3. Use this page to
breakdown an
existing film, using
the Hero’s Quest
theory. How does
your chosen film
fit with this?
The Ordinary World
King Agamemnon of Mycenae forces King Tropias of Thessaly to join his alliance of all the
Greek kingdoms. The Princes of Troy, a kingdom outside of Greece, called Hektor and Paris
ensure peace with the Greek alliance by feasting with King Menelaus of Sparta.
The Call to Adventure
Paris, having an affair with Queen Helen of Sparta, smuggles her aboard his vessel back to
Troy. Upon finding out, Menelaus urges his elder brother Agamemnon to go to war.
The Refusal
Knowing Akhilles, the greatest warrior in Greece, dislikes him, Agamemnon sends Odysseus,
King of Ithaka to enlist Akhilles and his Myrmidons. Despite the friendship between Odysseus
and Akhilles, the great warrior refuses to join with Agamemnon.
Mentor Help
Meeting with his mother Theitis, she tells Akhilles that if he goes to Troy, his glory will be
eternal, but he will die on the battlefield. After hearing this, Akhilles agrees to rally the
Myrmidons to Agamemnon’s aid.
Crossing the Threshold
The Greeks arrive at the beach of Troy, and swiftly take it largely to the credit of Akhilles. He
raids the Temple of Apollon on the beach, defeating the Trojan defence before most of the
Greek army has even set foot on land.
Test/Allies/Enemies
Akhilles takes Briseis, a royal Priestess of Apollon, as his prize, but Agamemnon spitefully
takes her from him, so Akhilles refuses to help Agamemnon any further. As a result, the army
is unsuccessful with the first siege of the city, with Hektor killing Menelaus in the battle.
Approach King Priam of Troy orders Hektor to attack the weakened Greeks on the beach, and
Ordeal
Reward
Road Back
Atonement
Return
Troy
5. Peace between
Agamemnon’s Greek alliance
and Troy
Paris stows Helen away on
his ship
Agamemnon goes to war with
Troy
The Trojan War
Troy is sacked and most of the
Greek kings are killed
Use this template to apply Todorov’s theory of equilibrium to your chosen film. Write in the boxes to explain what is happening in
your story at each point.
Troy
6. Character type How they appear in your story
The Hero Akhilles – The strongest warrior in Greece, recruited by Odysseus to fight for the Greek
army
The Villain Paris, Hektor – King Priam’s sons serve as the antihero antagonists of the film, the
abductor of Helen, the strongest warrior in Troy, and the King of Troy.
The Helper Patroclus – Akhilles’s cousin and close friend
The Donor Odysseus – Somewhat of a mentor to Akhilles
The Dispatcher Agamemnon -
The Princess or prize Briseis -
The Princess’s Father Priam -
The False Hero Agamemnon -
Use this template to apply Propp’s character types to your chosen film. Write in the boxes to explain which character acts as each
type in your film.
9. Idea 1: Gorgon
Who Medusa
What A priestess of Athena is courted by Poseidon, who refuses him. However the God of the seas rapes her
within Athena’s temple, on the Altar. The Goddess of Wisdom curses Medusa into the form of a Gorgon as
punishment. She lives in isolation and grief, until finally killed by Perseus.
Why Athena’s priestesses, like the Goddess herself, must remain virgins. Medusa, being raped by Poseidon in her
temple, greatly offended the Goddess. She wrongfully took out her rage on the mortal woman, as opposed
to her fellow immortal.
When 1500bc
Where Athens
How
10. Idea 2: Pride and Plunge
Who Bellerophon
What Demigod prince of Korinth is exiled. He is captures the mythical horse Pegasos, and uses it to gain himself
fame in Tiryns. The Queen of Tiryns convinced her husband Bellerophon tried to force himself on her, so he
is sent to go and kill the Chimera. After he is successful, he becomes prideful enough to think he is on the
same level as the Gods, and tries to fly up to Olympus to join them, but is struck down by Zeus.
Why Killing your family, crimes against your host/guest and extreme pride were incredibly serious sins in ancient
Greece, as all three were watched over by Zeus. Bellerophon was exiled because he accidentally killed his
brother, had to kill the Chimera because he was accused of pursuing his host’s wife, and struck down for his
hubris (pride).
When 1280BCE
Where Korinth
How
11. Idea 3: The Sorceress, the King and the God
Who Odysseus, Circe, Hermes
What Odysseus and his crew wash up on a small, uncharted island, where most of his men are turned into pigs by
Circe. Hermes gives Odysseus a herb to resist her magic, and he defeats her, freeing his men. However, the
two quickly start to fall for each other and Odysseus has an affair with her.
Why Odysseus’s ship was thrown off course by a tempest sent by Poseidon because he had infuriated the God by
sacking his temple.
When 1180BCE
Where Aeaea
How
14. Existing Product
Title of magazine in large font,
standout color from the rest of
the magazine
Magazine fame, attracts
new readers with claim
Quote on the front
cover, might draw in
readers
Gold and bronze, symbolism
of history and the legendary
status of the characters
Information about other
articles in the magazine
Large picture of the main character
on the front, immediately
centralizing him as the focus
Name of the famous
actor playing the main
character, draws in fans
Film title bold and in large font
to centralize it so anyone who
sees the magazine will know
what it’s about
Slogan for the film, incites the
drama and action without even
knowing about the film itself
15. Existing Product
Recognisable cover art of main
focus of the magazine
Magazine title behind the cover
image
Other titles to intrigue readers with
content about other, unreleased
films
One-liner quip to draw
in readers referencing
the film
List of interviews with famous actors that
would entice more readers who might
not be so interested in the movies
featured to buy it
Suspenseful quite from director
16. Existing Product
Close-up shot of main
character as the premiere
image
Magazine title above the face
but below other advertising
text
Advertising for other movies to pull
in a larger audience than just the
people interested in the cover film
Advertising the quality of
the magazine itself to raise
it above competitors
Interviews with notable actors
also advertised on the front
Showing that if the
customer does not buy the
magazine they will be
missing out on information
that is unavailable
anywhere else
Minimal light to match the
darker tone of the film
featured on the front
17. Existing Product
Darker lighting to match the dark
themes of the movie
Portrait of main character over
the title and centred to make it
the natural main focus of the
magazine
Magazine title just below major
interview advertising that brings
in an entirely different audience
Main movie featured as a
second title, with
18. Existing Product
Main image is of the main
character in the centre of the
magazine overlaying the title
Slogan for the film, incites the drama
and action without even knowing about
the film itself
Title for main film focus
beneath the magazine title
Advertising articles about
other movies to bring in
fans of more upcoming
franchises
Advertising for more articles
related to cinema that may
entice more readers with
luring language
19. Research Summary
• Almost every film magazine features a central portrait of the protagonist of
the main film featured, usually a close up shot of the face, with the title
above it, sometimes partially covered by the picture of the actor. All
feature extra advertising on the cover to allow people to know what else
may be inside the magazine usually relating to a different topic than the
main article, however the title of the main movie and usually a link to the
content of the article is above. There is usually some form of enticing
language such as “Exclusive!!” above descriptions of articles likely to make
it clear to the customer they will not find this information in any other
magazine or brand.
• I will be including a close up shot of the main character in the centre with
the text around him, title above and extra article information to the sides
and below, as well as using a variety of coloured text.
20. Bibliography
1. Empire Magazine, June 2004, Issue #180
2. Total Film Magazine, April 2019, Avengers: Endgame
3. Total Film Magazine, September 2019, Issue #289
4. Total Film Magazine, November 2021, Scream
5. Empire Magazine, October 2014, Issue #306
23. Style Sheet
• Odysseus The Sorceress, The King and the God Lorem Ipsum Lorem Ipsum Lorem
Ipsum
<- Odysseus
<- Hermes
24. Poster Style Sheet
The poster will prominently feature the characters
Odysseus and Zeus, so I came up with different elements
of the style to better represent what I wanted them to
look like
I chose this sort of colour scheme for the
poster as it best represents the
characters on the poster
I went with the same font I used on the magazine
front cover, as to keep the style consistent between
methods of advertising
25. Magazine and advert layouts
Title
Cover line
Extra
articles
Extra articles
Title
Copyright
26. Double page spread layout
Lorem Ipsum
Lorem
Ipsum 2
Picture
Main picture
Title
27. Contingency
What can go wrong? What can you do if it does?
I could catch COVID Continue working on as much as the planning so I can
focus entirely on production when I return to college
Mac could break There are more computers in the room than people,
so I can move to another station to continue
Camera could break I could take out a college camera as a temporary
replacement
28. Risk Assessment
What could be a risk to you, others or the
equipment?
How can you make sure that doesn’t happen? What
will you do if it does?
Eye strain Take a break every so often
Fatigue
Rain could destroy the camera Shoot on not rainy days
30. Using your plans, produce:
• A synopsis for your film
• A magazine front cover, promoting the film
• Additional advertising to promote the film
31. Synopsis
Odysseus’s men are starving, long since run out of food. When they see the island of Aeaea, they demand he steers the
ship there so they can restock their supplies, however Odysseus, sensing danger, remains on the ship. They venture into
the island, and discover the home of Circe, who invites them inside. Only one of the men, Eurylochus, stays outside, the
rest take up her offer of hospitality. Eurylochus watches through the window in horror as the sorceress turns the rest of the
men to pigs, before fleeing back to the ship. He informs Odysseus of what he has seen, whom is completely stumped. He
knows he cannot get home without his entire crew, but fears trying to take on the sorceress. At that point, an old friend of
Odysseus in Hermes, the Herald of the Gods arrives, giving Odysseus a divine herb called Moly, which will make him
immune to any spell she tries to put on him. Hermes grinds the herb into a cup of wine, which Odysseus then drinks. He
then attacks the sorceress, overpowering her and making her return his men to their normal forms.
33. Magazine Front Cover
I went with a fairly dark colour scheme to fit with the tone of
the main character not being a traditional hero like many
modern protagonists are, as well as darkening the hair to fit
the common ethnicity of what Odysseus likely looked like.
Every cover I analysed had a main central image of the film
protagonist, with the title above and appropriate information
at the sides, consistent with the most common tropes for the
covers I looked at.
34. Advertising:
I used drastically different colours for the next character to highlight the difference in
status and power between the two as well as to create a visually enticing image by
contrasting light and dark, which is the point of a poster. By placing the title and
information text below the majority of the main pictures puts them in further focus,
however the white of the title is easily readable at a glance from the darker tones at
the bottom of the page. The positioning of each figure is also used to display the
hierarchy as well. For the double page spread I used vastly different colours to
display the more light-hearted helpful nature of the pictured character and kept half
the space for the article, ensuring that the image was notable enough on the page to
be the centre of attention but leaving plenty of space for the article.
38. Friendly units are distinguished
from enemy units Obstacles in the
environment that
must be moved
around.
Clear objective tab and health
bars, as well as buttons to
better control your turn
Shows selected troop and
available actions
39. Easily distinguishable main
character and enemy sprites
Clear health an menu options
out of the way of the gameplay
focus
Blank background makes easily
distinguishable obstacles and
eases player navigation
42. Style Sheet
The main armor colors, so the majority of sprites are these colors
The identification colors, red for the Achaeans, blue for the Trojans
The main background colors. Dark beige for the rocky ground, dark green
for foliage, peach for buildings
45. Game Summary
A quick summary of the game.
● Some Bullet Points with Unique Features
● And A Few More
● The Game follows the story of Homer’s Iliad, which in itself covers the story of the Trojan War.
● The player will be able to take control of several distinct Greek Heroes to fight Trojan Heroes and footsoldiers with
several different options for attack and formations for their own footsoldiers
● There will be several boss fights taking the form of different duels in the story, e.g. Diomedes VS Ares or Akhilles VS
Hektor
46. Game Overview
Theme / Setting / Genre
Show some example images or similar games / movies / books / TV shows with similar themes.
Core Gameplay Mechanics
Point to other games that this is similar to.
47. Story and Gameplay
Story
Once upon a time, in a universe far away…
Explain how the story will be told -- cut-scenes? A ‘talking head’?
Core Gameplay
A description of the game ‘loop.’
A flowchart is nice:
Upgrade
Character
Core Loop
-$
Enter Arena Battle
Payout
To Winner
-$ +$
Unlock
New Arena
-$
48. Levels
There will be 12 main levels and 4 boss levels in total, one level per two books in the Iliad and one level
per boss fight.
Understandably, levels will differentiate in difficulty, by scaling up the level of enemies, as well as the
amount. Some levels may give you more or less troops to work with, or have specific win conditions,
like making sure a certain hero is unharmed. There may be battle obstacles such as rivers, which may
be used by one level later on. In one book in the Iliad, Akhilles crosses a river by killing enough Trojans
to create a bridge, which may prove for an interesting level. A beginner level would be relatively small,
perhaps with several heroes for the player to command facing a few Trojan foot soldiers, to allow them
to get the hang of the mechanics while keeping it simple and easy. A more complex level may consist of
much more soldiers across several screens, perhaps with only one or two heroes for the player to
command facing legions of Trojans.
Boss fights would be spaced out between the game, and have their own specific levels. In total, their
would be 4 boss battles, listed below
- Paris, Prince of Troy (the player will fight as Menelaus)
- Aeneas, Trojan General (the player will fight as Diomedes)
- Ares, God of War (the player will fight as Diomedes)
- Hektor, Greatest of the Trojans (the player will fight as Akhilles)
49. Assets
● I made sprites for all of the Olympian Gods, as well as Hades, Herakles and Hestia, as well as several Greek and
Trojan heroes that participate in the war, and finally the Shade of Jason, a hero relatively similar to the main
character of the sequel movie, Odysseus. This brings the total sprite number to 29, each appearing in a different
scene.
51. Research
Most of my research for this section of the project went into looking at different styles of sprites.
Originally I wanted to create them in as complex and and standout a manner as in ‘Into the Breach’,
the initial inspiration. Due to being completely new to pixel animation I thought it more appropriate
to look at more basic NES and SNES era sprites and work from that, specifically creating ones that
looked similar to sprites in the original Legend of Zelda game, however with more detail and black
outlines to better separate them from the backgrounds. This eventually led to the style of sprite I
eventually created. Because I spent most of my time creating them, I think each sprite looks distinct
and easily recognisable, especially the distinct and vibrant deities, whom I tried to keep looking as
different as possible while being accurate to mythological description. However, as I spent so much
time on the sprites, I feel like I did not have time to focus on backgrounds and screen design, so my
work ended up being fairly plain in both, without as much to decorate the backdrop of the actual
gameplay. To make the backgrounds look a little more vibrant however, I searched up several
celestial constellations, and placed Perseus, Ursa Major, Pegasos and Orion in the sky, picking those
four because they are all fairly recognisable figures in Greek myth.
52. Planning
I initially planned a completely turn based game, however, early into development I switched it to a
faster paced experience. My first idea was to have fifty troops on the battlefield at once, and while
that may have been the case if I had attempted to animate a later level, I wanted to keep the
animation more manageable and consistent with the time I had available, so instead I opted to
place only four troops on each side. This also made it so the sprites would be in further focus and
larger on the screen, but did mean I couldn’t show them all being animated. I figured out I generally
wanted to have one battle happen at a time, as it would be easier to keep up with and animate,
only having one or two sprites moving at once rather than all eight. If I had had this more
reasonable idea from the start, I could probably have created a higher quality product with better
animated sprites instead of creating so many sprites that did not actually end up being animated.
53. Time Management
• I feel like I struggled to stay focused in completing all of the pre-planning in time before
production week, though when we started production that I managed to create. Most of the
sprites made fairly quickly once I had figured out exactly how I wanted to create them, because I
could rinse and repeat the design fairly quickly to produce consistently quality sprites in a short
amount of time. However, I think that the writing areas of the project could have used
significantly more time for research and development, and given more time I would have
rewritten the planning and synopsis segments to better articulate my internal ideas for the
project. I also would have created more fleshed out experimental ideas, which would have given
me a greater variety of options to pick from.
54. Technical Qualities
I used basic pixel animations and followed a simple walk cycle guide to create the movement for each
character and tried to be consistent with NES/SNES era animation quality, as I thought that this was
generally within my capabilities for the project. As I said in the planning slide, I wanted to emulate
similar motions to that of the original Legend of Zelda game, only with more detailed sprites, which
had more intricate body designs than just flat colors. To this end, I picked out distinct gold, silver or
white as the primary colors for most of the characters to stand out better on the darker backgrounds
selected for the levels and title screens. Most of the effects were created by adding and making layers
invisible in fast succession, however, the effect of blood on defeated enemies was made by drawing it
in a solid red block and then erasing parts to make an inconsistent texture, which I thought looked
more aesthetically pleasing as it was less bland.
55. Aesthetic Qualities - Game
My work is based primarily on the maps and sprites of Into the Breach and Legend of Zelda, my final aesthetic
design being somewhere in the middle of the complex artwork of Into the Breach and the simplicity of the old
Zelda games, with the obvious change of a different in-game setting and design. The most easily recognizable
example of the art style comes in the form of the title screen, which showcases the Olympian deities which
Ancient Greece is known for. The sprites were each designed to be easily distinct from one another and
showcase the characteristics of the deity at just a quick glance. For example, just by looking at the sprite of
Zeus, who is a head taller than any of the others, carries a unique weapon and is the only case in the game in
which the pure white color is used, it can be seen that he is clearly the most authoritative and powerful of the
deities. In terms of style, the sprites for every character maintain a consistent look to them, giving the game a
familiar feel from the title screen to gameplay to cutscenes, the exact same sprites for each character being
displayed in every scene they are in. One thing that could be made more consistent throughout is the style of
writing, specifically the fonts between each screen. The font for the gameplay screen is much thinner and taller
than that of the start menu and cutscenes. The bulk of the font on the title screen is simplistic but bold and the
front on the cutscene is more stylized and less bold. There is no obvious reason for this and so this could be
easily improved by keeping everything in the same style of font.
56. Aesthetic Qualities - Magazine
I did not do as much research for the magazine as the game, and so briefly looked at some examples from
popular magazines such as Empire and Total Film before designing my own. My main inspiration was Empire’s
magazine on Troy, in which they portray Akhilles in golden, shining light to immediately show him as a heroic,
semi-divine main character. I decided to reverse the roles for my cover, as Odysseus is a fundamentally very
different character to Akhilles. While the latter is seen as something of an unstoppable heroic force, Odysseus
is wily, deceptive, and more impure than Troy’s depiction of Akhilles. I dimmed the background and most
colours in photoshop to further differentiate, as well as covering part of my face with a mask to make the
character seem less recognisable and more unknown. I increased the saturation for the scarf to make it look
more like fire to show something of a destructive nature. However, when looking at other film magazines, I feel
like I have made use of much less space on the cover than many others, making the finished product look
emptier. This was an attempt to reduce clutter, however, I think that I could have used the space more
effectively. The font is consistent throughout the entire cover, a stark white to differentiate from the darker
background.
57. Aural Qualities
To create the music for the final piece, I used a website called Beepbox which allowed me to design my
own soundtrack for each scene, trying to come up with a relatively unique feel for all 3 short tracks
used. I selected wind instruments like the ocarina and flute because they were more commonly used in
the ancient world. The flute specifically was supposedly invented by the Goddess Athena, so using that
for her cutscene shot made a lot of sense to me. I kept the tracks consistent with the game style, so
they were relatively simple with just one instrument playing at once to create a similar sound to the
older games that mine is based on. However, this did come at the cost of what otherwise may have
been a more advanced soundtrack, and there were many options on the website that I did not think to
even experiment with while making my tracks, so it is likely that I did not make the fullest extent of
music that I could have made.
58. Audience Appeal
The game serves as a prequel to the film, to show the story of the Trojan War that sent Odysseus on his
Odyssey. This would inspire people who may have already watched the film to purchase the game as to
get a better feel of the universe and story presented in the movie as the experiences Odysseus went
through would become more clear to the player. It would also serve as a way to get a different audience,
one more closely linked to the videogame industry, to watch the film and understand the full story of
what happened after the Trojan War, therefore enriching their experience in the world created. The
appearance of several characters whom would only be mentioned in the film, such as easily recognisable
mythological names like Akhilles, Hera and Ares may also incite more people to play the game after
watching the movies to see the characters they as of yet have only heard about playing more major roles
in the game.
59. Overall strengths and weaknesses of the final
package.
I think the aesthetic design of the final product is good and easily enticing with each character having a
distinctly unique look and style that easily stands out from not just each other but also the simplistic
backgrounds of each level. They’re immediately more enticing than other games with similar graphical
quality as they are more colourful and personalised, therefore bringing more attention to the game
itself. It also runs fairly smoothly with a generic game structure of level-by-level battle interrupted by
occasional boss battles. The music is simple but works with the level itself and style of the game,
however could be more detailed and engaging if I made better use of every feature on Beepbox. The
gameplay footage is relatively detailed but rather short and also could have been extended with more
time or if I was able to work on it from home, and by doing such the quality of the level design,
especially the rather bland backgrounds, may have also become a higher quality.
Editor's Notes
Choose a recent product similar to your own and annotate it- magazine front cover and adverts.
Type of image- studio/location, angle, effects, post-production
Use of lighting/composition/mise en scene/costume/props/location/colours/fonts etc.
Audience appeal- how does it make its audience want to watch it?
Choose a recent product similar to your own and annotate it- magazine front cover and adverts.
Type of image- studio/location, angle, effects, post-production
Use of lighting/composition/mise en scene/costume/props/location/colours/fonts etc.
Audience appeal- how does it make its audience want to watch it?
Choose a recent product similar to your own and annotate it- magazine front cover and adverts.
Type of image- studio/location, angle, effects, post-production
Use of lighting/composition/mise en scene/costume/props/location/colours/fonts etc.
Audience appeal- how does it make its audience want to watch it?
Choose a recent product similar to your own and annotate it- magazine front cover and adverts.
Type of image- studio/location, angle, effects, post-production
Use of lighting/composition/mise en scene/costume/props/location/colours/fonts etc.
Audience appeal- how does it make its audience want to watch it?
List all products researched in previous sections. Include anything additional you have watched/read in preparation for production. Alphabetise your list.
What were the strengths of your research? How did your research help your product?
What were the weaknesses of your research? What could you have done better/improve? What effect would this have had on your product?
Think about existing products as well as practical experiments
What were the strengths of your planning? How did your planning help your product?
What were the weaknesses of your planning? What could you have done better/improve? What effect would this have had on your product?
Did you manage your time well? Did you complete your project on time or would your products have improved with additional time?
What would you have done if you had more time to produce your work?
Compare your work to similar existing products and discuss the similarities and differences
Is your work technically detailed/complicated enough? What effects and production techniques have you used? How technically proficient is your animation? How did you create your effects? How did you record your audio? Did you use any foley methods?
Compare your work to similar existing products and discuss the similarities and differences. Consider your game art, your magazine cover and advertising.
Is your aesthetically pleasing enough? What effects and techniques have you used? Does your project have a consistent aesthetic style? If not, how can it be improved?
Compare your work to similar existing products and discuss the similarities and differences. Consider your game art, your magazine cover and advertising.
Is your aesthetically pleasing enough? What effects and techniques have you used? Does your project have a consistent aesthetic style? If not, how can it be improved?
Does your work sound good? Was it creative? What aspects of your audio do you like? What would you improve? How would you improve it?
Discuss the strengths and weaknesses
How have you appealed to your target audience? What specific bits of content would appeal to your target audience.
