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Sprite Fright - Characters

I got to work on the characters for the open movie project "Sprite Fright" by the Blender stuido quite a bit and helped to translate the base designs done by Ricky Nierva for 3D.
Figuring out clothing detail and facial expressions and gestures was a lot of fun and working back and forth with the rest of the team and the director Matthew Luhn helped to inform a lot of decisions for these characters. Is something ultimately worth the trouble caused further down the pipeline? Often times with this project the simpler, cleaner solution led to the more appealing outcome!

Vicky's clothing was quite difficult to figure out. She surely isn't dressed for the occasion (camping in a forest) and is pretty densely decorated. Ultimately we had to drop the 80's mesh shirt because it ended up cluttering the design.

Vicky's clothing was quite difficult to figure out. She surely isn't dressed for the occasion (camping in a forest) and is pretty densely decorated. Ultimately we had to drop the 80's mesh shirt because it ended up cluttering the design.

Some more references for the shading department

Some more references for the shading department

A paintover to explore Vicky in late(r) stages of her life

A paintover to explore Vicky in late(r) stages of her life

Some expressions as reference for the 3D artist. Some of these went to far for the style of the production, but it's always fun to push :).

Some expressions as reference for the 3D artist. Some of these went to far for the style of the production, but it's always fun to push :).

Rex also got the facial expression treatment! These are drawn over some fabulous sculpts by @Julien Kaspar

Rex also got the facial expression treatment! These are drawn over some fabulous sculpts by @Julien Kaspar

Even the nitty gritty details like Rex dentals in action got some refinement at this stage.  Do his crooked teeth line up when they meet in a toothy grin? Cartoon logic beat the easy solution!

Even the nitty gritty details like Rex dentals in action got some refinement at this stage. Do his crooked teeth line up when they meet in a toothy grin? Cartoon logic beat the easy solution!

uhh!

uhh!

A distressed version of Rex to go along with Vicky. We didn't expect to be able to afford all of these little details, but Shading Artist @Simon Thommes did a fantastic job putting Rex through the wringer!

A distressed version of Rex to go along with Vicky. We didn't expect to be able to afford all of these little details, but Shading Artist @Simon Thommes did a fantastic job putting Rex through the wringer!

Facial expressions for Phil!

Facial expressions for Phil!

Some of these sure went to far, but it was fun to mess around with this guy's upper lip and mouth placements.

Some of these sure went to far, but it was fun to mess around with this guy's upper lip and mouth placements.

Jay's expressions only needed a little bit of tweaking when it came to his teeth. They go square when closed now!

Jay's expressions only needed a little bit of tweaking when it came to his teeth. They go square when closed now!

Some tweaks to simplifiy the flow and silhouette of Jay

Some tweaks to simplifiy the flow and silhouette of Jay

Ellie's fanny pack got a bit of exploration....there is many colors to choose from when it comes to the 80's but those bright pinks and greens made the prop stand out nicely even in the night scenes.

Ellie's fanny pack got a bit of exploration....there is many colors to choose from when it comes to the 80's but those bright pinks and greens made the prop stand out nicely even in the night scenes.

A paintover over Elder sprite to establish the look of his fuzzy beard :)

A paintover over Elder sprite to establish the look of his fuzzy beard :)

Elder sprite poses

Elder sprite poses

sprite poses based on what I remember  being a sweet little 2 year old must have been like :3

sprite poses based on what I remember being a sweet little 2 year old must have been like :3

Oh noes!

Oh noes!

Some horrific effect that someone had to design...admittedly it was a lot of fun to paint these.

Some horrific effect that someone had to design...admittedly it was a lot of fun to paint these.

Bigger bubbles because Sprites are tiny creatures and we want to be able to see what's happening.

Bigger bubbles because Sprites are tiny creatures and we want to be able to see what's happening.

Figuring out the level of grossness needed for this effect.

Figuring out the level of grossness needed for this effect.