Finalised character designs - Enzo & Bird

Happy Halloween!!!

Anyways, now that I have posted the developmental sketches for each character I can now start posting the finalised concept designs for them. To start it off, here's the design for both Enzo and his friend,  Bird.

Enzo and Bird

Enzo Design process

Enzo was born in the mines as a slave. He has never seen the outside world at all.

I wanted his design to some what resemble a bird but still be humanoid. He has feathers poking out of his helmet and his face has a sharp chin to look a little similar to a bird.

I wanted his skin colour to match the mines so that it seems as if his race's skin colour has evolved to resemble the colours of the mines they are confined in. The logo on his chest plate is his identification symbol and will also be a part of the animation's title logo.

Bird Design process

Throughout mining history, birds have had a connection to the mines to indicate any anomalies in the atmosphere. However, Bird is not that type of bird. Instead he is a resident of the outside world where the mines are something new to him. I wanted his colour to be something that stood out in the mines to emphasize that he does not belong here.

A film about Power, Greed and Slavery

This post will focus on the themes of power, greed and slavery that will be explored in 'Project Enzo'.
Whereas my previous theme related post focused on friendship which reflected the story of Enzo and the bird, these themes are the existing themes present in the world of Project Enzo. They are represented by the intimidating Overlords.

Rule 1: Overlords are the masters!

Primarily set in the underground mine world, the Overlords are the rulers whilst Enzo and his species are slaves. The Overlords are fond of  valuable ore that are found in the mines, the feeling of superiority and dishing out unnecessary punishment to the slaves for their own amusement.

Rule 2: Overlords are happy as long as they get richer

These themes are already in place and make the world seen in the animation. It is this group of themes that will become obsolete by the end of the animation thanks to a simple frienship between a bird and a slave name Enzo.

Meet the Scientist

Now that you've seen the Zombie concept sketches here is the design for his creator, the Scientist.
This character will be speaking towards the camera talking about his creation. During his glorified speech, he realises the experiment has escaped its cell and paranoia and fear creeps up. The animation ends as the experiment leaps on to the scientist (just as he finishes talking).

Original Character Designs part 3 - True Overlord

Scans from my sketchbook showing the first sketches of the Overlords in their true form.

Overlord Concept sketch

The Overlords in reality are just small, weak goblin-like creatures who barely reach the knees of the average slave. They built the huge mechanical Overlords to appear intimidating and keep their control over the slaves. They sit inside the belly of the robot and control from the inside, enjoying the pain and misery they deal to Enzo's kind.

It will be an awkward moment when Enzo learns the truth as the tables are turned. Here's a Size comparison chart between the robot and the real overlord.

You all look like ants from here...

Original Character Designs part 2 - 'Bird'

Scans from my sketchbook showing the development of Enzo's avian friend, 'Bird'.  (Most imaginative name EVER!!!).

My sketchbook is full of pages of bird drawings so I've only scanned a selection of them. Before this, I struggled a lot at drawing birds so its pretty cool looking back at my sketchbook to see the improvements. I looked at a ton of bird photos and videos to understand the anatomy and movement.

At first, I went with the a realistic wing but slowly deformed the drawings back to a more cartoonish style to fit the original idea of a having a small, cute bird. Despite, yellow budgies having a big connection to the mines, I wanted to have a small blue bird to emphasize that it doesnt belong there.

Bird was strangely enough the most difficult character for me to design and finalise and you can see the concept drawing for him below.

Finalised sketch concept for Bird

The animation for Bird will be even harder as so much emotion needs to be shown from this character. Here's hoping I can pull it off.

'Project Enzo' Original Character Designs part 1

Scans from my sketchbook showing the very first concept designs for Enzo and the Overlords.

Designs for the Overlords and Enzo



Came up with these designs surprisingly fast, especially the Overlord. I think I was able to get the design down straight away for their mechanical forms. It took me about 2-3 different character designs to reach the version above for Enzo.

Should be interesting to see how my final designs look compared to the original designs, which I will post soon.

Meet the Experiment

Character Design/ facial expressions for my 11 second club's October entry.

This dopey zombie will escape his containment cell and capture the scientist in charge for lunch.

Nick named "Zombeh"

Currently still planning the animation out with the hope of starting it either end of this week or the start of the next.