Since this class is pretty much done (WOOT, today is the last day!) I thought I would share what's been eating up a bunch of my drawing time. A ton of this has been posted to dA a bunch already, so sorry if you've seen it once or twice, but I wanted it all condensed and with the actual story. :O

Basically, for this class, we had to plan out a story and show its visual development: the idea boards for research, sketches and color versions of both environments and characters, storyboards, and a color palette for the whole movie. Most everyone else in the class did their new take on 'Alice in Wonderland,' which resulted in some pretty cool visual stuff! I wanted to do my own story, so that's what was done! This is all the work I did for it over the term:


Calnavory

The full story summary:

The Calnavory Forest is comprised of giant trees: trees so broad and so tall they outdo modern-day skyscrapers. At the base of these giant trees sits Bowington, the village of the hares. The hares live relatively peaceful lives, free from most troubles, and live off of their large gardens. However, because of the enormous trees that surround them, the village is almost constantly shrouded in shade. In order to grow their gardens, they need sunlight.

This is provided by Jack Lope, a hare with an important, if not easy job: to use a special crossbow that punches holes in the high foliage and lets in sunlight. Unfortunately, Jack is not quite as giving as the other hares. He can be lazy, and refuses to do extra work. He has a sense of pride about his important status, and doesn't mind ordering others around. While he is quite well-read for a hare, he is stingy with knowledge and sometimes looks down on the less intelligent. He is often self-centered, but does have interest in at least one other hare: Jill Down, the pretty young schoolteacher. Jack would like to court her, but fights for her affections with Joe Coney, a burly worker hare with a poor opinion of Jack. While Jill appreciates Jack's way with words, she is not as fond of his attitude.

While showing off his special crossbow to Jill one afternoon, Jack accidentally hits something. However, he is not aware of this, as the only evidence of such is a few colorful feathers that float to the ground awhile later. This becomes clear the next day after the hare children are let out of school. In going to meet Jill, Jack discovers her already having an intimate conversation with Joe Coney. Unthinkingly, Jack takes out his frustration by snapping at one of the children: Little Levy, the smallest hare at school and Jill's favorite student. Upset, Levy runs off crying to the large school garden, where Jack watches a tall feathered creature swoop down from the skies and snatch him up. Jack tries to catch him, but the creature is already long gone.

Both Little Levy's mother and Jill Down are distraught at the kidnapping. A meeting of the village elders is called, headed by Buck Down, Jill's father. He explains to Jack that the tall, feathered creature was one of the sailgulls: top-dwelling flyers that are almost never seen by hares, and talked of mostly in stories. Buck Down charges Jack with climbing to the very top of the tree to rescue Little Levy. Jack is resistant at first, knowing the climb will be long and treacherous. However, he gains incentive when Joe makes a deal with him: knowing the dangers of the forest, if Jack can actually bring back Levy and if Jill still wants him, Joe will give up courting her. But while Jack is gone, Joe will keep her company. Jack resolves to climb up and bring back Little Levy as fast as he can.

Setting out with nothing more than simple camping gear and his trusty carrot knife, Jack starts up the tree. While at first it is merely a pain, Jack soon becomes amazed at the new kinds of plantlife he discovers and all he can see just by getting higher. As he passes through the first tier of the foliage, he stumbles across an unknown village, made up of colorful buildings stacked right into the tree trunk. The buildings’ occupants all seem to run and hide at his approach. After much coaxing on Jack’s part, the creatures finally reveal themselves to be hummingbeetles: small people that appear part bug and part hummingbird. Jack is invited into their homes inside the tree trunk, as the outside buildings have actually become abandoned. The
hummingbeetles dare to show him their large libraries and laboratories, but
Jack is worried at how much of the inside of the huge tree has been hollowed
away. The hummingbeetles explain that they’ve been digging deeper into the tree to excape from the wolf spiders: vicious predators that make the hummingbeetles into easy meals. While normally rare, the spiders have been getting more numerous and violent. The hummingbeetles claim to have all sorts of research on what the rest of the forest is like. However, the refuse to share it with Jack, claiming “he wouldn’t understand” or “he might tell the wrong people.” Defeated, but understanding more about how sharing knowledge helps others, Jack continues his climb.

Further up the tree, Jack encounters a colony of long-limbed and long-haired creatures called grabbons. Unlike the neat hummingbeetles, their homes are scattered and messy. They already appear to be lazy creatures: each has a designated job, and is never willing to do more than what is required. However, this is made worse by the fact that most of the grabbons are falling ill. Sludge and waste leaking down from the foliage above is poisoning their water supply. Jack tries to argue with the healthy grabbons that they need to pick up the slack and help out the whole colony, but the only thing he gets out of it learning to take his own advice. The grabbons do offer one tip, though: as he climbs higher, he should stick as close to the trunk as possible.

Jack tries to do this as he ascends, but as the branches spread out more, this becomes more and more difficult. He climbs through a collection of rotted plants, old bones and other muck collected in the leaves, into thick foliage territory. The braches get slippery, and he falls right into a tangle of treesink: thick wrapping vines that act like upside-down quicksand. As he is trying to untangle himself he is set upon by a wolf spider, who use the treesink itself to catch meals. In his desperate attempt to escape, he falls further through the vines…and ends up suspended right over a put of
hundreds of newly-hatched wolf spiders. Caught between hungry babies and an equally ravenous queen spider, Jack uses all of his skills and wits to climb past the largest spider. But in the process, he breaks off a huge branch that falls and crushes the nest of new babies. Enraged, the wolf spider chases him up the tree, stopping the pursuit just as Jack bursts through to the very top.

Jack finally reaches Orbinthayon, the world of the sailgulls. While the glass-dome buildings and bright flags of the village are amazing enough, Jack is shocked to see the full blue sky for the first time in his life. The sailgulls find him and bring him to their clan hall, where Jack finds Little Levy alive and well. However, he also discovers the cause of the kidnapping: Jack’s crossbow mortally wounded Kilili, the head elder of the sailgulls. For this great crime, the sailgulls have taken a hare in retaliation. They say they will only let Levy go if Jack stays in his place.

In his attempted negotiations with them, Jack learns they are a very prideful, haughty race, believing that they have ultimate dominion over the creatures that live below them. He also comes to realize that most of the tree’s problems have been caused by the sailgulls: in their efforts to expand their territory, they have left behind old building parts that collected water and mud, creating more treesink that then breeds more wolf spiders. Jack tries to convince to not only let them both go, but also to change their ways, or else all the creatures below will be hurt by it. The sailgulls dismiss him, at least until the colony is set upon by a horde of vengeful wolf spiders. In the fight that follows, two of the younger sailgulls help Jack and Levy get away safely, although another one of the elders is killed and one of their buildings collapses.

Most of the sailgulls regroup on a more distant tree, but from their more distant vantage point, they realize something else about the huge tree: the fight has pushed it to one side, and from all of the weakening happening throughout it, it is starting to crack at the trunk and fall. From their high position, Jack can see that the falling tree would completely crush the hare village.

The younger sailgulls, seeing that their whole village is in danger, rally together the whole colony to stop the tree’s fall. Jack and Levy are carried to the bottom, where Jack is quick to ask for help from all of the hares, too. With the sailgulls using their own strength and technology to pull the tree from the top, and with the hares able to support it from the bottom, they finally stop the tree from falling, at least long enough to start building better supports for it. The hummingbeetles promise to fill in the hollowed-out tree and make use of what they can, while the grabbons promise to clean up and help prevent the spread of more wolf spiders.

However, since Joe Coney had not expected Jack to return with Levy, he is unwilling to keep his word and give up Jill. He challenges Jack to a fight on Jill's behalf, but Jack refuses to fight anyone else. Instead, he just apologizes to Jill for the way he treated her and Levy before. Since Jill now chooses to be with Jack, and because Jack has a few of the big sailgulls for new friends, Joe is forced to concede, and Jack wins the girl. From then on, Bowington is always open to the bright blue sky, and the hares are visited by the sailgulls, grabbons and hummingbeetles alike: As they’ve all learned, along with Jack, that they have a lot to gain from looking beyond themselves.


There was also a pitch version, but I didn't include it since it basically says the same stuff, but with less details. XD Instead, here is all the artwork:

Character Sketches:


My first sketches for Jack, just with a bunch of different expressions and poses.


Jack's crossbow! Both the crossbow and the bolts are really huge in order to reach all the way up to the top of the trees.


Other main-character hares, including Jill Down, Joe Coney, Little Levy, and Buck Down, Jill's father.


The first creature Jack meets on his journey: the Hummingbeetles. They all need corrective eyesight, and all wear similar embroidered coats and shoes. They can only fly for quick, short spurts.


The second creature Jack meets: the Grabbons. They smell a lot better than they see, and they usually hang around by their tails and front limbs. Their back limbs are close to useless.


The first sketch page for the wolf spiders I did; which includes the baby wolf spiders, and wolf spider eggs.


A second page, trying to work out its silhouette a bit more, since it was suggested that I make its head larger.


First sketch page of the sailgulls, including the older and younger ones. I didn't include the jewelry until later, though.


Bit more action-oriented sketches of Jack, the sailgulls, and Levy.


As seen previously on dA?! Decided to do color turnarounds for the main characters, although I think now they would have benefited from more dynamic poses. First up, is Jack!


Then Jill Down and Little Levy! I had to do a few changes on them from the original version, mostly on Jill's legs and eyes.


The wolf spider, weeee. XD It was originally taller, but then I put it lower to the ground and made it more spindly.


Turnaround for the elder sailgull! I originally started with a bright color scheme, didn't like it, so I did a red-tailed hawk colored scheme instead.

And now, Environments!


The structure and layout for the huge tree, and where all the different creatures are.


The first sketch for the hares' village, Bowington. Just general building ideas and details.


The hummingbeetles' village, both inside and outside the huge tree. XD


The first sketch done for the treesink, but I don't think it comes across very well in a sketch. :P


From above the treesink: the sludge and refuse left behind by the sailgulls, which collects water and muck and grows into treesink vines.


First sketch for the sailgull village, which is supposed to resemble futuristic nests. The mail meeting hall is also pictured here.


A color picture of Bowington! Did a few edits so that it works better, but basically it shows the hares' village and how ginormous the trees are in Calnavory. :3


Color environment of the treesink, with Jack and one of the Wolf Spiders. I know I basically did this picture before a long time ago, but I have fun setting stuff in the treesink, so here is a larger image of it. XD


And a color environment of the sailgulls' village! I think next time I would make it more painter-y and not ink it; that seems to give it a more cartoony look. :P

And then, I have colored Storyboards! (There were some revisions of these, but since those files seem to be corrupted, here's the unrevised versions...)

Basically, this scene is the opening to the treesink sequence, from when Jack gets caught in it to when the Wolf Spider queen finds him: (read from left to right, going down)











We also had to do a color palette showing how the color scheme for characters and envrionments changed throughout the story structure:



And finally, I did a size comparison of some of the characters and creatures for my own benefit:




HOLY CRAP, that took awhile! *COLLAPSE* I'm glad I was able to get this story out in some way! At the very least, I had fun doing all of this work!