mermuse
November 21st, 2002, 07:52 PM
I'm redesigning the look of the characters and world for the Men in Black animated series for a design class I'm taking...
Design limitations-
The characters have to be Agent J and Agent K but not necessarily the Agent J and Agent K from the movies.
Character background-
I wanted my agents to have a little more geek in them... like The Lone Gunmen from the Xfiles. Agent K was a huge sci-fi geek whose childhood hero was Dr Who (Tom Baker). He watched so much sci-fi as a kid that he actually believed aliens lived among us and started trying to find them. He was so successful that after wiping his memory on several occasions the agency finally decided to make him part of the team. He has an amazing natural talent for finding aliens and has become the agencies top operative. Agent J on the other hand is a newbie. He has a photographic memory and his head is filled with an amazing amount of book knowledge. He is a strange mix of style and awkwardness, intelligence and ignorance.
Design choices-
My first design choice was to enlarge the characters feet. I've always like the look of the Rescue Hero's toy designs... the big feet help the characters look strong and grounded. To balance that out I made the head and hands a little larger as well. I wanted K to be rather large but also feel a bit older. Before Tom Baker got into acting he worked in construction which is why he was so big and had that weathered look... I think of K the same way... he did a lot of manual labor before he became an agent. I also see him having a natural composure and grace like John Steed's character from the Avengers so I've been playing with giving him an umbrella to carry around all the time. The large scarf is a reference to Dr Who (though it could probably be a lot longer). Agent J is modeled after a character from a British sci-fi show called Red Dwarf. The character has two incarnations- the Cat, who is all style and grace- and Dwayne Dibley, who is a klutz and a major geek with buck teeth and hair cut in a bowl shape. I want agent J to be an awkward combination of those two extremes. He wears a really nice suit in an attempt to be stylish but it still looks awkward on him and he always feels a bit off balance with his huge feet and small build.
These are my latest designs... I've finally found a design for both characters faces that seem to be in the same basic style... my main problem with it is that J's head seems to old. I guess it feels old because its so angular.
http://mermuse.jmwebdesigns.com/post/mib1.jpg
Here are some older design. The rounder design of Agent J's head seems younger but the design doesn't feel as strong to me. Maybe I can find a combination of the two that will work.
http://mermuse.jmwebdesigns.com/post/mib2.jpg
Any C&C? I need to start finalizing these designs in the next couple days so I can finish my turnarounds....
Design limitations-
The characters have to be Agent J and Agent K but not necessarily the Agent J and Agent K from the movies.
Character background-
I wanted my agents to have a little more geek in them... like The Lone Gunmen from the Xfiles. Agent K was a huge sci-fi geek whose childhood hero was Dr Who (Tom Baker). He watched so much sci-fi as a kid that he actually believed aliens lived among us and started trying to find them. He was so successful that after wiping his memory on several occasions the agency finally decided to make him part of the team. He has an amazing natural talent for finding aliens and has become the agencies top operative. Agent J on the other hand is a newbie. He has a photographic memory and his head is filled with an amazing amount of book knowledge. He is a strange mix of style and awkwardness, intelligence and ignorance.
Design choices-
My first design choice was to enlarge the characters feet. I've always like the look of the Rescue Hero's toy designs... the big feet help the characters look strong and grounded. To balance that out I made the head and hands a little larger as well. I wanted K to be rather large but also feel a bit older. Before Tom Baker got into acting he worked in construction which is why he was so big and had that weathered look... I think of K the same way... he did a lot of manual labor before he became an agent. I also see him having a natural composure and grace like John Steed's character from the Avengers so I've been playing with giving him an umbrella to carry around all the time. The large scarf is a reference to Dr Who (though it could probably be a lot longer). Agent J is modeled after a character from a British sci-fi show called Red Dwarf. The character has two incarnations- the Cat, who is all style and grace- and Dwayne Dibley, who is a klutz and a major geek with buck teeth and hair cut in a bowl shape. I want agent J to be an awkward combination of those two extremes. He wears a really nice suit in an attempt to be stylish but it still looks awkward on him and he always feels a bit off balance with his huge feet and small build.
These are my latest designs... I've finally found a design for both characters faces that seem to be in the same basic style... my main problem with it is that J's head seems to old. I guess it feels old because its so angular.
http://mermuse.jmwebdesigns.com/post/mib1.jpg
Here are some older design. The rounder design of Agent J's head seems younger but the design doesn't feel as strong to me. Maybe I can find a combination of the two that will work.
http://mermuse.jmwebdesigns.com/post/mib2.jpg
Any C&C? I need to start finalizing these designs in the next couple days so I can finish my turnarounds....