do what he believes is right for everyone.
After a brilliant physicist named Dr. Nigel Black is taken hostage, The LAPD is forced to commission Ironfist to the rescue operation in order to save Dr. Black.
Ironfist manages to save Dr. Black. However the captor uses the prototype device, causing him to go through time. After being explained that this top secret prototype device able to provide the user the ability to travel through time. Ironfist, along with Dr Black, follows the villain through an updated device of their own; in order to find and capture the villain as well as stop the impending chaos he will inevitably create with the world’s history.




Sidekick: Dr. Nigel Black.
Allegiance: Ironfist
Personality: Beta Male, Comic Relief, Genius,


Influence Map:






Backstory:
Dr. Nigel Black is a 45 Year-old, 5”4, White, Chubby-Built male with genius-intellect. He specialises in theoretical physics. Graduating from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2160, He was employed at DARPA in 2165, and has been working on the theory of time-travel for 15 years.
In 2180, after creating a prototype device able to teleport a person within a time period, He was taken hostage by a gang named the Sons of Loki, leaded by a power-crazy man named Larry “Looney Larry” Napier and his device was stolen. Despite Ironfist’s reluctance to take Dr. Black with him (He’ll either get in the way or get him killed like his teammates), he acts as Ironfist’s sidekick to stop Looney Larry, as well as the destruction he creates through time. He is able to provide Ironfist with intelligence as well as world history during their adventures.




Villain: Larry “Looney Larry” Napier
Allegiance: Sons of Loki Motorcycle Club
Personality: Alpha Male, Psychotic, Megalomaniac,

Influence Map:




Backstory:
Larry “Looney Larry” Napier is a 29 Year-Old, White, 6”9 Slim-build male, with a politician-smart intellect, power-crazy personality and a passion for violence, chaos and destruction. He enjoys nothing better than provoking anarchy on a grand scale. Born from a family of world leaders, he was bored of the perfect utopian world they carefully created through the years.
Raised within a posh culture and having allowed no friends, he was fascinated with the idea of anarchy and sin. He was especially interested in biker culture for their ideals of freedom, non-conformity to mainstream culture, and loyalty to only themselves.
After secretly poisoning his entire family, he inherited control of the world and dropped it into a corrupt dystopia overnight. Using his gigantic inheritance, he formed a gang named the Sons of Loki MC, an international crime syndicate and biker gang, based upon his favourite mythological god Loki, the Norse Trickster God.
However, he bores quickly of the new world he created. Looney Larry hears of the invention of time travel created by Dr. Nigel Black. Believing it would be more interesting to “play-about” with World history, like wiping out the entire Roman Empire with machine-gun or dropping atomic bombs on Nazi Germany during the middle of World War II. He steals the prototype time-travel device and activates it. Not knowing that the device is a prototype, he and his goons are sent through time with no way to reactivate it, over time he learns the device reactivates itself on a timer of 24 hours, allowing Looney Larry to cause as much destruction as he can before the device is activated again.

@Justin- Character Design: Synopsis

Plot Keywords: Tough Guy | Dystopia | Law Enforcement | Time-Travel | Motorcycle Gang | Good Versus Evil | Terrorism | Alternate History

The year is 2180. The place is Los Angeles. The situation: Larry “Looney Larry” Napier (along with his gang of criminals named the Sons of Loki Motorcycle Club) is an evil crime syndicate holding the City within the palm of his hand. With the severely crippled Los Angeles Police Department not able to do anything to stop him, at a last resort, the Police send in a previously-fired but hard-nails Cop Victor “Ironfist” Stormrage to take him down.

Bored with the already chaotic world, Looney Larry steals a prototype time travel device from a scientist named Dr. Nigel Black. Looney Larry travels through time with his goons to cause destruction and rip the world apart. With the help of Dr. Black, Ironfist is sent through time, attempting to correct the course of history and stop Looney Larry once and for all.



Story Timeline: Varies from episode to episode.
Backstory timeline: 2180's Los Angeles, California.

Plot Genre: Animation, Action
Plot Device: Time-travel

Hero: Ironfist
Sidekick: Dr. Nigel Black
Villain: Looney Larry
Villain Organisation: Sons of Loki MC



Despite it being a reboot of an 80's show, the show still draws Inspiration from Various 80's (Give or Take) Culture, in particular:
Miami Vice - General Story Inspiration. Hugely influential in the 80's
Def Leppard (1977) - General Atmosphere Inspiration
Bon Jovi - General Atmosphere Inspiration
Guns N' Roses - General Atmosphere Inspiration
Quantum Leap (1989) - Time Travel plot device inspiration
C.O.P.S. (1988) - Law and Order Theme Inspiration
Mad Max (1979) - Max Rockatansky is Hero's Inspiration
Demolition Man (1993) - John Spartan is Hero's Inspiration
Batman (1989) - Joker (Jack Napier) is Villain's Inspiration.
Back to The Future (1985) - Dr. Emmett Brown is Sidekick's Inspiration
Real Life Gang Outlaws Motorcycle Club (Villain's organized crime syndicate)

Saturday, 1 October 2011

Character Design: Structure / Ideas / Concepts

Time-Travelling Biker is an unusual mash up of concepts but I like where I may potentially travel with it. The hardest part of this unit may be the story encompassing the character.

Initial influence maps are the following.




Biker and Time Travel are self-explanatory. However regarding the 80's Cartoon influence map, as this is a reboot, I am to produce a Character Design & Animation Bible which draws influence from 1980's cartoons whilst still adhering to modern day influence.

Brainstorm


Individual Stereotypes of a Biker that come to me are:
California, Harley Davidson Motorbikes, Badass, Beards, Booze, Tattoos, Bandanas, Jet Black Hair, Black leather clothing, Clothing patches, Cigars, Sunglasses, Street-Wise, Smug attitude to life, Maybe even a little bit cocky, Smells like vomit, Budweiser and gasoline.

Individual Stereotypes of a Time Traveller that come to me are:
Science! Clocks! Professors, Scientists, Physicists, White lab coats, smoking pipes, patterned swede waistcoats, Beige slacks, polished shoes, thick glasses, white hair, super-geniuses, complicated machines, the past, the present, the future, the unknown, mechanics, gears churning, time ticking, warping, smells like smoke, cheap aftershave.

The two seem somewhat opposite in retrospect.


Extra:
Real Life Influences: Hells Angels MC and The Outlaws MC
Fictional Influences: Black Rebel MC
Music: For the Cartoons' atmospheric purposes. I want to give the impression that these these characters are badasses.