All power corrupts, but we need the electricity. - Unknown

A match between two well known scientists’ turns into an on stage brawl.
Film type – Strange and hard to understand introduction. Going from the home to the scientist and arriving in front of a stage with the camera angle in one package.

Intro – shows the scientists create robots in their respective quarters. A lot of blue enviorment on the pacifist, a lot of light tinted red on the war mongered.

Power struggle and lines of communication errors.

Power struggle

I vs I

Communication error

Scientist number one

Pacifist – Concerned-Easily panicked-Hopeless romantic-Easily embarrassed-Smart-Crowd sensitive-Hidden ambition called when on the brink of his tolerance.

Robot number one

Skill – Can mimic the opposite personality of the user close. *Results in many unexpected odd moments from the person who stands in question.* This means if a ‘evil’ person is in sight, a more gentle figure will appear in a blueish hologram image. If a good person has this utilized on this, a red tinted hologram appear with a evil person in question. All of them have physical properties.

Scientist number 2
Military engineer who has strict ideals resemble ling that of a Stalinist. Nothing aside from victory is enough for him. Has a harsh voice, a fairly big figure. Wears a lot of red, but has a secret admiration for tough fighters who stand their ground.
Robot number 2 - A fully armed drone which demonstrates its power on what seems to be a blue nation flag, giving scientist number 2 a smile. An exceptional number of weapons and it is extremely maneuverable. Prone to technical failures due to poor safety testing.

National Tech judge

Tall – Easily reacts to charms. Quick to take sides.

National tech moderator – Short, quick to take cower – Plays no significant role other than readying the handover on the trophy.

Treatment

Camera – HA over a scientist like lab section, a peaceful garden rich with life. A blue blowtorch like sound is heard as various components are seen made. Then LA on a tall tower, which inside features many screams for something oddly resembling slave labor, on the top of it, a red steel being hand-forged into various components are shown.

During these moments, the name of the main credits are forged into the crafted components being made. It crosscuts between the two scientist, not clearly illustrating either yet. However the characteristics are shown in the way they produce the various components to the devices they are making. Before too long a blanket is thrown over one, and the title appears in the darkness that is created by this.

Title

The blanket is then removed, illuminating a much more regular environment. Fascination from the crowd then appear as in that shot parts of the robot number one is revealed.

Camera – LS on scientist number 1, showing both him and the robot as well back of some members in the crowd which are applauding.

Scientist number 1, now slightly embarrassed by the amount of applause steps back, and rather embarrassingly turns on the robot which projects a second image next to the scientist. Showing a large, muscular and clearly evil figure. Clearly scaring the scientist, but as a hologram image it cannot do much, or so he thought. He turned it off, and it clearly astounded the crowd as well as the main judge.

LS to ECU to MS on scientist number 2 which appears from one of the corners. The ECU showing his face with the cigar in just as he comes around the corner, the MS showing him as he turns towards Scientist number 1.

He coughs a bit as two rather thin and obviously not well feed people carries in a rather large object hidden under a blanket which he ever so eagerly pulls off.

Revealing a larger, yet much less polished machine. The judge seems intrigued as scientist number two pushes a button. He then throws a blue flag similar to that

Scientist number 1 is representing like a handkerchief in the air which is shortly blown to pieces by several types of projectiles. This excites the audience and infuriates scientist number 1.

Scientist number 2 then approaches scientist number 1. He then slaps robot number one so that it accidently activates. This reveals a rather funny double that other than acting as extremely embarrassing for scientist number 2. It also makes the crowd laugh at him. This makes him run over to his own machine, in a incredible speed press a great number of buttons. This makes machine number 2 transform into a mech-like robot.

There is an odd moment of silence as the robot seems to stand still for a moment. It clanks a bit and beats it chest in what seems to be a tape recorder. After a few moments, a soviet-like dance song appears to be playing, and it is during that moment it goes absolutely berserk at everything it sees, including scientist 2.

Firing weapons in all directions. Even when passing Robot number 1, which generates a small puppy like mechanical dog which has a small metallic bone as its core feature. It still continues blasting all around, chasing scientist number 2 and 1 as they run past the hallway. They run around and after a drastic sequence of dodging bullets, escaping missiles and the likes the return back to the presentation room.

This is where the robot from the roof approaches the both of them, cornering them. He then pulls out a grenade and steps forward, slips and trips on the bone made from the hologram-like image and explodes himself. Scientist number 2 is now even more frustrated with the situation even though he was about to be killed. He chases scientist number one back to his machine and at that moment, the hologram of scientist number 1 comes back. It is big and threatening enough to fight scientist number 2, which it does, and at the same time the weak hologram from scientist number 2 starts fighting with scientist number 1. So while the brutal fight between scientist 2 and the hologram from scientist 1 is ongoing, the rather pathetic fight between scientist 1 and the hologram from scientist 2 also goes on creating a rather funny contrast.

The fight suddenly stops as the judge blows his whistle. Impressed by both machines he awards both of the scientists the grand award. Scientist number 2 now respects scientist number 1. Robot number 2 that blew himself up seems to be quite content in lying in pieces and petting the hologram dog which was the opposite of himself.

The day seems to be at and end and the scientists shake hands, but the scientist number 1 seems confused when leaving that his schematics are gone. A grim smile from scientist number 2 while exiting may reveal that he might have had something to do with it.

The real man smiles in trouble, gathers strength from distress, and grows brave by reflection. - Thomas Paine

Alright, so the year is over and I find myself in a position of reflection.

At the start of the year I was a bit insecure on what to do, how to develop my creative process and how I would cope with the challenges laying ahead of me. I knew I was going to work hard, something I feel entitled to say I have. However there is also the issue of how to progress, I have always had a finish early mentality on stages, since the latter stages will most certainly take a greater deal of time to finish.

During the first mandatory assignments in the first semester illustrated this to a greater extent than required in some cases. I did alright I think it is ok to say, I could always have profited from a bit more skill, but even more so experience, and that's what I have gained during this semester, a bit of skill and a bit of experience, which in total adds up to quite a bit in the long run. Confidence, knowledge of 3d as well as problem solving are things I can much more easily cope with now, which really help.

During my next year at Teesside I will further deepen my knowledge in advanced visual effects, creative animation, games future and games development. What I have learned this year will be of a great boost in the coming semesters.

These years are always kind of tricky since most of the friends you knew won't be going with you to Teesside. You will have to be more direct and more independent in the coming years as you will have little home contact, that and of course the ever-sticky issue of funding during school years, if the times be kind upon me I will eventually find a summer job to boost the outlook on this, but for the most part I think things will go alright.

All in all, there is a challenge approaching next year, and due to this course I feel much more capable of taking that head on. I think it will be a good experience overall getting an early Bachelor and hopefully something more the coming years.

Real glory springs from the silent conquest of ourselves. - Joseph P. Thompson

This is the final chapter and the end of the story.

Going onto the top of the building he sees a large chain attached to the top of the building. This chains leads directly up to the sky from a 90 degree angle. While climbing this up, he sees the landscape below him, the wast cities on flame. From the sight, there has been an invasion. He climbs onward towards a floating isle in the sky. On the top of this isle, what seems to be an entire abandoned city is floating. The structures can remind of a Gothic cathedral design, the buildings complimenting the light shining from the skies and stained glass creating a strong caustic visualization. It is here he walks to the center, to see what seems like a hall of mirrors surrounding him, each reflecting someone he knew, be them alive or dead.

What seems like a man steps forward. He cannot hide what seems like glowing marks on his skin, regardless of how hard he tried. He smiled, explained to the protagonist all of the characters he knew, how, and why they died. What he accomplished in the end was to overthrow a corrupt government, but only by doing so did he manage to allow an even greater threat to emerge. Now that the homeland did not present much of an organized threat, lands previously held down now had little stopping them in attacking their suppressors. In the end, all which could potentially been saved had been ruined. However, the death of a nation came warranted.

The protagonist seemed unable to accept this as several characters, those trapped in the mirror faded away. However, he was more shocked when he realized that from the very start, he had been used. Everything from the sidekick in the prison, the assault on his home city, the old wise man character and the following events. He had been chosen to deconstruct what was a dying society, even at the expense of the major losses.

Questions got thrown, few of them answered. All that was sure is that the main antagonist, the one responsible for each and every catalyst was over 500 years old and he had tried to deconstruct the same society which threatened his existence. There had been a rivalry between the main and sub antagonist. The main antagonist was plotting the demise of all the sub-antagonist had built up in hope to one day overthrow him as technology was getting more and more powerful.

However, all was in vain on his part, when he found out what was going on, his gut had been slashed by the main antagonist. Something which had an effect on the battle against the protagonist. What seemed strange is that he did not even acknowledge the existence of the sub-protagonist or the support character,. claiming neither were parts of his plans.

Upon denying the sub-protagonist he unleashed something new in the protagonist, a type of rage that cannot really be defined. Fate would have it that the protagonist, heavily wounded psychologically was kneeling on the ground, having major problems accept reality while the main antagonist was standing, watching over him. In a flash of a movement, he grabbed the hair-pin to the sub-protagonist, one which he had kept since the prison and stabbed the main antagonist through his jaw, all in one automatic move which he could not even have predicted. This came as a literal shock from the main antagonist, who stepped back slightly after this. Something had changed drastically with the protagonist, which seemed to be enjoying himself in a rather sick, insane way, but at the same time being in incredible pain. The main antagonist seems startled, although the wound did not affect him much.

The rage which the protagonist had built up initially had changed him in a way. He was stronger, but not as predictable. The main antagonist thought it was time to end this, and prepared to make a deadly strike against the protagonist, however, it had no effect as it was countered too quickly, the life of the main antagonist ebbing out.

Everything was changing quickly, the red sky was turning blue. The protagonist still visibly shaken and still mourning the loss of everything that was dear too him. Enemy battleships closing over the capital. However, one thing caught his attention, one one nearby ship he could see a familiar character. The sidekick, om board an enemy ship. For a moment, it was quiet, but it was only the beginning of the battle between these two figures. Although they were so far from eachother, they both knew that they were there and that the conflict had just begun.

For the moment, that's it. I will probably change some things out in the future.

We have to distrust each other. It's our only defense against betrayal. - Tennessee Williams

This is a continuation of the story. We are getting closer towards the end now.

Right now things have moved to a more artistic and peaceful setting. In a cold, tall room which has several platforms needed to cross in order to get towards the top. None are particular happy, but all are very determined and they speed up. Getting closer and closer, however, one gap in particular is so wide that they need to throw each other to get past. The sub-protagonist and the support characters are the two ones that are quick enough to get over on their own, so they do that. It is during this moment, that the protagonist does notice that the support character is acting kind of strange. This worries him, but suddenly a sick smile is shown as the support character, on the other side of a rather large gap stabs and kills the sub-protagonist character. This unexpected betrayal makes the protagonist enraged.

Questions are thrown each way, the sidekick/support character reveals himself to be much more able than before. Before all this, he had always been somewhat clumsy and unreliable, bringing in more trouble than what he was worth, it was all however a play on his side, this he makes quite crystal clear. The protagonist, faced by a large gap is by now fuming. The support character after a long conversation which he in a sick way seemed to enjoy leaves giving the following message. " You and I are all the same".

He works his way towards the top, what was a cold blue light have now turned dark red. There is absolutely no mercy left in him as it has been replaced with a powerful rage. Before reaching the top he finds what seems to be an altar of some kind, a rather large room. Here he sees the sub-antagonist stand. His back turned towards him. However, it was clear he knew that his presence was here.

" I must congratulate you. You have successfully dismantled the infrastructure that torn this nation apart for several years, yet kept us safe. The nations we have been feuding against will see this weakness and now strike, soon, nothing but death and decay will grace this land. Was our system cruel? Of course it was, but it worked and we were so close to world domination, but, I guess the hearts of man never will gift their neighbor with peace, neither despot nor statesmen. Power corrupts all who touch it, but it feels right, even now at our final encounter, it all feels right".

They talk for a short period of time, but surprisingly, there is no hate from the protagonist or the sub-antagonist. The one that was behind all the slaughters. However, there is a common agreement that only one can stay on this world, the other has to go.

The sub-protagonist goes for his signature move, to rush ahead and pull out the heart of his opponent before he has time to react. However, to the protagonist, this all seems slow and predictable, he manages not only to block, but to counter. It was slow, much slower than expected. The fight goes on and proves hard, but manageable for the protagonist. The antagonist combines the grace of his rapier while unflinching determination, however something seems to be slowing him down. More and more during the course of the battle. A critical hit is finally thrown upon him, by the protagonist which without mercy stabbed him with his own rapier. Only to find that another wound was present. The sub-antagonist goes to the floor. He seems very satisfied. The madness was coming to a close. He reveals to the protagonist that the main antagonist was indeed considered a God before, and had been choosing both civics and rule from earlier days. Only today the modern technology had nearly overthrown him as his powers was limited. Beyond the gates was the road into the immortal city, the one which only a single legendary warrior had entered before him.

Force without wisdom falls of its own weight. - Horace

This is a continuation of the story.

After the funds were transferred, the halls showed a clear disorientation among the soldiers which now seemed more busy arguing in a hostile way. Before too long, fire breaks out and so does mass slaughter. The main character knows that this will be on a larger scope than simply in this vicinity, by the force of the coin, he had successfully turned his nation against himself. He manages to take the remaining characters upwards towards the observatory in the this grand momentum. A few loyal soldiers fall victim as the tough soldier character deals with them. Continuing up the monument he can see that the entire city below them is in disarray, fires breaking out. This scene does focus heavily on artistic values such as color theories and light/eye guidance. Near the top a single room is visible, this is the room of the top vassal. They open the door, and see the old wise man character sit in the middle in the great office. He seems more content if anything. The main character pins all fault on him, holding him at gunpoint. However, the old wise man seems to be accepting blame so easily, so light heatedly. Something was up, and they soon caught the smell of it.

The old wise man had a past which had troubled him greatly, all the lives he had claimed both now and then. Even though he tried to change the system for the better, it was irreversible and bad just lead to worse. Although this is not properly explained, the main character knows it. He gives him the following message. " You think I am going to let you get away that cheaply, think again". The Old Wise man smiles and says the way now is open. The palace walls now find themselves breakable, take out the general/sub antagonist and all loyalty will be gone.

They take down to the streets, the fires blaze high and the streets in chaos. The otherwise green-like sky would now be radiating a more red environment. Driving past what seems to be an endless wasteland of destruction towards what can be described as a massive complex. It also is suffering from a large scale level of damage. There was a way through the walls they utilized, but the hallways were more or less filled with slaughtered corpses. They soon realize that there is no one here, until they reach what seems like a hangar. There a single man dressed in a large, black armor stands. The tough soldier class prevents the protagonist from going any further. Stepping close towards him, no words are shared. This is the one that stood behind the general. The one which the tough soldier reacted too so much earlier.

Before too long, the environment turns completely gray. The strong dynamic use of gray scale with highlights. Since there are no weapons, each blow reveals in a shock wave type of artistic design color as a falloff of the force which is used. Red is shown, at least in the blood as the battle is quite intense. Before too long, the black guardian stabs him through the chest with what seems to be a cheap move. The tough soldier is by now coughing blood as he is lifted into the air while this is occurring. A few simple words slips out of the mouth of the dark guardian. "Inferior.....". After this, the tough soldier pulls himself closer too the dark guardian. With all his force, the tough soldier lands a blow upon him which knocks him out cold. Taking much of the tough soldier with him. As he lays dying on the floor, the protagonist approaches him. The tough soldier seems happy, and asks the protagonist to promise to save his sister.

This is however when one can hear the applause of a single person above them. The general was watching them. Telling the protagonist that he was very impressed. How well he had managed to use others to his own gain and that he would have made a great military commander.

The tough soldier does not understand, but on a large screen what shows the video of his his sister being killed while in prison. After the video finished, the tough soldier, dying as he was seemed fuming. The general said the following. " Commander 'name'. You are now relived of your duty, your service is complete and you may now find peace...... Or not by the looks of it".

This is when the protagonist turns towards him, looking him in the eye once more. Although he feels like shit, he knew what he was doing. It is a powerful moment in the film and one that sets the tone for the final parts of the movie. Words are shared, but the one that feels worst is the sub-protagonist. They eventually leave the tough soldier behind and follows the general which said he would be waiting at the top of the tower. Since the tower was rather huge, it would probably be a long way to the top.

An ounce of loyalty is worth a pound of cleverness. - Elbert Hubbard

Ok, at first, this seems like a mess, well I am going to explain what this really is.

Firstly, this is a character relation sheet, how some of the most vital characters react too each other. So, some of their stances towards each other do change. Some never get to know each other.

Let me explain it shortly in more detail.

The Protagonist

Sub Protagonist - Known her since he was young, has a brother/sister type of relationship.

Sub Antagonist - Rivalry since the early siege of his home city.

Support character - Great, great, until the character kills the sub protagonist in cold blood, reveals the sabotage he has inflicted on their mission and leaves and completely changes character.

Silent kid - Known this character for some time, when he finds out that the kid is largely responsible for the military tactics of the government then he takes action. The silent kid is not the second support character with the lost identity that is following them around, he is with the enemy for the time being.

Main Antagonist - Unknowing on who it is at first, but instant hostility when he finds out.

Old Wise Man - Even though he gets betrayed later on, he still cannot bring himself to hate his old mentor.

Tough Soldier - Has to manipulate him in order to acquire his services, but that gets repaid tenfold later on when the tough soldier finds out.

Sub Protagonist

Protagonist - Mentioned

Sub Antagonist - She goes up against him, but cannot hate him because of her naive nature.

Support character - Always friendly, she does not know that she is his victim. Well, maybe she knew, but that remains to be one of the unanswered questions.

Silent kid - Feels sorry for him

Main Antagonist - Never gets to find out about it.

Old Wise Man - Pretty much the same as the protagonist does feel.

Tough Soldier - They seem to get along really well, which leaves the part when the tough soldier finds out a rather disturbing moment for her in particular.

Sub Antagonist

Protagonist - Mentioned

Sub Protagonist - Mentioned, although he does not care much for her.

Support character - Knows each other from previous days, had him locked up inside a jail. Never really got along.

Silent kid - Although it is his tactical adviser, they do not seem to get along particularity well. He does not like the fact that someone that young can outmatch the greatest generals.

Main Antagonist - At odds in a way. However they have a fragile peace.

Old Wise Man - Old rival which it took him long time to get out of the limelight.

Tough Soldier - Rival at the war academy, however he left as he had to tend to his family. They are about equal when it comes to combat progression.

Support character

Protagonist - Mentioned, although he has no outstanding things against the protagonist, he does the betrayal for a very important plot related reason.

Sub Protagonist - Mentioned, although he really likes her, so it is no personal dispute or anything.

Sub Antagonist - Mentioned.

Silent kid - It is an enemy of great importance, but it is still a child, so he won't hurt him at the very least.

Main Antagonist - One of the few which knows about it's true powers.

Old Wise Man - Is the only one that really understands what he wants.

Tough Soldier - Is friendly during their time.

Silent Kid


Protagonist - Mentioned

Sub Protagonist - Mentioned, although he does not know her really well.

Sub Antagonist - Mentioned, although he fears the sub antagonist.

Support character - Mentioned, although he does not know about this character.

Main Antagonist - Fears him greatly, but had a plan of his own to overthrow his authority by military means.

Old Wise Man - Conflicted, the old wise man sees him as disposable, but uses him as bait to get his ambition ac hived.

Tough Soldier - Nothing hostile, but very little interaction.

Main antagonist

Protagonist - Does know a little bit about him, but sees him as no imminent threat.

Sub Protagonist - Never interacted.

Sub Antagonist - Mentioned

Support character - Does know very little about it, but he initialized the slaughter of his home several years ago which he carried out personally.

Silent kid - Sees him as a threat.

Old Wise Man - Had him personally removed from a powerful vassalage position due to distrust, has been at odds ever since.

Tough Soldier - Unknown.

Old Wise Man

Protagonist - Mentioned, but he does what he does to teach him his last lesson.

Sub Protagonist - Mentioned, but he wanted her to stay out of this conflict, but she refused.

Sub Antagonist - Mentioned.

Support character - Mentioned, but he does not know him very well.

Silent kid - Sees the kid as a disposable threat, but uses him as bait instead.

Main Antagonist - Spreads a legend of his existence just to annoy him. At strong odds with each other.

Tough Soldier - Likes the fact that the protagonist uses him as a disposable tool, but interacts little with him.

Tough Soldier

Protagonist - Gets mad when he finds out he has been used. It happens at the worst time imaginable.

Sub Protagonist - Mentioned.

Sub Antagonist - Old rivals, mentioned.

Support character - Does not live to see his betrayal.

Silent kid - Feels sorry for the kid.

Main Antagonist - Never gets to know of his existence.

Old Wise Man - Does not trust him, but cannot pinpoint why.

That's the short and basic description for now. Thing's may well change in the future.

It is always the best policy to speak the truth--unless, of course, you are an exceptionally good liar. - J K Jerome

This is a continuation of the story.

Just a note which concerns the entire story. In order to create a right type of atmosphere on details not yet disclosed I have 3 main inspirations.

Fawlty Towers - The way the events are scripted so that they backfire at the exactly right moment. The way something is always happening is just astonishing.

The Dark Knight - The true battle behind the scenes of good and evil. How they resort to cover up the victory of the Joker. That and the 3 turning point structure.

Kill Bill - Character introductions aside, they do a great way in reconstructing the Hollywood structure as well as they use an un-chronological structure in a right way.

Continuation.

After receiving a call from the old wise man class character the protagonist and his group heads towards his location. Upon arrival they are shown what seems to be a rather particular character. Looks human, but has a strange glowing pattern on himself. The old wise man character explains that he is what one would call a bio engineered race of super soldiers. Without the presence of this 'silent kid' character, the protagonist is told that he has an a fabricated past. A brain implant which cannot be removed by surgical means since it would be too risky. Most likely he is only a cloned result. Which means he has no past. He does not know this of course. That aside he has powers which can come to use.

The silent kid, although he speaks a fair deal, is easily identifiable by his neutral mood. Curiosity for conflict and his lack of understanding when it comes to the greater forces that are in motion.

Continuing on the old wise man updates the group on on what is their primary target, the imperial dome as it is called. In order to break into this heavily fortified location several actions have to be made, break down of nearby power generators. The strategic dismemberment of the security leader infrastructure for without the paycheck, the soldiers will not respond, stealth and advancements into the bunker system. Whereas most of the nation's leaders are stationed. Cut of the head and you kill the snake.

After scouting the exterior while receiving detailed schematics from the old wise man character the protagonist lays out a plan. This is were his nature is more clearly shown, with the access to modern weaponry he got from the tough soldier class he manages to device a plan for 3 groups. The tough soldier character goes along with the support character to make a Montezuma's revenge maneuver on the high end black market. This is were they are to capture a vassalage class character which is powerful enough to lead them into the bunker. The sidekick character goes alongside the silent kid to rig the power plants with timed explosives. The protagonist and the rest goes for the blackmailing in order to get the schematics and codes. The problem arrives when the explosives apparently did not do the job. The captured vassalage character then proves useless as the defense system still is active. However, the protagonist urges the characters to follow him. By simply holding the vassalage character as a live hostage held at gunpoint, he successfully bypasses the world's most advanced defense system. Shooting him would make his finger itch, which would have dire consequences on the skull of the vassal. Once inside the bunker he sees that most of the majority of the other vassals and leaders still are around. Since it is a moment of killing the protagonist and several seems reluctant at first, but they do finish the job.

The twist comes when the old wise man character comes on the large screen, congratulating the characters on wiping out what he calls his competition. He is the only remaining vassal, and with that, he would seize a great deal of power in one blow. The protagonist, outraged by this betrayal seems to be deep in thought. The old wise man character is already saying his goodbye and despair seems high as the security forces will sooner, rather than later breach the door. However, with fury he grabs the intercom and gives the following message which echos in not only the building, but the army installation. Claiming he has sized control from the vassals, and that the payment of anyone fighting the government rather than serving it would be doubled. This causes a near instant internal conflict, much to the favor of the protagonist. The old wise man smiles at this, simply leaving the message saying "Well done".

The protagonist having acquired some codes from the vassals managed to transfer funds into an automated system. This would severely damage anyone not fully loyal to the army as there would be more to gain fighting them rather than serving them.

It is a great ability to be able to conceal one's ability. - F D L Rochefoucauld

This is a continuation of the story.

The picture the protagonist receives shows an image of a very young kid. It has the text 'admiral' underlining the photo. This is someone which the protagonist knows, and without talking much about it. The first place he heads towards seems to be a military parade of some kind. When looking at the various weaponry the sidekick character questions his motives. He simply receives the answer that it is too see what kind of monster they are dealing with. The military parade demonstrates various artillery properties as well as bio-engineered units. The military also gives insight on that the system has been replaced by a meritocracy. After some time, the protagonist gets to a booth which shows the various new innovations, he even requests a list of former military officers and reefers himself as a private cleanup contractor, in other words a government assassin. This is enough for him to get the list he is after, he finds an hologram image of the tough soldier class character. His resume in battle as well as his service record. Also a formal end statement to his career as he was honorably discharged. He had apparently been very active on the field as well as a decent planner with great insight on what the military was up too. He tracks down the location of his home, and goes to the nearest bar in that region.

Upon entry, the tough soldier class is found alone at a table, smoking a cigarette and drinking a glass of cheap booze. An even larger person sits near him at the other side of the table, looking at him with a rather ugly stare.

???: You there...... Get out of my sight.

*The tough soldier character simply blows some smoke into the eyes of the brute. He covers his eyes and is clearly angry.*

Tough Soldier: There..... Out of your sight.

The brute quickly recovers, he smashes a large glass upon the head of the tough soldier, who does not even react too it. The brute proceeds to hold him in a choking hold from the other side of the table, the tough soldier simply glaring back with the same undisturbed facial expression.

???: You bastard! You think you are tougher than me!?

Tough Soldier: You make two mandatory mistakes in your hold. First is that you keep your fingers separated from one another.

*Upon saying this, he snaps the two fingers on each hand that is separated from the hand, inflicting major pain upon the brute which looses his grip completely.*

Tough Soldier: Second mistake, you messed with a former elite POD instructor. See if you can breathe anymore now.

*The brute looks down on his chest, and it is a complete mess. Apparently, his entire torso was destroyed while he held the tough soldier character.*

Tough Soldier: I missed your heart, I would have choked you with it had I reached it. I guess some really don't have one, but it is probably the booze. Next time, I might not be so drunk and you may not be so lucky.

*The tough soldier stands up and leaves, he gets halted by the protagonist upon exiting the building. He explains his intentions of under throwing the government.*

Tough Soldier: No thanks, I don't feel like dying today, and certainly not for any cause.

The Tough Soldier then leaves. The protagonist is halted by the Follower class character which shows that his sister is in jail. The protagonist knows that this probably means she is dead, but decides to spin it upon their second encounter as a way to get his reward. As an information agent he would have enough reach to probably pull a few strings. Gaining the trust of the tough soldier he manages to add another member to the party.

Suddenly, on the big screen. The sub antagonist alongside the Dark guardian class unit appears on what seems to be an in the field interview. The dark guardian, a huge unit heavily armored is mostly int he back. However the sub-antagonist says that the recent cleansing s are a necessity due to the recent invasions launched for and against their nation. The tough soldier class, more concerned with the dark guardian seems to be slightly annoyed. In a way, it is clear that the two knows each other.

The protagonist then receives a message from the old wise man character class, says it is urgent to meet with him.

I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals. - Sir Winston Churchill

This is a continuation of the story.

After climbing to the end of the treacherous mountain range they find the old wise man character in a low tech buggy waiting for them. After a short greeting they enter the buggy and this sequence can in some ways be a formal introduction to the world around them. An early credit roll while the buggy passes the post apocalyptic mountain range, the lower levels of the massive cities as well as the various monumental structures and the Old wise man explains the environmental, theoretical and practical life of society.

The environmental situation is that of a dying one. The air quality is constantly getting lower in quality and it seems that only the higher ups in the nation can afford useful ventilation systems which does cleanse the air for them. The exterior environment can be identified by a slight radial glare from the sun as well as heavy clouds and a slight green tone. It can vary in color producing some absolutely fantastic visuals, but none of them too healthy. The large industrial plants shattered everywhere adds more and more pressure on the environment, and the government has no qualms about unleashing weapons which does contribute to the situation.

The theoretical system goes into the daily ethics of the nation. The nation encourages guerrilla warfare competition based on the competence of the various groups that forms after that. The leading group of each factor is granted a near vassalage like ownership, but has to pay both a 'human tax' as well as ensuring that the regular taxes of the region is collected. The main government is an incredibly powerful as well as rich function as a result as all of this which can easily eradicate any guerrilla group that does not obey them properly. They have a massive military and an unrivaled industrial strength, they live upon the spoils of war and they have no humanitarian infrastructure. You do what you have to do in order to succeed. There are few rules, even for the citizens, but the few rules that are broken often result in instant court martial or worse.

The practical situation goes into the fact that the only loyalty that is to be found today is that of the coin, money can get you anything. Even in the regular citizens life they will do practically anything for money. They are forced to on a near daily basis throw down corpses into what they call the pit. The city is under constant attacks from plagues and whatnot.

After a ride which details these factors they stop outside what seems to be one of the better buildings in the slum. After a quick elevator ride they get into the office of the old wise man who lives a considerably better life than most, yet still enjoys the average slumming around in the lower cities. He gives the protagonist a proposition, to infiltrate the government and crash the system. The protagonist bluntly refuses to do this, and leaves shortly after, but the old wise man expresses his confidence that he will work for him one way or the other, after all, he used to be in the business of the protagonist himself.

After leaving and talking it over with the sidekick character and sub-protagonist it seems like all is a no-go, simply because the protagonist does not want to work under these circumstances. He does receive a message from the old wise man character which shows a single picture, which is enough to start the journey itself.

We are prisoners of ideas. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

So, here comes the continuation of the idea I was working on. Before starting on the story, I want to write a very important point about character introduction. If you have seen The Dark Knight, you know how well they introduced the joker in that film. How he made each of his workers subject to their own greed and vice and in doing so showed why he is so much better than your average con man, seeing that he was in with the crew itself which would be anything, but safe.

So, the importance, when it comes to introducing a character is to reflect not only their personality, but what makes them special. It is vital not only to make it slightly spectacular, but also to make sure that the cinematography surrounding it as well manages to compliment that. Now, it does not have to paint a character like superhuman in any way, but it has to really have a solid foundation which supports the characters personality.

So, now we are in the prison complex. These prisons only live on minimal hygiene and maximum security. They have a huge problem with disease, but they are controlled by prison violence. Each cell has a 'leader' sponsored by the guards. A violent hierarchy and any sick or unable would be disposed of quickly. Endless pits that the offending prisoners would be thrown into. In other words, imagine everything wrong with a prison, and you get the picture. So, the protagonist and sub-protagonist are escorted into a meeting room. Upon entering on the opposite side of the bullet proof glass near two soldiers. The atmosphere here is very dusty, with a red tint too the dust. He asks the soldiers to be left alone, one of the soldiers seems to follow things by the book and declines while the other soldier is more keen to listen in on the offer as he wants to take a break. The old man, or 'old wise class' man as he currently is labeled, whispers something into the ear of the soldier that wants to go. The soldier then approaches the soldier which refused to move, grabs his shotgun like weapon and in one swift move fires it towards the head of that same officer. Shortly after this he recives a single gold coin, which again underlines the level of loyalty they have towards their job compared to the loyalty they have for money. He then leaves the room, which makes the Protagonist and sub-protagonist alone with this new character. They make it known that they are known associates, the old wise man once found himself in the same trouble as the protagonist now finds himself in. It ends with the old wise man standing up, giving what looks like a small wrench of some kind and saying he is going to get some air. Leaving the protagonist and sub-protagonist alone.

Now, what occurs right after this of course is that after a short period in the prison, the protagonist manages to find a vent that goes into the what seems to be a ventilation system, one which showed various events downstairs in the prison food chamber. Needless too say it was disgusting, as well as putting the tone on what was going on for the newly arrived. Not a pretty sight to say the least. They continue on through the hazardous machinery, yet they encounter something unexpected on the way. The sidekick character, one slightly shorter than the protagonist, but looking kind of starved is in one of the corners, judging from his appearance, he could only have been there for a couple of days. However, he halts the protagonists as they approach him since there is hallway close too him, he throws what seems to be a loose pebble of some kind towards them, and it gets shot to pieces right in front of them. The protagonist sees this, and manages to align the reflection of a nearby metal plate. He then throws the wrench into the path of theautomatic sentry gun, knocking it to the side. They now continue outwards towards the prison camp. They find a sewer entrance which takes them closer too a waterfall, they manage to climb the treacherous mountains and near the end, there, they are surprised to see the 'old wise man' character waiting for them.

Now begins a torrent of words and a trickling of sense. - Theocritus of Chios

The time has come to structure the story I have been working on.

Before starting, you may remember that I posted a few character classes earlier on. Thus, I have a template. Most of these factors will have to be built brick by brick. A few vital points that existed from the start will have to be highlighted.

In character

- They have to be imperfect.
- They alter in passion, loyalty, virtue and goal.
- All the good ones will be taken.
- Create some level of sympathy, if not more with some antagonists.
- The beast is the protagonist, but is depicted in a way which makes the crowd agree with his moves, until the time comes to reap what has been sown.

In story development.

- No less than 3 turning points.
- Be very light, and if possible best avoid flashbacks.
- Don't give the crowd the entire answer, let a few unresolved questions with plenty of theories rest in their heads.
- Always have something going on, but vary in the intensity.
- Have a good relations between the personal, the strictly business related and the impulsive/desperate actions.
- Don't make it too monotone in terms of the ever shifting govermental shifting. Each point only goes from bad too worse.

In terms of art.

- Focus on good CG, but don't try to challenge reality. Keep it in a style sheet.
- Rely heavily on monotone environments during arc sequences, but don't be afraid to have other color highlights.
- Use the knowledge of color to co-relate with the scenes.

So, were does this story start? Well, under what seems to be a modern city siege, heavy artillery planted in the mountain ranges bearing down fire and all manners of weaponry upon the cityscape while a rather well trained army marches into the streets. Now, contrary to the audiences expectations this is not an invasion, it is a cleansing, not of ethnically, but of disloyalty. Cities that had low loyalty were in quite a new tradition their population halved to put a quick fix on that problem.

During this scene that does focus heavily on artistic muscles, we see the protagonist and sub antagonist running for cover and trying to navigate towards an underground city exit. Of course, this is something that they will fail on at the last moment. When held in custody among a great deal of other civilians, the simplicity of the soldiers will be depicted in a way that relies heavily on their primitive obedience. National pride is no more than an urban myth, the only loyalty that remains is that of coin. This does not stop them for acting in a disgraceful manner however. This lays some foundation for the follow up of the story, which takes place in a rather high security prison which has accommodations that would make the old Soviet prisons look like Egyptian palaces.

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. - Chinese Proverb

What the heck was running through my mind when I made that picture today?

I will admit, lately I have been on writers block, and that there is probably the most lazy work I have done in some time, I made a simple column just to test out some modeling. Fair and easy enough, however, I proceeded to shamelessly grab an older texture which actually was an unwrap with very little white on it and plaster it over an UV map modifier. Did I take the time to customize the texture for every column? Of course not, as I said, I am lazy today, so I just copied wildly, put up an omni and got the columns positioned correctly and made sure the light would fit with the environment, which I made in Photoshop, some tweaking and the additions of lens flare and stars and there you go, that's my work aside from some general writing.

Now, what back to the first question, what the heck was going through my mind when I made this?

Well, I was thinking of what would happen if I were to make my own film during the 6 month period. I have thought about this several times, most of the time it ends up in a heavy texture city landscape and the story ranges everything from a nuclear blast too simple artistic showing, this falling in the latter choice.

I thought about the stairway to heaven, a group in my class has a scene like that and I suddenly thought about golden platforming, like, remember when Super Mario had to jump onto block and block to get higher into the air? Well, these things are linked together by a fog, so they float for whatever reason, and thus they object of whatever character that would be on this scene is to go up, up and up without falling down, does gravity matter in outer space, well, depends on what you make of it I guess. However logic is a dimension away from this picture, in the end, it is just me being silly and for whatever reason, I kinda like the picture, it is surreal in a nice way.

Creativity can be taught, but it can also be found in the dimension of randomness, just go with the flow of whatever your mind guides you too and you are probably going to get a few crazy results like this.

PS: I was not drunk or high when I made this.

If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one? - Abraham Lincoln

Right, so it is finally time to have an introduction with the protagonist. Now, needlessly to say, the protagonist is a vital part of any show. However, he does not have to be the 'hero.' The age of the heroes have come to an end because people simply has seen too much of them. Now, I am all for having someone virtuous in the show, but I don't think the protagonist always is the right character to fill out that way. The protagonist needs to be slightly dark and not too virtuous, but not too vile either. This is not necessarily compromising on his ability to communicate and it does not nullify his conscience. However, he has to be able to manipulate, to lie and to show commitment and leadership qualities.

So, this is not your average goody goody, but someone capable to do what is needed to accomplish his goals. Remember, it is on the spot, so don't kill me for whatever flawed logic may occur.

Name - Dale

Race - Human

Traits - Manipulation, combat, stealth, weaponry and computing.

Story - A fairly complex character that is easily recognizable by his determination and non cocky attitude. Calm, collected, can pull up some one liners as well as someone who got a library of home made quotes. He is quite direct and can pull a cheap one, he is by no means any more endurable than a tough human, but he is not immortal nor does he have super reflexes or any kind of super hero powers. He is just tough, fast and knows how the world works. He wants to do more bad than good, but it is not always that easy.

Simply put, he masterminds most of the operations even though he can also be fooled from time to time which he inevitably will. He can get infuriated, beyond reason at times even. He will also not let a past grudge simply rest like that. He will do what he sees is fit to achieve his own sense of justice. He has personal connections to few, but he is very serious about protecting them, any others in some ways could be identified as either useful tools or useless obstacles.

The strongest man in the world is he who stands alone. - Henrik Ibsen

Right, so the main antagonist, the anti-hero or whatever one wants to call it is often a character who is known early on from the story. Now, they change drastically in personalities ranging from devious and funny to powerful and inhuman. They often play a significant role in terms of the core development of the heroes side of the story. It is someone who has to be defeated at all cost and who will do anything and everything to sabotage for good, or at least that is the standard view of it.

I want to do something different, I have already previously mentioned that I wanted to make the main antagonist more invisible, but always have him lurking in parts of the story which is hard to analyze. However, there will always be pointers. Although alot of the research will center around the 'betrayal' segment as well as the sub antagonist, the main antagonist will inspire a sense of awe and power which previously was unknown. This ties directly in with the betrayal part as there is an interesting foundation for that particular event. The main antagonist has ties with the governmental shakedown plot and deity plot, all which will be revealed when I post the actual story and story research.

So, that aside, here is my on the spot creation of a main antagonist.

Name - Magnus

Race - Human/Diety

Traits - Incredible powers and reflexes.

Story - Part of the story involves something that is hard to see. The reason why the government itself had started to mass-produce it's military was partly because the government had developed itself to a stronger position than the deity which had watched over them for several thousand years. A legendary warrior presumed to be fallen in a battle against the gods had not died, but fused with it. It's earthly ties to the government and it's divine traits thus had merged into something which cut a deal with the world below. Sort of a large scale separation between the deity and the human society which involved the creation of a flying isle with unmatched beauty in terms of design.

The human was known as the most powerful fighter of his age. One who had been a lone fighter rumored to be able to win wars on his own plotting and the influence he automatically brought to any situation. That aside, his legendary combat skills were by no means fake. Considered honorable, strong and also had an eye for an eye personality too himself.

The deity who had been watching over that human civilization for several thousand years was considered to be the God of radiance, whom very few humans could confront. Not lacking in power or in followers it managed to rule the upper classes of the ever forging civilization without problems, until the legendary warrior faced him. Unable to destroy the warrior, he managed to fuse with it. Thus spawning this unit. It's currently pounding the destiny of mankind, and thus the protagonist is the answer. The protagonist in several occasions would be 'blessed' however, before the final confrontation all this would change. Since the verdict was that humans were rotten to the core and needed a cleansing. The protagonist had a nature that was not very virtuous which is what lead to this decision. So, in the final confrontation, the protagonist would have to try to redeem himself by defeating this final antagonist, although there was no level of hate in this confrontation, each side could not co-exist with the other character still alive.

This is a fairly short decription of something I have brewing in the back of my mind, I might want to add another level of depth too this, but all in due time.

It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend. - William Blake

Ok, in contrast to what most people would expect, I want the main antagonist to be only scarcely known. The sub antagonist is going to seem like the real antagonist for most of the movie while the real antagonist remains more like a legend. Put into the grand part of the plot which develops in such a way it is really hard to forsee, but various clues are left which points towards the possibility, but this is something the crowd won’t have time to figure for themselves, if nothing the evidence I place here and there will mislead them to another theory.

I guess you could say throughout the years the antagonists have varied in terms of class. Most of the time they find themselves in a support role to the main antagonist himself, like the funny sidekick in cartoons or a guardian in more ‘realistic’ films. That aside, they seem to in most cases have little significance. They vary a great deal on importance, but most of the time they are fairly insignificant, which is a shame.

I am going to twist things around a bit, so here is my on the spot creation of a sub antagonist

Name – Silvanis

Race – Human

Traits – Exceptional combat skills, has a high governmental ranking with connections to various other important plot related reaches. Known as a rather blunt, yet silent character. Most who defy his orders do not realize that they are already dead, or in other words, just were killed by something too quick for them to understand.

Plot Relation - Seen as the main stringer of events which keeps the infrastructure between corruption and competition breathing. Competition is encouraged as something which will keep the survival of the fittest theme going. This means that anything from region despots to gangs to politicians are encouraged to show they can grow more income than competitors and have a stronger control on things during that same time. This of course reflects very negatively on the lower class as their livelihood is constantly raided, pillaged and even burnt down from times to times. What it does however accumulate towards is an incredible income which most of it is used to fund a truly fearsome military. Silvanis just happens to be the commanding general, but also in plot related terms, all ends end up pointing towards him until the plot relations which come shortly after that confrontation. There is a reason for funding the military which comes close to the lines of what Stalin did during the warm-up to WWII. This was of course converting a free to capture country into a massive military stronghold by extreme means. Sparked tensions with the neighbors and several other threats are pointers towards why the nation was so obsessed by their military proves, yet an architectural project which relates to a deity plot which will be shown when I get details of the story posted will also be part of the nation’s power.

A ruthless general who has no level of hesitation, but who mixes that with quite impressive displays of tactical grasp and personal commitment. He always seem to be able to mastermind a counterattack to any infiltration plan and although he is not paranoid, he demands quite an extreme level of observation and foresight on a nationwide level. He is scary to say the least in the way which he acts, but he never resorts to unneeded aggression. Mind you this does not mean he tolerates disobedience on any level. Known for killing people before they have a chance to realize that their situation is reversible, but also someone who is willing to make great population sacrifices to stop any attempt at insurrection.
He develops a tie to the protagonists quite early on as they try to escape one of the ‘purges’. This is basically a large scale slaughter as the result of rebellious whispers. They get a glimpse of his character during that and the visuals will have to be incredible. However, they will never develop much of a personal relationship towards each other, but more of a cat and mice observation. They get into trouble, they escape leaving some damage.

What is important is to in the end leave something intensified on both characters side.

Forsake not an old friend, for the new is not comparable unto him. Ecclesiasticus (ch. IX, v. 10)

Another class that needs added research and depth development. Now, this is one of my personal favorites. As the title points towards, this is a class that needs some level of age too it. Take Gandalf in Lord of the rings for example. He fits that class to the point. Here comes an standard analysis of the character in question.

The old follower class is someone who has been in the field that the protagonist is following. Who knows of the ups and downs with it and also who is also able to advice the protagonist and spend some time talking just about that. It is someone who separates their physical abilities with that of guile, knowledge and at times even contacts. So, in short, they are old, wise and for some reason they are part of the party which gains most of the attention throughout the show.

Now, here comes my version of a think at the spot character.

Name - Syrioth Deli
Class - Old follower
Race - Human
Traits - Old informant/spy. Knows how to gather intelligence, how to persuade and how to also spin quite a few situations by manipulating the circumstances surrounding it.

He worked as an old spy for the government which is partly the reason for him joining forces with the protagonist himself. He has seen the rotten core of the apple, and knowing he could do little to change it, he did what quite a few would have done, redirect some of the nectar too himself. Thus he gained quite a fortune. He never stopped doing his job and thus he gained a much greater image of the situation than whatever the protagonist would. As an informant trader he would give the protagonist a taste big enough to earn his trust, but he would try to spin the protagonist into doing some work for him as well. He would see no pain in seeing the system ruined or for that matter his source of income since he is already loaded, but left with a sour aftertaste in his mouth. This is partly the reason why he tells the protagonist a slight bit more than he should, something which is likely to expose his interest in the matter sooner or later, in a way, he wants to be exposed, yet won't make it easy. Though not directly antagonistic in any way, he has his own agenda and his own desires. By making the protagonist think he is running the show he opens a few new windows for himself.

The Soldier class would develop a natural sense of distrust and dislike for this character. Not because they are particularly smart, but because they simply sense something is way off regarding the character. The solider is, if anything, honest, and thus develops a sense of sensing dishonesty in situation that does not directly involve something they hope for, as finding their sister as I previously mentioned.

Despite this, the old follower class character would be portrayed as something which got corrupted because there were no bright sides from their perspective. Partly their curiosity for seeing if anything could change would serve as a reason for that character aiding the protagonist. This character has natural low life quality partly due to their well cloaked conscience and that they develop a social tie with others that more or less depend on their actions, which has a fairly untraceable pattern between virtuous and vile deeds.

A fellow who is always declaring he's no fool usually has his suspicions.

Character class continuation! This time we go to the sub protagonist. Now, this is not the sidekick we mentioned earlier, this character needs to have some form of bond to the main character. They need to somehow put the protagonist above themselves. Think of Harley Quinn and the Joker, although they are not the protagonists in any sense of the word. Yet it shows a lively, non stereotypical and in some ways ideal portrait of such a relationship. Sick in some ways sure, but it works in quite a few ways.

I want the sub protagonist to be less noisy and serious than most of his/her counterparts. They don't get along with others too well although they really try to pitch in whenever they can. They are hard workers, although like the sidekick, not too successful. It grants an element of comedic relief at times, but desperation is an emotion which really can be highlighted with this character. They can try to the point of desperation which they reveal their true intentions. Foolishly throwing themselves into action which is too dangerous for themselves.

I'd like to go with a female example this time.

Name - Nami Konikawa.

Class - Sub-protagonist.
Race - Human or at least humanish.
Traits - Knows her food, fast runner, energetic worker and easily annoyed/fooled.

Has grown up with the protagonist and has some bonding towards him. Nothing on the romantic scale, but considers him a brotherly figure. Ambitious, but has no real backing in the form of talents. She tends to do stuff without thinking it through. She is anything, but greedy. She does not like long term plans, her concept of scale is way simplified and she generally does not know how the world works. However, she cares deeply for her friends and especially for the main character whom she would die for. This would probably be her fate. She is not one for too long thoughts, but she will have one longer dialogue with the protagonist during all this were she questions just about everything. A heart-warming, kind and clumsy character that has no ill intentions.

This characters makes for a good filler for most of the movie, yet has her own highlight in her death, and I am not trying to develop a soap opera out of this, because the circumstances around her death shall be most complicated and will act as part of the highlight of the movie. Bottom line is that she is a very nice character, a nice person, yet has downturns that she herself knows of, but tries her best to work around.

In war, there are no unwounded soldiers. - Jose Narosky

Right, we need to clear up a few things regarding the soldier class.

The soldiers are tough, they always have a loyalty to something or someone. It can be a nation, it can be for the greater good or for someone spesial, so in this case I will construct yet another scenario for the one who should be turned towards if things get ugly.

Name - Raksha oni
Class - Soldier
Race - Human
Traits - Brawling, fighting, shooting, navigating, rationing and intimidating.

Born into the governmental military and served there for over 15 years- Honorably discharged after his sister was taken prisoner by the government he was serving. Spent most of his life at various pubs after that and is ever so often caught in the occasional brawl. With his sister, his hopes for the future of mankind died, until he met the protagonist who needed some additional muscle too his group. He did not agree to join them until the second time they meet, where the protagonist said he used to work as a prison guard and knew that his sister was still alive. He then follows with complete loyalty. Later on it is revealed that the protagonist lied as his sister shown on video was violently beaten to death. This causes the soldier to turn against the protagonist which costs him his life. The soldier lives his last few seconds in great spite of the protagonist which the crowd would have sympathized with at first, but now would be faced with a quite dramatic moment.

The soldier is not smart. He may have intel on places he has worked, but he is never going to figure out anything out of the ordinary. It is a character who cannot really see things from other than his own first person perspective, this leads him to be easily fooled. A lone character in many ways, yet has no problem interacting with the other units. This character can easily be a bit of a hot head, which means that he will rush into situations if he simply is provoked enough to do so. An emotional character when it comes to the core, but aside from that he is fairly isolated. Has a sense of honor and pride which he will not easily let go.

It is important to give generic characters this extra sense of life. Add a few new dimensions too them, break a few rules if needed. However, despite of what character powers one chose to add, never forget that the real character is reflected in works and attitude. This soldier class character is one that would be able to star his own highlight and still remain fairly on the side during the story. It is a fine combination for a film since not all characters can be complete spotlight takers. They compete only in their own area, but the need for them all is great.

Man: the glory, jest, and riddle of the world. - Alexander Pope

I want to go through some steps of character creation this time. Now, what is a character? For me, a character is like a package, the simple ones you just open up and see what's there. However the more advance packages may require you to remove the tape, it may also require even more work, multiple layers of steps you have to open in order to reveal. All of them revealing a bit more of the design and infrastructure. So the question remains, if you had opened a package which contained only innocent dolls, how would you react if the last layer was a false plate of wood and underneath that was a collection of highly powerful guns? Stuff like this occurs all the time, so among the hundreds of predictable characters, there are a few ones which really surprise you, sometimes at the worst moment possible.

Introducing the character class - Follower.

The follower is someone who is loyal, who does what he is told without any questions. Who would give up his/her life for the protagonist if there was no other way. Their agenda tends to be slightly weaker than other character classes seeing that they have a strong bond towards the protagonist. They are capable in their own field, but are not as effective as the protagonist overall.

This is a pretty bland description, and despite the guidelines, nothing is keeping you from experimenting. Here, allow me to demonstrate.

Character - Sly Fawks.
Class - Follower
Race - Human
Traits - Hacker, lockpicker, information trader under the cover of being a merchant.

Story - Has recently meet the protagonist and agreed to work for him/her. The only side not is that if some additional profit was possible to come across, then it would be up for grabs. Helps the character reaching places he otherwise could not reach. Develops a tie that goes beyond the pay factor. That aside, for other life forms he/she shows little respect for as they link into a bad past experience. Personal conflicts also stand in the way of doing things just like the protagonist wants, so at some times it just passes the just acceptable area.

Relationships - Has a strong bonding towards the main character, yet finds himself constantly clashing horns towards another character. This eventually expands towards a level were trust is hard to achieve. Despite a few highlights, most goes downhill because the two characters cannot co-exist well as long as they work together on something.

So, now we got something a bit less stereotypical. With this character, we are free to develop plot ties which all creates a more first person experience. Their agenda does not have to be perfect, nor does their reasoning. They can be caught in the moment and foolishly relying on their own advice. They also can downright fail the protagonist. However, they are not wholehearted betrayers. They want to do their job and do so well. They also understand the concept that there are greater things at work and in order to achieve those very unlikely scenarios, they have to bottleneck whatever personal pressure they have, this can lead to as far as the point of insanity, which would be a perfect plot filler for your average follower.

Humanity is acquiring all the right technology for all the wrong reasons. - R. Buckminster Fuller

Today I am going to put down my oversized manga sword, I am going to suspend my activity related to overpowered characters as well as surrendering my interest towards easy fixes in stories. Today I will focus on how to make things work the hard way and the measures which are mandatory to take in order to make them work.

Let's say we have a character, one who is willing to work for the greater good, yet cannot do so without taking drastic measures. Innocents will be killed, civilians will be caught in the crossfire and nothing is as easy as it looks. So this character uses another character by manipulating the circumstances around this character, thus acquiring his/her services which are mandatory in order to fulfill their goal despite putting that other character in grave danger. A sense of trust me, trust you develops and the audience is reluctant, but agrees with the main character on what has to be done. A point comes were the other character figures out what really has been going on, and that his/her life is successfully ruined. A dramatic scene then follows were the main character has to reap what he has sown. To say the least, it will be a deep, dark and volatile experiense.

I will now link towards one of the best shows I know about, the Shield. This is a kill scene, a major spoiler. You have been warned.



Now, this is obviously a confession scene. So, it goes aside from the heat of the moment, but adds a stunning amount of crowd reconsideration. This is a policeman who has gone in the line of fire countless times, regulated crime higher than any officer ever could, risked his lives for others and even gone on the side of the law a couple of times to catch killers who the law could not touch. However, it also is the same man who killed a cop, who murdered many guilty and killed a few innocents, who planted evidence and got false confessions. Who manipulated the law that he signed up to serve. In a way, he was always two step ahead of whoever wanted to sabotage for him. However he was just a human and although he had loyalty, he betrayed the lesser for the greater. He cleaned a lot of Farmington on his own by choosing the lesser evil every now and then. However, he never got rid of the element of self, nor was he fighting for justice in his every turn. Much of it was strictly personal, which was why he made quite a few mistakes among his many well planned acts.

We need more realistic heroes who cannot do too much on their own, but know how to manipulate others as well as lie like a pro. Someone who is capable, but also can take risks, go aside the law and even manipulate a person so that a life is ruined to complete the cause. I think that would add a new dimension into films although it is a lot of information that would need to be digested in a shorter amount of time. Worth doing some research on, which I probably will the coming days.

The age for heroes seems to be coming to an end. So we need to forge the real protagonists from the same ashes we forged some of our antagonists.

A really great man is known by three signs... generosity in the design, humanity in the execution, moderation in success. - O V Bismarck

The subject of today is anthroporphism. I'd like to go over a few details that has been on my mind recently during my research.

We like to create animals or fantasy creatures who have some human traits. By doing so, we create sub-humans in a way which offers great design opportunities. We also create creatures who mix properties and aliens who often generally act in a human way. I am sure most who have seen Star Wars know that there is a level of anticipation during a scene which has a alien in it. If it is a trooper, it will shoot, if it is a civilian, it will run if fired upon, if it is inside a pub, it will probably be up to no good.

Here comes the thing that is bothering me. I see very few examples of aliens who act strangely or in non-human fashions. I think that any alien who is well made would make for a great antagonist/sub antagonist under the cover of sub-protagonism/follower of the hero. This does not mean that they have to discard their nature fully. I am sure all of you have seen films which features a questionable protagonist of some level. Take the parrot in the Aladdin series, who is more attracted to wealth than other things. However, wealth at most times is an excuse. I like more psychotic villans who can plan, wait and then strike at the best moment. So, if this has been confusing, I will construct a scenario since this is part of the betrayal factor which can be a vital factor if someone wants to create a show which portrays true detective values.

Character - Slanesh the Lizard.

Placement in story - Sub antagonist/most of the time following the hero.

Background - Family tribe got viped out by what is not known at start, but reveals itself later in the show to be the main antagonist.

Character - Kind of weak personality wise, acts like he is shaken. It is later revealed in the show that he saw his tribe got viped out earlier. Which gives him more reason to go under the cover of his personality, although he already well in advance knew what had happened, thus fooling the audience to believe in his innocence.

Character traits - Always guiles the team of protagonists towards a clue, but a clue that will make their perception of the situation point in the wrong direction. Always acting on par with the development of the situation, very rarely saying something that would divert any suspicion towards himself. However he is not without flaw, so he is bound to give away some 'small' clues which point towards himself. Never the main developer of the story, until his betrayal comes in effect.

Character scenario and trigger point - Found wandering aimlessly around in the wilds. The hero picks him up and treats it as one of his own. The hero picks up several other characters later on and thus the group moves towards the explanation of the story which involved a series of creatures being killed. The lizard is newer in the highlight of main involvement and acts mainly as a sidekick. However, him as many others are never near the hero when the next killing occur, but is quick to come when summoned. After diverting suspicion to wrong suspects, which are figured out as innocent despite the major doubt surrounding them. He plants a trap when they are heading towards the main antagonist who would have given his 'true' identity up. The real protagonists fall into it and ask him for help, which is when he reveals his true nature and his true agenda. Which is that he intends to repay every other race he knows of with the same fate that his own kind had to go through. His personality has now grown into something much darker, much more potent and much more able than its cover was. The protagonists mediate upon a few clues that would have lead to his suspicion. Then in an act which fails at the last moment he tries to kill all of them off, however, it does not work, he withdraws to the main antagonist and await the continuation of the story from there.

They need to have an agenda, it could be of morals such as this. It could be of alliance, it could be of events well laid before the scenario and it could even be of pure psychological reasons. However, if not premeditated, well developed and well executed with a few flaws that the audience would ignore, however which they will find once all comes to a full circle. This scenario is constructed on the point, and thus is not a very good example, but it shows how an agenda/act can mix into something that one really does not expect. The audience does not expect to be fooled like this, particularly when the suspect is right in front of their nose. They can encounter much more vile characters with more obvious involvement which will divert their suspicion.

So, how does this connect with anthropomorphism? Well, firstly it is a pointer that some characters may have their own way of acting, a non human way of acting. Yet something that can be associated with some of the worst examples of humanity. The main antagonist often is the highlight of a show, but it does not make things worse to have someone who surpasses even that in cunning. Someone without any real power, but with some real brainpower. Fool the audience, leave them more questions than answers, but have a few subtle pointers towards the unanswered answers, give them something to think about after the show has ended.

All pleasures contain an element of sadness. - Jonathan Eibeschutz

Alright, for about a week or so I will be without school computer. Which means my ability to produce own pictures will be at a minimum for a short time. In this post, I want to talk a bit about how sadness co-relates with love. This is an important aspect when it comes to characters.

Sadness can be converted into both ambition and anger. Sadness at times defines love, loss and the relationship between life and death. Most characters are better off with some sort of weak point, and I don't mean something that is easily summon able. I mean something that needs well planned maneuvers, unpredictability and great timing to create. This time, I am going to go with an example from the shield. The tv series. Two characters, one who is the boss of a gang called the one niners and the captain of the Farmington police district. Antwon is the gang member.




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Antwon: Because just like you he had shit on me! You had to know it. Your boyfriend cheated that evidence. So what does it make him, huh? You for knowing?

Captain: Do you wanna talk about indiscretions? Secrets in the dark? How about when you where a kid? 13, 14? Fat, not very popular. Burying your head under the covers to drown out the screams of your baby sister. Your 6 year old sister that your daddy raped night after night. You could not stop it could you? too much of a coward to confront your old man, but not your mama. She emptied two loads of buckshot into his gut. So daddy's dead, baby sister's in the psych ward and your mama is doing life in chino. All because you couldn't come out from under the covers, but, oh, boy you are making up for it now. Yeah, you're real street tough. You’re a gangster, full of cop-killing rage, but you are still too much of a coward to save your own son...... Cuff him.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Even the worst of antagonists have their feelings, at least in the sense of humanity. Praying on a weakness by dialogue can produce some very interesting results. This is an example on how even someone who is very tough gets cracked. Not so that he spills open, but that it creates a dimension of weakness that can be opened if done so correctly. Having a weakness does not mean it is easily summon able. It does however mean that the character can add more depth to the story. Some characters are more easy to break than others, but 99% of the time it is good to let someone have a weakness.

Sadness corresponds in music, dialogue and environmental tones. It can affect different characters in different ways. Don't forget that the audience also are more or less experienced when it comes to cinematography. If something is off, they will notice even though they are not professionals. The movie industry is one that has a target audience where the majority has seen a ton of great movies, so it's no use trying to convince them with something that is half done. They will either fall asleep, turn off the tv or change the channel. If one gets all the elements right, then one can create an aura of sadness that affects the show in different ways. Depending on what the result one wishes to create.

In about a week or so I will try to go through some of my cinematography philosophy in greater detail. Hopefully by then it will be easier to illustrate what I am talking about. Until then, this example here serves as a single pointer.

If at first you don't succeed, failure may be your style. - Quentin Crisp

Thanks to a few friends I have done some research on style, research and editing. Now, something that could make a bunny cry is the fact that there are very few 3d films which uses artistic complexity in the shape of pen strokes and such, even on the filter level. Luckily I was able to find one which did so, and it is one of my all time favorite 3d shorts. How the design allows for the lack of action and the overall simplicity/well lowing story is just amazing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qi_TQ_cg1e8

Back to what I am doing, now, I am trying to develop a sketch style of 3d. Now, you don't have to jump out of the roof just yet. It is still at a research level, however there are some things which must be highlighted in terms of the research I have made so far. One of them is the fruit, I think there is something here, and that's an achievement in itself. I think the style can work in both a neutral, fast and slow pace. There are however a few difficulties, but none which have stopped me so far. I will mention some of them.

Uncomfortable eye complexities - A sketch style of 3d could, if it was at a feature length movie. Tire the eye down or make it seem dull after some, if not a short period of time. How do one get away from this? Well, the style I am thinking of does not necessarily have pen strokes all over itself, but where there is movement the matter might be different. One way to 'trick' the viewer is to have a highlight which features less of this and which is sure to catch the viewers eye.

Style in terms of cinematography - It might look a bit like a comic if it is stiff. So the trick is to make it very flexible. Not necessarily in terms of camera speed, but in terms of the object placements, camera perspectives and how things play out.

Style in terms of the abstractness itself - Figures would have to be very morphable. I would want to have characters who would change proportions in a way not just necessarily supported by the camera angles itself, but also in terms of the very figures we speak of. Now, it would have to be comfortable to the eye, so that does not mean that characters rapidly grow while on scene, it would have to work hand in hand with perspective. Fool the viewer, but not so much they know they are being fooled.

I have made a short previs, now, I know the last shot in particular is a bit messed up since he would have to be closer, the gun is quite some distance from his arm in that scene though, which is a bit of a warped perspective. I will post the edited and unedited version of the shots. This is a half a day project though. I have seen google mess around with the edited versions of these though, filtering out effects and such. When making this I wanted to check if the slow style would work. Poses, the line of action and so fourth. That was the intent at either rate.

http://img531.imageshack.us/img531/6605/editeduu6.flv

http://img531.imageshack.us/img531/7517/uneditedsmallbh6.flv

Aside from them, I also looked into a bit of perspective. You can find a few examples here.

http://www.3dartist.com/3dao/s/16/daynigh4.gif

http://www.artuproar.com/uploads/skins/previews_m/warpedperspective.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/ab/Fpnostalghia2.jpg

http://www.cis.nctu.edu.tw/~whtsai/France%20Tour/New-Summary_of_Trip/Webpages_of_Summary/originalimages/03-30-05-02%20Beautiful%20road%20trees%20in%20perspective%20of%20Champse-Elysees%20Boulevard.jpg

I tend to live in the past because most of my life is there. - Herb Caen

Now, in the last thread I posted some of my views regarding the past in a whole, but I cannot escape my own past, so today, I did a little digging. Now, here are some representatives from my past.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhTRRJdroSs&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fonceuponawin.com%2Fpage%2F7%2F&feature=player_embedded

Remember ducktales? Sure you do, it was the shit back in the day. I have to get my hands on the ducktale movie again, it was awesome, the animation was sweet and the design was refreshing on every turn. The characters are all well made and well represented, and the story carries on with something that granted a certain awe in my much younger days.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-rYDTMiDoA&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fonceuponawin.com%2F&feature=player_embedded

If you are one of the lucky ones that were born into the talespin era, then consider yourselves blessed. If you saw the movie and remember some of it, consider yourself sacred. One of the highlights of my youth.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2UFFzPsSsg

Darkwing duck needs no introduction. I still remember some of the episodes, I had my own 30 hour tape back in the day, that was like a sacred ark for me back in the day, watched it until the poor thing got worn out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQO2VtV1PNg

Gotten alot of disney here now? Remember super mario 3? Of course you do, it is still an amazing game to play today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K783SDTBKmg

One of my all time favorite commercials. It had an unrivaled hilarity for us Nintendo druggies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JntHVUp7m4E&feature=related

My favorite game of all time which is presented in a wonderful way on this commercial. Design, game mechanics and story all hits a home run on this game. If you have not finished this game, shame on yourself. You need to do so, and quickly. It's an amazing game even by today’s standards.

Sometimes I forget my past, in all truth I did not have the easiest past, but these where some of the better highlights. It is source material now as much as it was back then. All this gets my approval since I do think they had a better level of entertainment back then than what they do now. There are plenty of other things I could mention, but for now, this here serves as a monument to my younger days.

And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. -Bible, Samuel xii. 7.

Ages ago, in a civilization. The idea of racial segregation and mass slavery was introduced to the ancient civilization of Egypt. With this unrivaled workforce great monuments which humbles the most of the other monuments the world has to offer. The pyramid of course comes on top of all this.



Now, even though the pyramids and the anicent Egyptian civilization are old and much of it is forgotten. Even though racial segregation and slavery is not in a posetive light today. The question remains, can what we have learned from that civilization, the culture they have left behind which relies heavily on mysticism be of use to a modern design?

Of course it can. *Picture taken from 3dtotal.com*



Steampunk, sci fi and fiction. All of these tend to borrow heavily on designs from ancient civilizations as well as concepts of tomorrow. It is vital that mankind does not forget the past, if not their mistakes will be repeated, however, at the same time if we forget the past, there is a good chance whatever cultural environment any 3d director is trying to create will fail miserably, or, at the very least. Not look as good as it could have been.

The Stonehenge - http://www.aboutstonehenge.info/images/education/stonehenge-wallpaper-1.jpg

The statue of the colossus - http://www.7wonders.info/colossus.jpg

The great wall of China - http://www.destination360.com/asia/china/images/s/china-great-wall-of-china.jpg

The tower of babylon - http://www.turclubmai.ru/heading/papers/364/babylon_tower1.jpg

Cathedral of Saint John the Divine - http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/St_John_the_Divine_NYC.jpg

La Sagrada Familia - http://www.eflalt.bravepages.com/images/A%20Sagrada%20Familia1.jpg

Angkor wat - http://www.tropicalisland.de/REP_Siem_Reap_Angkor_Wat_with_monks.jpg

St. Peter's Basilica - http://www.dl.ket.org/humanities/arch/images/basilica_.jpg

Selimiye Mosque - http://www.feztravel.com/resources/images/tour_pics/Edirne_Selimiye_1.jpg

Eugene Tsui - http://www.inhabitat.com/wp-content/uploads/mile-high-ultima-tower.jpg

Berlin victory column - http://image30.webshots.com/31/6/29/22/335462922omrKxc_fs.jpg

Now, I could go on and on about the amazing detail of these buildings. However, I cannot recall watching any animated movie who paid such a devotion to detail as whoever designed these monuments. I will probably devote sometime in the near future to architectural design since this is a vital field to make any appeal out of visual 3d, just like VFX.

The old can be used or remade into something new. It is up to us how we take the design, their daily environment, their structure of civil class, their daily devotions, their bread and water, their way of warfare and their day of life and remake it into a complete package.

A still, small voice. - Bible, Kings xix. 12.

It all lies in the details.

Sketching has it's own level of detail in it's imperfection. The right type of imperfection is something which should be embraced in 3d. Lineart is largely dependant on detail to create volume and perspective. Where does one want to set the detail in 3d? Cartoony films have a less attention to detail than your average realistic 3d film, but the detail has to lie in the story/events going on for it to have the volume which is needed to generate inntrest whereas the more intense 3d movies can survive on detail without any paticullary brilliant plot. If something catches the eye and the inntrest enough, then the job is done. However there one has to remember that where there is smoke, there also is fire.

On youtube there is a collection of slow motion movies, it is vitally important to look at those not just to copy them, but to also create ones own idea of an enviorment. Not all has to be copied, some parts of it can also be altered to create an alternative physhiqe for that paticular element.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0-TbUUXDtM

Now, after watching that I really want to create an alternative mechanism for the development of such things.

I have just returned to basic unwrapping, now the pelting still does not work properly on characters, at least not on my computers, but I am trying to fix that problem, in the mean time, here is some work I am doing for a group, random clips here and there in other words. I try to focus a great deal on the artistic/realistic value of things, since it is hard to judge what the group wants from time to time, but it is part of the challenge to be embraced since quite a few of them have been very helpful in throwing out various guidelines for me. I think I might have struck a fair balance for the time being.