WIP Throne Room

Here is the first preview or sneak peak of the throne room where all the action takes places. It is far from done but most things have color maps, except the throne so far. But Pretty soon ill have all the maps done and will be able to throw some real lighting in there and perhaps even the legendary "Lavafall!"

Center Piece in Throne Room

More Texturing Work

These are just image files that I have created for the environment textures. First one is the castle walls and the second is the volcanic background rock in the throne room!

Phoenix King Model (wip)

till working out some of the details. I know his noise is super hooked. But he is the Phoenix king haha. Well see... Still got to attach the ears, the last ear took me five hours. so hopefully this one wont!

Finalized Head Model

Castle Floor Retextured

Stonework in the castle floor.

King of Dunvalin Concept Sketch

Texture Test -- Castle Floor

Smooth Stoned castle floor texture test, going to fix the tiling but thought I would post the working texture for the floor anyway.

First Character Model - Phoenix

Here is the model for the Phoenix Character, which has an integral part of the entire film. I still may do some more touching up of the wings it I am not sure how they will respond during the rigging process, so we shall see.

Sample Lava Test

Here is a sample lava test using Mayas particle systems. Its a borrowed shader from highend3d that uses a combination of 4 texture maps to slowly turn the lava from glowy yellow to dark burnt blackish over time and have animated bump map properties. Just a test to see how exactly I am going to handle the lava in the throne room.

Environment Model-Table

Wood Table!!

Environment Model-Torch

Here is my reference along next to my model for the numerous torches that will be in the throne room.

1st Environment Model-Throne

Here is the first model for the environment I have made, with plenty more to come. It is the Phoenix King's Throne.

Style Reference

I am not sure what film this is from but I really like the character style, and will be going a similar feel a cross between hyper real and stylized realness, so to speak :)

And ill be posting character sketches soon!

Act 1 Expanded

Due to the amount and level of polish I want for this film I am expanding Act 1 into almost 3 acts for the short film.

Act 1:
Starts with a close up of the dark fairys feet walking up stone steps to the throne room of Dunvalin. The camera cuts to the worried king who is explaining to his son the desperation of the situation. It then cuts back to the steps as they get closer and closer to the throne room. It then cuts back to the King and the son as the king gives him a map and a pack and is about to give him the gem when we cut back to the footsteps outside right at the throne room door. It then cuts to the king yelling HIDE, to the prince and he stands up to face the threat.

Just then the doors of the throne room fly open and there in full battle armor is a female dark fairy. Without hesitation she slowly walks toward the king. The king stands up and begins to summon fire in self defense. The clearly more powerful fairy laughs as she is still approaching the throne she flicks her wand and conjures metal shackles and binds the kings hands together. She comes about twenty feet from the throne and stops. She says give me the pendent of the phoenix. The king refuses. She conjures a chain around his waist using her wand and drags him off the throne and two her feet. She then magically unbinds the shackles on his hands from each other and nails them to an invisible spot in the room which leaves the king hanging from his wrists full exposed. She snatches the pendent from around his neck and walks away.


We then cut to a short of the prince who is hiding behind the pillar extremely nervous and scared who has been watching everything.

We then see a long shot of the fairy who is now about 20 feet away from the king who is still hung by his wrists in mid air and she gracefully arcs her wand and conjures an extremely long sword. With sword in hand she exposes her large armored dark fairy wings. She turns to face the king. And flies to the top of the throne room. She remains airborne just long enough to catch a wicked grin on her face and she dive bombs out of the air and toward the king.. as she as headed right for him the shackles release their prisoner and she drives the sword right through the king and pushes all the back into the throne and drives the sword right through the king and his throne instantly killing him.


We now see a shot of the prince eyes as he sees and hears whats going on. A look of determination comes over his face. And as the fairy pasts him he conjures a small flame and sends it lunging at the pendent. Unbeknown to him or the fairy once the fire hits the pendent it begins to glow. The fairy sees the boy un aware of the glowing pendent and laughs at his efforts. Just as she un sheathes her wand again, the pendant changes from solid red gem to fiery flaming phoenix of the same size and flies at the boy and is burned into his chest. The prince not fully knowing what he has gotten himself into backs up to the wall and reaches behind him pulling a lever which reveals a secret door that he disappears into and begins running down a stone corridor.


The fairy clearly unannoyed and not quite viewing the prince as a threat ponders the situation then instantly leaps out of the window and takes to the air. We cut to the prince as he is breathing hard and running down a dark circular stair case using the flame in his hand to light his path.


We cut to a shot of the dark fairy hovering in mid air outside the castle, around us we see the volcano the kingdom is built around the burning city of Dunvalin and the rest of the castle. Far below we can see the silhouette of the prince running down a long bridge which leads to a platform overlooking the ocean. Once the fairy notices him she dives down to the bridge and pursues him. She is much quicker and much stronger she catches up to him soon and grabs him trying to carry him off since he appears to be one with the pendent. She lifts him slightly into the air and tries to fly awaybut the wiggles a hand free and sends a plume of fire through her body underneath her armor. The dark fairy screams in pain and drops him back down to the bridge. She lands and quickly gets over the pain and is now very angry. The prince is now at the edge of the platform and the fairy is walking towards him wand exposed. Just when she is about to strike he leaps backwards off the platform to what appears to be a sure death. However, he lands quickly on the deck of a Dunvalin airship and sends another plume of flame into the furnace which quickly propels the ship into the horizon and away from the castle.


The fairy watches the ship sail into the horizon.. after a few moments she smiles and uses her wand to conjure two double bladed scythes. She uses her power to spin them at extremely high speeds and sends them both lunging in a L shaped direction peeling around and tearing the airship into three pieces. The boy sees the scythes coming from about 600 feet and tries to avoid the damage but the ship is hit and he falls and hits his head on a wooden plank and is knocked out as he falls to his death. As he falls the pendant of the phoenix in his chest begins to glow very brightly and when all hope is lost two extremely large phoenix wings emerge from the prince’s back and break his fall. The screen goes to black thats the end of Act 1.

Phoenix Pendant Resume

• Character Role Type: Object / Prop
• Name: Phoenix Pendant
• Race: Gem
• Age: Old
• Where are they from?
o It was created in the beginning by the first human king in Dunvalin. He took the power given to him by the Volcano which Dunvalin resides on and captured its essence in a gem that would empower the kingdom
• What makes him stand out physically
o Its a hand sized reddish gem in the shape of a phoenix enlaced in gold
• Do people like him? Does he have friends / enemies?
o Its highly adored and its the kings full responsibility to keep it safe
• How do I want the audience to immediately respond to them?
o Initially they do not know that the pendant has an attitude of its own. A gem with a living personality however, they will soon find out.
• What are his biggest goals?
o To protect the humans of Dunvalin
• How does he see himself?
o He has no inner recolation or way to communicate it knows only preservation and is a very good judge of character
• Other:
o The pendant is able to take the form of a gem and also a various forms of a Phoenix whent he situation calls for it. It can judge intentions and seeks preservation.

Prince Resume

• Character Role Type: Protagonist
• Name: I don’t know yet
• Race: Human of the Phoenix
• Age: 19
• Where are they from?
o Kingdom of Dunvalin
• What makes him stand out physically
o Actually not a whole lot, he is an older adolescant and has had basic fire training under the king but has never witnessed before the true power of the phoenix pendant and therefore his form remains fairly human. His wrist and hands are a characoal darkish color but there are no fire deformoties or embers burnt in his skin... Yet.
• Do people like him? Does he have friends / enemies?
o For the most part, people don’t know him on a personal level. He remained most of his years in the Castle learning and studying.
• How do I want the audience to immediately respond to them?
o I want the audience to see him and be able to relate to him being his is the most human looking one. I want them to empathise with him as he sees his father the king get killed. And then is determinned to avenge him by retrieving the Phoenix Pendant
• What are his biggest goals?
o To get the pendent back for his fathers’ sake. Survival is not very important initially he is sorta of blinded by emotion
• How does he see himself?
o Just a kid who has gotten himself into some huge out of his control situation as he takes the pendant and the chase insues.
• Other:
o He knows the basics of combat but has never applied them in a real life situation before.

King of Dunvalin Resume

• Character Role Type: Secondary Character
• Name: Race: Human of the Phoenix
• Age: 49
• Where are they from?
o From Dunvalin the of the royal human bloodline descedent of a long line of kings which have ruled the capital with the power of the Phoenix Pendant. The Pendant empowers the wearer unravelling the secrets of fire and life. The Kings responsiblity is to protect the pendant and use distribute its power throughout the Dunvalin kingdom
• What makes him stand out physically
o He is 49 years old but looks much older. The most powerful of the human race under the pheonix pendant have worked with fire so long that thier skin has become charred in places and swollen up and hardened. It looks almost lik e a hardened lava shell ontop of their skin. In addition around the shell and the places most commonly working with fire small blazen embers are distilled within the skin. At first glance these warriors do not appear human as we know it.
• Do people like him? Does he have friends / enemies?
o He is the hero and sworn protector of the Dunvalin Kingdom and yes people look up to him. But in this desolate hour in the end of a lost war to the Dark Fairys, he has no allies, only symapthisers. The Dark Fairys and Humans under the Leviathan Shard are his enemies. However, he looks to ally with the other human race in light of the defeat by the Dark Fairys.
• How do I want the audience to immediately respond to them?
o I want the audience to be intrigued by his character. He plays a supporting role as a human king, but not the typical human. Some will wonder if he is a different race entirely because of the skin he is in. He was powerful, but is no match for the leader of the Dark Fairys in 1 on 1 combat.
• What are his biggest goals?
o His biggest goal is to protect the pendant and the kingdom of Dunvalin. In order to do this he needs an ally, he looks to the Aquios Kingdom of humans under the Leviathan Shard.
• How does he see himself?
o He sees himself as responsible for protecting all the innocent citizens of Dunvalin
• Other:
o He is not married, there is no queen.

Dark Fairy Resume

• Character Role Type: Antogonist
• Name: Terra
• Race: Dark Fairy
• Age: 23
• Where are they from?
o Corrupted Woodland forest, she is the daughter of the High Dark Fairy responsible for the creation of the race.
• What makes him stand out physically
o Very pale and dark skin with large red eyes, she isnt very tall only about 5 feet, but has very large dark crow / moth type wings with armor laced into them. She has the ability to hide and show her wings at will. She is also very skinny.
• Do people like him? Does he have friends / enemies?
o Yes, she is a hero amongst the Dark Fairys and one of the most sinister and powerful. She is spearheading the war and has many enemies but fears none of them, and rightfully so, she is the one of the most powerful beings in the world... So she thinks.
• How do I want the audience to immediately respond to them?
o I want some to dislike her by the way she looks and how skinny she is, but others to really like her by her actions and pride and her design with the battle armor she is wearing. Regardless though everyone should immediately see her as an antagonist.
• What are his biggest goals?
o To obtain the powers the humans have by capturing the Pheonix Pendant and the Leviathan Shard in order to learn from them and expand the power of the Dark Fairy Race
• How does he see himself?
o She sees herself as a hero for her race, spearheading the militant conquest fueled purely by a lust for power that has been planted in her by her father from a young age.
• Other:
o She is slightly to human guys, but would never show it, or admit it or tell a soul.