Film Inspiration

Argh, it seems like ages since I've had a chance to update my blog. Too many essays and presentations! They've taken so much longer to do than planned :S We have one week and two days until all our pre-production work is due in. Scary, scary! This is going to be an intense week for me, because our pre-production work has been neglected a little as of late, and it takes ages for good quality colour drawings to be produced! (For me anyways)

Ok, first things, first, I'm just going to update the blog with all the work Ive been doing in between, starting with some video research.

The very beginning of the trailer is the only part of significance, inspiration wise, for me. This is very similar to the look of the mechanical fortune teller box that will be in our animation (this will make more sense hopefully when I have uploaded my storyboards!) and that will give the 'bad' characters a choice. Our fortune teller should move just as stiffly and mechanically. However, ours will not have a moving mouth. Speech asking the characters a question that will determine their fate, will come from the fortune teller, but sounding like a voicebox in a toy.

This is just plain creepy. When I saw the jester design, it really inspired me to making my clowns in the jury look more of a cross between a clown and a jester as opposed to just being a clown, as the clown image is used alot in film etc, and the jester less. The design is just as disturbing, more so, as you are less certain what to expect from that sort of character. Also, note the girls hair. I like this plasticine look for hair, a bit similar to the characters in 'Monster House'. Easier to animate and more opportunity to stylise.

This advert helped us alot when we were developing our story and convinced us, that just showing things that were obviously stereotypically scary could work, if we stylised them up and reinvented them as our own.

Ah, the good old Indiana Jones mine cart chase! Never gets old! We have a mini rollercoaster sequence in our ride, that was influenced by this, a fast action sequence to grab the audiences attention before plunging them further into our weird little world!

Finally we have the opening to the old kids TV show, 'Are You Afraid of the Dark?' This shows objects that you would not normally associate with scary, but when shown in a particular way, like in this clip, are. This is what I aim to achieve with the appearance of our ride. The exterior, for example, will not have bodies dangling from it or be covered in blood, but with good lighting, sound and camera angles, will hopefully make the audience feel uncomfortable and spooked.