MY FANTASTIC FRIEND
MY FANTASTIC FRIEND REN MULLIGAN ART DIRECTOR/STORYBOARD ARTIST
MY FANTASTIC FRIEND • • • • •
Directed by Francisco Rodriguez Cinematography by Boran Zhang Produced by Suzie Lang ProducHon Design by Kyra Koonce Art DirecHon by Ren Mulligan
Research
Emphasis on gender ambiguity, since angels are genderless.
* Uriel is regarded as the Angel of Repentance * Uriel is oOen depicted holding a papyrus scroll and is said to represent wisdom. * Uriel is a patron of the arts.
Seraph – an angelic being, regarded in tradiHonali ChrisHan angelology as belonging to the highest order of the ninefold celesHal hierarchy, associated with light, ardor, and purity (dicHonary.com)
David from the David and Goliath story -‐ SomeHmes shown as a boy (leO corner) -‐ I wanted David to have colors consistent with plain biblical heroes. Earth tones -‐> Emphasis on Brown -‐ I made it a rule that only Bruce could wear brown during the enHre producHon
* In the original script their were 3 bullies. They were turned into 1 bully. * I researched the color codes for bullies and demons and noHced an emphasis on teal. • Black was also prevalent, since the opposite of light is dark. • Red was always a color choice for the main bully since it alludes to Satan.
Concept Art
Rough concepts. IniHally director, Francisco Rodriguez wanted to emphasize a more modernized military look so I tried that out roughly.
I tried playing around with some ideas, but found my leaning towards a more Middle Eastern design as to fit with a more tradiHon, yet less westernized look.
As you can see, I put a wheel on Estelle’s chest, this was to allude to Ezekiel’s vision. -‐ This concept was later used in the belt design.
On the top picture, I thought about presenHng a sheik-‐like hood to further push the Middle Eastern influence in design. Since I didn’t know what my actress was going to look like I played around with different looks. I originally thought my actress was going to be around 18, so I made the design flexible.
I thought about giving Estelle something a bit more tunic like for the final design. As I wasn’t sure what the director wanted at this point , I conHnued to provide modern alternaHves as well.
AOer wrestling with ideas for Estelle, I came up two core concepts: * Modern, Navy/Airforce military influence • More TradiHonal, but less pop culture influenced.
I tried to avoid the obvious like “Precious Moments” and anything that was way overdone and try to let the original source. In this case, ChrisHan Mythology and some apocryphal texts wriden around the same Hme as to capture the essence of what I wanted my angel design to be.
I also was trying to avoid leeng the source material My Fantas)c Friend was adapHng influence (Pita TEN) my design for Estelle’s look.
I thought the anime look would be lidle to foreign and alienaHng to western viewers.
However, Final Fantasy VII triggered my interest in many winged angels. -‐ In fact, the main villain named Sephiroth in the game is named aOer the 10 aspects of the Kabbalah called the Sephirot. -‐ The wing design would influence the patch at the end.
For more on the Sephirot hdp://altreligion.about.com/od/beliefsandcreeds/p/sephirot.htm
AOer geeng feedback from the director and producer, we sedled on this design. This would be a final look, when the character was promoted to “guardian level and received wings. -‐ I wanted to emphasize a fierceness or radiance of some kind, since any Hme an angel shows up their first words are “Do not be afraid.” -‐ The belt design was inspired Ezekiel’s Wheel.
Belt Design: Ezekiel’s Wheel
Patch Concepts
Isaiah 6: 1-‐3
The patch design the passage from Isaiah 6: 1-‐3 -‐ The Seraphim had six wings -‐ Two covered his feet -‐ Two covered his face -‐ Two flew
Kyra Koonce took my final design and embroidered a patch on her sleeve.
Concept
Final Look
Storyboards I read Francisco’s shot list, which was missing a handful of shots, so I embellished what I thought could be helpful.
-‐ I oOen had to bounce back and forth between the shot list and screenplay to fill in some of the missing gaps.
Script
Shot List
I drew a lot of inspiraHon for the final departure scene from the film E.T.
Hiring • I was hired by ProducHon Designer Kyra Koonce. – In turn I hired 4 people: • • • •
Rachel SHles – Makeup ArHst Irene Krygoski – Set Design Zach Cajigas – Set Design Assistant Day 1 and 3 Samuel Melby – Set Design Assistant Day 3
Jobs Done • • • • •
Storyboard ArHst and Conceptual Design ArHst for Estelle Art DirecHon Set Dec Assistant TransportaHon Cleanup Coordinator
MY FANTASTIC FRIEND • • • • •
Directed by Francisco Rodriguez Cinematography by Boran Zhang Produced by Suzie Lang ProducHon Design by Kyra Koonce Art DirecHon by Ren Mulligan
Research
Emphasis on gender ambiguity, since angels are genderless.
* Uriel is regarded as the Angel of Repentance * Uriel is oOen depicted holding a papyrus scroll and is said to represent wisdom. * Uriel is a patron of the arts.
Seraph – an angelic being, regarded in tradiHonali ChrisHan angelology as belonging to the highest order of the ninefold celesHal hierarchy, associated with light, ardor, and purity (dicHonary.com)
David from the David and Goliath story -‐ SomeHmes shown as a boy (leO corner) -‐ I wanted David to have colors consistent with plain biblical heroes. Earth tones -‐> Emphasis on Brown -‐ I made it a rule that only Bruce could wear brown during the enHre producHon
* In the original script their were 3 bullies. They were turned into 1 bully. * I researched the color codes for bullies and demons and noHced an emphasis on teal. • Black was also prevalent, since the opposite of light is dark. • Red was always a color choice for the main bully since it alludes to Satan.
Concept Art
Rough concepts. IniHally director, Francisco Rodriguez wanted to emphasize a more modernized military look so I tried that out roughly.
I tried playing around with some ideas, but found my leaning towards a more Middle Eastern design as to fit with a more tradiHon, yet less westernized look.
As you can see, I put a wheel on Estelle’s chest, this was to allude to Ezekiel’s vision. -‐ This concept was later used in the belt design.
On the top picture, I thought about presenHng a sheik-‐like hood to further push the Middle Eastern influence in design. Since I didn’t know what my actress was going to look like I played around with different looks. I originally thought my actress was going to be around 18, so I made the design flexible.
I thought about giving Estelle something a bit more tunic like for the final design. As I wasn’t sure what the director wanted at this point , I conHnued to provide modern alternaHves as well.
AOer wrestling with ideas for Estelle, I came up two core concepts: * Modern, Navy/Airforce military influence • More TradiHonal, but less pop culture influenced.
I tried to avoid the obvious like “Precious Moments” and anything that was way overdone and try to let the original source. In this case, ChrisHan Mythology and some apocryphal texts wriden around the same Hme as to capture the essence of what I wanted my angel design to be.
I also was trying to avoid leeng the source material My Fantas)c Friend was adapHng influence (Pita TEN) my design for Estelle’s look.
I thought the anime look would be lidle to foreign and alienaHng to western viewers.
However, Final Fantasy VII triggered my interest in many winged angels. -‐ In fact, the main villain named Sephiroth in the game is named aOer the 10 aspects of the Kabbalah called the Sephirot. -‐ The wing design would influence the patch at the end.
For more on the Sephirot hdp://altreligion.about.com/od/beliefsandcreeds/p/sephirot.htm
AOer geeng feedback from the director and producer, we sedled on this design. This would be a final look, when the character was promoted to “guardian level and received wings. -‐ I wanted to emphasize a fierceness or radiance of some kind, since any Hme an angel shows up their first words are “Do not be afraid.” -‐ The belt design was inspired Ezekiel’s Wheel.
Belt Design: Ezekiel’s Wheel
Patch Concepts
Isaiah 6: 1-‐3
The patch design the passage from Isaiah 6: 1-‐3 -‐ The Seraphim had six wings -‐ Two covered his feet -‐ Two covered his face -‐ Two flew
Kyra Koonce took my final design and embroidered a patch on her sleeve.
Concept
Final Look
Storyboards I read Francisco’s shot list, which was missing a handful of shots, so I embellished what I thought could be helpful.
-‐ I oOen had to bounce back and forth between the shot list and screenplay to fill in some of the missing gaps.
Script
Shot List
I drew a lot of inspiraHon for the final departure scene from the film E.T.
Hiring • I was hired by ProducHon Designer Kyra Koonce. – In turn I hired 4 people: • • • •
Rachel SHles – Makeup ArHst Irene Krygoski – Set Design Zach Cajigas – Set Design Assistant Day 1 and 3 Samuel Melby – Set Design Assistant Day 3
Jobs Done • • • • •
Storyboard ArHst and Conceptual Design ArHst for Estelle Art DirecHon Set Dec Assistant TransportaHon Cleanup Coordinator
