Production notes

Every story starts as a cast and a setting. Those are drawn once, then used as reference for every picture in the story, so the characters stay themselves from beginning to end.

The cast

Model sheet for Max — **Max** the team leader

human male, short black hair, tall build, blue space suit with a silver emblem, wears round glasses

Sounds firm and calm.

Model sheet for Lia — **Lia** the scientist

human female, red curly hair tied back, medium height, green space suit with yellow stripes, carries a tablet device

Sounds bright and curious.

Model sheet for Zed — **Zed** the engineer

alien humanoid, pale blue skin, large black eyes, short and stocky, wearing a bulky white space suit with red patches, helmet open revealing ridged head

Sounds deep and measured.

Model sheet for Tess — **Tess** the medic

human female, blonde bob cut, slender build, purple space suit with a red cross on shoulder, holds medical kit

Sounds soft and reassuring.

The setting

Background painting of Astronauts explore a grim alien castle on a desolate planet. — **Astronauts explore a grim alien castle on a desolate planet.**

A vast, crumbling alien castle set on a barren foreign planet, its jagged black stone walls stained with rust-red dust under a dim, blood-orange sky. The interiors are dimly lit by flickering, unreliable lights casting deep shadows and highlighting ancient, alien glyphs etched into the walls. The atmosphere feels heavy and oppressive, with narrow, claustrophobic corridors twisting endlessly, punctuated by massive iron gates and strange, cold metal machinery fused into the architecture.

dark grey rust red blood orange charcoal black

The plan

The team enters the dark castle and finds strange marks on the wall.

tense and quiet wide establishing shot Max, Lia, Zed, Tess
Lia says the marks show danger; Zed finds broken machines.

worried medium shot Max, Lia, Zed, Tess
Suddenly, the ground shakes; the team hears loud sounds from below.

fearful and tense close-up Max, Lia, Zed, Tess
Max tells the team to move fast. Tess helps injured Lia.

urgent and caring medium shot Max, Lia, Zed, Tess
They reach a locked door; strange light shines from behind it.

mysterious and uncertain close-up Max, Lia, Zed, Tess

How it was made

Pictures drawn: 11
Words written: 592
Generation steps: 19
Time to make: 5 min

Drawn in noir. Written in English at level A2, for adult readers.

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