Oliver Keppie plans to create an animated fighting game for his final major project that incorporates 1930s cartoon animation styles. He will create a high resolution pre-fight cut scene in addition to the game. Keppie is inspired by animators like Felix Colgrave and the styles of Cuphead and old Disney cartoons. He hopes to develop his animation skills through this project and potentially pursue animation as a career.

1. Initial Plans
Oliver Keppie

2. Pre-proposal
• I would like to do an animation and also incorporate a game within it. I want to
focus more on higher resolution animation. I have decided on this idea because I
think I am decent at animation and I want to do it when I leave college, so I think it
will be good to start. This project is personal to me because I really enjoy the
animation process and I am interested in doing it in the future. One of my
favourite animators is Felix Colgrave and I want to follow in his style. The tone and
mood of my product will be fitting to the product because I want it to be an
intense fighting game with a high intensity pre-fight cut scene. I also want it to
look very cartoon and like Felix Colgrave and old 1930s Disney cartoon style. The
reasons I chose this style is because I personally like the look of it and also I think it
will be very effective if it is used in a game of this genre. This is because it will
juxtapose the fighting and violent nature of the game which is fighting. Another
reason I because I think the characters will allow me to have a lot of creativity and
explore more than the looks of the animation as I think the design and way the
characters act and move will allow me to create a story behind them, ultimately
making the whole gaming experience more immersive therefore making my
product better. Also It is my favourite genre of game as I enjoy learning the
combinations and the names of the large roster of characters etc.

3. Pre-proposal
• I really like the smooth style of the animation and just the style of their
artwork in general. I also want to revive the 1930s cartoon style and my
dream as an adult is to make an adult comedy animated series in the old
1930s cartoon style. I believe that if I start exploring the ideas, boundary's
and my personal skill mow then it could help me fulfil that dream in the
future. I am also planning on getting an old fashion sounding soundtrack
for the effects and the music of the game. It will be an intense soundtrack
but take inspiration from old jazz type music hopefully if I can manage to
find a way of creating this. It should hopefully end up similarly to the
soundtrack for the game Cuphead which is similar to the game I wish to
create although mine had more of a Super Smash Bros feel to it, grabbing
inspiration more from Cupheads music and animation styles. The reason I
am gathering inspiration from this game in particular is because is a very
unique game as it is one of a kind. I wont be able to pull off that exact
style as the game has taken very long to create and took lots of money,
time and a massive crew to create, but I am going to draw inspiration from
it.

4. Skills Audit
• I am interested in creating an animation for my FMP. I am going to
make a game to showcase some animation and also game design
and I would create a cut scene before the start of the game with a
larger canvas to show better animation skills. For a genre I am going
to create a fantasy, adventure, combat game. The part of the
project that I am looking forward to the most is creating characters
and bringing them to life with animation via Photoshop. I also enjoy
the print element such as making posters. The reason I am most
excited for making characters is because most of my life and even
from a young age I have been drawing my own characters and
designs in sketchbooks and the whole though process is very
entertaining to me. I enjoy the whole process form sketching ideas
for a hero or villain for example all the way to creating a backstory
or lore for my character.

5. Skills Audit
• My inspirations will be many pixel
art games like Shovel Knight and
Castelvainia. I will try and get my
animated cut scene to like the
animation used in fight scenes in
anime where movement is limited
but there is a lot going on. Some
inspiration will come from the
anime’s Seven Deadly Sins and
One Punch Man. The game will be
in a pixel art style allowing me to
still create a functioning and good
looking game, but it will also mean
that the project wont take me a
long time to complete so I can fit it
into my 4 weeks production time.
It will also show the difference in
style between the more detailed
animation of the cut scene before
the game begins.

6. Mood Board (Cut scene aesthetics)
The reason I believe Cupheads art style
is the best for my game is because it is
very unique and I like to stand out, and
I also think that it will be very amazing
to animate and it will test my skills. I
think that the colors used are very
vibrant which I would like to
incorporate and just the whole old style
I really enjoy the look of an by the
success of this game, it is safe to say
that also a lot of other people enjoy this
style.
The main reason I like the silly symphony art style is because of
the colors that they use. I really like the bright but light on the
eye pastel colors. By this I mean that the videos made by the
name Silly Symphony are great to watch as there is a lot going on
and nowadays the art style is so vintage and unpopular in
common TV shows, its hard to come across such a perfect style in
my eyes. I really like the unrealistic and over the top
exaggerations used on some of the characters and objects. The
exaggerations can also be seem in the animation but this is just
about the way the style looks. For example the size of the eyes in
ratio to the rest of the face. And also the non symmetrical hand
drawn look of things stands out a lot more than the very generic,
realistic and somewhat geometric animation of today. I also think
that the background style is very nice and helps compliment the
foreground. This is because the background looks like more of a
washed watercolor and it is always static which helps draw
attention to what is happening in the foreground. It also has a lot
more detail than the quite simple colors of the characters.
Somethings seen in the characters aesthetics from the 1930s are things such as the
slit in the pupil of the eye, the exaggerated expressions and the giant gloves and
shoes. I will try and imply these things into my characters for the game. Another
thing seen in most of these characters is the use of very little shading which overall
should make it a little easier to create the animation for my game. Also there are
exaggerated facial expression marks used on almost all of them. For example the
lines above the eyes and around the face to show confusion, sadness and anger etc.
this will give my game the 1930s feel I am looking for.

7. Mood Board (Felix Colgrave)
Felix Colgraves art style is quite different from the 1930s style
that I have shown on the previous page but I really love this
style too. I am thinking of different ways to interpret this style
because it looks so elegant and beautiful. Some places I could
add this art style could be for the loading screen of the game
or the menu, consisting of the start screens for the game
company and the name of the game, the character and scene
selection and also the home page. The way he designs his
characters to look realistic but so unrealistic at the same time
is amazing and I really like how he uses quite simple
animations to make such an effective and realistic scene. The
style he animates his work sets a mood and a tone of which
he chooses weather its happy or sad, even though he uses
very simple techniques such as motion blur or just moving a
simple shape around, maybe adding a bit of stretch to create
realism. One thing he also does really well when creating his
own video, is finding the correct music to amplify the mood of
his animation. Whereas when he makes videos for music, he
makes the animation around the song so it feels right. Also
the way he uses layers to animate certain parts works well.
https://www.pinte
rest.com/pin/1405
96819600815761/

8. Mood Board (Cut scene animation styles)https://steamcommunity.com/share
dfiles/filedetails/?id=1284225604
I really like this style of animation
as I think it adds a lot of character
to the person or object. You can
tell a lot by the way a character
moves. The way this character
bounces shows that he is ready to
fight and that he is also in a good
mood. Also as I said in the
previous slide the shadow at the
bottom of him barely moves an
there are no shadows on the
character himself.
https://imgur.com/gallery/lrHkI
The main part of this I am trying to
show attention to is the squash and
stretch style of the exaggerated
movement. If an animation is supposed
to look very cartoon which is the style I
am going for then movements must be
made larger than life. For example
Mickey is supposed to look happy
whilst he jumps so the body squashed
into a round shape which is more
associated with being happy and his
facial expression is one giant smile .
https://rehjdon.tumblr.com/post/163011245808/old-cartoon-gifs
This GIF is a perfect example of how
still images can be used with slight
movement to create character and
set the tone/mood. In this example
its only the cats eyes that move.
Without context, we can infer that
the cat is most likely excited or has
just seen something that has
brought him joy. I am going to
attempt to use some parts like this in
my cut scene as they can be very
effective and don’t take a lot of time.
This GIF in particular is hand drawn which can be seen as the face has a little bit of a
jitter to it. Another thing which can be mentioned is that the eyes get larger as they
reach the middle and they also slow down, this helps create a depth of perception and
adds another layer to this still 2D image. The slight movement of the face could be
intentional, as we don’t have access to the sound of the clip but the ca could be
laughing at something happening elsewhere.
https://mothership.sg/2016/08/two-guys-are-first-in-
singapore-to-be-arrested-because-of-pokemon-go/
In this GIF it shows
how to use motion
blur to create the
effect that the
characters are
moving fast. I will
use this in my pre
fight cut scene at
parts where one
character may
threaten the other
one or show off
some moves. I think for my style of animation the squash and
stretch will look better but even in older animation motion blur or
multiplication in limbs or objects can be seen between some frames
to make the finished result look fast. Overall I think that I will be
using this technique in the cut scene as I believe it will be hard to
achieve a good version of this effect in the lower resolution and
area I have for my pixel art game.

9. Mood Board (Game aesthetics)
In my actual game which will be a fight scene I will most likely use
tis method of animation to allow the characters to speak. I think
this style of pixel art is nice because it shows the character in
enough detail so that you can tell who they are, but its not
plastered across the whole screen. I like the gradient in the box
where the text is and I think I will be using this in my final
product.
I am planning on using health
bars in a similar style to the
ones used in the Mortal
Kombat games. The reason I
like these is because they are
simple and everybody knows
what they are. I also like the
fact that the characters name
is placed on the actual health
bar which doesn't only look
good but it also saves space
for other stuff above or below
the bar. One thing I do not like
about this style is that it looks very realistic and I am trying to get more of a cartoon fight
feeling. Another reason I think this actual art style may not work is because my canvas
will be a lot smaller which will not allow me to create this level of detail.
My characters will
most likely look like
these ones as I think
they are quite a good
size but big enough to
allow me to let them
interact with each
other and their
surroundings and
make it clear what
they are doing. Also
from this angle very
minimum shading is
required and it looks
like a classic game.
I chose this GIF because I think they the power looks
around the body of the character really works well
with the overall appearance of him and also his
facial expressions. I also think that the way the
power flows around his helps emphasize that he is
going to be going into a battle soon. I also think that
this character design could be something I use for
inspiration for my own characters. I like the
shadows on the clothes and how the animation
keeps it simple by not moving them but it still adds
depth in the art style of the character. I do not like
the way that the hair moves so fast I think that it is a
little too fast to look like a 1930s bounce animation
to show that he is battle ready. It looks more like a
visual glitch than hair blowing in the wind or a
bobbing body.
https://www.deviantart.com/randomobliquit
y/art/pixel-Guku-powering-up-683432035

10. Mood Board (Game animation style by Ivan Dixon)
http://pug-of-
war.tumblr.com/post/149683560281/willy-
wonka
http://pug-of-
war.tumblr.com/post/98371428901/actuallylucy-
said-can-you-do-one-of-a-penguin
I like the this animation style a lot and I think this is the one I will be using for my in game animation. The main reason I like
this animation so much is because of the way it interprets the usually non pixel art animation technique of squash and
stretch. The way the artist for these two GIFs used squash and stretch is very good and clever as it would be hard to make a
normally cubic shape made up of squares known as pixels, into a rounded object or an object that is squashy and looks very
cartoon. The way that the body has extreme life and charisma to it just perfectly fits my style of animation and will help
compliment the way I design my characters really well I think. I also think that as shown here, this animation style can be
added to a massive range of creatures, people and possibly even static objects to add life to them. One thing I will be doing
differently is not making the arms so lifeless and floppy I will most likely have them in a fighting pose or holding an object to
fight with. However I do like how the artist has used a darker tone on the right let to mimic the effects of a shadow. I think
in my product I will use this style for the stand still moments and also for the fighting just to make it look that little bit more
cartoon with all the stretchy and free limbs. I think this style can be used to add a lot of potential life to the animation.
https://giphy.com/gifs/pixel-art-bert-and-ernie-
c4idVujE2Id9u

11. Mood Board (Game backgrounds)
I am thinking of making one of my maps a colosseum map as I believe this
is a good place for a fight to take place and it can be easily transferred to a
pixel art style. For the style of animation I am using I could create a crowd
in the stands and add a bounce to them which could go in tune with the
music for the level. I also think that it could be interesting to see how I
could make the characters interact with the surroundings as they do in
Mortal Kombat. Some things interactive objects could be thigs such as, a
flaming torch lamp, a spear and or shield and maybe even another
character, as used in some of the ultimate ability's in Super smash Bros.
I have decided to choose a forest as I think I would
like to have a natural map as well, as a man made
one. This it because it allows me to explore more
naturally made things and I wont have to use as
many geometric shapes and specific tones so it could
be fun to design. I like the idea of a forest because it
can either be really happy, sunny and jolly like in
Snow White or it can be dark, evil and twisted for
example in Maleficent. I think I am going to go for a
more happy vibe of forest and then create a
nighttime alternative of the map which may have
more of a spooky tone to it. It also allows me to have
lots of character interactive items such as trees,
plants, animals and many more. I also think that it
would be good to work with the lighting in a forest
map and the natural forest and light will allow me to
interpret a bit of animation into the background too.

12. Mood Board (Color themes)
I found two color schemes online which I thought were perfect for my game as they are the
perfect tone for my art style. For the background I will probably use these or similar colors but I
will add a washed over watercolor effect to it. I think these colors will look good on my actual
characters which will be animated because I believe the colors work together and especially the
blues and browns they really work well together. Some colors I have not gathered such as skin
tones, will just be decided by me when I am actually creating the character, as I would like to
make some decisions on the spot as I think it could help to draw the character out first and then
find colors which fit the mood of the character design. I will try and interpret as many of these
colors as possible because I think they all look very nice and are definitely going to work with the
1930s style of characters and animation.

13. Mood Board (Music, Sound and Dialogue)
Fight scene music example
The music in this game is perfect for the style of the game which
is very similar to mine. As I have played the game I can say that it
gets the player into the mood of the game, ready to fight and it
gives you inspiration as the level progresses and so does the
music. The old style jazz music brings the game to life and sets
the scene and tone of the game and battle ahead. For example
this song builds up to become quite fast pace and that is because
the level this is on is very fast pace, but if a level is more dark and
intense then the music will fit that tone. I will try and create my
own music or find suitable music for my game.
Looking specifically at the sound effects and
dialogue during the fight I have found out that
there are a lot of grunts and groans. Mainly as a
character uses some power, absorbs a hit or
evades one. The sounds used for the actual
powers are as expected and have a sort of sci-fi
effect to some of them. Although the explosions
and impacts of damage sounds as would be
expected, so just like a regular rock breaking or
explosion. The music builds up as the fight gets
more intense which is what I am planning to do.
I would like to interpret some dialogue into my
product. I think I will have speech in the cut
scene and as the game starts and they begin to
fight I will add grunts etc.
Fight scene sound effects and dialogue example

14. Mood Board Analysis
How does your mood board inspire your project?
Because many of the images are a personal preference of styles
of animation, art and gameplay that I personally enjoy to play or
like the look of. These images inspire me as I wish to take a path
in animation in the future and I would enjoy using this art style.
The 1930s cartoon style will be a massive inspiration to the way I
design my characters, trying to keep in my mind, the way they
will have to move, but more importantly fight. One big piece of
inspiration which I was not expecting to find was the pixel art
animation styles GIFs that I found. I think these are brilliant and I
will definitely be using their style in my final product. I will also
take inspiration from real images as I have shown in the game
backgrounds page.
http://pug-of-
war.tumblr.com/post/1369
98370341/yoda

15. How will your mood board influence your final product?
My final piece is split into 4 different sections. My first section will be the game
loading screen, menu, character selector etc. I will use the Felix Colgrave style of
art and animation for this part. The next section will be my cut scene. This will be
done in the style of 1930s cartoons and the animation style will be heavily
influenced by Cuphead and also the animation for Silly Symphony's. My third
section will be the actual game itself. I will take inspiration from real life images of
backgrounds I am willing to use, for example the forest and coliseum shown in my
mood board. I will just use a regular pixel art, art style like the ones used in Shovel
Knight and Ivan Dixons animations, which I will also be taking the animation style
for as I really like the fluency and bounce of his animation. For my final section
which is the music I will take inspiration form old intense jazz and also the music
from Cuphead as I believe it fits really well with the style of game I am going to be
making. The reason was inspired to pick the color scheme I did is because I really
like the shades or brown and blue and after looking at a lot of 1930s cartoon style
animations with color, those colors come up a lot more than any other and I think
they work really well together. One thing I might do is add a few of my own more
washed out pastel colors when I am actually creating the characters. The music
type in my mood board is the one I will be sticking to as I believe the style will
really work well with the animation and art design of my game.
Mood Board Analysis

16. Key Influences (Cuphead)
The influences I will be taking from Cuphead will mainly
be the art style of the characters and the backgrounds,
which is pretty much the same as all the cartoons from
the 1930s. And I will also take inspiration from the
music as it classical old music but can be intense and
creates a good atmosphere when needed. One of the
main reasons this game inspires me so much is because
I like how abstract and quirky the art style is and seeing
how the game has still succeeded in the gaming
industry. This style of game is mainly 1 or 2 player co-op
boss battles and although my game is a PvP fighting
game I think I could still get a lot of tips on how to
animate the attacks, jumps and movements from this
game.
I think the background art for Cuphead is good because it
sticks to its 1930s cartoon roots, but also interprets some
animation and is not always static as it is in the cartoons.
The backgrounds in Cuphead have some moving features
weather it is the clouds or wildlife etc. Another think
about this game is the fact that the sounds made by the
weapons are heard a lot throughout the levels but it
doesn’t get annoying. I think this is because the sound is
quite calming and mellow so it doesn’t strike the player
off guard or shock them. Overall I will let this influence
my game and I will try to match its art style as much as
possible.

17. Key Influences (Mortal Kombat/ Super Smash Bros)
I will take influence from Super Smash Bros because I
think the art style of my game being cartoon relates
to this as well as Mortal Kombat and many other
realistic fighting games. I like how the attacks in
Smash Bros are very exaggerated and cartoon, ones
that would not be seen in real life. I also prefer how
the finisher moves are executed in this game rather
than Mortal Kombat as they go to a whole new level
of imagination, whereas some of the MK ones are
quite bland and just overly violent for the sake of it. I
think that the final smashes have had a lot more
thought put into them. I also think that a gory, violent
final kill wouldn’t work as well as a more fun one with
a little gore.
The reason I have chosen to do a game like Mortal
Kombat is because I enjoy those type of games and I
also think it would give me a lot of freedom whilst
creating my game. I think that the art style I have
chosen will be fun to try and interpret into a
fighting game. I also think that the animation style
of my game will look good in this style of game. I
want to create a game which can appeal to a wider
audience. For example the fighting essence of the
game may appeal to young and old audiences and
the art design and animation could attract kids or
adults who want to re-visit the old times of the
1930s cartoons.

18. Key Influences (Felix Colgrave)
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/569775790332797939/
I have already written about Felix's style but I will talk
more about what I am going to let it influence in my
work. I would like to create a loading screen with some
dragon like creature which could be the mascot for my
game etc. I want my game to be a mixture or my
favorite art styles so I would like to use this as much as
possible. I prefer the way that Felix's artwork and
animations look more than the music he uses or the
way he animates. I think his style is very unique and I
have not really seen anything like it before.
The style of his work reminds me of the sections of shows such as Adventure
time where their would be a close up of a characters face for example. I like
the surrealism of the creatures and landscapes he creates and I think they
would look really good in an interactive project such as a game.
NOT HIS WORK

19. Key Influences (Silly Symphony's)https://www.tumblr.com/tagged/silly-symphonies
The Silly Symphony's cartoons are classic old fashion cartoons, all
drawn by hand and some of them even without any color. The
things I will be taking inspiration from for these are the overall
art style including the characters and the background, and also
the colors from the ones that have color. When producing a
piece of work that is supposed to look like a 1930s cartoon the
colors will need to be slightly washed pastel tones for the
foreground and water colors for the background.
Another thing I have noticed about these cartoons
which I will try and implant into my work is the fact
that the characters themselves have no shading in
at all, although the backgrounds are very detailed
and have lots of shades and tones. I think this is
because they are very old cartoons and the
animators may have not known how to add shading
or detail to moving characters or objects yet. I will
try and implicate this into my cut scene to make it
look as close to the original 1930s cartoons as
possible.

20. Key Influences (One Punch Man/ Seven Deadly Sins)
In One Punch Man the fight scenes are what I’m going
to be taking inspiration from. This is because most of
the fight scenes consist of a still image with moving
arms in a fast motion or a moving background. These
seem boring but are very effective especially paired up
with the sounds or swinging fists and battle cries.
Another thing used in these fight scenes is the use of
still images being moved across the whole screen to
start the battle and build up tension. Then also use a
lot of slow motion as shots impact which helps show
off the power of the hit. Also in some shots they add a
blur over the attack to show power or an aftermath.
The Seven Deadly Sins fight scenes are very
similar which is why I selected these two
series. I have notice in these fight scenes
there are many shots of a character standing
still with smoke or ash or some sort gliding
around them. Another thing I have noticed is
that that there are a lot of accent marks
added around the feet or fists if they jump to
make an attack or actually land one. Another
thing to think about when I am animating is
that I need to think about the impact
damage the attack will have, and how the
opponent will react after being hit.