Tuesday 20 December 2011

The Benefits of Collaboration (Part Two)

So, now that I had been provided with a storyboard and a list of the characters and elements that I was to create for this new and exciting brief, I set to work.

The first challenge was to create the character of 'Jack Torence'. I needed to create a character that would be instantly recognisable as the part that Jack Nicholson plays in 'The Shining', while at the same time keeping in mind that I needed this to be in the same cartoony and naive style that I have been using recently and because of which Sarah had asked me to collaborate.

To do this I started out with the basic head shape, eyes and nose that I have been using for previous projects as a template. To this I added some 'over the top' caricature eyebrows (an important point as Jack Nicholson has become known for his iconic eyebrows), an overly large toothy smile and some stubble (because when one is going insane, one doesn't have time to shave). The hardest part to get right was the hair, in the film Jack has a unique slightly eighties style that by the time of the 'axe scene' has started to unravel. To be honest, I'm still not sure if I got the hairstyle completely spot on. I was watching 'The Shining' recently (which I naturally counted as being 'home work') and couldn't help but become fixated on Jack's hair. Even when he was chasing his child through a maze with an axe I still found myself wondering 'did I get the fringe right?'. In reality, I don't think this point really makes much difference, it is the face that matters more to people and with the eyebrows, the stare and the smile I think I got that part about right.

Sarah required a side view of Jack for when he is breaking down the door and a front view for when he is delivering his famous line. Here's what I came up with:










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