Secret Agent Entry: Joel Appugliese

#15

Alright everyone, it was time for a drastic rethinking of this challenge and my entry. After talking to some friends to get opinions, it seems that, even though Vlad Taltos, Master Assassin is a really awesome character, he’s just not right for this challenge. So I got to some brainstorming, and came up with something totally different. It’s still in the planning stages, but here’s the beginning. Sketch will follow up on the next post.

The idea is to have a very wide canvas. In the center will be a man, one half (his left side) will be styled to look like a family man. Khaki shorts, glasses, balding, simple button up tee-shirt. To his left will be his wife and child(ren?) in a family photo style of image. To his right, he will have his arm extended, holding a gun he just fired. farther to the right will be a bad guy in mid flight, having just gotten shot. The guy may possibly be a ninja, but I’m not sure yet. Anyway, I write these descriptions because my sketches are poor at best.

-Right

#16

This scene depicts the secret agent. On one side, his family. On the other side, his career.

-Rage

#17

A 3D sketch showing my concept

#18

Hey Joel!

Great to see you entering this. I’ll be watching with great interest. :slight_smile:

Cheers!

#19

Hey Felix thanks for stopping by, man. Are you going to be joining us?

So I’ve been brainstorming this new idea and have a few different variations. Sketching is VERY difficult for me, So for the initial stages I prefer to use words.

idea #1: Movie Poster.

This would be a simple setup. The background would be pure white. The character himself would be the only element of duality. The family on the left would be portrayed with light colored hair. The “good” half of the agent would be wearing glasses, khaki shorts, a button up tee-shirt and would be balding. This half would be the epitome of yuppy.

The “dark” half of the agent would be wearing a black suit, sunglasses, strict haircut. He would be like the agents from MIB or like agent smith. His arm extended with a gun, having just shot a ninja. The ninja would be in mid flight, as if he JUST got shot, with appropriate bloodspray. There would be a ninja hanging down from the top of the image, and one hanging off the side, as if the fight weren’t quite over.

#20

Idea #2.

This idea would have a little more depth.

The “light” side of the image would have a house in the BG…a perfect summer afternoon family photo, in other words. The “Dark” side, would take place in an alley type setting. I would also like to establish an esher-esque situation, where there is a strange reversal of perspective between the two halves. If you look at them seperately, you can make them out as seperate images, however, if you look at it as a whole, it would still flow properly.

Any thoughts?

-Rage

#21

I’d love to, but I didnt even have the time to finish my HMC entry so its very unlikely.

I like the movie poster idea. Sounds cool. Have you thought about including some of the stylistic action/ambiance background-elements of the classic, painted 007 movie-posters? I think those looked really great.

Cheers!

#22

hmmm… good idea about the oldschool 007. I like the idea of the escher-esque style, but I think I will go for the simplicity of the movie Poster. Although it won’t really be a traditional poster because of the Panoramic Render required, but we’ll see. Thanks for the feedback.

-Rage

#23

Lots of them actually had that kind of format, as there were always multiple versions, ie:

Sorry, I couldnt find them any bigger in a hurry.

Looking forward to what you come up with!

Salute!

#24

Woah. Thanks for those Felix. I will definitely put them to good use, and look for more. Your help is much appreciated

-Rage

#25

lol I didnt mean to bulldoze over you with these. Sorry! :wink:
I hope they’ll help you one way or another.

Skol!

#26

A 3d sketch of the direction I would like to take my Secret Agent. I am trying to develop a form that will apear both menacing on one side and benign on the other. I know I need a strong chin and sharp jaw line to define the strength of poth persona, But at the same time I need eyes that can be perceived either way, depending on where the viewer is looking. More to come.

-Rage

PS. No need to apologize for helping me out, Felix. I meant it when I said those were appreciated :smiley:

#27

Hey, I don’t have a lot of input to give right now, just wanted to jump on the thread and say I look forward to seeing this develop. Pretty neat idea right now. I think color and/or lighting should really play a big part in this duality world idea. The idea of varying perspective would be interesting too. Some kind of weird backwards escheresque perspective for his secretive backwards life is a nice idea. Good luck.

#28

looking forward joel

#29

Thanks Polymaster.

Secret Agent WIP. Still playing with shapes and trying to isolate features and shapes that will translate both to the light and dark side of the image. Also posted the AO pass, because I thought it looked cool.

-Rage

#30

Hi.

I understand the duality concept you are pitching.

However, the current 3D model reminds me of Gettler from Casino Royale:

It might be just all a coincidence.

Cheers!

#31

This last idea is very interesting. I think that dividing the image by a straight line is not so good. It will bring more static in your work.
What you think about this. There will be no straight dividing, but the street where the spy man stands with one leg on the grass of his garden with his house on background, and another leg is on the road where chasing cars are passing by and smoke and victim…
And one more thing. I think it would be funny if the family members of spy will look with horror on their faces on what is happening by the other side, on the road.
Anyway, I think you have a great concept with a lot of possibilities inside! Good luck! :slight_smile:

#32

OMG. It seems, that this time, the simpsons didn’t do it…But someone else did :frowning:

In all honesty, it is entirely conincidence. That guy looks exactly like my character, though. Bummer. I will still go ahead with the concept anyway. On a sidenote, I’ve seen Casino Royale, but don’t remember this guy for the life of me.

@Peleng: Thank you my friend. I indeed intended not to have a straight dividing line. My reasoning for this was not only to prevent a static image, but to show that parts of his secret life overlap into his personal life, and vise versa. I will consider the idea of the family looking in horror at the dark side of the image. Perhaps it will make it easier to composite the scene in a more flowing, natural way. My problem is, though, that I want to show the drastic difference of both his lives, while at the same time allowing the viewer to see the image as a whole. Ah well, these things come with time and hard work. Back to it, then.

-Rage

#33

It’s not your fault, man.

Maybe you subliminally remembered Gettler. He only has 3 scenes in Casino Royale:

  1. In the gondola ride in Venice, Vesper Lynd is struck with fear when she sees Gettler.
  2. Gettler fights with Bond in the “sinking Building”.
  3. Gettler is killed by a nail gun through his “eye patch lens”.

Since the same “OMG! Why does it look like my work!” thing happened to me too I thought, maybe it’s just one of those things…

A simple hat change may keep others from noticing the Gettler reference. :slight_smile:

#34

But if I change the hat, he won’t be so secret agent-y. :smiley:

-Rage