Aaron's Pitches Part Dos

Okay, here it is. I may not be the first in the world to say this, but it's about time to we had an animated horror film. Legend (remember, I said 'LEGEND') has it that Don Bluth was working on one (Frankenstein, I beleive) but it was just hear-say and I've never been able to confirm that. Last time I talked with Gary Goldman (yes, I have really chatted with the writer/animator partner of Don's), I failed to remember to ask him about these rumors. Either way, I think animation lends EXACTLY to the elements desired in a scary movie. My vote for a movie with potential is 'The Haunting'. I say potential because the older black and white is great for it's time but is not quite as scary nowadays. As for the newer version with Liam Neeson, Catherine Zeta, Lili Taylor and Owen Wilson: it had some super cool effects (stairway Griffon is one) yet unfortunately and surprisingly lacked surprise and horror action. However, as animation, think for a moment the potential!

The first character I started sketching that I really liked was the Professor John Montague character (Liam Neeson's role). I was looking at Edward Gorey at first for the gothic feel and a bit of his unique take on anatomy certainly snuck in here and there. Especially the way I've drawn his forehead area - it practically acts as an overhang for his face, almost architecturally. Here are the initial drawings that really worked as a whole.
If this was a feature and I had a choice, I think I would most likely choose to work on John. He's a lot of fun to draw and there's a great potential for action and acting with this design. Here are some quick facial studies of him.