Moodboards for Characters and Visual Assets for Bible

I began bringing together several moodboards for characters, weapons and vehicles.
I looked at a range of  sources and I wanted to have characters that were inspired by animals and astronomy constellations as these are areas of personal interest. These sources helped fit in with the recurring themes of Order and chaos. Furthermore many characters and stories have been influences or based off material that predates them.

My plan was to design a team of five characters, similar  to the Three Musketeers. I also included my earliest memories of the five man band trope in the above moodboard such as the Power Rangers and Gundam Wing.

Mood board of four of the characters excluding the fifth one using star constellation as inspiration.

For the fifth character, I was wanting a strong minded female character who helps the team with maintenance and scientific elements.

The top half of the moodboard is for Violet de Hispagne and the bottom half is for her daughter Tiffany. I looked at female characters who were antagonists but I also considered those who were seen more as Anti-villains where they do bad things to achieve good things. In this case, I intended for Violet to be an unlikable character but we learn that she's actually planning of doing something that could redeem her. Violet's character was to be a strong female who has a quite stern but is a menace in combat and can be intimidating without speaking a word. That is why I considered Anakin Skywalker to be a source of inspiration.

My idea for the Empress was that she's an enigmatic figure who has been around since the dawn of time and has chosen to lead an empire and attempt to unite the world in her name. She shares high authority over her subjects and possess abilities in which no other can master such as the use of advanced telepathy and telekinesis. So for her enigmatic side, I wanted her to have her face covered at all times. To tie in with the theme of chaos, I chose to base her true form off mythological creatures whose body parts are based off different animals.One example of this a Manticore, Sphinx or chimera. However she'll wear  robe to show that she's a civilized superior figure. I looked at a Protoss character because I intended for this character to wear Armour once she's revealed her true form.

Body Language

Here is a link to a guide on Body language. This will come in handy when I work on the character design.

http://www.study-body-language.com/using-body-language.html

Protagonist Traits

To help make my min protaonist more of a protagonist I'm needing to think of areas that could help flesh him out.

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Here are ten ways you can turn your protagonist from good to great:

1. She has a problem that needs solving

You'd think this would be obvious, but I’ve seen plenty of manuscripts where the protagonist could have died on page one and the story would have continued without missing a step. Make sure the protagonist is the one with the problem that has to be solved. No one else can solve this problem (or solve it as well as she can) and she’s central to the entire issue. 

2. He has the ability to act

Protagonists who do nothing but react to the situation are boring. A good protagonist makes things happen and moves the story along through his actions and choices. If your protagonist isn’t in a position to affect change, consider how you can adjust it so he is. 

3. She has reasons to act

Plenty of people might be able to do something, but unless they have a good reason, it starts to stretch credibility why they would get involved in something that clearly doesn’t matter to them. Imagine how unrealistic Die Hard would have felt if John McClane hadn’t been a cop and hadn’t had a wife being held hostage by bad guys. Why on earth would he have risked his life if there wasn’t a good reason? If your protagonist is risking her life or happiness, make sure it's for a reason readers will understand. 

(More on raising your stakes here) 

4. He has something to lose

Just having a reason to act isn’t enough. Losing something that matters is a powerful motivating tool and will force your protagonist to do what he normally wouldn’t. He'll take risks he'd never take if he didn't have this consequence hanging over his head. It'll also make readers worry that he might suffer those consequences and lose what matters most to him. 

5. She has something to gain

This is an important aspect of the story’s stakes that's sometimes forgotten or not thought through well enough. Watching a protagonist not lose has its merits, but when was the last time you went to a sporting event to see if your team didn't lose? Readers want to see a protagonist rewarded for all her hard work and sacrifice, and a reason for her to keep going when everything tells her to give up. 

6. He has the capacity to change

Character growth feeds the soul to the story. It’s what turns it from a series of plot events to a tale worth telling. A great protagonist has the ability to learn from his experiences and become a better (though not always) person. He won't be the same person he was when the story started. 

(More on creating strong character arcs here) 

7. She has a compelling quality

Something about the person is interesting. Maybe she’s funny and likable. Maybe she’s twisted and fascinating. She might have an unusual talent or skill, or a unique manner about her. Whatever it is, there’s a quality that makes a reader curious to know more about her. Often, what's compelling is also contradictory, and wanting to know how these two things work together is what keeps readers hooked. 

8. He has an interesting flaw

Perfect people are boring--it’s the flaws that make them interesting. Flaws also give you an opportunity to show character growth and give the protagonist a way to improve himself. Maybe he knows about this flaw and is actively trying to fix it, or he has no clue and change is being forced upon him. Maybe this flaw is the very thing that will allow him to survive and overcome his problems. Or the cause of the entire mess. 

9. She has a secret

Open-book characters are too predictable, and predictable usually equals boring. If the protagonist is hiding something, readers will wonder what that secret is and how it affects the story. Let your protagonist be a little cryptic until readers are dying to know what her secret is. 

(More on raising the tension through secrets here) 

10. He has someone or something interesting trying to stop him

A protagonist is only as good as the antagonist standing against him. Where would Sherlock Holmes be without Professor Moriarty? Dorothy without the Wicked Witch? Buffy without Spike? A great protagonist needs someone worth fighting or his victory is meaningless. Think of your antagonist as the opposite of your protagonist. The dark to his light, the evil to his good. Match them well for a villain readers will love as well as hate. 

A protagonist who knows what she wants and makes the story happen is a far more compelling character than one who sits around and waits for the story to happen to her. Make sure your protagonist is more than just someone in the middle of a mess."

(Hardy, 2013)

Hardy, J. (2013). 10 Traits of a Great Protagonist. [Blog] Fiction University. Available at: http://blog.janicehardy.com/2013/06/10-traits-of-great-protagonist.html [Accessed 18 Apr. 2015].

Economy Research

For how the world's economy could work in my story world. Here are a series of notes, I've taken in regards to this subject.

How does our economy work?

http://www.economicsonline.co.uk/Global_economics/Why_do_countries_trade.html

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_does_the_economy_work

Supply and Demand

Why would a country trade?

Here is a link to different forms of economies in Fantasy worlds.

http://www.elfwood.com/tutorial/9520658b-303f-dd2f-e542-69ad4579ff50/creating-fantasy-and-science-fiction-worlds

The main thing I should consider is that this should be focused more on character design and not on Story world building alone. Therefore, I believe I do not need to go into this level of depth for story building in this project.

Iterations for Visual Statement

Here are a series of different approaches that I can make to my visual statement.

The following are several things that I want to always mention in these statements.

1. It's a Character Design Portfolio
2. The characters express the themes of Order and Chaos
3. I want to provide some story context enough information to inform the reader of whereabouts this takes place and when..

Iterations of Visual Statement

1. A portfolio of characters presented in a structure which provides story context and expressed the Order vs Chaos trope.
2. A collection of Character Design which express the themes of order and chaos and is presented in the form of a Visual Guide.
3. An anthology of Believable and distinctive Characters which  convey the themes of order and chaos.
4. A guide which features believable characters which express the themes of order and chaos and provides story context in a visual format.
5. A Character Design portfolio which expresses the themes of Order and Chaos and provides visuals which establishes the story context.
6. A portfolio of believable characters which provides story context and expresses the themes of Order and Chaos.

The runners up were:

6.  A portfolio of believable characters which provides story context and expresses the themes of Order and Chaos.
1.  A portfolio of characters presented in a structure which provides story context and expressed the Order vs Chaos trope.

Final Iteration

A portfolio featuring characters which fit within in a story context that expresses themes of order and chaos.

Vision Statement Initial Development

Project Aim

I'm wanting to carryout a character design project based off a controlling idea and presenting my work in the form of a Story world bible.

I will use the story world bible to tell in summary the world in which characters inhabit and share some details about which factions they belong.
However I need to ensure that this is more focused on the character design side than the story world side. I'm using story world building as a way to give my characters context.

A character design project informed by story context to create authentic and believable characters.

I spoke with my lecturer Brian, and he suggested that I consider looking at a controlling idea to help with structuring my visual statement.

Controlled idea

Even in a futuristic world enriched with order,chaos will always be present.

Why am I making this?

Based off my experience in reading manga and stories which feature certain themes like Lying and Madness, I've always had some fascination of seeing such themes being told in different ways. I even noticed in shows that character reflect these themes some form or another. I've always wanted to create some world filled with compelling characters and follows an interesting story with certain twists and turns. The story world building elements will help me gain a better understand of how I can create new worlds as well as introduce me to know issues that I would need to address, Furthermore having this knowledge will help me reinforce my creativity for when it comes to character design.