Narrative Workflows
Haroum and the Sea of Stories is a fantasy children's story set in the Orient (possibly India). The protagonist Haroun and his family start off living in 'Sad City'
which is probably a metaphor for India's poverty and instability. The setting and mood prompted me to look up Indian architecture, ruins and sculpture.
If designs like these were used for Sad City, they could all be put together, duplicated and enlarged to make a sprawling, heavily populated metropolis, sort of like Gotham in Batman. The towers and pillars could soar above the streets at staggering proportions like in Blade Runner or Coruscant from Star Wars. Arched walls could be stacked on top of one another the way Minas Tirith is built in Lord of the Rings. Of course according to the story, Sad City has to have a miserable atmosphere. Perhaps the elephant statues could be in the middle of construction.
On the other hand, the drama department might want a more contemporary vision of India, impoverished conditions and ancient ruins offset by high-tech urban areas. Apparently Haroun the young boy and his family set sail on a journey, a modern boat might keep the settings intact. They also sail across a large lake, so a view of barren mountains would preserve the story's fantastical themes. The Hoopoe giant bird that features in the story is artificial intelligence, so technically speaking, mechanical. Aaron Gharthey, a fellow student, mentioned a clockwork bird in the 1980s fantasy movie 'Clash of the Titans' so the Hoopoe could be made to look like a clockwork toy.
Disney's 'Atlantis the Lost Empire' was based on the science fiction works by Jules Verne, who wrote 'Around the World in 80 days' and 'Twenty thousand Leagues under the Sea'. A good amount of the concept art was handled by comic book artist Mike Mignola, known for piecing together the bold style of Jack Kirby with the dramatic, dark flavour of German Expressionism. His interpretation of Atlantis depicts a sprawling metropolis of temples, statues and pyramids.
Mignola's compositions and city layout might be useful for my depiction of Sad City. It should have an Indian style to set it in the correct story. Giving it a sense of grim majesty might reinforce however Sad City as a crumbling, broken down place.
Concept art on possible Sad City designs
These trials include attempts at Sad City's design and layout. Indian arches and domed towers give the buildings an Oriental style. If built into a pyramid across a flat wasteland, the city could give the impression of an overpopulated, claustrophobic urban area.
Sad City could be placed on top of very high cliffs or rocks similarly to Minas Tirith from 'Lord of the Rings.' Taj Mahal-like domes and spires are more experiments in the Eastern influence. If Sad City were arranged in steeples that grow increasingly narrow and higher with each tower, it could emphasise it brooding ruinous mood.
With Mignola's Atlantis as a prompt, this is an attempt to find out what Sad City would look like as an ancient Indian city. As per the suggestion of Aaron Ghartey, a statue of the goddess Shiva was included. If Sad City had enough shading, it could look ancient and uninviting, not the sort of place people would want to lives in.
With the idea of a pyramid-city and ancient ruins in mind, there was another idea about setting multiple cities against a rocky wasteland. Though the oriental style has been kept, the cities sort of look grand and orderly. The arches and pillars look quite neat for a place in ruin and despair. The one on the far left would probably work a bit more.
If Sad City were to have elephant statues there would have to be a way to keep the city looking ruinous and dilapidated. Scaffolding like what the Ancient Egyptian pyramids had might make it look half-constructed or in a constant state of disrepair.
Sad City designs further developed
Going with the industrial angle, the city is shown as several towers over a smoking wasteland. Wastelands are made from pollution and apocalyptic cataclysms, so the more inhospitable, the easier it is for the audience to identify with the characters' strife.
The temples, ruins and scaffolding were kept, but the colour has been modified to better suit the Indian setting. Beige might be a warm hue, but putting up against murky coloured smoke and pale sky can make it look ugly and forbidding like the war-torn cities in Afghanistan or Syria.
Sad City and Happy City
