Bottom of the Well

Date Unknown

This bucket and broken rope lies at the bottom of the well in the opening credits. Because we did not have an appropriate bucket on hand, we had to construct it (and the rope) in Maya. Ironically, the rope gave us the most trouble before we finally found a solution we were happy with. The color of the lights in this render is different from what was used in the final render.

Dungeon Passage

Date Unknown

Passage shot from opening credit sequence. The arrow indicates the way forward through the dungeon. This scene ended up being a bit too dark, so for the final cut we increased the brightness and contrast.

Satanic Temple

Date Unknown

This is the cult Debbie joins with Ms. Frost's help. In the comic, the cult is somewhat ambiguous in appearance, but we made it outright Satanic. The four empty torches will have Particle Illusions flames added during post production using After Effects. The set is based on The Alchemy Chasm, by Redhouse Studios, from www.daz3d.com.

Debbie at Marcie's Front Door

Date Unknown

Debbie stands at Marcie's front door waiting for Mrs. Anderson. This render was an early attempt at the scene- notice how the shadows fall on the skybox backplate.

The grass is more advanced: it was created by using a displacement map to create the grass blades, which uses far less polygons than actually modeling grass. A fuller discussion of the technique is found on our blog. Ironically, in the final cut of the scene, the grass is barely, if at all, visible.

Debbie Library

Date Unknown

This set is the replacement for what was used in "Debbie Studying" located below. We changed the ceiling texture after this render was made. The set is School Library by greenpots, from www.renderosity.com.

Debbie Audience

Date Unknown

"Oh god, I need help!" A shot of Debbie in the audience of the revival meeting. Note Bryan, from earlier Boolean Union projects, wearing a BU shirt.

Leave Debbie!

Date Unknown

"In the name of Jesus, I order you spirits of the occult to leave Debbie!" The Afro Preacher performs his exorcism on Debbie.

In the comic panel, spirits flee from Debbie when this happens. We didn't forget them, we decided not to put them in, to allow the viewer the chance to decide if all this talk of magic and evil spirits was just in the characters' heads.

Debbie Studying

September 21, 2009

This was an earlier version of the scene in where Debbie runs into Mike. While we liked the way it looked, we could only shoot from certain angles. As a result, we ended up using the library set instead. Nevertheless, elements of the set, particularly the "Cheerleading" poster, made their way into other projects.

Marcie Hung

September 21, 2009

"No, Marcie! You didn't have to do that!" This is an early version of the scene where Debbie discover's Marcie's body. Another attempt to mimic the corresponding comic panel.

Dark Dungeons Game

September 21, 2009

Here are our intrepid gamers playing Dark Dungeons. This shot is intended to mimic the very first panel of the comic, although our version has fewer players.

Bonfire Backplate

May 2, 2010

A shot from the final scene in which Debbie and other characters burn various "occult materials". The actual bonfire will be added in After Effects, using a flame element created in Particle Illusion. This is because, natively, DAZ doesn't do particle effects very well. On the far right, note the character Abel, who appeared in earlier Boolean Union projects.

Dark Dungeons Cavern

May 17, 2010

Shot from intro credits. In this cavern the Dark Dungeons player avatars encounter a monster guarding a treasure. The large stone statue in the background, which we refer to as "Agony," is simply a Michael 3 figure that has been greatly increased in size and retextured.

Cavern Rack Focus

May 18, 2010

This shot demonstrates the focal depth capabilities of DAZ Studio. This can be used to eliminate the "everything is in focus" look common to 3d work.

Character Height Study

July 8, 2010

We realized we didn't know how tall any of the characters were, so we did a police-style lineup. Notice how tall Marcie is, relative to Debbie. After doing this lineup, we changed Mike's (on the far left) height so he would be taller than Debbie.

Frost and the Afro Preacher

July 12, 2010

Finally, the Preacher's dark secret revealed! No, not really. We were experimenting with poses for another project and needed two appropriate figures, so Frost and the Afro Preacher were drafted. The poses aren't a perfect match for the characters, so there is some poke-through.

Obviously, what this shot depicts is not canonical, though privately we like to imagine that Frost and the Preacher have a nice arrangement between them. The pose is "Lovers for V4 and M4" by Adam Thwaites, from www.sharecg.com.

Knight Flying

July 17, 2010

Player 1's knight character is struck by the Ogre, and he flies away from the camera, simultaneously dropping his sword.

Players in Danger

July 19, 2010

In this shot, Player 1's knight and Player 2's barbarian have both been defeated by the Ogre, and only Debbie (as Elfstar) stands between them and death. She gestures for Marcie to hurry up and pick the lock on the treasure chest.

Debbie Romance

July 19, 2010

Debbie's character Elfstar ministers to Player 1's knight, who has removed his helmet. The look between them was so tender we gave this render its name. This shot was not used in the final version of the scene, cut for timing reasons.

Black Leaf Running

July 20, 2010

Black Leaf runs toward the treasure chest while Elfstar and the others distract the monster.

Black Leaf is Dead

July 25, 2010

"The thief, Black Leaf, did not find the poison trap, and I declare her dead." In our animation, the "poison trap" is a dart, which Black Leaf triggers when she opens the lock on the treasure chest.

Troll Duh?

July 25, 2010

Is he an ogre or a troll? Well, the model is called "Troll", but here the characters are calling him an ogre. Boolean Union calls him the "trollgre" just to split the difference. He certainly looks confused in this image.

Player 3

July 26, 2010

A taste of things that could have been. This was the third Dark Dungeons player. She roughly corresponds to the girl two seats down from Marcie in the original comic. Note that her hair is in the same style as Marcie.

We did not use these players in the final production because there were no lines for them to speak and we didn't want the scene cluttered with extraneous characters.

Player 4

July 26, 2010

A taste of things that could have been, part two. This was the fourth Dark Dungeons player. He does not directly correspond to any of the players in the comic.

Debbie Living Room Revised

July 29, 2010

As we began to work on scene 2, set in what is presumeably Ms. Frost's house, we decided to re-do a few elements of the set, which was initially constructed some time ago. The biggest difference between this shot here and this older version is the addition of a grass lawn and a wall surrounding the house.

The grass was generated by a variation on the displacement map technique used here (and explained on our blog); the wall provides a boundary between the "rendered" world of the house and the more realistic backdrop. The final version of this set includes trees and a different backdrop.

Dark Dungeons Game Dramatic

July 29, 2010

The lights were another aspect of the scene we decided to revise. As we were not entirely satisfied with the earlier light configuration, we did a number of tests, trying variations on light position, intensity, and color. This was one of the variations we tried and rejected, as the harsh light is more reminiscent of an interrogation chamber than a living room at mid-afternoon.

New Pewter Marcie

July 30, 2010

We decided to give Marcie a pewter miniature that looks like her character Black Leaf. We have no idea what it would cost to get something like that customized, but Marcie apparently felt it was worth it. The version shown here is an update from what is shown on Marcie's character page. This version has a more accurate size, and now features a base plate to keep it upright. This shot shows how the figure looks at the beginning of scene two of our animation, with the final lighting scheme.

Debbie Angry!

August 1, 2010

"Marcie, get out of here. You're dead! You don't exist anymore." Debbie looks like a sweet girl, but interfere with her Dark Dungeons game and you'll see another side of her.

Not Blackleaf!

August 6, 2010

"No, no, I'm going to die!" Marcie reacts to the sudden, unexpected death of her player-character Black Leaf, knocking over her soda bottle in the process.

Frost Smirk

August 7, 2010

Frost smiles as Marcie runs away, distraught. We always wondered- did Frost kill Blackleaf for a reason? And beyond that, did anyone ever tell these people that, just because your character dies, it doesn't mean you have to leave the house? Then again, maybe Dark Dungeons has really strange rules, or Frost is a terrible DM.

Player Stabs the Ogre

August 8, 2010

Player 1 kills the Ogre while it is still blinded, in the final action of the Dark Dungeons game we saw in scene 1. Of course, when we last saw Player 1's knight, he was laying on the floor, but we assume he got back up again.

After this point, Player 1 and 2 shuffle offstage and are never heard from again.

Temple With New Lights

August 9, 2010

When we began rendering scene 3, we decided to revise the lights, much as we did with scene 2 in Debbie's house. We created two spotlights which converge on the lead cultist, added an upward spotlight on Baphomet there in the back, and rearranged the other lights. Compare with the earlier render of the same scene.

Debbie Temple Entrance

August 9, 2010

A nervous Debbie has a brief discussion with Ms. Frost before they enter the chamber where Debbie will become "a priestess and a witch."

Debbie And Cultist

August 17, 2010

Debbie makes her oath to the leader of the "witches coven." Both characters are bathed in orange light, which explains the skin tones.

Debbie This Is Fantastic

August 18, 2010

"Ms. Frost, this fantastic.... This makes the game real.... It's not a fantasy any more." Debbie's slightly awkward pose was altered in the final version of the shot.

Frost Knew You Were Ready

August 18, 2010

"I knew you were ready by the way you played the game." What "way" that is, we don't know. We are back in Frost's house, and it is now nighttime, though probably not of the same day as the earlier scene. The Dark Dungeons material is still on the table here, though it was removed from the final shot.

Updated Oculus

August 19, 2010

The establishing shot from scene 3. This occult bookstore conceals the entrance to the witches coven.

"The Oculus" has a long history with Boolean Union. The name first appears in the script for Bruder Gegen Bruder 2, where it was run by a kind old man with a mysterious backstory who gave John, the main character, some important information.

The actual building probably dates from Teufelsbauer, where the kindly old man became a senile goofball. This latest version of the shop has updated textures, lights, a new sign, and no old man at all.

House Exterior, Night

August 24, 2010

The establishing shot from scene 4. We did this one in homage to the "Talking Windows" phenomenon in Jack Chick comics (though ironically there aren't any of these in Dark Dungeons). In this shot, one of the trees casts a shadow in the bright moonlight, while Debbie and Frost have a discussion inside.

Marcie Hung New Lights

August 28, 2010

We decided to revise Marcie's bedroom, even though the scene in which it appears is still ahead of us. The comic depicts a room completely filled with role-playing material, so we added several maps and other fantasy props. In addition, we realized that the scene takes place at night, which required a new lighting scheme. Compare this with the earlier shot of the same set.

Frost On Phone

August 30, 2010

"Marcie's on the phone. She wants to talk to you. She's really upset." An attempt to recreate the corresponding comic panel. This scene, the previous scene, and scene 2 all take place in the same room. We attempted to differentiate them by changing the lighting and the appearance of the sky.

Marcie Front Door New

Sept 1, 2010

"Hi Mrs. Anderson. Marcie wanted me to see her tonight." This shot is a revision of the Anderson home as shown here. This scene is set at night- Debbie says specifically, "Tell her I'll see her tonight," even though the time of day isn't clear from the actual comic panel. We weren't satisfied with the lights in the earlier shot, so we took this opportunity to change them. In addition to the new lights, there is a car in the driveway and a road visible beyond.

Anderson Driveway

Sept 1, 2010

A close look at the car sitting in the Anderson's driveway. We wanted to give the impression that Marcie's family has some money, since we really don't see much of their house, other than the front door and Marcie's room. The car itself is "Foberghini" by Fober, from www.sharecg.com.

Debbie No Pockets

Sept 2, 2010

In the corresponding comic panel, Debbie has her hands in her jacket pockets. Of course, our Debbie isn't wearing the same kind of Members Only jacket as the comic character, and indeed her jacket doesn't even seem to have pockets. That didn't stop us from trying it anyway, just to see how it looked. Debbie's hands are literally inside her abdomen here. For the final shot, we had her do something else with her arms.

Marcie Dejected

Sept 2, 2010

In scene six, Mrs. Anderson talks about how Marcie has been acting strange since her character, Blackleaf, was killed. We decided to do a "flashback" showing what Marcie had been doing. This also let us avoid a very long shot of the back of Mrs. Anderson's head.

Anderson Front

Sept 3, 2010

Speaking of Mrs. Anderson's head, viewers might notice we haven't shown the character's face. In the comic, Mrs. Anderson's face isn't shown, and she only appears in a single panel. When we designed our version of the character, we envisioned her as a trophy wife, rather than the June Cleaver type shown in the comic. Even so, we decided it would be amusing to never show her face, so we didn't spend much time on it. From the front, it's obvious that Mrs. Anderson is an unaltered Victoria 3.

Debbie At Marcie's Bedroom

Sept 6, 2010

In this shot, Debbie waits outside of Marcie's bedroom, unsure of what she will find inside. The yellow light is coming up the stairs from down below.

Debbie Opens The Door

Sept 6, 2010

Debbie won't wait any longer, and she opens the door. Bright light from inside the room floods out the door, making Debbie squint.

Debbie Reach Focus

Sept 12, 2010

Debbie notices the piece of paper on Marcie's desk, and reaches toward the camera to pick it up. Her hand appears blurry because of the camera's focal depth.

Debbie Read Note

Sept 13, 2010

Debbie reads Marcie's suicide note. This is an attempt to recreate the corresponding comic panel. The note itself is a placeholder that was replaced in the final version of the shot.

Marcie Bookshelf

Sept 13, 2010

Marcie has quite a lot of role-playing things on display. This corner of the room isn't quite visible from some of the shooting angles we used, but in this shot, it's front and center. For a discussion of the maps that appear on the walls, check out the blog post here.

Kitchen Light Test 1

Sept 17, 2010

For the next scene, we're back in the kitchen at Frost's house. As the story keeps reverting back to this location, we've tried to find ways to visually distinguish the scenes that take place here. This time around, it is daytime, but raining outside, so the interior is darker than it normally would be.

Frost Teapot

Sept 17, 2010

Frost reaches to pull the whistling teapot from the burner. The steam will be added, like so many other things, in After Effects. The teapot itself is the so-called Utah teapot (or Newell teapot), well known as a 3d test object.

Rain Window

Sept 18, 2010

A view out the window of Frost's house while it is raining. This shot is a composite created with a rain element created in Particle Illusion and different DAZ Studio shots. One shot has "normal" light and a second is much brighter, to simulate distant lightning. A third shot was used as an alpha channel to mask out the rain from every place but the windowpanes.

Debbie Coffee Cup

Sept 20, 2010

Actually, we don't really know what she's drinking there. It could be coffee, tea, hot cocoa, or maybe just brown water. Our vision for this scene is that Debbie, grieving for Marcie, runs to Frost's house through the rain, and Frost, attempting to be nice, offers her a cup of... whatever that is. From there though, things run downhill.

The cup, saucer, and contents were built in Maya because we didn't feel that any of the cup models we had on hand were quite right. This shot was made to test the cup- in the actual scene, Debbie is in the throes of despair, rather than cheerful.

WTF Debbie

Sept 26, 2010

This is the kind of random glitch that sometimes occurs during production. DAZ Studio has a command to erase animation from a figure, which sounds straightforward. However, it apparently also removes the various morphs that exist on the character. In this case, it reverted Debbie to a basic version of the figure, which is a little jarring.

Debbie Studying 2

Sept 28, 2010

We are in the library set for Debbie's conversation with Mike. This was the last set constructed for the Dark Dungeons project, but even so, some minor changes were made to the lights, and most surfaces have updated lighting models.

Mike at Door

Sept 30, 2010

At long last, Mike enters the scene. The version of Mike that appears here is taller than what appears in the Character Height Study, and also in Debbie Audience. It isn't as obvious in the latter shot, because he's sitting down, but Mike was originally Debbie's height, about 5'5". Now he is about 5'10", though his other proportions are the same. These are the kinds of things one can do with animated actors.

Revised Bonfire

Oct 9, 2010

At long last, we've reached scene 11, the bonfire. As with the other scenes, the original set was built quite some time ago, so we decided to make revisions.

In this case, we revised some lighting models and changed some of the background characters in this scene, which is obvious if one compares this shot with the old one. As always, the actual fire will be inserted in post-production. Close-ups appear below.

Bonfire Crowd 1

Oct 9, 2010

The Afro Preacher and Debbie are bracketed by two extras. The two named characters are the only people with lines in this scene, however we plan to have the other characters be singing a hymn, which will require lip-sync. The woman on the far left was removed from the final scene for technical reasons.

Bonfire Crowd 2

Oct 9, 2010

Mike, whom we have already met, is surrounded by new faces. Each of these characters was specifically created for this scene, to replace the odds and ends that were used before. We were a bit sorry to remove Abel, but the character model is getting a bit old and we worried it wouldn't hold up to scrutiny.

Now that this work is done, it's unlikely we'll have a great deal more to add to the production gallery. We hope you've enjoyed our work, and will view the finished project so you can see it all in motion.