Claudia Short MA Games Design: Semester 2 Project: An Introduction

For Semester 2 I will be using ‘Idea 2’ from the set of idea drafts I developed at the beginning of Semester 1.

Idea 2

Look at how concept art depicts both known and unknown folk tales / fairy tales and use this as influence for creating concept art for a video game based on a known or unknown folk tale / fairy tale - possibly interpret it in a way that would suit a video game.

By searching for media that depicts known and unknown folk tales / fairy tales; i will research the history behind these tales so I can analyse how they have been depicted and why they have been depicted in this particular way - is the depiction influenced by imagery we are familiar with?, where has this imagery come from? Has the creator made something new and their own unique take on it and if so why? Is the creator trying to contextualise a different aspect of folk tale / fairy tale?

I have reflected on what sort of concept artist I want to be and I wish to take the direction of my concept art into defining myself as a concept artist who produces charming 2D art and I will be using this idea to show that.

During this project I intend to develop a methodology for myself and my style of concept art. I want to identify what makes my concept art the way it is and look at how this could be a pipeline that others who wish to create the same sort of ideas and style of art can follow.

I will need to put myself in the mindset of both a concept artist and game designer; as i will be creating concept art for a video game based on a folk tale or fairy tale i will first need to determine what tale i will be choosing - this will affect what type of genre/platform the game will be along with what concept art i will be creating such as characters, creatures, location, environments, interiors, exteriors and in-game items.

One example of a fairy tale’s visual depiction being changed with concept art is one of my favourite and the first film adaption of the fairy tale ‘Beauty and the Beast’ or in this context ‘La Belle et la Bête’ by French artist Jean Cocteau.

La Belle et la Bête film screenshots, Jean Cocteau, 1946

The story of beauty and the beast exists in a variation of ways- collected by folklorists across the world, each country having in some way it’s own version of the fairy tale. The version we know was written and published in 1756 by french author Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont which in itself was adapted from an earlier version of the story published in 1740 by french author Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve. Beaumont kept many aspects of the original story the same but with some alterations by cutting out subplots and characters she rewrote the lengthy story to be more suitable for children.

In many early illustrative renditions of the fairy tale the beast is often designed as an elegantly dressed boar-like creature, the earliest iteration of this design I could find was by the prolific illustrator Walter Crane; I found this interesting as it differs so greatly from the design we are familiar with.

Beauty and the Beast, Walter Crane, 1874

Beauty and the Beast, Peter G. Thomson, 1885

Beauty and the Beast, Warwick Goble, 1913

In both Villeneuve and Beaumont’s versions of the tale there is no distinct description of what the beast looks like besides ‘frightening’ ‘hideous’ and ‘monstrous’- with a particular emphasis on the beast's stupidity and boorish behaviour, this is due to the french definition of ‘beast’ meaning both a large creature/animal and someone who is foolish/stupid.

“So I am,” said the monster, “but then, besides my ugliness, I have no sense; I know very well, that I am a poor, silly, stupid creature.”

La Belle et la Bête, Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont, 1756

Walter Crane’s art popularised and redefined the idea of visual literacy for children by improving the standard of ‘Toy Books’ - children's picture books that were produced during the victorian era; they featured nursery rhymes, fairy tales and other stories. With so much freedom of creativity for an illustrator to design the beast as they please it is uncertain why Walter Crane designed the beast as a boar; it could be that a the image of a boar contrasted so heavily with his beautifully detailed and decorative art style or it is believed when planning and creating his illustrations that he would spend his time considering the perspective of a child so perhaps a large, hairy, tusked boar would be considered a scary and ugly monster to a child.

Unlike these earlier renditions of the beast Jean Cocteau’s 1946 film took the design in a different direction by making the beast more lion like as Cocteau wanted to evoke both fear and sympathy; one of the earliest ideas was for the beast to have a stag head however this was scrapped as it was too similar to the Cernunnos, the Celtic stag-headed god of the woods.

Film poster for Jean Cocteau’s ‘La Belle et la Bête’, illustrated by Jean-Denis Malcles, 1946

‘La Belle et la Bête’ film poster and ilm poster initial sketch, illustrated by Jean-Denis Malcles, 1945

"My aim was to make the Beast so human, so superior to men, that his transformation into Prince Charming would come as a terrible blow to Beauty, condemning her to a humdrum marriage and future; it would expose the naivete of the old fairy tale that conventional good looks are ideal".

Jean Cocteau, Press book for US premier of ‘La Belle et la Bête’, 1947

As a surrealist artist Jean Cocteau re-invented ‘La Belle et la Bête’ by changing aspects of the story; adding magic mirrors and living statues he created a fanciful black and white film that turned the beast's castle into a realm outside of reality with the use of long dark halls lit by candle light and diamond tears to create haunting, dream-esque scenes - we can see these sort of visuals being conveyed in Christian Bérard’s concept art.

Concept art of costumes and sets for Jean Cocteau’s ‘La Belle et la Bête’, Christian Bérard, 1946

Cocteau In a similar fashion to Walter Crane wanted to convey the perspective of children - so much so that when opening the film he asks his audience to suspend disbelief in the same way a child would when listening to a fairy tale.

“Children believe what we tell them. They have complete faith in us. They believe that a rose plucked from a garden can plunge a family into conflict. They believe that the hands of a human beast will smoke when he slays a victim, and that this will cause him shame when a young maiden takes up residence in his home.

They believe a thousand other simple things. I ask of you a little of this childlike sympathy and, to bring us luck, let me speak four truly magic words, childhood’s “Open Sesame”:

Once upon a time…”

Jean Cocteau, opening credits of ‘La Belle et la Bête’, 1946

Jean Cocteau’s iteration of the fairy tale still remains the most visually influential and we can even see this influence in the concept art and visual direction of Disney’s 1991 animated film.