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Background Research

Local Areas

After looking through a variety of environments from fictional projects to real life areas such as Hiroshima and Chernobyl, I have also decided to look at places that reside within my local area of living. When I was looking at films, TV shows, comics and games that take place in a post-apocalyptic environment they tend to have the locations in which they’re set to be desolate and empty so as to convey the lack of population in the world in which they take place. However, I also noticed that there tends to be a pattern that emerges within the environments chosen as they usually all take place in cities or a desert wasteland. While this has proven to be a popular styled environment to have in these franchises as it is time and time again, I have decided to experiment with the idea of having my animated trailer be set in a different kind of environment than the usual post-apocalyptic zombie ravaged show. Not many of them tend to be set in small places that are more of a suburban type area due to the stories wanting a more grand scale, however I would like to try and combine the grandness of those types of stories with a more grounded, realistic environment.

When coming up with ideas of where to look for empty looking areas with a local sort of feel I decided to look at local parks and fields that are near the area in which I live. From the pictures I have taken of these places I think it is obvious to get a feeling of isolation and coldness from them due to their general rough look, which fits in with the usual look of zombie based post-apocalyptic franchises. These are also environments that I thought would break the mold more and make my idea stand out as opposed to just conforming to the stereotypes of the genre. 

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Background Research

Hiroshima and Chernobyl 

When looking for backgrounds for inspiration for my animation I have chose to look through various real life locations of disasters that have effected the landscapes, specifically the aftermath of Hiroshima and Chernobyl. Both cities suffered devastating damages, with Hiroshima being destroyed due to the atom bomb dropped by America in World War II, and Chernobyl’s disaster being the result of a nuclear power plant melting down and thus creating fallout. The photographs that have been taken of the cities over time show the effects that both these events had on them and show the cities to be desolate and barren areas. This type of environment is quite common in the zombie genre so I feel like drawing influence from real life places that resemble this sort of world would be an interesting idea to explore.  

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Final character designs

When creating the characters that would be featured in my animated trailer I decided to have a variety of colours used so as to have every character stand out from each other and their surroundings. I also chose to have a fairly even mix of genders so as to reach more of a broader audience as opposed to just including males to target the male demographic. 

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Character design research

While half of the main characters featured in my animated trailer consist of original designs with little to no inspiration from outside sources, the other half of the main cast of characters were influenced by other fictional characters and real life people. The characters of Sid, Kellin and Vic were based on other people that exist in other forms of media and real world celebrities, while Alex, Elyse and Sarah are not based on anyone else in either features or personality wise. 

For the character of Sid I based his look and personality on that of one of the main characters from the comedy-drama series Skins. The character that I based him on is named Sid, so he is also his namesake. In Skins Sid is shown to be a moody, sarcastic and generally rather messy person who feels a lot of angst towards the group and situations that he finds himself in. I found the idea of a character like this rather interesting so I decided to base one of mine on him. While the Sid that is featured in Skins tends to actually a kinder side to him, I have chosen to not add this aspect to my character as I would like him to come across more mean spirited.

For the characters of Kellin and Vic I based their looks and names on two real life singers from rock bands. Kellin is based on Kellin Quinn, the lead singer for rock band Sleeping With Sirens, while Vic is based on the lead singer from rock band Pierce The Veil. I chose to base the characters looks on them because I am a fan of both of these bands and it well known within the fanbase of both of these bands that the two lead singers are very close friends. The dynamic between their relationship was something that I found enjoyable, so I decided to create two characters who could share a close personal relationship like that, however I took it further by actually making my two characters be brothers. While their looks and names are based on the singers, many aspects of their personalities are not, mostly just the kindhearted relationship that they share with one another.

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Zombie design research

Zombies have had a long history in cinema, with the original modern day perception of what zombies are coming from the 1968 horror film Night of the Living Dead directed by George A Romero. For decades the iconic image of a zombie was a rotting corpse that ate flesh and was completely mindless. However in 1985 a film titled The Return of the Living Dead was released which slightly altered the perception of zombies. It showed zombies as slightly more intelligent, with them actually being able to form words and communicate. It also dropped the idea of zombies eating flesh and had them go after brains specifically, and also showed zombies body parts acting on their own once separated from them. In recent times a new form of zombie has been showcased in various forms of media which show zombies as being more fresh biologically with less decaying bodies and much faster with them often bursting into a sprint. They’ve also changed from them rising from graves to them being classed as infected humans, usually from some kind of virus. Both of these kinds of zombies are popular today among various media forms, with franchises like The Walking Dead using the template for the old zombies, and films such as Zombieland and Resident Evil use the more fast moving infected styled zombies.There are many conventions and tropes for zombies that have made their way into popular culture. For example, if a zombie bites someone they become a zombie themselves. 

After looking at various franchises and zombie types I have decided I would like to go with a more classic zombie type for the zombies I will be using in my animation, as I find this type more appealing and conforms to more conventions in a post-apocalyptic world so it would seem like more familiar territory for an audience.  

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Research into post-apocalyptic environments and characters

I Am Legend is a science fiction film based on the book of the same name. It is set in a dystopian future where the worlds population has completely died out apart from a sole survivor. His time is mostly spent trying to survive in the world while also trying to figure out some form of cure to the virus that created the mutant vampire-like creatures that inhabit the earth now. The film both conforms and subverts from the usual post-apocalyptic styled tropes. While it does have a run down and decimated earth that is inhabited by creatures, it also adds in elements that change it up enough to keep it fresh. For example, the main character seems to immune to the initial effect of the virus which wiped everyone else out, which adds an element of mystery to the story. Animals are also initially immune to the effects, however if they are bitten by one of the creatures they will turn as well. The creatures are also a twist on the usual trope. The most commonly used creature in this kind of film would be a zombie, however these ones seem to be a hybrid between vampires and mutants with sunlight being their main weakness, but also retaining the look of an altered human being. 

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Trailer analysis 

The trailer for fifth season of Samurai Jack is an effective advertisement for the series. It shows a variety of scenes that link together through a theme of fighting and destiny, as well as showing off the overall visual style of the show. The whole trailer is tied together through its use of monologue styled dialogue to inform the viewer of certain events that have taken place prior to this season to catch them up to date and also to inform them slightly of what is going on now, but not too much in case it spoils the story, just the right amount to keep the audience intrigued.

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Research into post-apocalyptic environments and characters

A common theme that I have found when researching franchises that feature survivors of a post-apocalyptic world is that they all have personality traits that tend to repeat themselves. Due to the environment that the characters live in they have had to become more emotionally cold so as to not become more hurt by losing more loved ones or things they hold dear. It’s as if they’ve gradually become more adjusted to loss and eventually become desensitised to it. They also usually have more mental scarring and tend to talk less, while also taking things much more seriously than they may have prior to the events that took place. All of these personality traits combined is what creates the typical post-apocalyptic protagonist personality. 

However, during my research I have noticed that there have been differences between characters from franchise to franchise. For example, a character like Rick Grimes from the series The Walking Dead had a normal life for decades until he woke up in a world filled with zombies. Gradually over the series his sanity starts to deteriorate and he does things that he previously would have never done such as murder people. However, a character such as Trunks from Dragon Ball Z or John Connor from Terminator differ from that type of personality greatly. Both have stern personalities, however they also have access to equipment that allows them to change the future for others and use this technology to their advantage in order to save people who they never knew. In a sense, these characters would be seen as more noble and caring than a character like Rick, but the circumstances of the apocalypse that they live in is different as Rick’s is a zombie ridden world where humans can also not be trusted, while both Trunks and John’s are based in future worlds with machines taking over the world and killing off their population, so humans tend to band together.   

A character who I also looked at that is more similar to Rick than Trunks or John is Max from the Mad Max franchise. 

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Research of art styles

Batman: The Animated Series is a 1992 animated series based on the famous comic book superhero Batman. The show became extremely popular through the 90′s and has continued to have a large following to this day. The show was so popular that it spawned other series based on DC comics such as Superman: The Animated Series and Justice League. The series was well known for popularising the darker image of Batman to a younger audience. 

One aspect of the show that I find quite appealing is its art style. While being simplistic, it is also quite distinct. An interesting thing about the show is their use of colour. While the characters are often colourful, the backgrounds are usually dark with muted colours. I like this aspect of the show as I find it visually appealing and really lets the viewers find something interesting in both the characters and the backgrounds which often consist of the run down Gotham city.

I feel like I will add in a similar technique for backgrounds that this show has employed as I feel like it will also help my characters stand out more and give the environment a more dark and depressing feel to contrast with the upbeat nature of the characters.

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Research of art styles

Scott Pilgrim is a comic series created by Bryan Lee O’Malley. The series centers around the titular character in his day to day life while he pursues a girl named Ramona Flowers. The comic is a comedy and also takes influence from a variety of video games and anime series. The art style for the series, while simplistic, is also stylized and unique. The character designs don’t look very complex, but it adds a certain charm and personality to the story, as well as being surprisingly effective at displaying emotion and action scenes. 

I have decided to take influence from this style and make my characters be simplistic, but also expressive and stylized. This art style will also help get across the tone that I want to give the animation more, as I would like it come across as lighthearted and not overly serious.

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Research into post-apocalyptic environments and characters

The Last of Us is a 2013 video game that is based around an infectious outbreak that mutates people and turns them into zombie-like creatures which become extremely violent and animalistic. The remaining human inhabitants of the world have broken off into sections of survivors and became untrustworthy of other camps and sections of survivors as it has become everyone for themselves in order to survive. 

The game follows the usual tropes and conventions of the survival/post-apocalyptic genre, however its main focus is the relationship between the two lead characters of the story. The game also has a twist on the zombie trope by making the antagonising creatures in the game be based on on a fungus that exists in real life: Ophiocordyceps unilateralis. In real life this pathogen based fungus affects insects by letting out spores that get into the host insects system and take over their body and mind. It forces the insects to club up to a high peak point in their environment before finally killing the insect and sprouting a large growth stem that lets out more spores which pour down onto the environment below to infect more of its inhabitants. Since it is based on this fungus virus, the creatures in the game have a variety of different kind of fungus looking mutations. As well as the creatures having these kind of features the environment also uses them by having areas that have a vast array of spores and fungus.   

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Research into post-apocalyptic environments and characters

The Mad Max film series consists of 4 films: Mad Max, Mad Max 2, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome and Mad Max Fury Road. The series takes place is a post-apocalyptic world that consists of desert wastelands and a lack of a civilised society. The characters that inhabit the world all tend to not be very trust worthy, selfish and savage-like. While the main protagonist, Max, is shown to be more normal functioning member of the world despite being very serious, the rest of the inhabitants tend to be mutants or mentally unstable.  

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Research into post-apocalyptic environments and characters

Zombie films are a popular sub-genre within film. The theme of a zombie outbreak seems to cross over into multiple genres with a variety of other genres blending it in such as horror, comedy, science fiction and even romance. As well as crossing over genres, many countries seem to be able to adapt stories and use zombies as the driving force for their films, with Britain and America being the most common ones to use the creatures in their films. 

The films that I have featured above are the George A. Romero Dead series which consists of 6 films (Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, Land of the Dead, Diary of the Dead and Survival of the Dead), Shaun of the Dead, Zombieland and Warm Bodies. Due to a variety of genres and films using zombies as a key element in their story the zombie sub-genre has been able to reach a wide variety of audiences ranging from young children to adults. The films that are geared more towards a younger audience that feature zombies tend to be more lighthearted and usually comedies, although there are exceptions to the rule as films like Zombieland and Shaun of the Dead are comedies but are also targeted towards a more adult orientated audience. Zombie films for older audiences do often tend to be more serious and intense since that target audience can handle those emotional themes more.

For my animated trailer I would like to blend the common themes that tend to be in zombie films that are targeted towards both an older and younger audience. The use of violence from the more adult themed zombie films and a more lighthearted tone with characters who have upbeat personalities from zombie films that are geared towards a younger audience. I want to cross these themes because I would like to gear this trailer towards a teenage audience and I feel like mixing the two will appeal more towards that audience.

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Research into superheroes, environments and groups

Misfits is a comedy-drama series that started in 2009. The series centers around 5 young offenders on community service who gain superpowers from a strange electrical storm that hits their city. Each character has a distinct personality and an interesting thing that the series implemented was that their powers were based on aspects of their personalities. The entire series is based around the characters coming to terms with their lives after gaining these powers and trying to retain a normal life. While most shows with super powered characters would tend to go for a large scale story, Misfits subverts that and goes for a much grounded and realistic take on the superhero genre with the characters dealing with more relatable problems and struggles.

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Research into post-apocalyptic environments and characters

An interesting series of comics that started print in 2005 was Marvel Zombies. This series takes place in an alternative universe within the marvel universe where a virus has spread across the earth and turned all of the heroes and villains into zombies. This series is darker than usual marvel series, but it is also unique in other ways. While zombies are typically portrayed as being animalistic in nature and showing little to no intelligence these zombies are different. After they’ve fed on humans they retain their sanity and intelligence, but the hungrier they get the less rational they get and more savage they act. I feel like this is a unique twist on the zombie concept as the zombies in these types of stories are hardly ever portrayed as the protagonists of the story, as well as having super powers and maintaining distinct personalities throughout a majority of the story. 

Personally I feel like I will go with a more traditional route when it comes to the way I show the zombies in my animation, however the idea of super powered zombies has gotten me curious about ideas that I could explore in my concept ideas.

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Research into superheroes and groups

Teams and groups are a popular trope used in a variety of superhero media.These superhero teams usually consists of a cast of colourful characters that have distinct personality traits, abilities and designs that make them standout from one another. In the examples above I have decided to use images from three popular superhero teams: X-Men, Guardians of the Galaxy and the Suicide Squad. Each team follows the typical tropes of a superpower based team with them all showing off a slew of characters that look different to each other and show the use of their abilities. Usually within these teams there tends to be a leader who issues commands and is at the forefront of the group. They are usually the focal point of a group shot, usually standing in the middle. It is important for each character to stand out from the others and show off their own personality traits so they don’t come across as generic or bland. I feel like it is definitely important to use a wide variety of colours as well, so as to make each character look more unique from the others and even in their clothes you can show an aspect of their personality. 

After looking at these groups I have decided that my animation will consist of a small group of characters, so as to show a variety of personalities, but not too many so it doesn’t become overbearing and dull for the audience.

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Research into post-apocalyptic environments and characters

The Walking Dead is a television series based on a comic book created by Robert Kirkman. The series is set in a post-apocalyptic world where humanity has dwindled and zombies have risen to the majority of the population. The show follows several tropes of zombie survival stories by having the environments desolate and the characters run down. The series is highly popular all across the world and is rated as one of the most viewed shows on television.