Shadows of the Villain
A warm lantern, a moving headlamp, and the work of making a drawn character belong in the dark.
Journal entry ↓Art and creative direction; production record collated from the development briefsShadows of the Villain — a lighting and movement study, with music.
We also created the shadows of the Villain on the tools. A really complex, cinematic blend of two light sources.
— Brett Clements — development brief
Two sources, one performance
The brief for the Villain on the tools was cinematic: two light sources working together around the original artwork. A warm lantern lights the work area and falls away into darkness. A headlamp follows the Villain and concentrates on the work. Their different positions, colours and movement shape the image.
Light with a reason to move
The lantern stays in place. Its flame has irregular disturbances and quiet gaps, rather than a repeating pulse across the whole picture. The headlamp moves with the character and aims towards the rake. The light should help describe the action while preserving the colour of the drawn art.
The rake is the action
The existing rake drawings supply the movement. Each drawing is held for two ticks at 12 frames per second, making a two-second stroke. The Villain’s body, hands and tool need to work together: the hands grip the handle, the body shifts through the pull, and the rake clears grass where its teeth touch the ground.
The shadow belongs to the character
The composition developed into three layers: the rear view of the Villain in the foreground, the rake behind him, and their shadows on the ground. The lantern’s low position stretches the shadows through the working area. The separate headlamp gives another way to read the tool and the ground.
A lighting study, still in development
The recorded study brings together the drawn performance, grass removal, lighting, rain and lightning. The working notes also preserve the unfinished details: the second headstone shadow still needed a separate visual check, and the later headlamp adjustment made it yellower and slightly wider. This recording predates that adjustment. It is a record of the build, not a claim that the finished gameplay is complete.
Into Crookwood
The intended sequence connects this close work to the larger yard: a sunset journey, a grave selected in twilight, and robbery at night. The lantern, headlamp and tools need to coexist when enabled. That is the next connection between the intimate lighting study and the Crookwood Yard.
When I started drawing Carny Island, I was plugged into a bottle of chemo, starting a journey of a very different kind. The colour of art was one way I dealt with what I had to deal with.
The end product is a testimony to the purpose of imagination. If it is in you, bring it.
— Brett Clements