Gildedguy Story 7 Concept Art - Wind & Stone

Please browse the above picture gallery, for there are a lot of photos this time around. None of the following concepts are finalized, so there are no actual spoilers.

Milestone Reached!

Thanks to your support, the Patreon has reached its 6th and final (for now) goal! As you guys are aware, I've already begun operating with a "team" mindset since the Oxob animation, but let's just officially say Gildedguy is now a studio!

The scope and quality of the work will also continue to grow. I'm looking into overhauling my animation skills by investing in an advanced course online, but we'll see if I have time to train.

Announcing Story #7

In pursuit of his missing inspiration, a wind-worn Gildedguy finally arrives at the birthplace of warriors. There, he must do battle with a gladiator of rock, before the legacy he so cherishes, like the wind, floats away.

Concept art by BoksKat

Gildedguy & the Rock Hard Gladiator (working title)

As promised, while we wait for Gildedguy Gets Up to release, pre-production on Story #7 has begun. Here's a refresher on this phase of the animation (my personal approach):

• Concept Art - The creative fun part where me and whoever is around me, pitches ideas and designs for the characters, plot, setting, and overall art style.
• Main Music/Theme Hunt - Since I do music videos (essentially), I must lock down what musical track will be featured for the bulk of the animation. 

The music alone dictates a lot of the concept, pacing, and even story decisions for the entire project. Most importantly of all, the song must be good & catchy! I'm gonna be hearing it hundreds of times over the next several months.

• Script - I have a backlog of premises and storylines, but not many of them go in-depth as to what occurs, beat by beat. 

Figuring out the actual story I want to express is the purpose of script-writing. Even if the characters don't talk, the script nails down what the characters will do, and how themes will play out in the end.

• Animatic - The combination of the music and script presented in visual/audio form. The animatic will let me know if my ideas and feelings can be translated into symbols that resonate with the viewer.
• Marketing Plan - The point of a production is to not only have a finished film - it's to have people watch it too. Trailers can take a good week or two of work, as they can be like their own miniature projects. I cater all of my promotion toward fans. Newcomers are welcome, but my goal is just to remind existing viewers that an animation is on the way.
• Recruitment - We're still working as a close group of artists via freelance. Part of recruitment is making sure everyone is on board and has time for this multi-month venture.
• Budget & Schedule - This is a newer step that I've only adopted in the past couple projects. I can no longer just animate when I feel like it, as I used to when art was a hobby. Parsing out work over the span of months is now necessary to avoid procrastination (fear of imperfection) and burn-out (fear of procrastination). At least, that's how I see it.
• Contract Writing - Another new step. Basically, it's the age old game of "Who owns what?". We've got to set the rules of the game before we start playing. Otherwise, we'll have to hire very expensive referees later on.

Elements of #7

In the concept art gallery above, you'll find a lot of imagery and symbolism about wind and rock. These are two elements that have historically paired very nicely, in a yin-yang sort of way. I intend to stick Gildedguy right in between these two opposing forces, and see which side he takes in the end. Because only one can win.

As this will be a battle animation, there are quite a few opponents to pick from. Since the premiere of Gildedguy vs Oxob, my access to other creators' characters has both grown and shrunk. Grown due to popularity of the stick-fight community, shrunken due to the seeming "retirement" of existing creators.

I've always been disheartened by the disappearance of talented animators online, and why they seem to unceremoniously, let go of beloved OC's. In my recent searches for an opponent, I've bumped into many abandoned accounts. One would imagine the original artists to be excited to participate - but that's not the usual case.

It's this desire of their's to move on from the past, and my own desire to revisit it, that I want to resolve in this animation.

Songs

Thanks to the live-stream viewers among us, I've collected a few candidate tracks for the animation. I'll likely look for even more in the coming weeks. It's hard to describe the feeling I'm going for, but maybe you'll recognize it after listening to these:

Little V - Human

clear blue fire - are you ready for this

Addled Eyes - Ok Goodnight

Boskat - Fake Walls Of Playdough

Peter Crowley - Through The Maze Of The Mind

Mitchell Martin - Dim the Lights

Story #0 Update

・゜゜・． ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ・． ．

✧*:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ .・゜゜・・゜゜・．

Without going into detail, the state of Story #0 is similar to that spinning gif up above. The animation has been composited and done for quite some time now, and the mp4 is safely backed up on several devices and servers.

Where is it heading? Still toward a summer-time release, in a way I hope you guys will find surprising and exciting. 

Once again, thank you all immensely for your support and patience. It seems the world is slowly un-thawing, and we all just have to wait a tiny bit longer for even gooder times.