Playful Platformer

Build the level as a toy set and photograph it like a morning.

Generosity is the tone: big soft shapes, plenty of air. Everything is a toy you could pick up. Invent the hero and the collectibles; the platformer grammar is public, its mascots are not. If it starts to look like a real franchise, change the silhouette until it does not.

Director's note

Leave with every frame on this list.

Shot list

1. 01World: a side-view platform level with floating mossy blocks, a gem trail, cloud puffs and waterfalls, soft toy-render shading, sky blue to grass green
2. 02Hero: an original small character in three simple shapes mid-jump, oversized rounded shoes, plush or rubber surface, soft drop shadow
3. 03Collectible: a single coin, cherry or star rendered as glossy plastic with a sparkle, on cream
4. 04Level: a wider stretch of the same level with a hazard, a moving platform and a flag at the end, no enemies from real games
5. 05Title screen: rounded chunky display type zone on a sky, clouds, a score counter and one bouncing coin

Soft, even toy-set light with one gentle shadow, as if lit by a big window. No dramatic contrast; the colours do the work. A single sparkle highlight on anything glossy, and warm lanterns when the level is at night.

Light

Scout these before anything else.

Locations

1. 01A built set of painted wood blocks and cardboard clouds
2. 02A tabletop with rubber and plastic props
3. 03A rendered side-view level
4. 04A sky backdrop with a checkerboard floor

The hero wears block colours: one primary, one secondary, cream for face and hands. Rounded everything. No cap-and-moustache, no blue hedgehog, nothing that quotes a real mascot.

Wardrobe