Honours Project Proposal

Nearing the end of semester 1 now and the project is going well. Our first hand in was that of our project proposal; a 2000 word essay explaining our area of interest, the research we have conducted and what we plan to do with it. This was somewhat a complicated affair as I didn't feel I had quite got my head around exactly what it was that I wanted, but with persistence, I feel I have achieved what I was aiming for and explained my project in a clear and concise way. I found the proposal to be quite helpful in showing me what it is I want and where I want to take it. Part of the hand in was also to create a sort of time table for semester 2, which I took to feeling very lost, but the more time I spent on it, the happier I felt that I was able to fill the time well, even if areas were left vague. I still have the concept development document to create and hand in, as well as the project portfolio, so that is what I am working on at the moment. Without further ado, here is the proposal (not including bibliography or further reading sections, seen as they're just a list of books):

 'To Fight Monsters . . . We Created Monsters'

Abstract

When it comes to adaptation from one media to another, e.g. book to film, an artist must contend with three key factors: client needs; fan-base expectations; and personal creativity. As a creature designer working in such a field, it is important to succeed in these areas, without sacrificing one to the benefit of the others. Thorough knowledge of animal anatomy is also crucial to success, but should not hamper the importance of individuality, whilst work ethics and practices shown by industry professionals should be emulated in order to achieve a diverse working method that can be changed to suit the needs of the project. The same theories and practices play within redesigning iconic creatures as well, with fans of the pre-existing media being the utmost priority to please. It would benefit the film industry in particular, if the director’s visions were to match up with the audience’s desires. The artists involved would be able to design within set parameters that allow for their own input, whilst keeping the two main parties and that one vision in harmony. This would in theory ensure that, for the creatures at least, the adapted media would remain true to the original and hopefully prevent unfaithful adaptations and disappointed fans.

Introduction

This project is a study of 2D creature design; in particular looking into the interpretation of creatures from media to media, predominantly book to film adaptation, as well as the redesigning of iconic creatures and the processes involved in such a field.  The crux of the project is based around one main question: can an artist design creatures based on existing media, producing what is expected from them by their clients and the intended target audience of said media, without losing their own creative stance? This, then, can be dispersed into 2 divergent questions: What is the process of (re)designing iconic creatures to create a different look and appeal and how can this knowledge be beneficial to an artist? And; what are the important aspects and issues that come from designing creatures based on text? The intended aim of this project is to become a competent creature designer with a clear established working method that can be adapted to suit the needs of potential clients. To achieve this aim, a number of objectives have been established in order to maximize efficiency of time:

1- Constant production of anatomical sketches and drawings to improve knowledge and skill.

2- Further research into the working methods of high-level creature designers in the industry.

3- Interpreting and re-designing creatures from established works (books, films, games etc.).

4- Setting tasks to design new creatures with the intent to focus on areas such as anatomical accuracy, iteration and believability.

With aim and objectives set, the project is in a solid state and ready to be further explored.

Contextual Review

To understand the concepts and ideas behind any subject, it is best to explore the works of those that have come before. For this project, the main inspiration is that of American artist, Terryl Whitlatch; a highly commended and revered member of the artist community who works as an animal artist and creature designer. In one of her books, she states that:

“It takes dedication and constant practice to be a competent animal artist and creature designer . . . A combination of live animal, museum specimens, television programs, and various photo references all fall into the mix when observing and sketching animals.” (Banducci 2010, p. 59)

This makes it clear to anyone attempting to enter the field that it is not an easy task and requires a constant determination to work and study. In relation to this project, Whitlatch’s work ethic is one of utmost importance and will be a clinching factor as to whether it will be successful or not. An interesting note about creatures is divulged in ‘The Unfeathered Bird’, which will help to inform the project that when it comes to designing fantasy beings, it is best to ensure that they look exactly like what they do, making their predominant features the focus and toning down less important parts. This way, they will come across as being more realistic and believable.

“Nature has a tendency to reinvent itself . . . the features that do give genuine clues about evolutionary relationships, those that are not influenced by adaptations to a particular environment or way of life, tend to be the subtle things.” (Van Grouw 2013, Introduction xii)

When designing creatures, a deep level of anatomical understanding is very important, but it should not overtake an artist’s individuality, as suggested in the book ‘Animal Anatomy for Artists’:

“With direct observation from life, combined with the study of anatomy, we can achieve a valuable in-depth understanding and appreciation of nature, as well as develop a sense of design and esthetics. This knowledge and sensibility, united with the inspiration generated from these studies, is transferred into our art, and with it we express ourselves in time.” (Goldfinger 2004, Introduction)

What can be taken from this quote is that expression and style need not be dampened by base knowledge and research. Indeed, by exploring the subject of creature design, the anatomical studies conducted, amongst other research methods, simply allow for more accurate representations of the imaginary animals that the artist would set out to create. There is no reason for such rules and restrictions to prevent creativity and doing so would only lead to sub-par designs that have not been explored to their full extent. A design that stands out and exemplifies creativity, whilst still showing skill is far more likely to get noticed than one that simply strives for anatomical excellence. Brett Marling, one of the artists who worked on designing the Necromorphs (disturbingly grotesque enemies) for the gaming franchise ‘Dead Space’ says that whilst he is producing concept art:

  

“I have anatomy pages open, but at the same time you can’t be too constricted – or you’ll drive yourself nuts worrying about how things fit together.” (Robinson 2013, pg. 87)

This should prove a useful insight when designing creatures and begins to answer the project question of how professional artists go about the task. It puts forward the idea of not getting caught up in accuracies, but rather focussing on the important part of designing; the creativity.

Continuing with ‘Dead Space’ and concerning the process of designing the Necromorph enemies:

“We wanted the Necromorphs to evoke injury – actual people that have been injured as opposed to exotic aliens. For horror to really work it needs to be relatable.” (Robinson 2013, pg. 77)

What makes this quote interesting is the part about horror needing to be relatable to work. This is a valuable and well versed theory when it comes to the designing of creatures no matter what genre; as a relatable, and thus believable creature will sit better with an audience and keep them captured in the moment as opposed to removing them from it and creating a sense of disbelief.

Designing a believable creature isn’t something that just spontaneously happens. The games company Oddworld Inhabitants has a very poignant work ethic that will be strictly adhered to during this project and will surely assist in the creation of better designs.

“A large part of Oddworld’s production philosophy revolves around iterations . . . However, repetition by itself is not enough. The key is not how many times something is reworked, but the direction and progress gained by the thoughtful review and criticism of existing work.”

(Wade 2004, pg. 26)

This working method will help to improve work and allow it to be produced more efficiently and effectively. This then, is the reason as to why it shall be adopted to this project, as it should help to produce the best results in the relatively short time period that has been allocated to it. The iterations part of the quote is a key idea that will be valuable to the process and is something that has come up time and time again looking through various ‘Art Of’ books, as well as in ‘Creative Essence: Creatures’:

“You should never leave a drawing in the ink well. That means that there are so many times that a designer will do a sketch and the first one they do they’ll think that one will be it. But after you do 50 sketches, the first one is often so far from what you end up with . . . it’s important to explore as much as possible.” (Thomas 2013, pg. 10)

It shows that, in general, the initial designs for anything can oft be far from where the final outcome ends up. This too then helps to answer as to how professional artists go about designing creatures and is assisting in the forming of a solid bed-rock of theories and ideas that will move the project in the right direction.

Research into how professional artists go about designing creatures is the important ground on which the main focus of the project, the interpretation of creatures and adapting them from media to media, stands upon. It is intriguing the idea of an artist having to fulfil the requirements of not only what they want to produce, but also what their clients seek and the fan-base expectation that will be forever present when adaptations are created. Going into the field, it is important to understand how much say an artist really gets when it comes to actually working on an adaptation, under the eyes of a director.

“Everything comes from parameters that I give the designers  . . . I think directing is a mixture of creating the sense of freedom, which is completely false, and controlling everything.”

(Cohen 2013, pg. 45)

This quote from director, among other things, Guillermo Del Toro shows that under his ruling, though it may seem as though the artists are getting free reign over the designs, in truth, it is actually he who in the end decides what is best for the film. In the method of directing Del Toro uses, he does allow for the artists in the team to use their imaginations and have their own take of things, which is of course important to keep them happy and motivated, but he also carefully corrals them and the designs into the way he wants them to go. In this way, he gets to put forward his artistic vision, whilst making sure that what is produced looks appealing to the audience. In a similar vein, director Gareth Edwards allows for the artists to explore the area he has assigned them to and focuses very much on iteration until the look he is seeking is achieved. He explains the hardships of being a director and having to cut off people’s creative flow because it isn’t going in the right direction:

“That’s the real difficult part of the process. People – really talented people you respect – will go off and try something, and it’ll look great, but it’s like casting. Someone comes in and does an amazing performance, and they’re a great actor, but they’re not right for the role.” (Cotta Vaz 2014, pg. 113)

Taking this into account should help to improve the creature designs within this project, as it suggests assuming the role of the director, taking a step back, reviewing exactly what the goal and aim is and refining designs where necessary; even removing ideas completely if they aren’t what is sought. The important part here is still in the iterative process that must be played out in order to achieve the best designs. It is reminiscent of the phrase ‘murdering your darlings’, meaning to kill off ideas and concepts that you love, as it will be for the greater good of the project.

The topic of redesigning iconic creatures is one which only the surface has been scratched so far, but could prove to be instrumental in reaching the project’s aim and so will be delved into far deeper. For now, a question taken from ‘Godzilla: the Art of Destruction’ makes for something to ponder:

“How do you take a character who has a lot of baggage and has had different incarnations over the years and reintroduce what made him great?” (Cotta Vaz 2014, pg. 12)

Methodology

A combination of practical and literature based research will be used to address the project aim and, in turn, answer the questions that have been put forward. These methods will often interlock and help to produce more powerful and creative pieces of art, such as taking inspiration from quotes via reading books. For example, a key working method of those at Oddworld Inhabitants is explained in their ‘Art of Oddworld’ book:

“One of the mantras at Oddworld is that a creature design can’t look like it came off a designer’s table; it has to look like it came from a mother. Meaning, it has to look like it could be a functional creature – it must have muscles and bone structures that make sense.” (Wade 2004, pg. 40)

By taking on such advice, that of professionals, it will lead to practical work becoming more meaningful and easier to analyse. Another such example of practical advice that will be taken on board during the creation of practical work is from previously quoted Guillermo Del Toro who states that:

“If you really, really love monsters, it’s like when you love anybody else or anything else: you want the best for them . . . The worst thing you can do is approach a design with the desire for it to look cool.” (Cohen 2013, pg. 128)

The best part about collecting this knowledge from reading is that the methods and ideas can be cherry-picked to suit the project based on what is deemed most appropriate at the time. The knowledge gleaned from books can also provide practical working methods and solutions to creating a sort of frame-work within which creatures can be designed, using professional techniques;

“We developed a simple ‘Creature Matrix’ and then challenged our band of artists with it. It wasn’t really a design brief, but more a starting point for their thinking. It was as simple as asking ‘hunter or hunted?’ and ‘predator or prey?’” (Thomas 2013, pg. 4)

Using the ‘Creature Matrix’ method, which is further explained in the book, it will be easier to analyse what has been designed, as being given a brief will help to set an aim for each creature and its success will depend on how well it meets that aim. This ‘Creature Matrix’ could include anything from descriptive qualities to the aforementioned professional advice, methods or ideas. Other practical methods that will play a part in answering the project’s questions will include: designing creatures based purely on textual descriptions; attempting to redesign iconic creatures with set goals in mind; designing new creatures based in a franchise setting that should adhere to the established style. All of these methods can be analysed in a similar fashion to that of using the ‘Creature Matrix’, i.e. by fulfilling a sort of check-box list of requirements. Throughout this, it must not be forgotten that personal creativity is of utmost importance and should only be sacrificed to a degree where absolutely necessary.

There are also two case studies planned that will each look in depth at separate iconic creatures: the first being the ‘King of Monsters’ himself, Godzilla; the second being Smaug, the dragon from ‘The Hobbit’ by J.R.R. Tolkein. Both have been adapted and redesigned in various forms over the years, so looking into this may give insight to answer the previously quoted question: ‘How do you take a character . . . and reintroduce what made him great?’ It will also help to understanding the whys and reasoning behind design decisions of adaptations and thereby inform the project’s own designs that will be produced.

Finally, attempting to contact authors and artists on their views on the subject of adaptation will be conducted in the hope that valuable information can be gleaned from first-hand sources. These will include authors such as J.K. Rowling, Darren Shan and Eoin Colfer, as well as artists like Giovanni Rigano, Chris Riddell and Keith Thompson. The data gathered from this should hopefully reveal what the client to artist relationship is like and how they collate ideas to satisfy the fans of their works.

Conclusion

What makes this project worth investing time in is that it would be beneficial for the industry to perhaps better understand the correlation between what the makers want and what the fans want, at least when it comes to designing creatures. Not only that, but also because the concept of adaptation is a popular one in which it isn’t just the professionals who have their thoughts opinions and ideas, as explained by Brian McFarlane:

 “Everyone who sees films based on novels feels able to comment, at levels ranging from the gossipy to the erudite, on the nature and success of the adaptations involved . . . the interest in adaptation . . . ranges backwards and forwards from those who talk of novels as being ‘betrayed’ by boorish film-makers to those who regard the practice of comparing film and novel as a waste of time.”

(McFarlane 1996, pg. 3)

It would be the hope that this project could shed light on some of the issues faced with adaptation and perhaps help to solve these problems and prevent, as is so often the case, bad renditions of fan-favourites. It would also mean the outcome of a strong portfolio that would demonstrate anatomical skill, professional working methods and creativity; something with which to take to potential employers to truly enter the field of creature design.

Production Schedule

References

Banducci, G. 2010. Animals real and imagined. California: Design Studio Press

Cohen, D.S. 2013. Pacific Rim: man, machines & monsters. California: Insight Editions

Cotta Vaz, M. 2014. Godzilla: the art of destruction. [unknown]: Titan Books

Goldfinger, E. 2004. Animal anatomy for artists. New York: Oxford University Press

McFarlane, B. 1996. Novel to film: an introduction to the theory of adaptation. Oxford: Clarendon Press

Robinson, M. 2013. The art of Dead Space . [unknown]: Titan Books

Thomas, M. and Sharrad, K. 2013. Creative essence: creatures. Australia: Ballistic Publishing

Van Grouw, K. 2013. The unfeathered bird. Oxforshire: Princeton University Press

Wade, D. and Johnson, C. 2004. The art of Oddworld Inhabitants: the first 10 years 1994-2004. Australia: Ballistic Publishing