Environment Design

Looking at real world and animation examples, I've complied together a moodboard of images that have certain things I want to try and incorporate in my own environment. I like the idea of the tree somewhat overhanging over the cliff to give it more of a sense of danger, and a higher risk for the dragon to take before he climbs up it, examples are shown below. The aesthetic of the environment will have to compliment and work a long side the design of the dragon. For this I have chosen to have the trees somewhat realistic in terms of construction, but their textures will be a bit more stylised. It will need to feel as though it belongs in an animation and work well with the dragon.

Below is a quick mockup I produced in watercolours of how the two cliffs might look against one another. Each will have a forest and will open up onto a clearing, and the edge of the cliff. In order to get a sense of scale I'm planning on producing a size chart of the trees in relation to the height of the dragon. This will give a better sense of proportion and allow myself to scale object accordingly. I experimented with different designs of trees, some resembling real trees, while others a bit more stylised and unique. I think I'm going to go with a pine tree and one other in order to give some variance to the forest. The colours will be green as pine trees are evergreen trees and this keeps it somewhat realistic and the audience can easily identify with these as they are in our own world. Even though my animation includes a dragon which is seen as fantasy, I don't want the world to come across as a fantasy world, it should have familiar characteristics and foliage to our own world. I want the audience to be absorbed within the world and the story, and by having something that they can relate to, it makes it easier for this to happen.