Introduction.
In this blog post, I will be showing my process of idea generation for my fantasy assignment by writing a synopsis for my fantasy show idea, as well as posting my moodboards that i created for the characters and environments that will be in my intro.
Synopsis.
In my blog post titled ‘Synopsis, loglines and treatment’, I wrote a logline that would become the basis for my fantasy tv show idea. Here is that logline:
“While searching for a way to stop himself from eating humans, a vampire living in the Victorian era becomes tangled up in a mystery. a mystery that leads him to the dark cult at the centre of humanity’s power and corruption.”
Since then, my idea has developed and been fleshed out, and this will be evident in the following synopsis. Though there are some changes, the main premise remains similar – and that premise is this:
A young vampire named Fiend (living in a vague time period in the late 19th and early 20th century) is struggling with the fact that he has to kill and eat people in order to stay alive. This is sparked by a recent string of graphic bloody murders that humans are blaming on vampires (although vampires typically eat people in secret) – Fiend doesn’t see himself as a murderer, the people he has killed he sees as food. He rejects the idea that his consumption of humans is anything like the twisted work of an evil serial killer, and goes to such lengths as to investigate the murder himself along with a private detective – and friend (who is also a zombie) – by the name of Pierce Rot. By examining evidence and interviewing the families of the victims (crucial work that the lousy police refused to conduct) their discoveries together in the mystery draw more and more parallels between the killings and the vampire’s way of eating humans – and Fiend starts to question his own morals. Outside of the investigation, he begins to pay a doctor named Dr. Bogus to supply him with human blood donations from Bogus’ hospital ‘Bogus Hospital’ so that he can sustain his own life without killing any more humans. Fiend’s father Malus Malice, a powerful demon (who is a priest figure to all of the evil monsters in the city) eventually finds out about Fiend’s blood purchases, and is upset because of his views about how monsters should rule over human beings. Fiend is now at odds with his father, who becomes an antagonist as the mystery unfolds and a conspiracy is revealed.
I have decided to name my show Turtles and Witches. I took it from a random title generator and I thought it was funny
Main Character’s moodboard.
Below is the moodboard I created for my main character – Fiend. These are all of the inspirations and media that inspired his design, and i think that these inspirations are reflected in his final design.
Here is the link to my concept design blog post, which shows his final design, as well as the design of the other characters:
https://media.confetti.ac.uk/alexander-xs21/2022/02/07/concept-design/
And here is the link to the Microsoft Publisher file for this moodboard, so that you are able to view it in full resolution:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xuGspYDClmF4lantxeqiUcvHnEY-fEG-/view?usp=sharing
The top left corner of the moodboard takes images from old films from the early 20th century that helped to define the vampire genre – Nosferatu (1922) and Dracula (1933). There are also images of people, clothes and aesthetics from the 19th and early 20th centuries who helped to inspire my character’s look and personality – notably, Oscar Wilde, Aleister Crowley and Buster Keaton. This theme of the turn of the 20th century is relevant to my fantasy tv show, because it combines a fantasy world with these Victorian and gothic themes. This will be even more apparent in the moodboard for the main setting of my show – a city named Spooky Town.
In the middle of my moodboard are images from the band Ghost, whose unique visual style and ‘characters’ heavily inspired my fantasy show.
Along the bottom left of the board are some pictures from the comic series American Vampire. Although I haven’t read it, it’s visual style and art are very fitting with the theme of my project.
The rest of the moodboard are characters, drawing references and pieces of art that inspired my main character. Specifically the work of an artist and animator on the internet called Ian Worthington, or ‘Worthikids’, inspires me in all of my art and animation. I think that his style is really interesting and creative, and some of his pieces of art and screenshots from his animations are included in the moodboard. I particularly like the red and purple colours in the piece with the vampires sitting around a table. My main character’s design has a similar purple theme.
Here is an embedded link to one of Worthikids’ animations, so you can see his style and talent in action.
Malus Malice.
Here is the moodboard I created for Fiend Malice’s father, the demon and priest Malus Malice.
He is very much inspired by Papa Emeritus, a character that’s part of the visual art of the band Ghost, which i have mentioned before in this blog post. The band is very theatrical, and each album cycle has a new version of the satanic pope-like character Papa Emeritus as the ‘lead singer’ (it’s the lead singer Tobias Forge in a costume and mask). I love the visual art and imagery of Ghost, with their colours, patterns, themes and aesthetics fitting with the gothic fantasy style of my tv show.
Also featured are several masked characters, like Michael Myers from the Halloween horror movies, as well as Die Hardman – a character from the videogame death stranding. I included these characters because I want Malus to have a mask, and these skull like and blank, expressionless designs fit well with the theme I want to create.
Setting Mood Board.
Here is a mood board for the main setting of my fantasy tv show, a fantasy city called Spooky Town.
Here is the link, so you can view in full resolution.
As you can see, the town is heavily inspired by an existing fictional city – Yharnam from the video game Bloodborne. The mixture of gothic architecture with Victorian elements tied into a fantasy setting really fits with the atmosphere I intend to create in the setting for my show. I also really like the red, blue and purple colours of the sky (which I included some colour palettes for), and how the moon is featured so prominently instead of the sun. This will fit with the vampire theme of my fantasy show, because vampires only go outside at night. I also included screenshots along the bottom from the animation that I linked previously in this blog post called ‘Wire’. The vampire’s castle’s structure and colours really fit with my characters and atmosphere. I also included an image from The Nightmare Before Christmas, because of it’s aesthetic style also.
In the bottom right corner of the mood board are some examples of gothic architecture – a style of architecture from the middle ages that is seen in a lot of churches and religious buildings and that fits with the vampire theme – it is seen in media like Bloodborne and Dracula because of its aesthetic appeal.
Conclusion.
I think that this blog post and included moodboards show my process of generating ideas for my fantasy show idea. I think you can see through my other blog posts how my moodboards influenced my final character and background designs.