The Minor Project

Morrigan

8.1.2015
Emily Clarkson

The spark behind this project came from exploring

Celtic mythologies. Settling on the interesting
Goddess named Morrigan.

Introductions

Morrigan, according to the mythology was an Irish,

Celtic Goddess of battle and strife. She was well
known for her shape shifting ability, most notably
turning into a crow. In her various stories she
appeared as a single woman, or as one of three
Goddesses involved in the battlefield.
Morrigan was known for her ability to foretell the
outcome of battles. But she was also known for
interfering, occasionally, but only indirectly. She
would shape shift, taking the form of the crow to
either encourage allies, or terrify enemies.
There is also mention of her transforming into a
death omen. An old washer woman by a ford,
washing the bloodied uniform of a doomed soldier.
The etymology of the name Morrigan, can be
divided into Mor which translates as Nightmare
and -rigan meaning Queen. However, scholars
agree that her Celtic name translates as the
Phantom Queen

Photo: Statue of Morrigan,

by Sharon Aur

The aim of this project is to create an

animated short story revolving around
the character of Morrigan.
I decided to write her into a tragic love
story. Being a Goddess of battle and
strife it probably makes relationships
difficult and her duties as a Warrior
Goddess an eternally lonely experience.
I took interest in her shape shifting
abilities. Influenced by some of the
forms she is said to have taken. I took
the liberty of projecting her as a young
beautiful woman, an old hag and most
importantly a crow.
The design influences for the story
revolve around paper cutouts and
silhouettes for a striking but classical
storytelling aesthetic. Utilizing a
combination of 3D and 2D.
I hope to use subtle colours like a sepia
tone, but for some of the more potent
and striking imagery, a bolder colour.

The Project
And initial influences

Storyboard
First draft

Character
Design

Environment
Design

My initial designs were inspired by Celtic patterns and knots. This asset was intended to be the more
complicated in aesthetics and the characters simpler, so as to stand out. Playing on the theme of pop up
story books, dioramas and paper cutouts, I felt I could create an environment consisting of literal layers
and simple subdued colours. And the Celtic theme presented in texture form.

Having struggled with this approach to my environment design I have decided to take a different approach and instead create the
environment with the same Jewelry elements used in my character design.

Environment Design
In terms of the design and physically creating my
environments I find I am more drawn towards
using a paper cutout route. A lot of layering can be
achieved with room to animate within a 3D space,
using interspersed 3D and 2D elements.
Thinking in terms of transitions I like the idea of
taking a paper theatre approach, or a carousel (or
both) in order to achieve the transitions from
scene to scene. I have attempted to exemplify this
in a short clip using Autodesk Maya.
Environment Animation Test

Images: results from a Google search on paper cutouts

Screenshot from my compilation test

Environment Design
Taking the same methodology
used on the character design I
started to look into doing the
environment design using the
shapes from Celtic style jewelry .
Here are some tree tests using
some Celtic pattern designs and
intertwining line work. In trying
to recreate two of the thumbnails
below a lot of compromise was
needed within the 3D.

Environment Design

Using the earlier built trees I began to experiment placing them in a scene. Initially they were coloured more conventionally, but
then the set returned to those used consistently throughout the project. I incorporated some basic lights and used shadows. The
shapes that were cast provided some very interesting patterns across the ground plane.

This is an early test as to what the basic modelled environment could be. It is currently only coloured using shaders. To add more
interest it is likely there will be use of Celtic patterned textures using subtle colours. and transparency. I have yet to work out
effective lighting

Character
Pre-Production

Character Orthographics

Morrigan

Character Orthographics

The Hag

Character Orthographics

The Warrior

Modelling

The Warrior
Modelling these characters
requires a fair amount of
compromise. The 2D
designs may not
necessarily resolve
themselves in 3D (As
becomes more obvious
when building Morrigan)
On the left there are two
versions of the hand, one
where I incorporated
fingers but a second one in
the shape of the mitten
which is the final design,
truer to my original
concepts. There was also
an adjustment to the belt
area and removal of line
work there, to make
eventual skinning and
animation much easier.

Modelling

The Warrior

Modelling

The Warrior

The Warrior

Modelling

Young Morrigan
Modelling Morrigan
became complicated when
trying to create the hair.
The designs in 2D, though
appealing were slightly
unfeasible in 3D which led
to the changes in the
model seen left.
This model is currently a
work in progress. Without
the linework

Modelling

Young Morrigan

Modelling

The Warrior

Minor Submission

8.1.2015
Emily Clarkson