Moodboard

After fully deciding on our film genre and majority of our vague details, we were asked with creating a mood board for planning the film opening further. This mood board is meant to be a demonstration of my creative thinking and process regarding creating this film opening. It is also supposed to act as reference for me later on in case my memory slips and I need to retrace my steps regarding what to include in this opening.

This is the title slide of the mood board, showing my logo and production company, swell as the title of the film itself.

These are the character portraits of the two biggest characters in the film opening. On the left, we have the Blue Bandit, and on the right we have the Sheriff. The animations of these characters are not going to be as detailed and high quality as the sketches shown here. However, these sketches are supposed to give me an idea as to what energy the characters should give off. I want the Blue Bandit to appear drained and sickly, given that throughout the film he has to do horrible acts in order to achieve immortality and to rid himself of his own illness. For the Sheriff, I wanted him to seem more put together in the sense that he sees himself as authority in the West, and that he feels superior to all. It should be noted that the third character, the Bounty Hunter, is not drawn or showcased here due to his entire face being covered by a niqab and goggles.

This section of the mood board shows the different environments that could be present within the film. It is apparent throughout these three sample images that the movie would not have a very robust, detailed environment. I want a large amount of it to take place in a barren desert, with little to no actual monuments and buildings outside of occasional towns and the temple in which the Heart of the West is in. 

The wardrobe and props of this film opening are pretty simplistic. The Blue Bandit and the Sheriff both have stereotypical cowboy apparel and props. However, the minor details differentiate their characters and emphasize them. For instance, the Sheriff has two cowboy starts in his outfit; one on the hat, and the other on his jacket. These stars are supposed to exaggerate his role as a sheriff, feeding into his hunger for authority and power over others. As for the Blue Bandit, one of his most noticeable design traits is his unique shaped hat. His hat is meant to be shaped like that of devil horns, with the spikes on the side. This emphasizes just how ill his intentions are as a character.

This slide is simply meant to remind me that there will be no VFX of any sort in my film opening. I want this opening to have a sort of raw design in its visuals, as if it messiness feeds into the horror.

For the framing and composition, I want to avoid the idea of power in any characters. I want all the characters to appear as weak, as if they are all on the same playing field. Every character will be doomed from the start, so I want to have them look lower and out of place in each frame.

The lighting in this film will not have too much significance. However, the few uses of lighting will have their own impact. In general, the lighting will have a distinct pattern. Bright, high key lighting will resemble safety and serenity, while dark, low key lighting will resemble danger and threats. This use of lighting will make certain scenes have more impact in its visuals.

The color palette of this film will rely on blues and reds mostly. Blue will be seen as a sort of equilibrium within the film, as if that is the state of normal for all the characters. Any sign of change from that color will represent a shift in the equilibrium. In his case, red will be used for instability and danger.

These film stills are more than just aesthetic images that I could take inspiration from. These film stills are supposed to be reference for me in the future. The energy, the framing, the composition; all these elements weave together to create a shot that I want to replicate the feeling of. Especially withe the biggest image in the film stills, given that a large part of this film will be centered around the spirits of the West.

These are rough sketches regarding the film that helped me get to where I am now. Although rendered redundant now that I have it all planned out and finalized, they still hold importance as stepping stones for what came after.