For my Final Major Project, I knew that I wanted to do a fight sequence of some kind. Fight scenes are typically what I enjoy doing in regards to personal projects but I had yet to do one for a university project. Therefore, it was important to me that my FMP was action oriented and the best I had ever animated.
I also wanted to design the fight in a dynamic way that allowed me to explore more complex animation concepts as opposed to just a simple fight between two characters. This is what led me to focus on the weight distinction as it would give me the opportunity to animate in two different styles.
The actual characters themselves weren’t too important to me in the beginning; I just knew that I wanted a big guy, ideally with a huge hammer or sword, and a smaller character, potentially with a bow and arrow. I thought the idea of animating a bow and arrow would be interesting as it's something I’ve never done, and would add another layer to the fight by having a ranged combatant.
Whilst developing ideas, I was inspired by video game cinematic trailers such as Overwatch and Warcraft. The overwatch trailers are much more stylized whereas the Warcraft ones go for a more photoreal approach.
Other sources of inspiration are this scene from Lord of the Rings in which Legolas fights a cave troll. Legolas is an archer and must use his size and skill to strategically take down a much larger, stronger opponent.
I didn't realise it, but I think subliminally, my idea was also influenced by this animation from the web series 'RWBY'. It features two characters of vastly different size fighting and even takes place in a church like setting.
The actual story for my film was generally unimportant to me. Its necessary for there to be some narrative and objectives, but I knew that it was not going to be the focus of the animation, and so I settled on a simple McGuffin retrieval plotline.
The main character enters the church in search of a sword. What's the significance of the sword? Who knows. But she's looking for it, and it's being guarded by this hulking goliath. The two battle, with the main character trying to evade his attacks and reach her objective, while he desperately tries to crush her. Eventually, she reaches the sword and uses it to deliver the final blow.