Synopsis of The Eastern Tower
The Eastern Tower is a 2D animation based in the medieval fantasy world of Aelfhelm, a world populated by unusual creatures where magic can be effortlessly used if one has the right training. Sigvar, a young and reckless student, and his teacher Viccar, are in the midst of a magic lesson when something starts to seem off. Something threatens the Core of Aelfhelm, the apex of all magic that breathes through the planet, and it is Viccar's duty to be there to protect it.
Even though his grasp of magic is subpar, Sigvar rushes after to provide what little help he can, against Viccar's wishes for him to stay behind.
The Eastern Tower is heavily inspired by medieval fantasy, epic adventures, and non-human characters. The first book I picked up out of my own curiosity was Eragon, a medieval fantasy that features dragons, which sparked my inspiration to make characters and unique creatures. Other series like Lord of the Rings, Dragonriders of Pern, Mistborn, The Kingkiller Chronicles, and many others, fueled my inspiration to create my own unique world with its own rules and restraints. I've been developing the world of Aelfhelm for over a year now and I'm excited to finally give it wings.
I also wanted to showcase the relationship between Viccar and Sigvar. At the surface level they are just a student and teacher, but Sigvar views Viccar as a father figure as much as Viccar views Sigvar as his son. Even though they are not related by blood, they both strongly consider the other to be family and are unwilling to see the other get hurt.
Preproduction
Challenges
Timeline and Scope
Perhaps two of the biggest hurdles I kept encountering throughout the production of my final animation. I wanted to make something akin to a mini Pixar film even though I started with the manpower of only me. I went through multiple script iterations and storyboards which cut into my timeline.
Eventually, I was able to settle on a script that got through enough of what I wanted to showcase of Aelfhelm. I trimmed down my storyboards from 300+ frames to roughly 60.
Extra Hands
I wouldn’t have made it without the help of my friends who took up sections of preproduction so I could focus the creation of the puppets, rigging, and animation.
Louise “Izu” Leung offered to take control of the backgrounds and did an amazing job. We talked back and forth about what was needed in each scene and I provided her with sketches to build up on. We also had many sessions where we both sat down in a call and just worked. She is an absolute monster and I’m so glad to have her as a friend.
Jáchym Hájek is someone I met online in the Hollow Knight fandom and we had briefly collaborated before. About one month and a half before the final deadline I asked if he could compose an original score and he said yes! He was amazing with getting back to me with clips in short periods of time and put his own twist on the entire thing.
Motivation
This was hardest to keep up throughout the year. Creating a final project of this scale with so many steps you have to go through was quite daunting. It just felt like this big boulder I had to push up a hill.
However I was able to stay motivated by talking to other undergraduates in my class about their senior projects. We kept each other updated on our statuses and showed each other clips and pictures of what we had.
Nicole Ellis from my class was especially amazing with helping me stay motivated and we also had a few sessions where we just sat down and worked in a call together.
As the end of the project neared and everything I saw in my head was finally down in animation, my struggle to find motivation quickly became a thing of the past.