Could Shard be a Movie/TV Series?

    This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse this site, you are agreeing to our Cookie Policy.

    • Could Shard be a Movie/TV Series?

      OK this is a question I've been thinking about, Dungeons & Dragons got a feature film in 2000 before that it was fairly beloved cult classic Cartoon Series in the 80s. As of late film has been trying to take more seriously adaptations of video games, I've seen the Trailer for the upcoming Sly Cooper movie and I can see that they are trying to be as respectful as possible to the source material but that may be helped by the fact that video games these days are easier adapt then they were in the 8-bit era

      I would like to know the creator's thoughts, if someone showed a genuine interest in giving the World of Dardunah a movie of its own, perhaps as a way of introducing Dardunah and the Janah to a wider audience, and suppose the filmmakers intended to be as faithful to the source marital as possible would you guys find the idea palatable?
    • I, for one, would be delighted if a film studio took interest in the intellectual property of Shard, and would LOVE to see it eventually reach the screen! Andrew and I are already talking about eventual books, and, of course, seeing it become a video game at some point... Of course, all of this hinges upon getting the "backbone" out there, which to me are the three core books at least, along with enough supplemental support material to make the world feel as "fully-fleshed" as possible!

      It's a shame that fate conspired to delay that process for a number of years... Even now Andrew and I are scrambling to rebuild that momentum! Hopefully the publishing of the Magic and Martial Arts book will help! To me, however,...it's the World Guide that will really fill in a lot of the blanks as far as fictional content goes...
    • I'd be happy for an animated series. While 3D CGI can do the most amazing things now at insane frame rates and super details, I'd love to see some animation from a studio like Bones (Cowboy Bepbop the movie, Space Dandy) or even Studio Ghibili. I think 2D anime could really do both the environmentals, the characters and high flying martial arts in a way that 3D or live action can't as cost effectively do.
    • Oh my gosh! I think i just had a minor moment of dizziness caused from extreme excitement!! Shard would totally make an awesome animation, and I have recently found myself thinking about this very same idea after movies such as Zootopia which did an excellent job at showing how anthropomorphic characters can, in some cases , have just as much, if not more, emotion, impact, depth, and range as their human counterparts. Let's keep our fingers crossed that we are able to make the contacts needed to push this idea into a concrete reality.

      Thank you for both the support and suggestions, and I cannot wait to hear more regarding where this could lead.
    • Man that truly is a million dollar question.... I am hard pressed to choose which one I would vote to be the first of a series.... All the games we have played have each been so amazing that this.... would be more difficult than choosing only one friend to live while all the rest died....(LOL)
      I will say that the Twilight Wars would certainly be grrrrrreeeeat on the big screen!
    • The Twilight Wars would certainly be epic, no doubt... Unfortunately, it could also end up like War and Peace... Most likely, a storyline for a film would need to be more personal in nature, covering something that could be considered "grand" but at the same time dealing with heroes that can be focused on in a very individual way (in the same way that the movie "Willow", regardless of the fact that it dealt with many peoples, kingdoms, large battles and such, was at the end of the day the somewhat personal tale of Willow himself, and the close companions and personal enemies he meets along the way.)...
    • One thing I thought about when considering the species of protagonist, I felt if I wasn't in control of the movie then someone would craft the lead protagonist as a Wolf, a Fox of some kind of Feline, once again I don't have anything against these species, but I feel everyone thinks of a canine or feline when they want an Anthro Action Hero, and I thought even if we have a small team of heroes, wouldn't it be refreshing if the leading man or lady was an Ungulate like a Deer or Antelope or a non raptor bird like a Songbird or Parrot or Waterfowl.

      I felt since the the Sarpah worship Nagamissa which really gets under everyone else's fur or feathers then a Sarpah shouldn't be the perspective character since that mainstream culture is what we should view first
    • Shifting from the Story and Character angles to imagining what it would look like, while the source book illustrations give the Zoics photorealistic Animal Heads, if this were to be an actual animation, I feel the Zoic Faces would need to become a bit more 'stylized' for the sake of expression while the basic principles like 'No styleable human-type scalp hair' would be kept in place I feel simply of the necessity for the Characters to be able to convey human-like emotions to the audience the Zoics might be given 'human type eyes' with white sclera with a few exception with Felines and Reptiles because they have 'cool eyes' also photorealism in general would be sacrificed so the characters can have expressive faces to smile, frown generally emote because it is visual medium
    • While I can understand why you might feel that way.....

      I would like for you to consider the expressions that all animals are able to convey in our present world.....
      In many ways they express far more than humans do with facial expressions and body language. which is part of the way animals of different species are able to express themselves, both within and across the boundaries of the animal type to which they belong. Posturing is a fine example of such communication and expression.

      Now,....take for example the latest PLANET OF THE APES movie, or others which feature majority animal casts like THE JUNGLE BOOK. The animals in the live animation versions of these films were entirely animal and were still able to convincingly deliver the essence of what each individual creature was feeling at any given moment.

      If you have ever looked into the eyes of a dog which is feeling sad, you most certainly are able to see the emotion, the same goes for the faces of animals which are hungry or angry and upset, consider the eyes of an elephant the level of intensity is utterly amazing....
      It just takes us to slow ourselves down mentally and actually perceive them as they actually are..... with out using our minds to reduce them to the simple group definitions we have built up over time in our own imaginations and limited them to exist with in.... largely I feel this is a product of our language and our need to attempt to "know", categorize and label other things as we attempt to justify the negative actions we have taken towards other species, even going so far as to create for ourselves a reason in the Bible why such behavior should be seen as normal...

      Let us allow ourselves to go a step further and take for example a Tree... Most people think they know what a tree looks like as well as what it is able to express...but as an artist who spends a great deal of time actually looking at objects. I have come to know that what we conceive of as a tree in our minds is a poor substitute for the real thing. The branches are unique for every tree, so is the pattern on the bark...as well as, subtle differences in the shape of each leaf. The sound trees make when the wind blows through the branches is slightly different for each tree, the same as the occasional moans and groans it makes as it shifts in the breeze or the sounds of rain drops falling through its canopy, along with the other less obvious sounds of the particular creatures which might call the tree home, the insects and the small imperfections which give it a sense of self, those could be considered facets of its character or individual parts of its personality. Combine that with the fact that you can actually tell if a plant is feeling well and healthy simply by looking at it closely. I myself am able to notice some of these small changes in my house plants when I play music. To me these are expressions.

      Take if you will, the often made statement that people of different races may look the same to many people of different races, to the extent that they have a difficult time telling them apart. As an example, I stumbled across a reporter the other day on my computer who could not distinguish between Tyra Banks and Beyonce, both very well known public figures each with unique mannerisms and physical characteristics as well as very different facial expressions and manners of speech. To the reporter they looked the same, simply because they were both beautiful Black women with light colored hair and roughly the same height. so much so that an entire article was written and published with the wrong picture... But to me, being also Black, I am able to tell the difference between the two easily even if they are dressed in identical clothing... The same thing can be said for people who cannot seem to register the differences between different types of Asian people. For example Korean people look different than Japanese and each looks different than Chinese or Vietnamese. The same can be said of Puerto Rican people or Columbian people and Mexican people... In many places these distinctions are nearly impossible for people to make, and to my surprise I am often able to delight people by being observant enough to notice these differences.

      These are the types of differences which would be common place in the world of SHARD, so being able to instantly tell the difference between several Zebra or Giraffes would be second nature.

      Scott Jones is able to tell the difference between the vocal expressions of the birds near his home and recognize when they are expressing unhappiness versus simply being excited due to some new sight in the area. He has repeatedly given me reason to pause and observe the intricate ways that animals are expressing individual emotions which are quite complex and as varied and distinct as any we humans might express... The same with Andrew Bowman and the animals which he interacts with... indeed this may be the reason why this game has become such a passion for each of them as well as myself. Once one can see the same emotions in animal faces as in human and insects the world itself becomes a much more welcoming place full of wonder and beauty.

      In a world where that is true.... reading facial expressions would be almost automatic unless for some reason the individual was attempting to hide or disguise how they were feeling with the use of skills such as Intrigue, Concealment, or Acting and even then if the observer was watching closely it would be a contested roll versus Perception with possible bonuses for talents like Empathy...
      In regards to any animation it is my opinion that the alien nature of the world and its inhabitants should have a feel which may be somewhat different than what would normally be seen by human counterparts as it adds a varied level of exotic elements to the eye of the beholder...

      Lastly I cannot express the value of seeing the art in the upcoming book, for if what I have said in this post interests you at all the expression that "a picture is worth a thousand words" will truly make the connection even more so, as the art work and the fiction is breathtaking! <3
    • Of course like the previously mentioned Dungeons & Dragons Movie this could turn out very badly...I decided to do a thought exercise and see if I could get into Micheal Bay's Mind (A dangerous pastime) And just wrote and wrote until I could write no more.

      This is something I titled 'Shard as Interpreted by Micheal Bay' It isn't the worst, but I do see if I can make Shard feel like a chicle modern animated movie feel free to tell me if I succeeded

      The prologue is the juxtapostion between myth and the truth, an elderly female voice recites the traditional story of the Journey of Great Mother and Father and the Firey Chariot and the Path of Dreams...While the images show the actual historical event, two Humans a Man and a Wife, the Husband is of Indian Desent and the Wife is of Chinese Desent are the keepers of a Zoological Spaceship...At this point in time Humans have expanded and colonized many planets however much of Earth's Fauna has become either extinct or quickly heading in that direction...Fortunatly scientists were able to bring back the extinct animals via cloning and Zoological Ships like this one were popular traveling from planet to planet showcasing Terra's Orginal Fauna however the popularaty of such novelties has wained and the Zoological Ship is supposed to become a feul transport ship and all the Animals are to jettisoned into space.
      Refusing the accept such fate for the Animals, the Man and wife have begun experimenting on the Animals...The Male Lion, Kramah speaks his first words to the Wife...She can't understand them...But she knows they are words...The Wife has also created an experimental engine for the ship.
      When the 'Cutter Ships' come to attack the Zoological Ship the Husband and Wife know what they must do..They fire the experimental engine for the first time...Jumping dimenstions...
      As this happens the two Humans' bodies shatter and they become the new Gods of this new dimenstion...Together they guide the ship and the Animals to a strange planet that has been 'sundered' or shattered to many chunks or pieces but somehow the planet still holds together by some strange power.
      The Animals aboard the ship have also been transformed by the jump...We see the Lion Kramah shiting from a Normal Four Legged Lion to what is essentually a Furry Man with a Lion's head, tail and claws
      Landing safely in a lush Alien Forest, Kramah stand upon is hind legs for the first time and sees his new form...He looks and sees another animal a Lovely Female Fox who has become like a Human Woman...Kramah takes her hands in his and the Vixen stand for the first time.
      Thus some of the Gods or 'Devah' are recited Kramah is the Mighty Lion God of War, Kilarah the Lovely Fox is the Goddess of Love, the Moons and Magic, Kilah the Noble Falcon of the God the Sky, Mujibh the Agile Monkey is the Puckish God of Luck the Husband and Wife Team in Charge of the Waters are Hropa the Walrus God of the Seas and his wife Sianathe The Water Snake Goddess of the Rivers...And of course the dark sibling of the Devah...The most twisted one...Amasúrah the Goddess of the Night and Darkness the Deadly Cobra.
      As we pan out of this Dreamy Prologue we focus upon the face of a Sleepy Adoleslant Lion Janah Hakmüt...Who is falling asleep in class again...Much to the Chagrin of the one reciting this story an Elderly Nanny Goat Teacher who reminds the Leoline the just because he is a Prince does not mean he can sleep through his lessons...On the contrary because he is a Prince he must set an example for all of Dardunah!
      Hakmut grumbles something about how he already knows all this History since he was a Cub...The Nanny Goat glares and Hakmut ceases the grumble.
      School ends for the day and immediatly Hakmut hops onto his Chianti (One of the native Animals of this Planet it is essentually a Giant Horse Shapped Grasshopper) And takes a wild ride through the city, which takes place in Nilam, home of the Academy of Nilam where Hakmut is studying wile galloping through the city causing all kinds of havoc along the way the Handsome Lion causes the Young Ladies to swoon and the Elders to become furious.
      When Hakmut arrives at his destination...A Gambling Den run by a rather seedy rat with holes in his ears, Hakmut is struck by the most enchanting sight! A Beautiful Black Housecat Lady, drawing water from the well. The Rat calls her Anavári and says she is a Peasant Girl who has is new to the Establisment...The Delicate Cat Girl struggles with the Heavy Bucket of Water. But driven by some of his inate Nobility, Hakmut assits her with the bucket...Anavári quickly sees he wears the Red Caste braid of the High Caste or 'Sunborn' where she wears the Green Braid of the Low or Peasant Caste...She asks Hakmut why he is helping her, Hakmut simply replies because he could see she needed help, Aravani meekly says Sunborn are not supposed to carry water from the well.
      Hakmut simply takes the bucket in his strong arms and says He's not a stickler for rules and they enter the gambling den but quickly head seperate ways...She has more work she has two do...And he has some carousing to do...After gambling much...He quickly realizes he is nearly out of money and begs his friend the more practical and shrewd Wolf Prince Paramjit. For more money but the Lupine staunchly refuses to bail out his impulsive friend this time.
      Aravani returns home to her family's modest cottage and finds it has been broken into and neither of her parents can be found! She does see signs of a struggle and sees a few drops of blood upon the floor that her nose detects belongs to her Mother...Aravani weeps, terrified and not knowing what to do.
      Turns out across Dardunah Outcaste, Low Caste and even some Trade or Merchent Caste Janah have been vanishing. But in general the Sunborn and the Holy Caste refuse to do anything about it...Enslaving happens all time in Janah...And since it hasn't happened to either the Sunborn or the Holy Caste it doesn't seem to be cause for any alarm at the moment.
      Together Hakmut, Aravani and Paramjit seek to solve the mysetery of the Missing Janah and discover 'The Great Devourer' of legend is responsible...They become captured themselves...And learn they 'Great Devourer' is the same kind of creature as Great Mother and Father...