ATHIRA The making of episode one
The Reason Like peoples most first characters, mine is pretty much based on myself! I’m the protagonist in my own life, so it only makes sense that the protagonist in the project would be female! I want her to be as real as anyone. My most hated saying is that “boys and girls can’t just be friends”. What absolute bollox. Most of my best friends have been boys. My aim for my cartoon is to recreate what a REAL friendship between a boy and a girl is like and even just the friendship between two girls, believe it or not, it isn’t actually competitive, bitchy or over sexualised like the media like to play it out. Over the years of watching cartoons, I’ve never seen a mix gendered friendship where they 1) weren’t in a group 2) they eventually fell in love or 3) there wasn’t loads of fan art about them getting together. To me, having friends is so much more important than finding someone to love, I feel like the notion of finding “you’re significant other” is drummed into girls, and I know a lot of people (boys and girls) who are so OBBSESSED with this. I want to make a cartoon that shows FRIENDSHIP and teaches people to love THEMSELVES, to be STONG without NEEDING somebody else to be happy. I want a cartoon where boys can see girls being badass without being over sexualised, where they are drawing out power from themselves and their friends, and for the male audience to be able to respect these female protagonists for who they are. For girls to learn how much power they actually hold on their own! I want a representation of a REAL female, not a boys version of what they think girls are like, where they draw ideals and characteristics from media created gender binaries. But to present her as a complex character, full of contradictions and fully capable of being a hero without having to change who they are. In the recent years there has been an amazing shift in the number of women producers in the animation industry, we now have brilliant shows like Rebecca Sugar’s Steven Universe or Natasha Allegri’s Bee and PuppyCat, both with AWESOME female representations! So inspiring! The animation industry, for both games and cartoons, has been held under this with this misogynistic boys-only-club mentality for too long, and the girls (and A LOT of guys) are starting to bite back!
ATHIRA
Who Are You?: Name of character: Athira Morgan Female or male: Female Reason, meaning of the name: “Lightening” her power and shape of crystal found inside of her Nickname: Athi Occupation: Part Time Job Physical Appearance: Age: 19 Eye colour: Dark Green Hair colour length and style: Dark purple, long, straight Height: 5’9” Type of body (build): Slender Skin tone: Light Olive Favorites: Food: Pizza! Drinks: Cocktails Mode of transport: Pirro Hobbies: Eating pizza, playing video games watching films. How do they spend a rainy day? In P.J’s, pigging out, films Personality: Daredevil or cautious? Bit of a daredevil, brave but not fearless Habits: Talking to herself Greatest Strength: Bravery, friendship and common sense Greatest Weakness: Impulsiveness Soft spot: “bad boys”
CRYSTAL PENDANT
Weapon Development Later on in the series I wanted her to develop a succession of different powers, and as she gets stronger, she would develop a pair of swords. Her power comes from the crystal pendant. The swords, as they channel this power, will emit lightening… So I wanted the swords to match this imagery. They needed to be made of crystal but at the same time, look powerful and strong. I love the way crystal is cut and wanted to incorporate that somehow. The guards are usually the more decorative part of a sword so I started with them. Keeping in mind that they would have to be drawn over and over again and in action, I wanted to keep the design simple. Most over the designs were too complicated so I decided on a classic guard shape that was strong but could include the cut crystal look. The circular pommel had to stay as it was in the original design as it is used for a later sword move; it was just scaled down in the final designs. The two swords would match but there was an idea to make them an unusual shape so that they would face each other as a pair, but I wanted her to be able to just use the one if needs be, so I decided against that idea and left them to be two of the same sword. Again, this is also more simple to draw repeatedly and would help with the consistency of the drawings. I wanted this sword to be purely functional rather than decorative. Even the crystal hanging from the pummel is used for something later on! It needed to reflect Athira’s personality… she doesn’t wear accessories, so her sword should match this aspect.
Outfit Development I wanted to develop on her outfit from my original designs. I love the colours, but I just felt that maybe it was more fetish that warrior. What I mean by that is she can be seen as wearing a small playsuit, as well as being black it is cut quite high on her leg, these are then matched with above the knee socks. She than has some small black boots on which are decorated with feminine blue bows. She then has on a waist cut, fitted jacket and a light blue belt highlighting her small waist and round hips. Even the armour is highlighting her thighs and hips. The outfit looks too fashion orientated rather than awesome, kickass, practical-but-still-girly.
Fighting
I drew some inspiration from Studio Ghibli’s fierce Princess Mononoke. Her clothes are still feminine but practical. I had the idea to make her shorts longer and a bit baggier for comfort. I made her boots ankle length and black with a small purple sock pocking out the top for some detail. She has a purple wrap around vest that’s tied together with a wide black waist belt, this small detail shows off her waist and makes the ensemble more feminine without being overtly sexualised. Later on in the series, as her powers grow, I wanted her to have armour, taking the idea from the first design, I would also have them made of crystal. In her final outfit design, I added some bright blue straps that match the crystal. This pop of colour stops the outfit from looking bland, but they are also later used to strap the swords, armour and fur cape to her.
Home
I wanted her to be the average everyday girl when she was home. Nothing remarkable about her outfit, this way she can relate to a larger audience, just some every day trainers, again some decorative socks, high waisted denim shorts with a big baggy T-shirt with a unicorn print, tucked in the front of the shorts. The shorts are fashionable and the unicorn is girlie, but not too feminine as say a flower or a bow.
PIRRO
Who Are You?: Name of character: Pirro Female or male?: Male Reason, meaning of the name: Rock or Red or Flaming hair... basically AWESOME but cute sounding. Nickname: Non, because Pirro is an amazing name by itself Occupation: Being the most amazing buddy and guardian to Athi. Physical Appearance: Age: 20 Eye colour: Black Hair colour length and style: Dark teal, short, soft Height: As ‘panther’ - 5”2’, as ‘cat’ - 4’10” Type of body (build): Toned Skin tone: Black Favorites: Food: Athi’s fast food Drinks: Athi’s Cherry soda Mode of transport: Awesome panther legs! Hobbies: Sleeping, playing games, keeping fur clean How do they spend a rainy day? Sleeping, getting bored. Personality: Daredevil or cautious? Courageous but cautious Habits: Being a know-it-all Greatest Strength: intelegence, friendship and physical strength. Greatest Weakness: curiousity Soft spot: Well kept hair
BODY shape Pirro needs to be one of the main characters that tells us about the history and general knowledge of the other world as the audience knows just about as much as Athira does. I wanted him to have two MAIN transformations (there’s a hint there for later episodes… ;) ). As he is from another world, I didn’t just want to make another human. For his day to day look, I just wanted him to be the child size, but with a cat like appearance, and when they’re traveling or fighting I wanted him to transform into a massive panther like creature; he needed to be even more fierce than Athira His shape for when he’s the cat needed to be simple, as he would take this form for most of the episodes, just a simple side and front rotation for repeated continuity. His panther form is a little more complicated, but I just used the same basic shape of a normal panther, so references are easy to find and poses are all very similar. For his fur colour I chose a dark teal colour, he’s from a different world, and the best thing about cartoons is you can draw what ever you want! I wanted a dark colour still to match his fierce personality. If cats colour is for camouflage and they live in quite a green landscape then this made the best sense!
BACKGROUNDS Before storyboarding I needed to know the layout of different buildings that feature in the episode and plan them out. Before I could plan the layout of the house I had to work out what her house would look like! My first thoughts went straight to the classic old, creepy dusty cottage, in the middle of nowhere, barely any colour and ground fog… classic 90’s Casper the Friendly Ghost feel. But then I stopped and thought about who had left her the house… They wanted her to live there, they cared for her well being, and from what we can assume from the first episode, that they wanted her to find her way through the trap door. This house needed to be charming, the only thing I wanted creepy about it was that it’s style wasn’t ordinary ‘English cottage’, and the weird circumstances of how it had been left to her. I decided to surround it in nature and huge trees for an old mysterious feel. In my sketch it looks very dark so I brightened up the final painting with lots of colour!
interior I wanted the inside of the house to be neutral and bright to symbolise a new start. I kept the original wooden floors to carry on the nature feel as well as the cottage aesthetics. Because she’s only just moving in, my first thoughts were to have the house and halls filled with her boxes, but then I thought “how much stuff does a 19 year-old have?” some kitchen stuff, toiletries maybe a tv and the rest would be for her bedroom. And all the empty space, that leaves room to build up on the house as the series goes on!
Attic Room
down stairs hallway
Fortress Although Athi appears to live in this fortress, I didn’t want it to seem homely, more a place that she stops at. I wanted some of the rooms to seem a bit ominous (the lab with the pickled monster) and some rooms to be glorious (the crystal pool), to keep a sense of what a strange place this was... always uncertain of what was actually happening here. I kept it all dark and cold until you reach her room, which had all the comforts of home, a big fire in a hearth, fur rug covering the hard stone floor, king sized bed for comfort, this is all to project the contrast of a cold, mysterious fortress with the warmth of Athira personality, even the sign on the door makes it seem more welcoming. I wanted there to be small clues in all the backgrounds, kind of like back in the cottage with the painting of the fortress above the door. So for instance, in the lab, on of the books in the shelf displays a picture of the lighting crystal pendant, or just interesting things to look at, like the plant growing human heads‌ these types of things used to fascinate me as a child and I know how fun my audience would find it the more elaborate the details got. The only challenges with the layout of the fortress is the shape vs. perspective and placing of furniture, but I think it’s worth it as it makes the building more interesting and outside the usual square shaped architecture of human design.
Episod
de two
so far...
The Dragon There is a dragon briefly featured in the first episode and from what you can tell so far, it’s the ‘bad guy’ of this adventure. This character wont have a major roll until a few episodes in, when I establish the relationships of the main characters, So I don’t want to give too much away! SO, why a dragon? Well, because dragons are AMAZING. They are used so frequently not only in cartoons, but also in games, stories and films. They are versatile in that you can make them good or bad, and I’ve never seen one depiction of a dragon that’s the same as the last. They are the kings of mythical creatures. Moreover, if I want my audience to be mixed genders, then I will need to tick all the boxes of what their interests are. Most male audiences wouldn’t want to see a pansy, weak villain. And my heroine needs to be seen fighting the most feared creature, which is something that is usually left for the male hero.
ISA
wHO ARE YOU?: Name of character: Isa Female or male?: Female Reason, meaning of the name: Laughter or the Lord helps me. Short and sweet, but strong. Nickname: Isa is short enough Physical Appearance: Age: 23 Eye colour: Piercing aqua green Hair colour length and style: Dusty blue green, short cropped. Height: 5’10” Type of body (build): Toned Skin tone: Powder blue Favorites: Food: Only natural food that she has hunted Drinks: Only natural drinks, preferably from fruit Mode of transport: Walking or wings Hobbies: Hunting, kicking ass, keeping up her awesome rebel reputation How do they spend a rainy day? By the fire where its warm Personality: Daredevil or cautious? Daredevil, courageous Habits: Hanging out by bubble falls Greatest Strength: Courage, physcal strength and knolage of land Greatest Weakness: Under estimation and self-assurance Soft spot: small, ‘cute’ animals