Part IV Release
It’s been about a week now since the release of Part IV, and as per usual it’s time to make a post talking about it! As I’ve been saying in a few other posts previously, my plan for Part IV was always to try and cast a wider net, and see what happens. Part II and III were such small scale episodes in my mind that it didn’t seem right to put a lot of energy towards getting them out there, but with Part IV and the arrival of both the McGuffin and the antagonist (character spotlight incoming), it felt like Forlorn finally had enough stuff going on to get a sense of what it was. And even what’s there now is just the tip of the iceberg.
With this episode I hit a few more places than usual. More posts on Reddit, other social media places, and I decided to punch above my weight class and submit it to some real high quality art and animation websites. Those almost assuredly won’t end up featuring my work, but you never know! As for the response elsewhere, it blew away my expectations! Nothing crazy viral or anything, but the amount of wonderful comments and encouragement I received was overwhelming. I’m so glad that people out there are enjoying it, and I hope to keep delivering on that! Overall, though, I didn’t hit all the places I wanted to, for a couple of different reasons. Maybe I can circle back to them when Part V comes out. I’ve also got a lot of people telling me to start up a TikTok page. That’ll take so prep I imagine. I’m aiming on getting that up and running sooner or later, though work on the film is always my most important use of time.
For the occasion I also cut together a short “trailer”. I think it was a mistake labeling it as a trailer, because upon reflection it wasn’t made for that purpose. Teaser or preview would be more apt descriptions, and I probably confused some folks by presenting it with the trailer moniker. By the time all seven parts are finished I’ll have enough to cut together a true, proper trailer. That being said, it will probably still be quite short, as even a 60 second trailer for a short film is bound to be chock full of spoilers. We’ll see when we get there, I suppose, and that won’t be for a while.
One of the most common comments I received online is “This reminds me of Dark Souls!”. There is a lot of Dark Souls influence is this project, but it’s actually not my primary influence. Fun fact - when I started writing and designing Forlorn I had never played through any of the Souls series. I was aware of the art style, and a big fan of what I saw, but it wasn’t until I had designed and modeled the characters that I finally played Dark Souls. I have now played through 1,3, and Bloodborne a few times, and they’re among my favorite games ever. I actually personally had a lot more influence from things like Hellboy and stuff of that nature. I do enjoy the Dark Souls comments, though, because Dark Souls is great. As the series overall progresses, and we see more than the gothic stylings of the ruined city, we’ll get a fuller picture of what the world is all about, and the different stories and looks within. I do look forward to those days.
