Character Design Moodboard
- Jaime Scott
- Jun 5, 2016
- 2 min read
Inspiration:
I have a intricate hand-made Venetian mask hanging in my bedroom (Top Left) that I purchased in Venice last year. The design and amazing detail has always given it such character and personality that I've been itching to draw it for months, but I couldn't summon up the right character in my head. I didn't want the character to just 'wear' the mask, I wanted the mask itself to BE the character - not just a pretty accessory. This game project gave me the kick up the butt that I needed to fully realise this masked Venetian Vigilante character and create a back story fitting and as detailed as the inspiration itself.
Silhouette:
The mask is the focus of this entire character design, meaning I didn't want to over-clutter the character and detract attention away from it's most striking feature. (This isn't typical for me, because usually I loooooove sticking as much detail as humanly possible onto a character design, especially when it comes to the costuming). I decided that the majority of the clothing should be black/ dark, and that the silhouette of the character should be slim and simple - easy to read.
I was reminded of the evil characters often found in early german expressionism films. Their bodies were always purposefully disproportionate and creepily long, stretched and thin. You can see the pattern repeated countless time in expressionists films such as 'The Sandman', 'Nosferatu', and 'Metropolis'. And more recently, in Tim Burton's characters designs of Jack the Pumpkin King and Edward Scissor Hands. It's an instantly readable and identifiable silhouette that everyone unconsciously understands.
And I feel like the silhouette will fit in nicely with the characters design, which I intend to make bird-like and silent, giving it a slight alien quality in it's lack of humanity for a 'human-looking' character.
Clothing/ Costume:
Dark/Black tones. No overly complicated layers. A tight fitting tailored suit of some sort. I plan to have him running through the streets of Venice, so nothing to floaty that could get caught on sharp edges. Definitely high-waisted pants (to emphasise the disproportionately long legs and short upper torso), some form of nice jacket and gloves + killer boots. Possibly a sword of some sort. Apart from that I haven't thought of it in any more depth just yet.
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