ארט של הרוורד

The Art of

Written and edited by Karen Agerbo Bennetzen

“Welcome to another day of Rewarding...”

Directors

Mikkel Mainz Elkjær and Kenneth Ladekjær When we first came up with the idea for The Reward we were sitting at a cafe and talking about what would be the most interesting project to work on if we could choose between all projects in the world. We quickly decided that the loose and playful way of animating in France and Japan was something we would like to explore and play with further. Inspirations for the animation style included Mind Game, FLCL, Adventuretime and Lascars. We wanted a simple but interesting message that spoke to us and that involved travelling and adventure.

We looked into the eyes of each other and saw the fire... from the fire came the words: Fantasy... Action... Sexy ladies... and Friendship. We thought about how we could make a film that wasn't just a typical "good versus evil" fantasy - as both of us are avid Dungeons and Dragons players, we believe that the magical thing about that game is that you go on adventure with your friends, and so we made sure to implement that feeling into the story of The Reward.

We could not have done this without such a dedicated team of friends who all love fantasy and who believed in the story - everyone worked hard but we had a lot of fun in the process. We were able to do so much animation in 8 months because we cared for the project, we had a good story, the team was amazing, we had a clear vision, and we supported each other. A big thanks to the team, The Animation Workshop, and all who gave us support during the process of creating The Reward.

Film Editor and Book Author Karen Agerbo Bennetzen

Working as editor on The Reward was a great learning experience and an absolute pleasure. It was a combination of my love of the film and art books in general that convinced me to make this book, knowing that we had a lot of artwork from the project that no one else would get a chance to see otherwise. This book contains very few actual screenshots from the film - the focus is entirely on all the work that happens before the final product.

As an added bonus I have included some of the post it’s I recieved during production from all members of The Reward Team, and they can be found scattered around the first parts of the book as well as in the post it section.

My desk would be littered with these little notes during crunchtime, and they represent both the silly and serious sides of working on an animated short.

I would like to thank The Animation Workshop, the Reward Team, the directors, and friends and family for their immense dedication and support while making this film and book.

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Reward Team Picture(s)

The Reward Team Mikkel Mainz Elkjær - Director, Animator, Storyboard Artist Kenneth Ladekjær - Director, Animation Lead, Storyboard Artist Glenn August - Art Director, Pipeline Supervisor, Animator, Character and Creature Designer Jonas Andreassen - Environment Artist, Compositor Josefine Hannibal - Production Manager, Press Kit, Animator, Storyboard Artist Karen Agerbo Bennetzen - Editor, Storyboard Artist, Environment Artist Ole Christian Løken - Animator, Character Designer Paolo Giandoso - Environment Lead, Compositing Lead, Color script Artist, Technical Art Director, Character Designer Tanja Hass Nielsen - Environment Artist, Character and Creature Designer, Compositor 3

Treasure Chest Design - Ole Christian Løken and Paolo Giandoso

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Index

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haracter art

Mood Painting - Paolo Giandoso

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Characters

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From the very beginning we wanted the characters of The Reward to be memorable and relatable. We relied heavily on familiar fantasy tropes to make our character designs effective, while at the same time adding our own flair which adhered to the chosen style of the film. Our intention was to create a unique gallery of characters that also served as homage to the fantasy/roleplaying genre.

Being our main characters, the designs of Wilhelm and Vito were given extra care. Their vastly different personalities needed to be reflected in their appearances and mannerisms while staying true to their archetypes of warrior and mage. On top of this was the added challenge of having them actually grow into older men, meaning a whole new design for each which had to resonate with the previous designs – only this time they had to look even more badass.

In designing Vito we faced a particular challenge – the original approved design for him accentuated his triangular silhouette, and this, combined with longer hair, made him look rather girly. In fact, we conducted a test in which half the people asked believed Wilhelm was travelling with a woman. In light of this, Vito’s silhouette was modified, his hair shortened, and we added a slight stubble on his chin for good measure.

Other characters, including the thugs and the citizens of Drahloque, were created with the mindset of mixing fantasy with more modern fashion.

Different types of humans and humanoid races were created to suggest that the big city is a place where travelers converge, and to tell the viewer that the stories of many other people are playing out alongside the main story of the film.

This section showcases the design progression of the main characters, the three thugs, the hero, and many other characters that inhabit the world of The Reward.

Early Vito and Wilhelm sketch - Kenneth Ladekjær 8

Early Vito and Wilhelm sketches - Paolo Giandoso

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Wilhelm

Focused and determined, Wilhelm always has the goal in mind and tries to keep clear of distractions. He is practical and serious, and does not think much of Vitos happy-go-lucky personality in the beginning. His attitude is reflected in his darker colors and rigid demeanor, and his skinny, nimble design allows him to be an agile swordsman.

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Wilhelm sketches - (left) Paolo Giandoso (right) Kenneth LadekjĂŚr

Early Wilhelm sketches - Paolo Giandoso

Early Wilhelm sketch - Jonas Andreassen

Early Wilhelm sketch - Tanja Hass Nielsen

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(on this page) Wilhelm pose and expression sheets - Kenneth LadekjĂŚr

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Early Wilhelm head concepts - Paolo Giandoso

Wilhelm hair color concepts - Paolo Giandoso 13

Vito

Vito is the optimistic, carefree opposite of Wilhelm. While not the most considerate of individuals he can always find ways to enjoy himself and is a friend to all - especially the ladies. Vitos personality is displayed in his loose hanging clothes and bright colors. His name is derived from the latin word “Vitalis”, meaning “Full of Life”.

Vito sketch - Paolo Giandoso 14

Early Vito sketches - Tanja Hass Nielsen

Early Vito sketch - Paolo Giandoso

Early Vito sketches - Ole Christian Løken 15

(on this page) Vito pose and expression sheets - Kenneth LadekjĂŚr

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Early Vito hair, head and color concepts - Paolo Giandoso

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Epic Wilhelm and Vito concepts - Paolo Giandoso

Wilhelm and Vito color design - Paolo Giandoso 18

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Thugs

Every city of sin needs them.

Ruthless, cunning and without pity, these three thugs are out to find their fortune through evil means. They very nearly manage to break up the blossoming bromance of Wilhelm and Vito with their skills in combat and the seductive powers of their female leader.

Thug Lady concept - Ole Christian Løken

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Thug Lady concepts - Jonas Andreassen

Thug Lady concepts - Jonas Andreassen

Thug Lady silhouettes - Jonas Andreassen

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Thug Brute concepts - Paolo Giandoso

Thug Brute sketches - Ole Christian Løken 22

Thug Brute hair design - Ole Christian Løken

Thug Wizard pose sketches - Mikkel Mainz ElkjĂŚr

Thug Wizard sketch - Ole Christian Løken

Early Thug Wizard sketches - Tanja Hass Nielsen 23

(on this page) Thugs pose and expression sheets - Kenneth LadekjĂŚr 24

The Hero

The Hero is the ultimate man. He is epic incarnate. He is what every young boy wants to be, and every woman wants to be with.

Hero concepts - Paolo Giandoso

Hero pose sheet - Kenneth LadekjĂŚr 25

Other People

What is a fantasy world without inhabitants? Here are some of the people that Wilhelm and Vito encounter on their journey.

Drahloque Inhabitants - Glenn August

Tohan Kids - Kenneth LadekjĂŚr (left kid) and Mikkel Mainz ElkjĂŚr (right kid) 26

Frisky Couple in the Bushes - Ole Christian Løken

Amazon Ladies - Ole Christian Løken

Town Girl designs - Ole Christian Løken 27

Mood Painting - Paolo Giandoso

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Creatures

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Monster sketches- Glenn August 30

Due to the film’s fantasy world setting, The Reward provided us with a great

opportunity to let our heroes encounter any kind of creature we could draw up. Our only constrains were that their abilities and appearances had to make sense in the environment of their origin. Some creatures were designed with a specific part of the story in mind, while others inspired story moments in and of themselves.

The variety in size was a key feature in our creatures as well. In an early draft of the script we had a monster, the Volcano Larva, that was actually an entire location – Wilhelm and Vito would travel along its back. A favorite among the team and fans of the film were the Leg Creatures, whose legs double as part of a bamboo forest that our heroes hack their way through, with comical results. Additionally, domesticated animals of smaller stature were added to the civilized parts of the world.

The creatures had to be strong in their design – many of them are seen for only a few seconds, and to get the epicness of the encounters across, it was important that the viewer would understand the nature of the creatures in this limited timespan.

This section covers creatures and monsters both seen and unseen in the world of The Reward.

Monster sketches- Glenn August

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Monsters

The main creatures, many of them created to give Wilhelm and Vito something to encounter and/or fight on their journey. These are seen during the two travelling montages.

Tentacle Lady - Tanja Hass Nielsen

Head Creature - Glenn August

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Cave Dragon - Glenn August

Desert Monster - Ole Christian Løken 33

Canyon Bird - Ole Christian Løken

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(above) Giant - design by Glenn August, colors by Tanja Hass Nielsen (left) Leg Creature - Ole Christian Løken

Cauliflower Bir - Glenn August

Seasnake - design by Kenneth LadekjĂŚr, colors by Tanja Hass Nielsen

Dolphin Unicorn - Tanja Hass Nielsen 35

Humanoids and Animals

Pickle-pants Prince - Ole Christian Løken

Transvestite Angel - Kenneth LadekjĂŚr 36

God - colors by Paolo Giandoso

Llama Sheep - Tanja Hass Nielsen

Horses - Tanja Hass Nielsen

Alethrion - Paolo Giandoso 37

Scrapped Monsters For different reasons these creatures were not included in the final film.

However, some of them are present in the promotional art.

Maggot Queen - Glenn August

Jungle Monster - Ole Christian Løken Sea Lion Monster - Glenn August

Three-headed Crystal Keeper - Glenn August 38

Volcano Larva - Glenn August

Monster concepts - Tanja Hass Nielsen

Lizard Fighter and Princess - Glenn August

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Mood Painting - Paolo Giandoso

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World

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Environment concepts - Jonas Andreassen

The world of The Reward is a colorful fantasy world where pretty much

anything can happen. Many different kinds of climates and landscapes can be found here, including deserts, swamps, forests and mountain passes. Though The Reward is a short film we wanted to include as many of these environments as possible, in order to really show how far Vito and Wilhelm have to travel and how amazing their world is.

The film is not all wilderness and wildlife, though. The quest has its beginning in the home town of the main characters, the dull village of Tohan, and our heroes experience both excitement and danger in the big city Drahloque.

As with everything in the film, tough calls had to be made on what environments to keep and which ones to scrap. But every bit of artwork gave us a better understanding of how to shape and develop the world we had created.

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The Map - Karen Agerbo Bennetzen, additional landmarks by Ole Christian Løken 43

Tohan

A boring backwater village where nothing ever happens. The people living in town are mainly old folks and farmers.

Tohan saturation test - Paolo Giandoso

Tohan sketch - Jonas Andreassen 44

Tohan top down layout - Jonas Andreassen

Tohan concepts progression - Jonas Andreassen 45

Drahloque

The polar opposite of Tohan, this city is bustling with life.

It is a city where everyone comes to seek their fortune, business is plenty and the crime rate is high.

The city is formed by levels upon levels, with the higher levels housing the better, more luxurious parts of town, while the lower levels become gradually more dirty, industrial, poor and dangerous.

Drahloque top down layout Paolo Giandoso Drahloque concept - Paolo Giandoso

Drahloque alley - Paolo Giandoso 46

Drahloque concept - Paolo Giandoso

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The Bar

A bar where adventurers, cutthroats and sexy people meet to share a few drinks.

Bar interior location design - Tanja Hass Nielsen 48

Bar furniture concepts - Tanja Hass Nielsen 49

Alethrion’s Lair

The treasure lair of the long-dead hero Alethrion, and the last destination on the map.

Alethrion’s Lair exterior sketches - Jonas Andreassen

Alethrion’s Lair interior sketch - Jonas Andreassen

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Alethrion’s Lair interior and mirror concepts - Jonas Andreassen

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Other Locations

Concept art for the areas seeing during the two travelling montages and other areas that were or were not included in the film.

Cliffside concept - Paolo Giandoso

Lost city concept - Jonas Andreassen

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World Locations concepts - Paolo Giandoso 53

(on this page) Town concepts Jonas Andreassen and Paolo Giandoso

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Bird Canyon location design - Tanja Hass Nielsen

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Props

Weapon designs - Ole Christian Løken and Paolo Giandoso 56

Prop designs - Ole Christian Løken and Paolo Giandoso 57

“First Montage� storyboard frame - Karen Agerbo Bennetzen

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Story

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Early story sketches - Mikkel Mainz ElkjĂŚr and Kenneth LadekjĂŚr

With The Reward, we wanted to give the viewer the experience of

wanderlust and adventure, and to truly get this feeling across we knew we had to have a good story. A great deal of the production was spent figuring out the details of how best to tell our tale - we wanted to create a story that would make you laugh, but also allow you to invest in the characters and the ups and downs of their journey. This meant finding the balance between the comical and the serious, and in doing so setting the right tone for the film.

Unlike many other fantasy films, The Reward does not have a great evil that must be defeated by the end. Rather than having our protagonists kill off some kind of big bad and save the world, we wanted the focus of the story to always be on the journey itself. We found the growth and change our characters went through to be the most interesting tale to tell, and so the theme of the film became friendship.

The fact that we chose to leave the film without dialogue provided an added challenge – we had to make sure that the visuals were as clear as could be at all times. The acting, timing and direction had to be very precise to effectively get the story across, and this meant that the storyboards had to be very clear as we could not rely on any spoken word to explain what was going on in a given scene.

This part of the book shows some of the storyboards that would later become the final images of the film, as well as some that were created while we were still experimenting with the story and were testing how different scenes could play out.

Early Wilhelm and Vito sketch - Mikkel Mainz ElkjĂŚr

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Beatboards

Like early storyboards, the beat boards were created during preproduction to give an overview of the main storybeats. Each board was roughly sketched and could quickly be changed, removed or swapped around as the story evolved.

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“Second Montage” beat boards - Kenneth Ladekjær

“First Montage” beat boards - Mikkel Mainz Elkjær

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Early Storyboards

“Tohan” early storyboards - Josefine Hannibal 64

“The Fight” early storyboards - Kenneth Ladekjær 65

Story Changes

The missing sequence

In an early version of the story, after Wilhelm and Vito part ways in Drahloque, Wilhelm left the city and wandered alone for a long time.

This part was cut down significantly, and eventually merged with the previous sequence.

“Wilhelm Alone� early storyboards - Karen Agerbo Bennetzen 66

The Mirror

Originally Wilhelm and Vito only realized the true meaning of the mirror a while after discovering it. The sequence was cut down to leave out unessential shots.

“Alethrion’s Lair” early storyboards - Mikkel Mainz Elkjær 67

“Alethrion’s Lair” early storyboards (cont.) - Mikkel Mainz Elkjær 68

The Punch

After Wilhelm leaves Vito in the bar, we were unsure how to resolve the lost friendship between them. In one storyboard Vito runs after Wilhelm who reacts by violently punching him. The segment was changed because we felt it was against the personality of the characters and was awkward story-wise.

“The Bar� early storyboards - Karen Agerbo Bennetzen 69

Storyboard to Film

“First Montage” storyboards - Karen Agerbo Bennetzen 70

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Compositing Screenshots- Paolo Giandoso

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Development

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Light Scripts

The light scripts were created to give a better idea of the mood in the different points of the film, as well as to solve the technical challenge of lighting the shots before adding color.

“First Montage� light script - Tanja Hass Nielsen 74

“Second Montage” light script - Tanja Hass Nielsen

“The Fight” light script - Tanja Hass Nielsen

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Color Scripts

For a vibrant and colorful film like The Reward, the color scripts were essential. They cover every location in the film and each thumbnail was used later as a template for the corresponding background.

“The Fight” color script - Tanja Hass Nielsen and Paolo Giandoso

“Alethrion’s Lair” color script - Jonas Andreassen and Paolo Giandoso 76

Color Script - Paolo Giandoso

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3D

Though being a 2D cartoon, a bit of 3D was utilized in creating The Reward. Simple 3D scenes were set up as use for reference in shots with more complex perspective, and some visual effects were created using 3D as well. In compositing, 3D setups were used for setting up shots and creating camera moves.

Seasnake Ruins perspective - Paolo Giandoso

Seasnake Ruins water - Paolo Giandoso 78

Drahloque 3D mockup - Paolo Giandoso

Drahloque Dark Alley Top-down - Paolo Giandoso

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Fanart

Vito and Wilhelm - Sandra Norup Andersen (sandranandersen.blogspot.com)

Safe - Karaii (karaii.deviantart.com) 80

Shounen W&V - Henny Gรถransson (gorillaprutt.tumblr.com)

Fighting The Tentacle Monster - Emil MaxĂŠn (www.maxenart.com)

Vito Doll - Maria Henriksen (maria-henriksen.blogspot.com)

Wilhelm and Vito - Derek Laufman (dereklaufman.deviantart.com)

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Promotional Art

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Official Reward Poster - Lineart by Kenneth LadekjĂŚr and Mikkel Mainz ElkjĂŚr, color by Glenn August

T-shirt design- Lineart by Kenneth Ladekjær, Mikkel Mainz Elkjær and Josefine Hannibal, color by Glenn August

Wilhelm and Vito saves Christmas! - Ole Christian Løken

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Post-it’s

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Photos

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Cosplay

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We at The Reward Team hope you enjoyed this book as much as we did creating it.

Thank you for reading.

Cover art and additional graphics by Karen Agerbo Bennetzen The Reward Team group picture by OIe Christian Løken Cover art sketch by Mikkel Mainz Elkjær The Reward is a bachelor film project created at The Animation Workshop www.animwork.dk Part of VIA University College www.viauc.dk For more info on The Reward visit www.suncreature.com http://therewardfilm.blogspot.com

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