Quick warm up sketch

Very quick warm up sketch of the girl hugging the dog

Dog on the hill concept

Concept of the dog on the hill from the little girls point of view. It is the first full shot of the dog, and the challenge is to get him to look proud and tall and a little intimidating. Once again the problem of him blending in with the background crops up, highlighting the need to fix this.

Warm up sketches

A few quick warm up sketches of the little girl and the dog

Girl looking up at dog concept

Concept/ storyboard frame of the girl looking up at the dog in surprise as the wind blows around her.

Flower landing at feet concept

Concept of the flower landing at the dogs feet. The idea is that the girls eyes are following the flower, so this is the first glimpse both she and the audience get of the dog. Another problem croping up is that the dog blends in too well with the background. It might be a good idea to have the dog layers in front of the dark multiply layer which will make him stand out more!

Flower blowing through the graveyard concept 2

The same concept from the previous post with the dark multiply over the top

Flower blowing through the graveyard concept

Concept of the flower blowing through the graveyard. In this set of concepts I accidentally forgot to put the dark multiply over the top of the image, so it ended up looking really light, which won't look right for the actual film. I put this up because you can see the movement better!

Sigh by grave concept

I did these partly as a test to see how well the style might move, and also as part of the storyboard concepts. In these images, the girl toys with the flower sadly before a gust of wind captures it and it flies away. This diverts her attention from the grave. I think that the style did end up moving pretty well, though it is difficult to see here. However, if I want to animate with this style, I need to make sue that I animate with the shading in mind so it doesn't wobble too much. Another problem that began to crop up here is the combination of the amount of snow and the dark multiply making it difficult to see the image properly, which I will need to address at some point!

Staring at grave concept

Concept/storyboard frame of the little girl staring at the grave. Though we don't fully see the girl in this shot, we realise what she doing and it helps to set up the story

Graveyard concept

Concept of the graveyard/ the first frame of the new storyboard. A shot to set the scene, I want it to pan from the left to the right, following a blast of stylized wind. I experimented with the depth of the shot here too, putting the trees on different layers and varying the shades to make it look like they are going into the distance. I also worked hard to give the snow more depth, making the sizes vary greatly.

Film sketches

A collection of quick sketches I did for the film (with the exception of the horse). The bottom picture was mainly to get a better feel for the dogs anatomy, but a few sketches of the little girl crept in too. The top picture features a few sketches of the grave from different perspectives.

Concept Art: Left alone

Like the previous post, this is a quick blocked image taken from the storyboard. It is without the texture that defines the film, and also without shading.

Concept Art: Sitting at the grave

A quick piece of concept art with blocked colour. I may or may not finish this piece eventually, but I think that it was interesting to see it in this style

Concept art: Field of flowers

A concept piece showing the girl looking on at the field of flowers. In this scene I want the field to pan around her, as if she is looking everywhere, so that the viewer can see that the field goes on and on

Concept art: Sleeping in the fields

A concept of the little girl asleep in the field of flowers. This is one ofmy favourite scenes, and everything from this scene onwards is meant to look a little brighter and more cheerful. No more snow or dark forests, it is a place that the little girl can feel safe.

Concept art: The wide river

Concept piece of the little girl and dog at the river. I need to work on this scene a lot, but I think that it is a pretty important scene because it is the point of no return for the girl. I'm not entirely sure on the style of the water just yet though

Concept art: Waiting on the hill

A concept piece showing the dog waiting on the hill for the little girl. I like how this turned out, especially with the moon! Once again, this was taken from the storyboard

Concept art: Opening scene

A concept of the opening scene to the film. The sketch was taken directly from the storyboard and then cleaned up

Concept art: The grave

This concept art was done to figure out where everything on the grave went, despite most of it being hidden by snow! I also did another version where everything was covered by snow at the end. I felt that having the picture of the girl set in a field of flowers would offer an explanation to the viewer as to why she was in one when she passed on, or why the field of flowers brought her so much happiness!

Concept art: Crossing the river

Another concept based on an earlier sketch. Here the girl is beginning to cautiously cross the river. In my film I want the river to be an improtant part, because once she passes the river, she cannot turn back. She hesitated at first, and considered returning to the graveyard, but soon decided that she did not want to be alone and would prefer the company of the dog. It is the first step to her moving on and accepting her death, and the point of no return. I think that the river scene is important because of this, and also because of how rivers are used in mythology as a crossover onto the land of the dead, e.g. the river Styx