Further Character Development

Recently I started the casting process to look for the correct actors for my short film, Halfbreed. Although I already had a vague idea of character design when I first started planning my coursework back in July, I have finally begun to actually develop the characters further now that I have an idea of my potential cast.

Melodie
As a dryad (woodland nymph), I wanted Melodie's character to have a very nature based character and I still intend to incorporate this. Unlike my original idea of her having leaves or flowers in her hair, I have completely changed my idea on Melodie's design to something far more basic and less fairytale. In this way it would make more sense for her to blend in with the natural world when kidnapping Sienna. I like the idea of keep her makeup quite neutral and letting her hair be unbound, perhaps with a few plaits in her hair that add a medieval element which is the theme I am after, following some of the stereotypes for a fantasy genre film.

Sienna
Similar to the other protagonist, Sienna's character is designed to be quite neutral and to blend in with a medieval form of society. Her character at the start of the film is pretty naive to the troubles she is trapped in however near to the end of the film I want her true character to really shine through as an independent woman who knows what she needs to do to fix the family feud that has torn the Woodland Kingdom apart. When I first started designing Sienna's character I wanted her to be very childlike however now I know that her role as the catalyst of the major events needs her to mature rapidly throughout the film in order for her to do the final deed at the end of the short film.

| Morgana |

The Woodland Queen
When I first started planning my coursework, I decided that I wanted the Woodland Queen to have a dark yet natural sense to character portrayal. At the beginning I wanted to incorporate an idea of tribal or tattoo sort of vine marks on the two protagonists and villain, however now I am unsure as to whether this might look a little fake and therefor have decided to perhaps discard this idea. I wanted the Woodland Queen to wear a crown made from broken and old twigs which I still am rather keen on the idea of and will hopefully be making it soon. I took a lot of inspiration from the character of Morgana in BBC's television series 'Merlin' and like the way she can look so natural but at the same time so cold, bitter and dark.

Guard

| Lagertha |

Initially I wanted the guard to be a male role however over time I decided that having the nymphs perhaps take on a matriarchal hierarchy during the reign of the Woodland Queen would spin the stereotypical male roles such as guards, warriors and even the monarchy. I therefor started to think about the design of a female warrior or guard and took a lot of inspiration from shield-maidens from the viking era. A shield-maiden was a woman who chose to fight as a warrior and link to the valkyries in Norse Mythology. I wanted to incorporate this idea of strong female characters in my short film as it again defies the stereotypes of the film genre with the female character as an object to be saved and developing a character who can stick up for herself. Therefor I decided that the style and character of the Woodland Queen's Guard to be very viking based character. This will hopefully be seen by the style of hair that she is portrayed with as well as the makeup which I would like to be similar to that of the character of Lagertha in the television series 'Vikings'.



The Darkened One
The Darkened One appears in flashbacks during my short film and his design is extremely basic. As he is a mystery to both Sienna and Melodie - who both never met their father - I wanted the Darkened One to have the same effect on the audience, making them unaware of his real identity only to see a cloaked figure that haunts both protagonist's past.