Case Study
Set in a fantasy world on the fictional continent of Xadia, the story centers on the human princes Callum and Ezran and the Moonshadow Elf Rayla, who seek a peaceful resolution to the thousand-year-old conflict between the human kingdoms, the dragons and elves whilst taking care of the infant Storm Dragon, Azymondias, the titular Dragon Prince.
The Dragon Prince
Below, you can see a few examples of the Location Concepts and Story Beats, as well as my planning, explorations and final deliveries.
A good work always starts with a thorough research and quick rough sketches.
Katolis Castle
At this point I usually start building a proxy model (in Blender), so I can check layout ideas and scale against the story needs.
All design aspects get tested by the story requirements.
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Action navigation, shots planning is a very important step so a "good looking" design makes functional sense and supports the storytelling.
Viren's Study
Story Moments development
A clean second pass
A clean third pass
An alternative castle style exploration towards a more brutalist "human built" architecture.
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That left the "magical" design approach for Elvan locations to be build upon.
First "world level" map,
set layout and scale
exploration...
A cleaner version of the "world"...
Early sketches usually used for a conversation with the creative team:
Directors, Story Artists etc. which helps to proceed to a more refined design exploration stage.
Test cameras for scale check...
A story moment improvisation
based on one of the test cameras...
While Story Beats sketches are being created (based on storyboard) — they also act as proof of concept to make sure that the location design checks out and supports the story efficiently.
Lodge Banther
Valley of Kings and Queens
Location proxy modeled in 3D Coat at full scale; cameras tested.
Kings and Queens sculpted in 3D Coat