Begun as a final year university project, Deadman's Company is the love child of a final year illustration student who needed a story to focus on and a script to adapt, and a film student who had a genius pitch and means to provide an excellent script.
It follows a young English soldier saved from sure death after being afflicted with vampirism in a field infirmary tent, a mere stone throw away from the frontlines he was nearly killed on.
The story explores the real horror of World War One for everyone, while also exploring the added horror of the supernatural, that sees vampires used like sentient weapons along a scarcely documented and sparsely populated section of the western front.
Although still in production, and in a state of limbo regarding what will happen to the content when complete (where and how this will be posted or published), the galleries below feature a portion of the conceptual art, as well as sketches, posters and tasters.
THE WRITER
The genius behind the large majority of the story and all of the dialogue is film student, flatmate and friend Lewis Tebbitt, who insanely chose to collaborate on this project despite also having his own studies to worry about. This project wouldn't have taken off or worked without his input, inspiration and dedication.
Responsible for all of the visuals, pages, designing and production is myself, having designed the large majority of the characters as well as all of the injuries, settings, covers and promotional work. This project begun as my final year, final term, university project, one that had to focus on the horror genre, visual storytelling, historical or period piece features and text or script adaption- and it has turned into a passion project. I intend to continue working on this for a long time yet, even if the main bulk of it isn't continued as hoped.
THE ILLUSTRATOR
CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE
A number of friends have contributed to this project with education, recommendation, inspiration and more, and deserve recognition for the part they've played in this creative endeavour. Featured, are these amazing people and the roles they've played in this:
Carrie Michaels- Huge source of inspiration for the early ideas and responsible for bringing James Dupont's character to life. The original concepts for this project wouldn't have even existed without their influence.
Asia Kazub- Not only assisted with the figuring out of the anatomy of Harry's injury, but also provided feedback on composition, and information on the myth and legends surrounding vampires across Europe.
Grace Loertscher- Acting as a huge source of motivation, she's not only provided inspiration for art and concepts but has also produced an inspirational amount of fanart for this project and encouraged the creation of a discord server that has since been instrumental in obtaining feedback, gauging interest and making friends.
Shrey Bansal- Provided insight onto the numerous beliefs held by factions of the Indian army, as well as some myth and legends surrounding those considered immortal. He's also amazingly used Harry as inspiration in creating 3D renderings of distorted and terrifying figures.
Oscar Woodiwiss- Was kind enough to provide books, pictures and poetry for research, anatomy help and colour experimentations. All the resources provided became hugely important in the development of the project.
Dane Gareth- Has been kind enough to provide a brilliant score to the story and art, putting his talent on the piano to use for the sake of atmosphere and mood exploration- it's been an excellent addition to the work and has not only added another layer to the growing work but has been motivating to work to. Their work for this project, as well as a plethora of other works, can be found on Instagram @alethwyn
The Deadman's Company Discord Server- Have been a massive support in the creative process. While I cannot put into words how grateful I am to have the server, they have played a huge part in the later stages of producing work and pages. Their feedback, interest, inspiration and enthusiasm has helped this project stand on it's own two feet.
I'd also like to thank all of the flatmates, tutors and classmates for their constant encouragement and feedback- and I'd like to thank all of the organisations and foundations contacted for research- all you've done has been instrumental!
THE SKETCH GRAVEYARD
