Today was my first minor project tutorial and the general gist was that while the script is getting there, it is coming up time to consider my world and my creature. While I had some early sketches, there was an issue that they all had some regality to them. Which is the opposite kind of response to the creature that I am after, as it is supposed to be only the scientist that admires it.
Extending from the larval form, I looked into creatures like the Tardigrade or water bear. One of a number of micro-animals; creatures so small they can only be seen with a powerful microscope but this is to their benefit - they look incredibly alien and grotesque. As along with standard insect elements, the bodies of these creatures often feature large prominent hairs. The use of micro-animals also allows me to better explore any development of the grub phase as the grub elements can echo in the juvenile phase. I might be able to assemble a creature using bits of various micro-creatures, as they tend to be quite compact.
by the end of the life-cycle, your creature needs to be admired by the audience too - it needs to have admirable qualities/humanity as a mature specimen, so we want it to live because we know it to be sentient.
ReplyDeleteIts adult or near-adult stage could be a little more humanoid.
DeleteGiving it human-like eyes might help a lot. I watched Zootopia over the weekend and it's remarkable how feeling empathy can be controlled by how human the eyes are. It was especially prominent in creatures that have beady black eyes, as animals that went rabid in the film took on their natural eye type. Though those animals were also heavily anthropomorphised.
I think it's also in their posture and way of carrying themselves. From an animation standpoint. As soon as the animals in Zootopia turned savage we almost lost all human-likeness to them and the sentient nature of them disappeared. (on purpose obviously) What I'm trying to say though is: To have admirable qualities/ this essence of humanity as Phil mentions it doesn't need to be anthropomorphised or extremely human-like. One thing humans can have is the will to live; and so it is admirable to see another creature have the same will.
DeletePosture, movement, attitude, gaze, how the individual carries themselves, these are all things that can make something either endearing, intimidating or repulsive. Take Hal from Wall-e: Pixar made a cockroach adorable by giving him a cheery voice, bouncy attitude, easily excitable and lots of optimism.
DeleteTrue, they took the angle of making him like a dog but it's a tried-and-true trope for making something non-human endearing.