Sharkskin

Here it is folks, the grand finale! If you haven't had a chance to look at my previous posts, let me fill you in.

This was an assignment for Drawing for Storyboarding class here at Savannah College of Art and Design. The objective was to write our own spin on a fairy tale of our choice, create six full-color beat boards, and then pitch it to the class as either an animation, a film, a TV show, graphic novel, or commercial. 

I started off with the German fairy tale, Bearskin, a story of transformation through a deal with the devil. Previously, I had another storyline, but I ended up changing it for this second project. I adapted it into a simple undersea adventure, a full-length animated movie catered towards children and families. Sharkskin tells the story of an over-fished ocean, an angry sea god, and two fishermen who wish to make amends on behalf of the humans.

The fully polished beat boards are available on my behance account too---if you like what you see here, send some appreciation that way too. They're also posted here on my blog---along with a few extra goodies. Enjoy!

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

Fisherman #1 Character Sheet

Fisherman #2 Character Sheet

Sea God Character Sheet

Fisherman #1 (Hammerhead) Character Sheet

Fisherman #2 (Goblin Shark) Character Sheet

FINAL BEAT BOARDS

Beat Board #1

The fishermen are over-fishing the sea. The sea serpent, lord of the ocean, intervenes.

Beat Board #2

The ocean god capsizes the fishermen's boat. He plans to punish not only them, but the other humans as well. The fishermen plead for their lives and strike a deal with the serpent. The men will live one year beneath the surface as sea creatures so that they may understand their suffering.

Beat Board #3

The serpent sinks their boat and transforms them into sharks. He vanishes into the deep, leaving them to fend for themselves.

Beat Board #4

The men spend the next year as sharks, roaming around the sea together. During this time, they see the ocean for the beautiful place that it is, and also that it is a home for families of creatures.

Beat Board #5

As their year undersea comes to an end, they come across a mother whale caught in a net. They watch in sadness as the baby whale cries out in distress, unable to free her. Driven by their new-found sympathy for animals, the sharks free the mother whale from the net, but become entangled in the process. They are unable to escape as the net rises to the surface, and they accept their fate.

Beat Board #6

As the sharks are hoisted to the surface, they gasp for breath, but realize they have lungs once again. Transformed back to their original selves in the nick of time, the men are bewildered. The net is dropped on the deck of a fishing boat, and everyone is a little bit confused. From there on, the men make an effort to resolve the demand for fish across the world.

**BONUS

 EARLY DEVELOPMENT

Original Merpeople Concepts from the Previous Story

Original Merpeople Concepts from the Previous Story

Original Opening Scene of Netted Fish

Original Concept of the Sea God's Appearance

Camera Angle Experimentation

Camera Angle Experimentation

Camera Angle Experimentation

Old Thumbnail from Board #3

Rough Thumbnail of Board #4

Original Ink of Board #4 (Awkward Hanging Coral)

Alternate Camera Angle for Board #5

Original Thumbnail of Board #5

There were obviously several changes made and ideas scrapped throughout the project. I am very happy with the final results. 

Bearskin Adaptation #1

Thank goodness that we receive an extension on this project. I'm such a slow worker sometimes. But hey, it all worked out.

Our first major assignment for storyboarding class was to choose from a selection of fairy tales and then draw out our own take on it. I chose the Russian fairy tale, Bearskin, and set my version in an underwater civilization of merpeople and aquatic beasts. Why? I guess I've just got a thing for oceans and stuff.

Previously I posted 150 thumbnails of possible set layouts for my three finished boards. Guess what? I didn't choose any of them. I used them as guidelines as I created 3 new scenes: a one point, two point, and three point perspective. Each scene was based on events I chose from the story:

1. Deal with the Devil
2. Transformation
3. Proposal to the Bride

I have a lot of practice using digital art programs like photoshop, so I decided to complete my thumbnails on my laptop. This allowed for quick and clean changes. I did, however, map out my thumbnails on a piece of paper.

From there I just imported them into photoshop, stretched them up to scale, and then inked over them digitally.

I messed up a lot. No worries, though. I had a week to toy with these. Here are the final, polished pieces.

The devil (a sea serpent) shows a merman warrior the whale graveyard. He accuses the merpeople of destroying the great beasts of the sea. In order to understand the damage his people have done to the marine life, the merman agrees to be transformed into a sea creature himself.

The merman is magically transformed into a hammerhead shark, and roams the seas lonesomely. His own people reject him, as well as the other sea creatures. Here I wanted to emphasize his isolation by having other animals flee from him.

In the original fairy tale, the man, Bearskin, saves an old man's life. In return, he is given the daughter's hand in marriage.In this board, Sharkskin proposes awkwardly to his reluctant bride.

I enjoyed this assignment. If you did too, you're in luck---there's a second part to this project. Stay tuned. More boards soon.