Flesh Pinball
Development process of an young-adult animated series pre-production and its pitch-bible
2017
Federal University of Technology - Parana, Curitiba BR
Professor Advisor:
Marcos Varassin Arantes
Format:
36 pages, 21x14,8 cm, digital printing
With Yago Ballarini
Flesh Pinball is my undergraduate thesis project done in collaboration with the Video Editor and Graphic Designer Yago Ballarini. It consists of a Pitch Bible for an animated series, a document that exemplifies the look and feel of a production and it is in itself a way to present the idea in a complete and lively way for possible investors or production companies. In this case, the Pitch Bible is a compilation of the premise of the show; a log line; synopsis; full character arcs, description and design; plans for complete seasons and episodes breakdowns; concept and key art and full scripts for the pilot.
From the first bare bones idea, we went through the development of different character arcs, world building, world lore, visual conceptualization, market analysis and different references of previously approved pitch-bibles, the whole process took roughly an year. Our research and graduation in Design paid off in a huge way regarding the character design and visual development of the animation in general, focusing on the design process such as a colossal amount of sketches, drafts and constant improvement of the look and feel of the show.
World building
Treating the synopsis as a starting point, the worldbuilding consisted on creating the shows' world and its mythology. Rules, fictional history and even details such as coming up with a fictional flora and fauna were designed to better reflect and, at the same time, shape up the narrative. After this painstakingly process, the full industry standard 15-page script for the pilot could be written, following a high number of alliterations and options.
Charachter Development
A special part in the development was the characters creation. After immersing ourselves in the arcs and lore attached to each character, the challenge was to express the personality and feel of said characters on a visual level while maintaining shapes and volumes clear enough to be displayed in motion. Traits such as disproportionate anatomy being associated with goofy personas or pointy silhouettes demonstrating "edgy" personalities were employed as well. The process would begin with the definition of a specific and characteristic silhouette for each one of them and culminating on costume and object designs.
Here I compile a resumed version of the charachter design development of one of the charachters: Kai, or simply K.
Here I compile a resumed version of the charachter design development of one of the charachters: Kai, or simply K.