Character Design and Concept Art for Apple Rot

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Apple Rot is a 3d animated horror short film, developed by Blauw Films. In this blog, I'd love to give a peek behind the scenes of the character and costume designs.

As of writing this blog, Apple Rot is in pre-production. The Apple Rot script is written by Leonardo Verkoelen. Charlotte Simons is responsible for the character and costume design. Ab Wienk collaborated with Charlotte to create concept art. The Apple Rot soundtrack is produced by King Khamen.

Here you can watch the Teaser Trailer for Apple Rot.

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The Story of Apple Rot

Apples from the Genesis Orchard have plagued those who have eaten the fruit. Collectively we call these events the Apple Rot. You and your girlfriend Eve have been suffering from these experiences, letting otherworldly creatures into your subconscious.

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The Screenplay

There are four characters featured in the script. The first one is the POV character "We". Only their hands are visible. The second character is girlfriend "Eve", who is a non-speaking character. Most important are the two intruding figures. We call them The Sleep Paralysis Demons.

These demons are described as following: 

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I always love Harry’s script notes.

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‍“???”

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It’s very hard to annotate the costumes when it literally says everything. I try to imagine the two figures in my head.

I can see them entering the room slowly, moving their limbs in an off-beat manner. Dim moonlight illuminates the room and breaks the figures up in light and shadow work. They seem to be morphing as the light moves over the surface of their clothes. Though the atmosphere in the room seemed tropical before, these figures are dressed from top to bottom. They are completely out of place, unwanted and uninvited.

Leo, the director, says they look layered, and dirty. Disintegrated, almost. Rotten. 

They sound and look like multiple figures merged together. 

The Sketches

Early Apple Rot character sketches tried to capture deforming shadows on the body.
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Shadow-doubles or mis-morphed body parts.

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These ink illustrations explore rotten clothes, hidden faces and the first steps towards actual character designs. Leo was pretty clear about the fact that he didn’t want the characters to actually morph. They also had to remain as humanoid as possible. 

Additionally, I made some sketches for Eve. Her appearance isn’t described in the script. In this blog I showcase the references for Eve’s appearance. Eve is supposed to be pretty, but with an uncanny undertone.

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The Moodboards

I wanted to gather references for textures and create somewhat of a style distinction between the two intruding figures. They remain unnamed in the script. For easy distinction, I named one Tall Sad and the other Short Angry. 

Down here are some slides from the Apple Rot style-guide:

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Most inspiration is taken from the color of rotten apples, nightmarish paintings and disintegrating clothes in odd or particular styles. 

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Concept Art

I made a painting on canvas, illustrating the mood of the two characters Tall Sad and Short Angry.

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To help me visualize these two figures in more detail, I asked Ab Wienk to make digital concept art.

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Ab is a fantastic Concept Artist who I met at THU Portugal in 2021.

His personal style fits the dark and rotten world of Apple Rot. I loved to see his take on these characters. He created concept designs for Tall Sad and Short Angry. Afterwards he took a few scenes from the script, and visualised some shots.

Ab expanded on the ideas of layered garments. This concept art creates the perfect starting point for me to design the technical patterns and textures of the 3D garments. 

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I’ll be taking these concept pieces to further develop the characters. Ab did a great job in making them look realistic and tangible. Now, I want them to deform again. This way, they’ll look closer to what I felt like, reading the script.  

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Conclusion

Apple Rot is a 3D animation short film. The technical execution of two characters wearing a mountain of clothes is an interesting challenge. Conceptually, it’s great. Technically, in terms of animation and simulation, it’s the seven stages of Hell.

No matter, we love a good challenge at Blauw Films, and I’m excited to find the talented animators, riggers and weight painters who can help to make this creepy pasta dream come true. We’re always looking for textile artists, animators, riggers and look dev artists to join Apple Rot!

I hope you’ll continue to follow our behind the scenes posts about Apple Rot, and our other Productions.

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If you’re brave enough to bring the Apple Rot into your home, check out our assortment of apples. From Fresh to Rotten. You might find yourself trapped in an uncanny dream.

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