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How we make The Golden Apple: Location Design.
We make a map of the main locations where the action takes place
and two drawings from opposite angles
to show from a geographical point of view what elements are there and what they look like
This is made for all locations for the pilot episode.
I think they are about 8 or 9.
They are used by the storyboard artists, as well as the other designers,
and they serve as a basis and inspiration for what this world looks like.
So when a designer draws the town of Kukerovo and its gates
or when five people draw them, they would always look the same.
Generally, these designs go through several stages.
Bobby and I are now at the stage of thumbnails.
These are very small sketches.
Their purpose is to allow us to go as quickly as possible
over different ideas about the composition and design.
For Kukerovo, we discussed how important it is to show the size of the gates.
The design should be from such an angle that would allow us to see the action.
Bobby: So two people should be able to pass under the Chan bell.
That is, if we stack them on top of each other.
Dimitar: Yes, two should be able to pass under the Chan... sounds good because it's...
It's logical, for example for a wagon or something like that to be able to pass.
And we should follow the logic of the town of Kukerovo.
For example there should not be any trees near the town,
because the Kuker warriors flight forest spirits
and the Kuker mountains are inhabited mainly by aggressive forest spirits.
The forests in the Kuker Mountains look aggressive, looming over the town of Kukerovo.
We discussed that the forests in the thumbnails should be drawn that way.
The city is on the top of a mountain.
Therefore the angle towards the city should be changed.
Generally, we discuss changes that help us tell the story at this place.
To tell the story of the place.
This is done at the thumbnail stage
because we can quickly make those decisions,
we can see what works and what doesn't
and move on to the next stage.
In animation, especially when working on location design,
we have a flat, two-dimentional image.
This is our screen, a sheet of paper, a monitor, etc.
And in order to build the sense of depth in this two-dimensional image,
we have to show elements that follow the same rules as elements in the real world.
For example we should have a separation of planes.
Elements that are closer to the camera or to our eyes
are always much larger than things that are farther away.
If I put my hand in front of my eye, it blocks almost everything I see,
but it looks enormous.
If I put it farther, it is smaller.
It is the same with trees, stones, and so on.
To create this illusion in animation, it is important to have duplicate elements
in each of the sets
as well as elements which are there not only to show us what sort of place it is,
but also to show us how big it is, how deep it is and how it works.
This is why we put those duplicate elements in.
For example, in the case of Kukerovo,
on the foreground we will have a tree, which will look scary.
It will have various triangular, jagged forms to it.
What I am doing right now is a very quick sketch just enough to illustrate the concept.
The idea is that all trees in the Kuker forests look extremely aggressive
and have a very triangular shape.
After we sketch this tree in the foreground,
a duplicate element means that we use a tree
that is very similar in design, but it is placed much farther.
Since our eyes are accustomed to the tree in the foreground and recognise it as a tree,
the tree which is placed farther does not need to be so well developed.
Оur eyes keep identifying it as a tree and as the same thing.
This technique is used very often to demonstrate depth,
and to create the design without having to to draw absolutely every composition element
For example, I am now using literally the same tree, the same design,
which I just copied and moved, and we already have some sense of depth.
Moving on to Vihra's room, one of the stages in location design
is to create a map of the place, and this map has to show
where the most important elements are, and where the cameras would be positioned –
these "virtual cameras".
The map is needed because when the artist needs to move a character,
they need to know where they can or can't go through,
and so that when five people are drawing the location,
all of them can put the chairs at the same spots, the windows at the same spots and so on.
For Vihra's room, Bobby has made three versions so far,
and we decided to use one of these three versions,
modifying it heavily, so that it can do the job.
This is the version we chose.
Here we have marked the two cameras we use.
Bobby and I discussed that
these are the viewpoints for one of the cameras
that he has developed as a quick sketch.
We discussed that the windows he has put in are round,
and this matches the design of the town of Khan,
because there everything is rounded,
but it doesn't match the architectural style typical of Bulgarian Renaissance architecture,
or the Neo-Byzantine style, which some of the buildings in the town of Khan should be in.
So Bobby and I agreed that those windows will be changed
and made into arch windows which look like this.
We used them in the design of the Town Hall and other buildings in the town of Khan.
Actually, the inspiration for the building
where Vihra's room and Iskra's office are located,
and where the whole family of Vulkan Zmei lives,
are the Central Sofia Baths,
as well as part of the buildings in the old town of Plovdiv.
The ethnographic museum in Plovdiv is a very strong inspiration for the interior.
You can use shapes like this. And the furniture...
Bobby: They have more ornaments, they are more complex and have internal elements.
Dimitar: You can think about light, candlesticks, a chandelier... this sort of thing.
Bobby: This is not a bad idea by the way,
because there is no such thing in her room.
Dimitar: You don't have to think about a fireplace,
because Khan is generally a very warm place and I'm not sure exactly how we'll go
about fireplaces and things like this.
In Kukerovo on the other hand it would be logical to have fireplaces everywhere,
but in Khan not so much.
Bobby: As a matter of fact, in the nursery it might be nice to have a fireplace.
Dimitar: Maybe for the nursery. It makes sense.
Bobby: You know what?
Can you bring up the overhead?
There will be windows on one side and here on the other side there will be a fireplace.
Dimitar: Iskra and Vulkan Zmei live in the most developed city in this universe,
therefore the furniture and everything there is much more modern.
The inspiration for all these things comes from
Bulgaria just after the Liberation,
and as a basis for the furniture in the home of Iskra and Vulkan Zmei
we use old photos of the Royal Palace in Sofia.
Most of the furniture there is imported, of course, but it has some more complex shapes
it is a lot richer, well-decorated and much more modern
compared to the furniture in other places of this universe.
So, Bobby and I often visit websites with old photos from Bulgaria,
we go to museums, and of course we go to the real Palace,
which is located very close to the Studio Zmei office.
We take pictures and use them as a basis for the fictional world of The Golden Apple
What I'm showing right now are the five quick sketches of the Samodiva Lake.
The main comment here is that this is a Samodiva lake near the town of Khan,
and as a rule things there are calmer,
more symmetrical, far more beautiful.
It's not as wild as the Samodiva Waterfalls from "Legend of the First Kuker Warrior".
Agreat inspiration for the Samodiva Lake are the symmetry and domes
of the Alexander Nevsky cathedral in Sofia.
In fact, if you look at the design of the samodiva scene in The Golden Apple trailer
you will see that the forest itself has the shape of a building with such domes.
This is something we want to keep as a design approach,
and which we also apply in the design of this Samodiva lake.
My comment for Bobby is that the trees at the sides should be larger
and to keep this dome shape.
In the middle there are stones, where the story will unfold.
Whenever we create designs like this we have to think very carefully
about the action that will happen in this place for this scene,
not only because the action needs to take place there,
but also the scene itself needs to help tell the story.