So what is this all about? Well, there was a character in SatAM who was at one point called Dirk. He has a resemblance to Sam Fisher from Splinter Cell, does the same actions (Flying, parachuting, ziplining) in is even roboticised in his first appearance and returns unscathed! This bear, is SatAM Fisher. The one and only. Master of espionage and beaten down Freedom Fighter. If he is so good, why does he get captured twice (Blast To The Past Part 1 and The Doomsday Project)? You'll have to wait for the cartoon series to find out
So what is there I can say about the project? Well, it will begin with Sonic Boom (An episode you may recall doesn't show SatAM Fisher in it in the original episode, and the first real loss for the Freedom Fighters - Cat). The purpose of the series is to fill in backstory for SatAM using the original storylines and some new ones too, which gives the whole SatAM experience more depth and life. It is very rare you see or hear of other Freedom Fighters just doing their thing, or hard at work in Robotropolis, and the only times you do are when they become major plot points. But of course, to defeat an evil like Robotnik would require more than just one small band led by "the rodent". Enter SatAM Fisher...
This series is being produced by Dark Dreams Studios, my studio with art friend and co-ideologist Miranda Ketchen. Miranda is in charge of all background painted artworks as well as all animations, I am in charge of writing, producing, editting and all other tasks.
- It is a Full HD 1080p cartoon spinoff to Sonic SatAM, starring the bear character SatAM Fisher (Codename Dirk on certain missions, more explained during the series).
- It is being developed using traditional animation techniques in a digital medium (Like the new Disney Princess and the Frog film), and will not utilise Flash in any way, shape or form. Each background painting is developed digitally, with digitally hand drawn animation cells layered on top and saved as a 1920x1080 image file. That file is then shipped to me, who then arranges the complete frame in time and order in the movie program and syncs all audio and visual cues (Usually set by myself too as the writer).
- Each background painting is at least 1920x1080 in size (Often bigger for camera pans etc) and rendered in high quality.
- The story will interweave with Sonic SatAM in several places, not least the episodes where SatAM Fisher already canonically starred (Blast To The Past Part 1 and The Doomsday Project), but will follow it's own story curve so those new to SatAM will be able to follow it without prior knowledge. There will be plenty of references and connections to classic SatAM to make the long term fans happy.
- The story will not conflict with already set SatAM canon, as a fan myself (and as a good writer) I would not dream of trying to damage the original canon of the series. That would be silly.
So that's all very well and good. Impressive maybe? I know what you're all thinking however. It's all very well and good to say about a project, and even easier to blurt on and on about this sort of extravagant and certainly interesting fan series. But we need evidence that it actually exists, and that it is currently in the making.
All too happy to oblige, my friends, so find below three pieces of art that may whet your appetite and prove that this is already in development. These come from 4 days of work on the series, so be assured that there is plenty more to come.
SatAM Fisher Title Card Frame 1
The link above will take you to a 1920x1080 image of the SatAM Fisher title card. The green and black in the background rotate the same as the yellow and blue in the Sonic SatAM title card, but I'm only going to give you the one frame. This animation sequence is completed already, however.
Animated Storyboard of start of Intro Video
This shot clip is an animated storyboard of the first 8 seconds of the opening theme titles. It doesn't last 8 seconds here, but we learnt how many frames we needed for each section of the animation so now the full thing is in progress. The actual background is the same as the original Sonic SatAM opening but it will have a slightly different start as you can see.
- Instead of Sonic bursting out, swatbots burst out.
- Instead of fast panning right, it fast pans up.
- Instead of later, Robotnik's mothership flies overhead right at the start (In Sonic SatAM you only get the shadow until the point he points it out to Uncle Chuck)
- What happens after? Well I will reveal that all scenes in the SatAM Fisher intro, like Sonic SatAM are unique to the intro and won't be used in the episodes, and will show Fisher's daughter being taken (to be roboticised).
Work In Progress Forest Painting 35-50% complete
As you can see this is far from completion, but it IS a 1920x10,000 sized picture!
Not much else to say except you can get an idea of what we're doing with the artwork
Hope that whets your appetite for the project
Roareye Black.
