Development

Today I produced several character models for my mujahideen faction and also created several vehicle models.

The mujahideen character models were created by using reference images i found on various sites on the internet and drawing on top of the image on flash. I decided to use green as the main colour for these character models because green is one of the colours used in the Afghanistan flag and because it contrasts with the background colours and the Russian character models. 

The vehicle models were created by using technical drawings that show both front and side views of the vehicle as reference. Vehicles are mostly composed of two layers one layer for the moving parts like rotors, wheels and turrets and one layer for the stationary parts.

Research part 2- Art style

 Today I did some addtional research for my project looking at what kind of visual style i want to incorperate into my project. This is important because it determines the length of time and the amount of resources i will have to put in when creating my characters and backgrounds. It is for my best interest that i look at simple art stlye that is easy to mimic but also looks visually impressive to the audience.

I am basing my art stlye on old soviet propoganda films and posters from the early to mid 20th century. I am incorperating this art style because of its many characteristics which make it both distinctive and easy to mimic like:
-use of very few colours usally one to represent shadow and one to act as the base colour
-simplified characters which use realistic body proportions but don't have much detail
-backgrounds are composed of few colours and simple shapes
-characters are often shown as silohettes

Research part 1-Historical

Even though my animation is set in an alternate history where the Soviets are successful in thier campaign in Afghanistan all of the areas of my production have been examined carefully so that i give it an authentic feel.


I looked at photographs and illustrations of the soviet Afghan war so that I can accurately portray both soviet and Afghan forces. I looked at photographs of the 1991 gulf war for reference for my American character models.

I also looked at important and influential military commanders and politicians during this ear so I can use them as reference for my central characters.

 I intend to make reference to events in the war because my alernate Afghan wars timeline is almost identical apart from the withdrawl of Russians in 1989.

Final Major Project-Character models and weapon models

I have started creating my character, weapon and vehicle models on Flash CS5 for my animation.

I am basing the colour scheme off soviet propaganda art and films which uses two colours one to act as a base colour and the other to show shadow.

I did experiment by using an additional colour in one of my character designs this colour is a skin tone that you could distinguish the characters face from the uniform. However i wasn't satisfied with my results and felt that it wasn't as true to my source material as my two tone work was.

Most of the character designs are modified versions of the original which is the one on the far right. By making minor alterations to their uniforms, facial features and using different headgear makes them look significantly different but they also look like they belong to the same faction.

Weapon models are based off photographs i had found of soviet weaponry used during the Afghan war.
I did this because i want to make my animation feel as authentic as possible.