For this assignment we have to design, model, pose, and present a character and prop that has the same art style – and would fit into the world of – the Hotel Transylvania franchise.
Due to this, I began to research the development of some of the characters featured in each film; as well as watching each of the films itself to create a list of existing creatures used in the trilogy, some key elements of the character design itself, and to get an idea of the design of the props used throughout. Upon watching these films, I saw that many of the ‘monsters’ featured in the films could be linked back to cryptids (i.e the Yeti and Bigfoot), and existing horror media (i.e Dracula and the Invisible Man). This created a starting point for me, as it let me gain an idea of where the characters featured in Hotel Transylvania were most commonly sourced from.
(Images of the examples shown below – in order)
Then I began looking at the character design/development art, as well as the director behind the movies themselves – Genndy Tartakovsky – who was also the creator of Samurai Jack, Primal, and The Powerpuff Girls.
Tartakovsky’s work tends to have character designs that include really exaggerated anatomy, often built up of blocky shapes. Much of his 2D work is animesque and created in an art style that draws from Japanese anime, due to the fact it was what he enjoyed watching most when he was young. In addition to many of his male designs being quite blocky and angular in their silhouette, his female designs are quite curvy, especially at the hips. This has translated over to Hotel Transylvania in many of the female character designs. While it can be noticed in the design of Mavis (Dracula’s daughter), it is the most prevalent in the character Eunice Stein, the Bride of Frankenstein. Despite the differences in hip width, they share the more narrow shoulders commonly found in female character design.
(Both characters pictures below – in order)
I also looked at the blockier and more angular male characters featured in Hotel Transylvania, in which one of the best examples in the series is ‘Frankenstein’. The character himself is very rectangular in shape, and the curve of his body rarely sways from his overall build. His head itself is also quite rectangular in shape although slightly rounded. As for the character of ‘Wayne Werewolf’, he is certainly more angular overall, with his torso a similar shape to an upside-down triangle. Both of these characters however share the broad-shoulders commonly found in male character design.
HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA CONCEPT ART
After a bit of analysis on Tarakovksy’s key elements in his character design, I began looking at a lot of the Hotel Transylvania concept art.
Much of the concept art followed a dark colour scheme – blacks, browns, reds, and greys – and every sketch was very fluid in relation to character position and expression. Many of the development sketches of Dracula show him in some form of action pose, in turn giving an insight into the character without really having a final design nailed down.