Final Concept

The final concept scene is based on the Soldier's march, just before he will meet the Witch. I was originally going to do a battlefield but I then turned more to the woodland idea to make the scene feel more like an enchanted fairy tale where most adventures happen in the deep dark woods. I did however keep the idea that we has been fighting previously due to the dead bodies scattered around the Forrest. I based my background one the image above of an ambient Forrest but developed my image a lot more so it looks like the solider is walking in the evening than the morning.

Colour Iterations and Character Sheet

In the end, I decided to develop the overcoat iteration, leading me to try it with 4 different colours to see which one works the best. In the Georgian times, troops from neighboring countries may have looked the same but it was their colour that defined them from their enemies. I went for 4 very stereotypical colour schemes at that time so that the soldiers nation could easily be identified e.g. Red and White- Redcoat- British.

After that I began to think more about the story of The Tinderbox and how my Georgian character would interact inside it. I took the opening extract from the story and briefly highlighted parts of it so that I can visualize them on my character sheet:

 SOLDIER came marching along the high road: “Left, right—left, right.” He had his knapsack on his back, and a sword at his side; he had been to the wars, and was now returning home.

As he walked on, he met a very frightful-looking old witch in the road. Her under-lip hung quite down on her breast, and she stopped and said, “Good evening, soldier; you have a very fine sword, and a large knapsack, and you are a real soldier; so you shall have as much money as ever you like.”

“Thank you, old witch,” said the soldier.

“Do you see that large tree,” said the witch, pointing to a tree which stood beside them. “Well, it is quite hollow inside, and you must climb to the top, when you will see a hole, through which you can let yourself down into the tree to a great depth. I will tie a rope round your body, so that I can pull you up again when you call out to me.”

“But what am I to do, down there in the tree?” asked the soldier.

“Get money,” she replied; “for you must know that when you reach the ground under the tree,

“Have you got the tinder-box?” asked the witch.

“No; I declare I quite forgot it.” So he went back and fetched the tinderbox, and then the witch drew him up out of the tree, and he stood again in the high road, with his pockets, his knapsack, his cap, and his boots full of gold.

“What are you going to do with the tinder-box?” asked the soldier.

“That is nothing to you,” replied the witch; “you have the money, now give me the tinder-box.”

“I tell you what,” said the soldier, “if you don’t tell me what you are going to do with it, I will draw my sword and cut off your head.”

“No,” said the witch.

The soldier immediately cut off her head, and there she lay on the ground. Then he tied up all his money in her apron. and slung it on his back like a bundle, put the tinderbox in his pocket, and walked off to the nearest town

http://www.hca.gilead.org.il/tinderbx.html extract taken form Hans Christian Andersen’s: The Tinderbox

In this particular instance, I have made the which an anonymous

form of evil that the soldier would have to fight in the video game to pass through to the next level.

Face Itterations

Here I have formulated a variety of features which the character would possibly have in the story. All of the variants have a probable chance to work except the wig which I just added in since they were very popular for men and women in the Georgian era but I doubt at the start of the story the soldier could afford one. The generic face of the character is based of a photograph taken by a friend who is doing a photography at University ( and allowed with the subjects permission to be used). Even though the person is quite young in the original picture, I decided to make the concept slightly older indicating that he has been in  couple of battles. After I got feedback off various people and helpful suggestion, I decided to formulate elements of the head iterations together to form possible characters I might use for my final concept.

Soldier Itterations

To get the scaling and perspective right for the character costume, I decided to look briefly at a mans anatomical structure. Along side that I looked at different European skin tones so that the character and be slightly more identified by his race as well as his uniform. Next I looked at a selection of low ranking uniform which a common soldier at that time would wear. I decided to keep the iterations simple by only using 4 colours so that the viewer can focus on the change in uniform rather than its colour.

Character Silhouettes

For my final project for this unit, we had to visualize a character from Hans Christian Andersen's "The Tinderbox"in the style of a particular era. I was assigned the Georgian Era (1714-1837). After reading the story and listening to the audio book, the character we I could visualize the most was the main character- The soldier, so I decided to conceptualize him. Since the character is portrayed as a greedy person who desperately wants money and fame but can lose it easily. I imagined the soldier in a low ranking position in the army, hence the eagerness to rise to royalty. My particular focus has been on Napoleonic foot soldiers such as one from Sharpe's Rifles. Since they spent most of their time fighting abroad and walking long distances, this would fit in well to the start of the story.

Final Concept

To go with the Egyptian theme, I decided to try to recreate a bazaar style background so that it suggests that the item is used commonly by Egyptian sailors and traders. After struggling with the wall light texture, I needed more scenery, so I used palm trees to give the scene a rather peaceful tropical vibe. I am pleased with my final outcome because I think the light source has been used correctly, making the picture fairly realistic but artistic enough to make it seems as if it was in a game. If I had more time I would work more on aspects of the background so that the scene is a lot clearer explained visually.

Shape Iterations and Model Sheet

Looking further into the idea of the sundial contained inside in the pocket watch itself, I began to create iterations of the container in  2 views, open and closed. My personal favorite shape was the circular one, but during my peers reviews and groups crits, I was told that the design would not work since I sundial needs to be still on a flat surface to work. The shape iterations were useful because they helped me develop my model sheet rather easily. Since the hieroglyphics I used earlier fit in well with the design, I decided to use an Egyptian scarab design on the lid to compliment the theme. I polished up my model sheet by adding light and shadows to help amplify that 3D effect.