- The Pepper Project - cartoon series in progress
short Summary of the story:
After their Great Granny Pepper's passing, the Gardeners,a little family of 4, come to England to clean her old house out before it goes to sale but the task turns out harder than they had planned as the family encounters all sort of unusual events and unfolds the secrets of the house one by one. In the face of this puzzle, Olive and her big sister Winnie, convinced that the death of their Great Grandma Pepper was no coincidence, decide to solve together the mystery of her disappearance.
Research and Character design
Although I always enjoyed writing stories, I am perfectly aware that it's definitely not my main strenght, which is way I tried to work a little harder on the plot of the Pepper Project. I remembered hearing somewhere that to write a good mystery, it's easier to start from the end and work it up to beginning because knowing the resolution makes it smoother to drop hints here and there. But before all that I started by building a mood board and collecting references for the project.
I then starting research on some of the main characters: the sisters duo and the parents duo. Since I had in mind a show for a large public that could suit kids just as well as adults, I wanted two duos that we will follow sometimes together, sometimes separated, that will speak to each generations.
House design
This is the first design of Grand Grandma Pepper's house I'm currently on. Even though it's still a work in progress, I think it's relevant to the presentation of my project because the house holds a key role in the story and helps a lot in the visualisation of the cartoon's universe.
storyboard of a scene
This is the storyboard of the scene when the little family has just arrived to Great Grandma Pepper's house. The focus is on the parents who are bringing the empty boxes they will use to pack the house before the sale. They sit on the couch for a second and finally take a good look at the room they are in while the conversation drift to how usually ghosts and monster inhabit creepy old house like that. Here is the dialogue for the scene:
3- MOTHER: This going to take forever!
4- FATHER: Want to take a break already? You truly make the best exemple for our kids, you know that?
5- M: Yeah, like you're not tired too! They're not even here anyway.
6- F: Just kidding, I'm wrecked like you.
7- F: To be honest though, I'm afraid we may never see our girls again if they decide to play hide and seek in this labyrinth.
8- F: Jokes aside, this house really is freakishly big.
9- M: I wonder what we will find here... I mean my grandma has always been a little weird so I think we should be prepared for anything at this point.
F: Imagine if the poltergeist of the house possess the kids and we have to exorcize them. That'd be one ass cool summer story to tell at work!
10- M: Making a publicity stunt out of our children? You really do have no limits, you sly...
F: We've got everything if you thing about it: the old creepy house, the dead relative, the new family who have just moved in.
*laughing* M: We do sound like the beginning of a bad horror movie!
11- OLIVE: Mom?
*whispering* F: I think I'm scared.
14- OLIVE: Where is the duct tape? I need it to close the box I've finished.
16- *together* M: Let me get it monkey!
F: Don't worry, Daddy is going to help you!
TIME: 2 hours
MEDIUM: coloured pencil, 2A pencil
I saw a exercice on perspective and background on a blog so I decided to give it a try, using with the living room we caught a glimpse of in the storyboard above. The goal was to define in advance the angle of the camera, which objects will be in the field of view and pose the lines of construction.
Waltz of my Memories - orginal song demo
When I imagine an universe, what I also like to do very early in the process is sing or play melodies that I think would fit. It helps me visualize and find the appropriate mood for the project. Music has always been for me a huge part in my creative process and I believe the soundtrack of any animation is crucial for the story they want to share. Waltz of my Memories is a short song I composed for a flashback scene I had in mind for The Pepper Project, during which we have a glimpse at Grand Grandma Pepper's life throught an old videotape Olive founds.
(of course I'm not a professional musician so I apologize for some false notes you may hear ;)
