Character Concepts for Movie in Pre-production

[DimMak]

Current Project: BLOOD SOLDIERS short film
Here's my process in designing the general look of the vampire soldiers and then on the individual characters.
Love to hear any input, comments, crits, etc...

--- PLEASE GO TO LATER PAGES FOR MORE RECENT WORK ---

THANKS!!

[thescala]

These are pretty cool, reminds me of FEAR and 30 Days of Night.

[DimMak]

These are pretty cool, reminds me of FEAR and 30 Days of Night.

Thanks! I actually loved the way they executed the vamps in 30 days of night. I really wanted to bring in some of that brand of ferocity but contrast it with some of the controlled and calculated killer personality that a professional soldier would have.

By the way, you're work looks really cool!

[DimMak]

Going to transition the concept to color soon.

[lunasolaris]

Dope!
I like the way you designed the layouts. Really cool.
The single full body character is cool... from the waist up looks like it needs some tightening up from there down. but nice, i like the face a lot.

[Tattoocalypse]

By the way.. Does anyone have any suggestions or tips for transitioning my black and white character concept to a full color version? i was planning on adding color to the existing piece and then painting over it slightly to resolve textures and finer details somewhat. i was hoping to mostly just adjust the color levels to the existing piece for the most part which is highly experimental for me at this point.

I'll post my result after i'm done, but if anyone has any insight, it would be appreciated.


thanks in advance!

Once you have a really good value drawing its fairly easy to create a layer set to multiply in photoshop and lay your colors that way. It actually very good practice to to these images in B&W first as its much easier to judge your values.

[DimMak]

Once you have a really good value drawing its fairly easy to create a layer set to multiply in photoshop and lay your colors that way. It actually very good practice to to these images in B&W first as its much easier to judge your values.

thanks for the tip! i'll give it a shot. I had originally tried that method with the layer set to overlay but the colors were sitting over the values and looking very pastel like. I'll see if i have more luck using multiply. i was initially apprehensive trying that since i thought it would make everything look muddy.

I'll post my result after i'm done. I'm hoping to get some time on it tonight and tomorrow.

thanks again!

[DimMak]

the guys at stone tiger just launched a crowd funding campaign on kickstarter.
check it out! you can become a backer and help the project get made. most pledges receive some limited edition goodies as thank you gifts and they'll also give you a producer's credit if you REALLY show some love (c;

check it out here: http://kck.st/chHtBQ

[chromion]

A new character concept i'm working on.. i can't really discuss all of the details since it's under wraps sorta, but i thought it'd be cool to share some of my process and maybe get some feedback.. i'm really trying to make it in concept art for movies and gaming but i still have a lot to learn and i'm really eager to work my butt off to get there.

below is the process for designing the facial features, costume, etc...

awsom

[DimMak]

Here's the colored concept. I did a few versions because the Director preferred a less bloody alternative. I couldn't help myself and i really gored him up though.. which do you guys prefer?

[DimMak]

they posted 4 options and are asking which people prefer.. what do you guys think?

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...lm/posts/21546

i like the bloodiest one the best

[Erick Willand]

I dig the 'military vampire' thing, very cool. I agree with too, in house jobs rock.

[DimMak]

thanks!
Yeah i've been trying to hunt down and achieve the ever-elusive in-house job for a while now. hopefully as i create more good work and step my game up, i'll get noticed by someone in a position to hire me or at least put in a good word. It's a long hard road filled with tons of competition.

[Angel Intheuk]

hi DimMak

I think I agree with the director and prefer the less bloody one, but I think it depends on his character and the story line, the less bloody one says to me that he is a professional soldier but isn't against feeding on the job, the bloodier one says he is blood thirsty maverick who doesn't care.

I picked up an interesting colouring technique, find some textures, wallpaper, brick walls, random things, scan them in and then overlay them onto the picture until you find a texture that works. I also use multiply or darken layers alot as they intensify the shadows and pen lines.

Good luck

[DimMak]

Hey everyone.. just punching in with a small update..
here's a concept for the female team member Thalia.



This version has already gotten "canned" because it's playing up too much of her practical military side and not enough of the dangerously seductive female vampire personality.. Just thought i'd share this with you guys anyway seeing as how i'm posting some of my process and this was part of it until it got the boot.
You guys can keep up with the movie's funding process and see updates, enter contests and even pledge support for the file and get cool gifts and even credits in the film when it's made. just go here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...tch-short-film

cheers

[6thSun]

Love your work man! Really dig the vampire special ops idea,I'd pay to see the movie.Keep up the great work,eventually you'll get what you want. You have the skillset.

[DimMak]

Love your work man! Really dig the vampire special ops idea,I'd pay to see the movie.Keep up the great work,eventually you'll get what you want. You have the skillset.

Thanks!! I have a lot of hope and tons of determination... So something should give.. eventually.. we'll see!

[DimMak]

new revised concept for the female character.
still only a work in progress. got miles to go, but you can at least see the new direction/personality

will update when it's at it's next stage

[devilminer]

aaahh, don't use Bank Gothic font! Sorry, just a flashback of my college days. Nice work here. I like how you emphasize the face with more detail. The outlines give it a comic book feel---dont know if thats what your going for. If not, lessen the outline to maybe gray. Other than that, keep going! I'll keep checking back for more. And thanks for the comment!

[DimMak]

next step.. completed grayscale.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...tch-short-film

[DimMak]

here's the colored version.

[Falchion]

Now this is a movie idea I can get behind! Very slick work there.

[steven6]

DimMak,
Cool stuff. I dig the concepts. I did a quick paint over -hope you don't mind- Watch your perspective. . .sometimes you bend the perspective on the guns. The girl rifle paint over hopefully will help show what I mean. Best of luck to you and Mel. Looks like a fun project.
Best regards,
Steven6
Gallery link:
http://artorder.ning.com/photo/photo...=15pkfv9l6a21z

[Rod.windt]

Sorry Steven, but I`m affraid you got the wrong perspective.
Budy, check this out, makes more sense:

[steven6]

Rod.windt
Cleary you missed my point. . .if you re-read my post you will see I was cautioning against him "bending the perspective" on the guns, and speciffically the rifle the girl was holding. I wasn't attemting to rework his piece, simply offer a visual to what I was descrbing and some help to get my point across. Frankly it will be up to the artist to impliment any suggestions, be them yours, mine, or anyone elses, I was just trying to help.

I like Rods gun postion better, but my origional point still holds true. . .don't bend the perspective, try to be consistant.

Best regards,
steven6
http://artorder.ning.com/photo/photo...=15pkfv9l6a21z

[DimMak]

Thanks guys! You're both right. I totally laid that gun in roughly and was sort of at a half-way point with the piece when it got the "axe" and i just stopped working on it. The perspective is backwards and i should have corrected that earlier on, but i needed to get on the next version for time reasons and i just left it as-is.
I really appreciate you guys taking the time to look at it and give me a solid crit. I need those wake-up calls so i don't get lazy with any key fundamentals like perspective. I'm going to do another 2 characters for the movie and i'll keep posting here.
Thanks again!

[DimMak]

Here's another concept that's been rejected. It's still ONLY IN SKETCH PHASE (like the previous Thalia that was rejected)
This is the crazy, young, close-combat expert. He uses blade weapons but is also outfitted with a small mp5 so he can spray and slice and the same time. He's the most happy to be a bloodthirsty vampire and doesn't play well with others.
I wanted to have a pose that looked like it was in motion and a little unnervingly psychotic looking. The director/writer felt it was a little too unnatural/awkward looking of a pose and requested something a little more commonplace, so i'll post that when it's nearing it's completed phases.

[-TLishman]

That last sketch is pretty cool, i guess he is licking the blade? Its hard to tell if he is either licking it or just has it in front of his face.

Either way, nice design and proportions seem good.

Keep it up!

[DimMak]

yes he's definitely licking the blade. i was going to resolve all of that clarity further but the design got canned so i'm starting with a new pose tonight and we'll see where that goes.

[flavortabe]

they posted 4 options and are asking which people prefer.. what do you guys think?

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...lm/posts/21546

i like the bloodiest one the best

I like the last one with less blood. I love blood but a thought I had was maybe if it was blood stained. In the movie taxi driver to be able to use more blood in the film they made it sort of a brown red color. I liked it because it was dirty and gross without the bright red that can be overwhelming at times.