Ideas & Experimentation
After getting the first ideas out of my system it is time to start develop those ideas into more fleshed out designs that will help tell the story. It will be important for me to make decisions based on whether the design will do what it is meant to and infuse it with purpose, constantly asking myself a question and find an answer to it through illustration/visual problem-solving.
Additionally this is the step where I can let loose and explore multiple possibilities in order to get rid of the "what if" thoughts.
Additionally this is the step where I can let loose and explore multiple possibilities in order to get rid of the "what if" thoughts.
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First little sketching after having looked at images of Chinese paintings of the Jade Emperor
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Exploration of using Genshin's Impact way of using gradients and noise to differentiate characters from background
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Here I explored some first ideas about what the Jade Emperor's face could look like using the overall shape of an upside-down triangle.
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Colouring in my favourite face sketches, trying to get a feel for the possible colour palette and using gradients and noise to add texture and interest.
On the left I was looking at Genshin Impact's way of shading in their more stylistic visuals and trying to match their use of texture.
On the right I coloured in my favourite full body sketch of the Jade Emperor done at this point.
On the right I coloured in my favourite full body sketch of the Jade Emperor done at this point.
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Down below I tried to play around with shapes and try develop the Jade Emperor's clothing. It was my first ever try doing this sort of thing.
In a 1-to-1 with Tony he mentioned how if I use a map in my story that I could make it more interesting by having moving elements go across it like in the example below.
I will do a test animation with that to see how it would look.
I will do a test animation with that to see how it would look.
When first reading the story I had a general idea of what the storyboards could look like but the research done recently helped me know how to start and end the story and how to incorporate the hand-made feel (by making it feel and look like a scroll being read out). Additionally I tried to do a quick colour pass of it and am happy with how the potential colour palette would look for the final film.
While conducting a big chunk of research, I kept my sketchbook close and did some drawings about the things I was researching.
I started with character design and creature design first, as the Jade Emperor and the 4 dragons are the most important characters in the story.
I started with character design and creature design first, as the Jade Emperor and the 4 dragons are the most important characters in the story.
Refinement & Development
Character Design
Reference images for Emperor's clothing
Jade Emperor
To get a feel for what I might like the Jade Emperor to look like I decided to take some of the reference pictures I collected of Chinese imperial gowns and study them in procreate, alternating my favourite brushes to explore which texture would look good. I spent about 30-40 min on each, making sure to achieve believable folds/volume for the fabrics.
To get a feel for what I might like the Jade Emperor to look like I decided to take some of the reference pictures I collected of Chinese imperial gowns and study them in procreate, alternating my favourite brushes to explore which texture would look good. I spent about 30-40 min on each, making sure to achieve believable folds/volume for the fabrics.
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While looking at research pictures and my clothing studies I decided to explore possible silhouettes and interesting shapes while trying to combine elements of imperial robes from different dynasties into one.
I cleaned up the first version of my line-up done before but kept doing alterations to such to get a feel of what would communicate "emperor"
I cleaned up the first version of my line-up done before but kept doing alterations to such to get a feel of what would communicate "emperor"
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Using gradient maps and images of jade artefacts as reference, I coloured in my favourite clothing for the Jade Emperor quickly to get a better idea of each option.
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Given that the Jade Emperor has the word "jade" in it, it would be fitting for the outfit to represent that. The interior of the Heavenly palace might be red for that reason too, as red and green are complementary to each other.
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Here is a test animation of what each scene of the short film would feel/look like. The devil will be in making sure the puppet tool is placed correctly on each individual part.
Exploring head and body shape for emperor
Exploring head and body shape for emperor
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At this point Dwayne encouraged me to push further and explore more important things like the emperor's overall body shape and face shape, as these will be more important than the clothing details themselves.
So I went into procreate and took simple shapes and drew bodies and heads over it to see which one would be fitting for the character.
So I went into procreate and took simple shapes and drew bodies and heads over it to see which one would be fitting for the character.
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After talking to Tony he was able to help me choose the face shapes most successful for the Jade Emperor, considering his personality and role.
I took those head shapes and refined them further, adding details that will help sell the idea of the character. After having chosen my three favourite ones, I placed them on my chosen body shape and was able to decide what I want him to look like ultimately.
I took those head shapes and refined them further, adding details that will help sell the idea of the character. After having chosen my three favourite ones, I placed them on my chosen body shape and was able to decide what I want him to look like ultimately.
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Population/Civilians
In my story there will be a scene where the dragons will look at the population in China and see their suffering due to a famine. Hence I decided to research some civilian clothing, so that I can accurately portray what clothing they would wear while ignoring the differences between dynasties and just focusing of the overall look of their clothing, similarly to the emperor's clothing.
In my story there will be a scene where the dragons will look at the population in China and see their suffering due to a famine. Hence I decided to research some civilian clothing, so that I can accurately portray what clothing they would wear while ignoring the differences between dynasties and just focusing of the overall look of their clothing, similarly to the emperor's clothing.
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The Four Dragons
In the story the own dragon's individualities aren't very clear for each of them. Due to this, I will need to assign each dragon personality, colour and physical attributes so that they are easily identifiable. In the end I want them each to still feel inherently Chinese though.
I tried to start designing them using different shapes as a main shape for each, however realised it'd be better to start with the overall silhouette of each one first.
In the story the own dragon's individualities aren't very clear for each of them. Due to this, I will need to assign each dragon personality, colour and physical attributes so that they are easily identifiable. In the end I want them each to still feel inherently Chinese though.
I tried to start designing them using different shapes as a main shape for each, however realised it'd be better to start with the overall silhouette of each one first.
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Animals that I drew inspiration from for the design of the four dragons
Reptiles/animal studies
These studies are done in order to inform my creature design of the four dragons and their little quirks. However these studies will be useful later on in the design process.
These studies are done in order to inform my creature design of the four dragons and their little quirks. However these studies will be useful later on in the design process.
Great/Long Dragon
He acts as a leader of the dragons in the story and want to therefore make him appear like the traditional Chinese dragon, whose attributes are based on a mixture of 9 animals. Additionally, to make his role clear, making him red would be ideal.
He acts as a leader of the dragons in the story and want to therefore make him appear like the traditional Chinese dragon, whose attributes are based on a mixture of 9 animals. Additionally, to make his role clear, making him red would be ideal.
Yellow Dragon
Initially I wasn't sure about his role but decided he could be the great dragon's assistant, due to his river being the second longest. It was helpful to pick the triangle as a shape for him and let that define the rest of his appearance.
Initially I wasn't sure about his role but decided he could be the great dragon's assistant, due to his river being the second longest. It was helpful to pick the triangle as a shape for him and let that define the rest of his appearance.
Pearl Dragon
I was first drawn to the shape of the Canton Tower near the harbor of the Pearl river and along that it would fit nicely to reference seahorses/seadragons for his anatomy. I definitely want to incorporate how pearls are depicted in Chinese garments into the design of the pearl dragon.
I was first drawn to the shape of the Canton Tower near the harbor of the Pearl river and along that it would fit nicely to reference seahorses/seadragons for his anatomy. I definitely want to incorporate how pearls are depicted in Chinese garments into the design of the pearl dragon.
Black Dragon
Due to his river being the shortest it made sense to make him smaller than the rest of the dragons. I thought it would be a nice balance to have him a bit more chunky than the rest and give him a grumpy expression along with it to give him some charm.
I struggled with him the most so I made sure to reference real animals often to make sure his design will be believable.
Due to his river being the shortest it made sense to make him smaller than the rest of the dragons. I thought it would be a nice balance to have him a bit more chunky than the rest and give him a grumpy expression along with it to give him some charm.
I struggled with him the most so I made sure to reference real animals often to make sure his design will be believable.
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Here is a comparison of the four dragons in size and head shape, which I have done before I finalized each of their designs.
The final design of the four dragons
Sea God and Mountain God
There's two more characters that appear towards the end of the story and are secondary characters, therefore I will be spending less time on their designs. To get an idea of where to start I looked at depictions of them in Chinese paintings and then developed silhouettes and clothing.
There's two more characters that appear towards the end of the story and are secondary characters, therefore I will be spending less time on their designs. To get an idea of where to start I looked at depictions of them in Chinese paintings and then developed silhouettes and clothing.
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After a 1-1 with Dwayne it was made clear that I have got a strong concept but the execution was lacking. The pose wasn't fully right and felt stiff so I looked at reference of sumo wrestlers in motion, as that helped get a feel for how the body moves and feels.
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I wasn't too happy with how his design turned out at this point in time, so it made sense to go back to studying reference and extracting things that would work well with this character.
I found that adding some colour to his rope elevated his design.
I found that adding some colour to his rope elevated his design.
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After having figured out the Jade Emperor and the rough idea of what the Mountain God could look like it was easier to start designing the Sea Goddess. In the version of the story I have read it was meant to be a male character but I decided to stick a bit closer to Chinese mythology and choose a female character instead. This would also provide a more interesting line-up in the end.
It was difficult for me to come up with an interesting silhouette at first which is why I made the decision to choose an appealing modern dress. This allows me to bring my own vision of what I expect a Sea goddess to look like to this design.
It was difficult for me to come up with an interesting silhouette at first which is why I made the decision to choose an appealing modern dress. This allows me to bring my own vision of what I expect a Sea goddess to look like to this design.
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It was important for me that the dress would be flowy and feel like it belonged to the sea. Pearl details in her hair would also nicely tie in with how pearls are depicted in water on Chinese traditional robes.
Environment Design
Reference Images of Chinese maps
This is a mood board I created that shows each river that a dragon forms in the end and its surrounding area, as well as the mountains where its source/sources start/s.
Ideas for the brush being used for the map that appears in the beginning and end of the short film.
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Here is a first brush and colour pass of what the map could look like in the end.
As I am not very familiar with drawing mountains, I did a colour study of the Bayan Har mountain range and also looked at Chinese depictions of mountains and how they simplify the look of them and did a few experiments with the same brush used for the outline of the map.
After trying a few attempts of drawing the mountains digitally, I wasn't satisfied enough with how they looked. They seemed too clean which is why I decided to fill multiple sheets of rice paper with drawings of mountains using Chinese brushes and sumi ink (my exciting first time using these materials!).
Colourised version of the four mountains I have chosen to use in the short film. I coloured in the linework in Photoshop and used the digital brush to fill in the area messily to preserve the traditional look of the brush strokes.
Reference Images of Chinese clouds
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With the same brush I also explored the different look of what the clouds passing by on the map could look like and study the interesting shapes used in Chinese paintings and embroidery.
At this point I decided it would be a good idea to start animating the background elements to see what elements would work better than other. I did this animation in After Effects using animation effects.
As Dwayne had pointed out in one meeting, it would be useful to record this process for people who don't know how this effect of animation is achieved.
As Dwayne had pointed out in one meeting, it would be useful to record this process for people who don't know how this effect of animation is achieved.
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After my first animation I wanted to see whether I would like the expressive clouds and waves more in comparison to the more stiffly drawn waves.
I feel like the overall look of this test illustrations looks a lot more appealing and fits what I want my story to feel like.
I feel like the overall look of this test illustrations looks a lot more appealing and fits what I want my story to feel like.
Below is an example of a sketchier version of the waves. I used the hand movement recording feature in Procreate Dreams to get this clunky animation effect, reminiscent of puppet animations.
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Heavenly Palace
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After researching various Chinese temples I was ready to explore different design ideas and put elements together that would make the Heavenly Palace look imposing and elegant. I started with silhouettes and then moved on with my favourite one and kept making it bigger and layered, wanting to communicate that the Jade Emperor was in charge of multiple realms. I decided on a design that would mirror the Jade Emperor and symbolise the hierarchical structure of the society.
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studying and analysing existing Chinese structures to get a feel of what they would be built like. Also exploring overall shape
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Finished Heavenly Palace scene on the top right and in progress background work for the interior at the bottom of this.
Composition and Scenes
After figuring out the style of the short film and the animation approach, I started drawing each scene and figuring out the composition during the drawing process. This allowed me to be intuitive with my design choices and think about how each element will move in the final product.
After I had finished drawing each scene, I started the animating process which I didn't record, as that footage would take days to go through.
After I had finished drawing each scene, I started the animating process which I didn't record, as that footage would take days to go through.
Scroll opening scene
Dragons Introduction
Pearl Dragon over China
Civilians praying for water
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Rice field
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Long Dragon over China
Dragons flying to palace
Heavenly Palace
Dragons entering palace
Jade Emperor agreeing
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Dragon shadow
Time passing
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Test animations I made in different software to determine the most successful approach
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Taking matters into their hands
Scooping water
Spraying water
Seagoddess notices
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Seagoddess enters palace and reports it
Jade Emperor enraged
Inspiration how enraged characters are portrayed in anime, sometimes their eyes don't contain pupils when they are especially enraged
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Four Dragons arrested
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Mountain God with mountains
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Dragons encapsulated
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Dragons into rivers
Sample Short Film
I created this sample short film to figure out the compositing of each scene as well as the timing of the voice recording going on top of it later on.
Production
After refining 2 different scripts (one longer and one shorter version), it was time to go to the recording studio and record the narration so that I would be able to start the animation process. Looking back I am glad to not having decided to hiring someone on Fiverr to do the voice recording for me. Using my partner seemed to be cheaper too!
Additionally I made sure to save and download sound effects and music off of Epidemic Sound, so that later I would only have to worry about laying them on top of my finished animation using DaVinci Resolve.
Additionally I made sure to save and download sound effects and music off of Epidemic Sound, so that later I would only have to worry about laying them on top of my finished animation using DaVinci Resolve.
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After that it was time for me to make everything work!
