Characters

Here are a few of many of the characters that I have fleshed out for my Flash animation. For each of these sketches I wanted to make sure I had the character in a main stoic pose, a secondary action pose, and a profile. Some of the characters I took straight out of fantasy lore, like the Elf. I've been exposed to enough movies and games that involve elves to the point that I was confident in character creation without much research.

I went with a run-of-the mill elf character. Loves the woods, bow and arrow, quick and agile, pointy ears, long hair, 'nuff said.

I wanted a way for the elves to get around in this fantasy world fast, but not necessarily with a Porsche. So I thought what would be cooler and more fitting than a giant bird?



These owls are about the size of a large elephant. They're mainly used by the elves in warfare when the elves need to swoop in on a larger-than-life adversary and overwhelm them in large numbers.

I chose the owl as the mystic creatures the elves go to in times of need because of what owls represent. They are guardians of the forest, looking it over at night with their large eyes and sharp talons, attacking pests on sight.

The elves often saddle up on their large friends when their are even larger creatures than the owl that serve as a threat. Which leads up to another character type I've created that sorely needs a name change as soon as come up with one...


The Gorilleye, one of (if not the) largest creatures of the land. These guys love trampling through forests, eating trees, elves, and swatting owls. These beasts are formidable creatures that have few equals in raw power. The Gorilleye's passions are eating, destruction, and eating.

With both the owls and the Gorilleye closely resembling their real life counterparts I had to spend some time studying the look and movements of owls and gorillas. With the Gorilleye being much larger and savage than your average gorilla I even looked at King Kong as a source for reference, with the owls somewhat resembling the planes that Kongs swats down.

Flash for Fantasy

1.) For my capstone project I will be working with Flash to make an animation with comic book qualities for a fantasy story.

2.) The project will read like a comic book, yet also have the feel of an animated short. To be more specific, the piece will include word bubbles and panels, as well as fluid animation. The comic itself will be fantasy based, with action sequences to take advantage of the animation aspect that Flash offers.

3.) Being interested in both comics and Flash animation I could not decide which one I wanted to focus on for my capstone...so I chose both. I would like for the digital comic to have a gritty graphic novel feel to it, like Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns, though not necessarily as dark.
The story will be fantasy based and I plan on using as much fantasy lore as a can squeeze into a Flash animation short. Dragons, elves, pixies, ogres, you name it. I'm not so set on a clear cut story (though there may be a hero), as much as I am of bringing characters to life through action, movement, and suspense. My goal is not necessarily to tell a story (though there may be one), but rather to show a world that is chalk full of interesting and unique entities who clash with each other to ensure their own survival.

Side note: I would like very much to include atleast a soundtrack, if not sound effects as well.

4.) By the time the term is over there should be a nifty Flash Animation for your viewing pleasure.

5.) Much of the inspiration of the work will come from J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series, Walt Disney's Fantasia, and various Magic: The Gathering cards.

6.) I have experience with Flash animation and the use of Abobe Photoshop for comic book creation. Examples to be posted soon.

7.) It has been a while since I have done any animating, let alone used Flash, so I will be using the Flash Mx book and Richard Williams' Animator's Survival Kit, amongst others, for reference/guidance.

8.) By January 15th- Track down/purchase reference books.
January 22nd- Bring detailed character studies and outline of story to class.
February 5th- Have a very rough animation of the work completed.
February 12th- Sync in an appropriate soundtrack. Continue fleshing out the piece.
February 19th- Sound should be in final stages.
February 26th- Continue working on animation.
March 6th- Finalize animation.
March 13th- Have all aspects of project completed and ready to turn in.