Introduction
final major project/s allows us the chance to work towards a portfolio that will allow us to go into the creative field that we are interested in working in
working towards concept artist/vis dev
decided on big project with small ones alongside it to cover things that cant be covered in the big one to hopefully cover everything needed
working towards concept artist/vis dev
decided on big project with small ones alongside it to cover things that cant be covered in the big one to hopefully cover everything needed
The Four Dragons
For this semester I have been wanting to do a short film/animation based on a non-copyright story, as writing story myself would be a whole project in itself. I looked into Japanese/Chinese folktales and found the story of the four dragons interesting. The text I had found online of it was quite long and after agreeing to Dwayne's suggestion, condensing it into 3 minutes would be suitable.
As I am interested in pursuing concept art/visual development in the future, I thought I could kill two birds with one stone by creating character and environment design sheets alongside the short film as opposed to creating a different brief for it.
As I am interested in pursuing concept art/visual development in the future, I thought I could kill two birds with one stone by creating character and environment design sheets alongside the short film as opposed to creating a different brief for it.
Script and Synopsis
Synopsis of the story in short
One day, four dragons noticed a great drought spreading across the land and causing people suffering. So they went to The Jade Emperor and asked him to bless the land with rain. The Jade Emperor, who was very busy ruling his kingdom, agreed to do so if they returned to the sea. However, after the dragons departed, he did not fulfill his promise as he forgot.
When the rain did not come after ten days, people began to die from starvation. Not wanting to see humanity die from starvation, the dragons took it upon themselves to bring rain to the land. When the Jade Emperor found out what they had done, he was furious that they had helped humans without his blessing so he decided to punish them.
The Mountain God, at the command of the Jade Emperor, trapped the four dragons within four different mountains. From each mountain sprung a river. From where the yellow dragon was trapped sprung the Yellow River. From where the Long Dragon was sprung the Yangtze River. From the mountain that trapped the Black Dragon the Amur River was born. And from the prison of the Pearl Dragon came the Pearl River. The rivers flowed throughout China, providing the people with an abundant supply of water. Even though the dragons were trapped, in a way, they are still providing water to humanity.
https://www.culturalelements.com/blogs/blog/the-great-river-dragons-a-chinese-folktale
One day, four dragons noticed a great drought spreading across the land and causing people suffering. So they went to The Jade Emperor and asked him to bless the land with rain. The Jade Emperor, who was very busy ruling his kingdom, agreed to do so if they returned to the sea. However, after the dragons departed, he did not fulfill his promise as he forgot.
When the rain did not come after ten days, people began to die from starvation. Not wanting to see humanity die from starvation, the dragons took it upon themselves to bring rain to the land. When the Jade Emperor found out what they had done, he was furious that they had helped humans without his blessing so he decided to punish them.
The Mountain God, at the command of the Jade Emperor, trapped the four dragons within four different mountains. From each mountain sprung a river. From where the yellow dragon was trapped sprung the Yellow River. From where the Long Dragon was sprung the Yangtze River. From the mountain that trapped the Black Dragon the Amur River was born. And from the prison of the Pearl Dragon came the Pearl River. The rivers flowed throughout China, providing the people with an abundant supply of water. Even though the dragons were trapped, in a way, they are still providing water to humanity.
https://www.culturalelements.com/blogs/blog/the-great-river-dragons-a-chinese-folktale
due to scale of project, individual pages for each stage of the process