Tuesday 23 September 2008

Characters!!

Here are the summaries I have been sent for the characters and the character designs. We will be adding sketches to the blog as they are received so keep checking!! When doing your storyboards use the descriptions below and the sketches as ideas for your drawings if you like. These designs are to help anyone storyboarding and a bit of fun in creating visuals of the characters and their personalities. If anyone has any designs or concept artwork of the characters or zombies or anything email them to me and I'll add them!! These awesome sketches are by Aaron Crowe, click on them to enlarge. (left images) **UPDATED 28th September with character designs by Kevin M.Smith (right images)**

Zombies!!!!-Like the living but...um...dead. Kind of gross and bloody. Make noises along the lines of "Ughh grrr nghhh arr ugggg hhhhhhhrrrr" Rotten flesh, ripped clothing, vacant expressions-you know, the usual.
























* BEN: (Ben's look is Grungy T-shirt & jeans, but almost borders on shabby-chic)
 Wants to be a creative writer, but has never gotten around to writing his groundbreaking and nobel prize winning novel. He lost his job in an electronics store and is now working as a low-rent web designer/ web admin. That allows him to stay inside all day and not interact with anyone, which has contributed to his withdrawing into the internet.
 Currently down and out but has potential to be successful. Has confidence problems but is also very witty and has a good sense of humor.















* ABBEY: (Abbey's look is arty, trendy and stylish) 
Is a student of fine arts who's passionate in everything she does. She is furious with fellow students who don't take university life seriously and with Ben who can never seem to properly get his arse in gear, neither with her or with life in general. She's level-headed and doesn't give in to pressure easily, but does have a bit of a temper. She has recently started dating Ethan, a more stable kind of guy with a job, a shiny white shirt and slick hair. Abbey likes that Ethan is confident and dependable, but she isn't always pleased with his tendency to be controlling.















* ETHAN: (Ethan's look is stylish, slick, business attire.)
 Is a newly trained and promising real estate agent. He makes steady money because he's a good talker and knows how to convince people of things. An opportunist who sees a chance to gain and grabs it. He feels that discussing what to do is pointless when you could just go bloody do something, and why discuss anyway when everyone knows Ethan is right... right? Very self-confident normally. He's used to being in control of all situations and gets defensive when he's not seen as the leader of a group. Ethan has recently started dating Abbey, a passionate art student who looks very good on his arm. Ethan enjoys the challenge of dating such a passionate woman but isn't always pleased with her tendency to ignore his quite obviously correct directions.















* KELLY: (Kelly's look is feminine, flirty and bright)
Is an old friend of Abbey's and is a girl who's full of life and positivity. Whenever Abbey is fuming over something, Kelly's the one to tell her to look on the bright side of things. She's flirtatious, though she doesn't necessarily mean much by it. She's just very open. When she breaks down, that's a sign things are REALLY not good. She works in a coffee shop in London. Kelly is a people person and works at a coffee shop in London because she enjoys the social interaction and working with the public.














* KAI (aka GUS aka Gustov): (Kai's look is utilitarian, working class, student attire.)
Is a friendly, hard working, college student in Frankfurt Germany who lives with his mother in an outpatient home for elderly people. Enjoys the social aspect of the Internet and uses it as a means to get away from his demanding life of school and chores. He is one of Ben's Internet pals and is friends with Eric and Angela also.








* ERIC: (Eric's look is "I don't care", T-shirt and jeans.)
Is a New Yorker with a loud mouth and attitude to spare. He is very sarcastic and has an edgy "rude American" sense of humor. Eric loves to argue with anyone he can and often finds himself involved in flame wars and controversies on the Internet. He often gets into political and philosophical debates about Liberal causes and conspiracy theories, but his real expertise is in computers and the Internet. Eric is a lazy slob to the extreme who spends much of his time playing games and surfing the net, however, his talents with computers allow him to make a good enough living as a freelance web designer. Eric is Ben’s best friend on the Internet and the two of them talk freely about their lives and also trade tech talk about web design and the Internet. Eric has a strong connection to Angela and is infatuated with her because she challenges him on every topic and isn't afraid of a good argument. Eric and Angela have an unspoken desire to date, but both know its probably impossible because of the distance between them both geographically and ideologically.













* ANGELA: (Angela's look is Texas, tomboy, sports gear.)
Is a college student in AUSTIN TEXAS who lives in an all-girls dorm. She’s a ballsy southern girl who plays softball, loves Jesus, and debates politics for fun. She believes strongly in her Conservative/Republican views and doesn’t take crap from anyone. Angela is one of Ben’s Internet pals. She also has a strong love/hate relationship with Eric because the two of them live to debate each other. Sometimes Angela will take a strong stand on a position she doesn't believe in just to argue with Eric.













-MOTHER: (Mother's look is utilitarian, working class, nurse attire.)
Is a demanding nurse and businesswoman who runs an outpatient home for elderly people in Frankfurt Germany with her son KAI. MOTHER and KAI have a relationship that is strained and somewhat distant. Mother is very demanding of Kai and he is secretly resentful that he doesn't have more freedom like his friends on the internet enjoy.















(above image shows zombies/mother top and Angela/Eric bottom)

More to come soon!! Don't forget to read through the previous posts for how to storyboard details etc.

2 comments:

Lizz said...

Further info- I just received this from Mitch:

Hey Lizz,

One note I should probably make for Angela is that going to college in AUSTIN TEXAS means THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS. College sports are huge in the states and none are huger than Texas. (In fact when someone says "Texas" they are often referring to The University of Texas and not the State of Texas.)

Anywhooo, people who go to Texas can usually be found wearing "U of T" related clothing, and considering Angela is there to play softball she will have piles of clothing with the Texas logo (a Longhorn Bull) because people on sports scholarships often get that kind of clothing for free from team functions.

I can't draw but I can google search pretty good.

Texas sports gear. http://www.elonghorn.com/COLLEGE_Texas_Longhorns_Ladies
U of T Softball player: http://www.espn.go.com/media/ncaa/2005/0217/photo/osterman_i.jpg
In action: http://www.flickr.com/photos/16866841@N03/1797515090/

Kevin Smith said...

Hi Lizz,

As I'm sure you probably have noticed already from your searches, I've already put Angela in UT colors, including a tee-shirt and an American Football jersey.

Kevin