Hey, I'll offer a few crits. Grain of salt, mostly this is just opinion stuff but if you try it and it helps, cool:
1. Bone material doesn't look right. Too soft, porous. Looks like if I swat it with my sword it would be like hitting a pillow. I'd recommend making a mask to section off just certain parts of the bones to look very spongy/decayed. Leave other parts more smooth looking. Might get more visual interest this way too.
2 - Placement of finger bones could be more interesting. I think a powerful grip on the stone, like he died in great pain and then rigor mortis set in would make a cooler story.
3. The rocks in the inspiration concept are more interesting. Less realistic, but the singular angle they all face gives a sense like when this giant went down he hit like a meteor and there was a massive explosion. Very cool. Your rocks are more realistic and look cool, but they aren't telling that story as directly.
4 . Colors - I think if you blend the skeleton and sword colors to match the terrain more that will give a more epic sense of time, and look nicer in general. Consider atmospheric dust collecting on the bones, and deep rust eating away at the sword.
One thing I notice across successful games, and in my own work too is that people respond more to simpler color palettes. I think when people look at the image, they see it first as a single thing. Like a painting in a frame seen from a distance. Only if its really eye catching with a readily identifiable story that is easily understood will people start to look closer for more details. So really focus on that 1 second "wow" factor.
5. Composition - some angles to give a greater sense of scale might be nice. We have a cranes view in all the shots. What about 5-6 feet off the ground, like an FPS player might see? Consider how much of screen is filled by sky, subject, and foreground. I'm thinking to see more sky and more subject, with very little foreground might make for a more epic shot.
It may be the perspective/focal length, but the arm seems way too long for the size of the head and rib cage. I think you could scale up the head and rib cage like 20-25% to match the arm better and make the skeleton look even bigger compared to the road/landscape.
Also in the concept there are layers of dirt and moss on top of the skeleton, which help it look ancient and mysterious. I see that you're going for a desert biome, so instead of dirt and moss you could pile up some sand dunes and desert scrub-brush on top of the skeleton.
It may be the perspective/focal length, but the arm seems way too long for the size of the head and rib cage. I think you could scale up the head and rib cage like 20-25% to match the arm better and make the skeleton look even bigger compared to the road/landscape.
Also in the concept there are layers of dirt and moss on top of the skeleton, which help it look ancient and mysterious. I see that you're going for a desert biome, so instead of dirt and moss you could pile up some sand dunes and desert scrub-brush on top of the skeleton.
I kind of like the last image and the proportions. It gives a very nice dynamic like he was reaching out for you inside the camera, asking for help.In film they some times use this wide focal lens that give a certain flair to the frame. It just needs a little better angle and rotation to really sell it though
Replies
1. Bone material doesn't look right. Too soft, porous. Looks like if I swat it with my sword it would be like hitting a pillow. I'd recommend making a mask to section off just certain parts of the bones to look very spongy/decayed. Leave other parts more smooth looking. Might get more visual interest this way too.
2 - Placement of finger bones could be more interesting. I think a powerful grip on the stone, like he died in great pain and then rigor mortis set in would make a cooler story.
3. The rocks in the inspiration concept are more interesting. Less realistic, but the singular angle they all face gives a sense like when this giant went down he hit like a meteor and there was a massive explosion. Very cool. Your rocks are more realistic and look cool, but they aren't telling that story as directly.
4 . Colors - I think if you blend the skeleton and sword colors to match the terrain more that will give a more epic sense of time, and look nicer in general. Consider atmospheric dust collecting on the bones, and deep rust eating away at the sword.
One thing I notice across successful games, and in my own work too is that people respond more to simpler color palettes. I think when people look at the image, they see it first as a single thing. Like a painting in a frame seen from a distance. Only if its really eye catching with a readily identifiable story that is easily understood will people start to look closer for more details. So really focus on that 1 second "wow" factor.
5. Composition - some angles to give a greater sense of scale might be nice. We have a cranes view in all the shots. What about 5-6 feet off the ground, like an FPS player might see? Consider how much of screen is filled by sky, subject, and foreground. I'm thinking to see more sky and more subject, with very little foreground might make for a more epic shot.
Great work! It's a cool scene.
Also in the concept there are layers of dirt and moss on top of the skeleton, which help it look ancient and mysterious. I see that you're going for a desert biome, so instead of dirt and moss you could pile up some sand dunes and desert scrub-brush on top of the skeleton.