Visual Research

In this first set of influence maps, it was my job to look at (in particular) tapestry and art movements following the extended research which was uploaded previously to this post. I've also gone ahead and added a personal influence map of some CG and animation examples of Viking like characters to hopefully give our group a little food for thought.

Inside Fig.1 we were particularly drawn to the over exaggerated hair of the father in a cloudy with a chance of meatballs, this also is present in How to train your dragons, Stoic. We want to push the theme of exaggeration particularly in our artistic style in our animated short to add to the comedic value, to do this bias in hair and stocky proportions could be a good idea. 

Fig.2 is an influence map based on metal objects of about the 8th century. Even though the swirly patterns across the axe (bottom left) may not actually be dated to the 8th century they are a great piece of detail and are often associated with the Viking era. 

Finally fig.3 depicts an influence map of sections of tapestry. Our group aims to use tapestry as a basis for our artistic style and aesthetic design

Figure 1                                                 Figure 2                                                     Figure 3

Story Outline

While continuing with visual influence before moving into character design,we have developed a step-by-step outline for our story before moving into drafting a rough storyboard. With our basic concept finalised and deciding to proceed with the idea of a comical instructional“How to Defend against Vikings" video, we collaboratively combined we decided that escalation comedy would be a suitable fit for our story. We also liked the concept of using British comedy to incorporate smaller jokes, being able to create a quirky atmosphere that would allow us as designers to create comedy at the expense of both our off-screen English characters of the Bard and the puppeteers, as well as our main character of the Viking.

Step 1: The Voyage

Our Viking is introduced on his voyage over seas to conquer new lands to the west. He reaches land after a long trip and can't move his disproportionate legs properly and struggles to exit the boat.

Step 2: The Attack: 

The Viking is shown initiating the first attacks on a Monastery which will be an adaptation of the first raid on Lindisfarne in 793. Our character will be seen 'entering' the Monastery, and heard reaping the rewards of his raid.

Step 3: The Defense: 

The English initially try to defend themselves with weaker weapons that cant match the brute force of the Vikings. Simple farmland tools such as pitch forks will be pointed at the character from all angles before our character bellows and scares them away.

Step 4: The Befriending:

The Englishmen then begin by trying to befriend the Viking to prevent any further conflict by dressing as Vikings themselves trying to imitate their behavior which ultimately fails.

Step 5: The Walls:

Walls of straw, wood and stone are then erected to prevent further attacks, however, the Viking manages to blow away the straw with a clap, splinter the wood with his weapon, and shatter the stone with his head. For extra comedic value, the Viking will need to do a double take on the stone wall and headbutt it twice.

Step 6: The Moat:

Ditches and moats are then installed around important buildings and settlements to prevent the raids. Our Viking manages to use a primitive 'see-saw' mechanism to propel himself across the gap in a humorous fashion to gain access to his rewards.

Steps 7 & 8 are still being altered. Here we want two methods, one bordering stupidity, and the other beginning to be utterly profound so that it supports the concept of escalation comedy.

Step 9: The Dragon:

Once the English decide enough is enough and build a strong fortification, Our Viking will summon a dragon to do his dirty work to destroy their building leaving their defenses open for raiding. Our Viking will enter the now-ruined battlement to collect a bigger sum of gold.

Step 10: The Treaty:

In the end, the English will be 'the bigger men' in a typical English manner and admit defeat by signing a treaty which agrees to share their land with the Vikings equally.

Whilst these are the essential keystones within our story, there will also be plenty of room for background jokes which will be different depending on the characters. We will try to reference typical English humor during these segments which we agreed would be a beneficial part to give our comedy that direct 'British' feel.

Extended Research

After our first meeting, it was apparent that our first idea for a narrative was the one which had the most interest and appeal to us all. From our tutorial, we further extended our research by looking into further sources, trying to find the ideal style and method in which we could effectively engage and audience, and tell our story. These areas were again divided evenly, with one of us looking into Tapestry, while the others researched middle-aged theatre (more specifically 'pop-up' theatre) and Ballads.

Narrative Ideas

After combining our initial research, we begun to dive into creative writing, thinking of basic ideas to create an effective story suitable for a minute animation. We decided that for our animation to be captivating, it would have to be kept simple, possibly having either a character driven story with two polar opposites, include a moral to boost the story, or have a comedic twist on a factual scenario. We went away and upon our next meeting me circulated our ideas and came up with a variety of idea based on various parts of our research. Our base ideas were as follows;

• The Death and Rebirth of a Viking Warrior - A characters journey after death as he ascends to Valhalla after being chosen by Odin.

• The story of the Valkyries and their duty to take people to Valhalla - A representation of their own voyages from earth to Valhalla, transporting the chosen deceased.

• A narrative which follows the story of a legendary weapon - A short animation documenting its experiences and how it had changed hands over time.

• How to defend against Vikings – The progression of defenses against Vikings during their raids in the west; told in the perspective of an Englishman before the signing of as treaty.

• Perseverance is key to success - A Viking blacksmith attempts to create the 'perfect' weapon for a Viking warrior. The warrior breaks many weapons before perfecting his method.

• The Light Elves & the Dark Elves - A character driven narrative which presents a conflict before being resolved by having both parties meet on a moral ground.

• Creation of the Cosmos - The telling of how the world was believed to have come to be in Norse Mythology, personifying certain aspects.

• A hero story - Using historic or mythological characters to tell a story.

From these collaborated ideas, the idea which became the most appealing as we discussed creative possibilities and limitations was the “How to Defend against Vikings” concept. With further discussion we all had a similar visualization of the art direction and style we wanted to push this project towards, and realized that using both 2D and 3D elements was appealing to all of us.

The next stage in the development process will be to ‘pitch’ our idea to ensure that the narrative keystones are there to support the production of this short, as well extending our research visually and conceptually.

Initial Research

As a team, we decided the most efficient way to split our research was to decide on the most appealing and important factors of the Viking history, and divide the load evenly. We thought that the most relevant areas to look into were the culture of the Vikings, their Historical contexts, and their mythology. These aspects seemed to be the key stones for creating a narrative and find the information needed to visual a 'house-style'.