Project 3 Death Cart

Visual Design

Project 3 - Death Cart.

For my Death cart I am drawing inspiration from the Black Death in 1346-53. The black death was the pandemic that wiped out 75 - 200 million people all over Europe. The Black Death is a term for the Bubonic Plague.

The Black Death.

 The Bubonic Plague is a bacteria transmitted and circulated through mainly rats, fleas and other rodents. When bitten by a rodent or flea that carries the Bubonic Plague, you will develop lumps(Lymph Nodes) around your groin and armpit areas. The bacteria will make its way around your body from the lymph node, eating and destroying the iron that subsides in your blood. It destroys all of the victims immune system on its way through the body. It makes its way back to the lymph node and continues the cycle. The victims blood vessels become weak and start to leak. The victims body will eventually kill itself. The body doesn't know what to do with all the bacteria in the system and the immune system cannot kill the bacteria.

The Black Death wiped out 1 third to 2 thirds of Europe's population. The bodies of the victims were buried mainly in mass graves (Plague Pits). Graves became only available to the wealthy. The bodies of the dead would be disposed of by "Death Cart Laborers". Death carts were used to transport the dead bodies from the houses to the plague pits. Death carts maintain a similar shape through-out the ages. The common cart has 2 wheels and a wooden box to transport the bodies. The cart is pulled by a Death Cart Laborer. 

Reference Images For Death Cart

Pictures for Death Carts are somewhat limited. This shows what looks to be the most historically accurate.

This is a corpse cart from table top war game called Warhammer. I am going to use this picture to influence my model. It makes the death cart somewhat more interesting.

This is a painting that was created by James Hulett in the mid 18th Century. It shows the Death Cart Laborers.

Another depiction of a death cart

Another depiction of the Death Cart Laborers

A illustration of mass burials

Another illustration of the Black death. This illustration shows the wide spread disease over london.

This is a picture of the mass burials in London. This is just one of many burial sites around London. By the way the remains are placed its shows that they were dumped in there.

Visual Design Project 2 - Swamp Town

Visual Design

Project 2 - Swamp Town

For the second project I chose the Swamp Town. I chose to set the theme for my swamp town on present day earth. There is a lost tribe on Papua New Guinea. This tribe goes by the name of Tias Taun. The locals speak the language Tok Pisin. Due to the Denseness of the rain forest the Tias Taun Tribe are forced to reside in the trees. They have built extravagant houses and walkways all through the trees. The Tias Taun scavenge for food in the creeks. They hunt for wild game in nearby forests. Being so high up in the trees camouflages the tribe from neighboring tribes. It also makes for an excellent vantage point for ambushes. The Tias Taun are not just a primitive tribe. They have a trade system between the people in the tribe. The hunters will trade with the builders in exchange for services. They do not use currency but use the skills each individual person has in order to trade with each other.

Architecture

The Tias Taun use a lot of wood and dried leaves for their houses. They also use a concrete like mix out of mud. The trees surrounding the village provide excellent supports for houses and walk ways. Using vines and sinew, there are countless walkways strung up from the trees. These walkways sit about 50 meters off of the ground. There are several houses in the Tias Taun village. There are Eco Huts that hang from trees and provide basic accommodation for the villagers that don't require much. There are medium size huts for families or hunter/builders with lots of equipment. These also hang from the trees. There is a food preparation hall where all of the tribe eat. There is a market once a week where the Tias Taun congregate and trade. 

Summary 

Who? - Tias Taun, A primitive tribe of people.

What? - The architecture of the Tias Taun.

Where? - Located in the middle of Papua New Guinea.

When? - Present day.

Why? - Isolated from the rest of the world, the Tias Taun have made a functioning society in the trees.

Visual Design Project 1 - Character Design

Visual Design

Project 1 - Character Design

Viduus (Widower)

For the first project I chose to personify A wasp and a Spider. For the wasp I wanted to make a series of possible warriors. I wanted to portray the wasps as huge, mighty warriors with incredible agility. To personify the I have them a human head. I made several prototypes in the creation process. It came down to 2 of my favorite out of the sketches. I called it "Widower" or in the wasps language "Viduus". Viduus is a infamous warrior of the battle field. Enemies of Viduus call it the "Sarcophagus of Souls". Viduus attained this title by how it kills its enemies. Viduus has two large arms with blades on the end. Viduus strikes down its enemies and siphons its soul. It proceeds to transfer the soul in to a chamber where they are stored until it absorbs them to restore life force. Viduus needs to constantly be absorbing souls or it runs out of life force. Viduus is cladded in crude iron to protect him from ground attacks. Viduus hovers above the battle field until it spots a vulnerable target. Viduus then swoops down from the sky, stabs them with the blades on his arms and then siphons the soul through his arms. Viduus is a bio-engineered weapon. The engineers who put Viduus together spliced the human head with the wasp body. The human head gives the wasps body incredible intelligence. Viduus is the prime weapon for Exercitus Vesparum (Wasp Army). 

Morbus

My second concept character is Morbus. Morbus is a plague spreading unit that flies above the battle field. Morbus has 2 cylinders that contain poison attached to its back. The cylinders have a tube running off each that act as an exhaust for the fumes. The gas contains poisons that affect anything that isn't wasp kind. The gas travels through the air. Enemies breathe in the air, the gas in air forces the throat of the victim to close. The enemies suffocate from the gas. The gas also kills all the life below. Morbus is used as a last resort weapon because of its immense destruction. Morbus also has the head of a human. Morbus is a well kept secret of the Exercitus Vesparum. Only called upon when the population is in grave danger.

Militem Basim (Foot Soldiers)

The Militem Basim is comprised of many different soldiers. The most common foot soldier is Bellator(Warrior). Bellator are the main infantry of the Exercitus Vesparum. The Bellatores travel in large numbers (usually around 5000-7000). They carry spears and shields and are cladded in thin iron. They wear a full face helmet made of iron.They fly well above the battle field and then rush down in formation. Flying in rows of 20, swooping the enemies with the spears aiming forwards. After the attack, they fly back up to the skies and back into formation. The other units include Musicians(Musicus), Standard Bearers (Vexillium Lator) and Torch Carriers (Ignis Lacum Vesparum).

Reference

I used this as a reference to create the general body type for the wasps.

I used this picture to shape the abdomen of my wasps. I used the way the Abdomen looks like layers of amour. 

The wasp in this picture looks like it is wearing a helmet. Also used the shape of this wasp to shape the final drawing of Viduus. 

The picture of two wasps fighting in the air. I wanted to capture the agility of the wasps fighting in the air.  

 I chose this picture for obvious reasons.  This picture is a good way to shape the amour around the wasps anatomy