B-Movie Entry: Z. Lynda Bathory

#1

Z. Lynda Bathory is entered in the “B-Movie” update: View Challenge Page

Latest Update: Work In Progress: Alien Character WIP

#2

In the not too distant future…
The Martian colonies have been ravaged by a virulent plague. Nearly half the population has died-mostly women. Survivors have been affected with unbridled aggression.
In a struggle to survive, the ravaged civilization resumes contact with Earth. To their surprise they discover that Earth has been settled by an advanced alien race who has embraced Humanity’s culture. This peaceful new blended society is reluctant to reestablish ties with the now raging aggressive, Martians. In defiance and desperation, raiding parties are sent to Earth to harvest their female population.

Eva and her new mate, Addonnn must protect the idyllic life they have built for themselves from the vast armada of Martian warriors. Will they be able to defend against the Marauders from Mars?

Wow, scary! LOL

#3

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I want to create a poster for this B-movie scenario. Part Gone with the Wind (romance), part Star Wars (SF/fantasy) with the standard reference to scantily clad victimized woman for that touch of true “B”.
The actual posters for these 2 films drove my concept and composition of my entry. It has to be epic, galactic and romantically breathtaking. Because the plot will not get butts into the seats! And what is more epic than a swirling galaxy or turbulent sky :wink:

Not a huge fan of stereotypical victimization of women, it was important to me to have a non-traditional “twist” in the concept. I initially wanted the “hideous aliens” rescuing screaming women –a la air rescue helicopters – but that required too much explanation to distinguish who the good guys and bad guys were. As I was about to fall asleep one night I had that pre-unconsciousness flash of Gone with the Wind and decided that instead of having a Marauder capturing a woman –too Forbidden Planet – I would spoof the Scarlett/Rhett embrace. At first glance, the alien had to be the bad guy (Creature from the Black Lagoon), right?!

I was terrified about working with full body characters and started to cruise the internet for reference material on the human anatomy in dramatic poses. After looking for gymnasts, divers and lizards (oh my!) I had another flash and turned to ballroom dance! Dancing with the Stars is now a teaching tool! LOL

I always loved the giant Darth Vader head looming in the Star Wars posters, so I added that with the clutching Marauder hand to echo the triangle shape I fell in love with. And since it was pointing left, I added the ship flying right to redirect the eye back towards the title. And I liked that red star in the pic so used it as inspiration for the alien engines and energy blasts.

Add some dramatic swooshiness, decimated buildings, smoke and sky blackened by hundreds of space ships, and I present the concept/pre-vis for my entry Marauders from Mars!

This is probably the first time I prep the full pre-vis before starting to work rather than storing it in my head. Let’s see if my results will be any better!

C & C always appreciated!

Best of luck to all and have fun!

#4

I have modeled the marauder helmet base on a motorcycle helmet (cheap B-movie budget, after all!) and set up a quick scene to work out some lighting ideas I had. I thought it would be interesting to have the explosions interact with these 2 elements:

#5

I appreciate your mention of the stereotypical victimization of women in B-movies. One of my pet peeves is that many of the monsters and aliens back then were dark-skinned with broad noses and thick lips and attacking fair-skinned women. (They still are, now that I think of it.) But you’ve done something with the pose that completely undermines that convention.

I also like how the helmet is coming together. Are you going to work on the type more?

#6

Hey Lynda,

Your concept looks really well, like the idea of a B-Movie poster style image. :thumbsup:
Good luck and waiting for more updates. Cheers!!

#7

Hi Eurayo,

Thank you for sharing your perspective. You raise a very intriguing point. I had never noticed this, but will look for it in the future!

I plan to have the pose ambiguous enough to keep people wondering about the dynamic of the protagonists. I think that will keep it more interesting. Yes, I will design a font for the title–I’m still thinking about the direction I want to go for that. :wink:

Hello Ferx,

Thank you for your encouragement. I think this challenge is going to be great fun! :slight_smile:

#8

I looked at many sport and motorcycle gloves to find some info on palm detailing. I came across the image of the gecko while googling space gloves and knew that was the way to go. Instead of going technological, I went for a biological/bio-tech look. Keeping with the idea that the budget for this “B-movie” is also “B” I tried to develop the look of the hand from a leather motorcycle glove with some additional detailing on the palm for the marauder (probably hot-glue LOL)-- attempting to miss-direct the audience into thinking the marauders are the aliens. It still feels cartoony and I will have to figure out how to make this better. Also thinking of deleting the pinky to give the impression of a 3 fingered “alien”. I have shown it at 100% opacity though I still like the idea of transparency for the final.

C&C most appreciated!

#9

Haven’t gotten as far as I would like with this project. I managed a bit of work on the woman’s skin and dress this weekend.

C & C most appreciated.

#10

More work on the woman. The abdomen is problematic. Will try more solutions…

#11

Trying to update my thumbnail

#12

Interesting to see your work on composition and the use of reference. And it’s going to be great. But what with her left arm? The womans torso is twisted so that it is almost facing us. But her arms are the same length. I think you would have some foreshortening and also most of the upper arm would be hidden by the torso.

Or so I think. Best of luck with your pic.

#13

Hello Lander,

Thank you for taking the time to comment. I appreciate your encouragement and more so your call on the arm. You are so right! I thought I had pivoted/scaled it correctly and got so involved with creating that “V” shape that I completely lost sight of it. Even though most of it will be hidden by the alien leg, I like roughing in the whole body just to address this kind of issue. Thank you so much for the reality check! It is really wonderful to have this kind of feedback. :cool: Hope you think it is improved!

#14

Good that you find my comment useful. However. I think you should ask some one to pose for you. Or pose yourself and have a pic taken. It will take you some minutes but you’ll have a correct reference. To me there is still something wrong with her anatomy. Or maybe I’m wrong. If you get a ref pic taken you’ll know for sure.

Keep up the good work

#15

Hi Lander,

I really appreciate your support. Those are great suggestions. Thank you for your comments.

#16

Very dramatic pose! It’s so unconventional, Lander’s right that it would be a big help to find someone to pose for you… if you can get them into that position! If not the whole pose, you can alway get “parts,” ie have someone drape themselves backwards over a chair to get just the upper torso and arms, and then separate shots for the legs. For my entry, I have a whole pile of photos of my wife for different parts, here just a clawed hand, there just the position of the face… The face especially would benefit from reference, as it isn’t quite working yet. Her right cheek and jaw (bottom on-screen) seems to be bulging out a bit.
Good luck! :thumbsup:

#17

I really like the pose. Good Luck.

#18

Looking great! I love your storyline too. As for the left arm on the girl, I agree with the comments posted already that it is bent too far around from that almost-front-on torso. It is not a big problem though because the rest of the scene is looking excellent!

#19

I apologize for my delay in responding, I have not had much time for the challenge in the last little while.

Walrus:

Thank you very much for your support and suggestions. I wish I did have better reference for this comp—it is ambitious, but the dance pics will have to do. I now see the wisdom in not adapting the pose(s) I find. :sad:

Your entry is looking great! I can see the value of having someone model for you. The swamp is coming along nicely! Keep it up! :applause:

PS: Now I know where to go for a dino ref! LOL

Rendermann:

Thank you for your support. I appreciate it! :wink:

mdavid:

So kind of you to comment on my entry. Yes- I am afraid that pose has done me in
but I am learning a lot about working on characters. Thank goodness for that spectacular plot to keep the “filmgoers” interested! ROFL

You entry is really coming together. The spacesuits make the scene—the laces and the antennae just kill me! I am looking forward to more!:bounce:

I worked a bit more on the woman’s face and hair. And started working through the pose for the alien. I tried a bunch of different looks from full dino to the more humanoid (and closer to one of the dance pics) and a bunch of different heads.

#20

This is the direction I have chosen for the alien.