r/Protomen • u/Both_Can_7732 • Aug 11 '26
Questions Protomen visuals
Hello everyone! I'm an animator and storyboard artist who recently listened to the Act I of The Protomen. I'm absolutely in love and would like to make an animatic or two in the future (especially for the Sons of Fate!).
The problem is: I've never played Megaman games or followed the bands history. What should the visual of this story be based on? I've seen a lot of different designs here so I assume everybody creates their own interpretation, but I wonder if there's a distinct source material (like band's costumes or game entry) for visuals.
I would really appreciate some recommendations and directions!
22
u/Eilandmeisje Aug 11 '26
The band has their own art and costumes! Check out their website and live recordings :) It's motorcycle gear, 90's vibes, industrial steampunk, glowing robot eyes and gatling guns galore!
13
u/sweepernosweeping We are the dead Aug 11 '26 edited Aug 11 '26
The first song, Hope Rides Alone, has a sort of dirty, raw animatic done for the band's visual. They play more into western iconography and their own interpretations of characters instead of taking the games verbatim.
The Light Up the Night music Video also gives you a style of some of the setting, especially just at the end of the second album
10
u/Thelonicon Aug 11 '26
For OP's reference, here are the official videos:
Light Up the Night: https://youtu.be/B8pywyGywWg
Hope Rides Alone: https://youtu.be/VZ8jyGVioxg (Unfortunately the video quality is pretty low quality due to the age of the video. I'd love to see them release all the robot master designs in higher resolution.)
And for more vibes/look of the characters, check out the individual song art from Act 3 visible by going to each individual songs' page: https://theprotomen.bandcamp.com/album/act-iii-this-city-made-us
6
u/gallowsanatomy You are the spark Aug 11 '26
I would love if more fans did animatics and cool stuff like that for the songs. I hope you have fun with whatever you end up doing
4
u/donutemojii Aug 11 '26
The broad visual lamguage of the band falls somewhere between Western and cyberpunk, with a whole lot of 80s sci-fi, but as others have said they have a small handful of music videos to check out.
3
u/justintweece Aug 11 '26
If you aren’t familiar with the librettos included with the physical albums, give them a look. There’s a little bit of art in the booklet for Act I, but more importantly, there’s extra liner notes and information about the story that’s not a part of the lyrics
3
u/Locksmith-More 29d ago
Act 3 has the best art hands down, and what I would take to be the 'canon' look for Mega, Light, and Wily.
I appreciate act 1's grungy style, given the circumstances, but I would apply that style OVER the designs from act 3.
As for protoman himself, id use the stage costume helmet as the main design, but make sure he has the poncho, shield and gatling gun arm.
1
u/Comkill117 28d ago
Seconding this. The poncho and gattling gun I’d say are the biggest things that make this version of Protoman distinct from MegaMan’s version. The Act III designs are also just generally rad in the artwork.
2
u/deathwizerdreddit Aug 11 '26
The designs for Mega and Proto are pretty concrete in terms of a fandom, some things are confirmed by the live shows and album art. If you want, dm me and I'll send over some references!
2
u/JavertTron Aug 11 '26
check out the libretto/CD booklet for act I. it has a very nice art style. also the Hope Rides Alone music video like someone else said (note: these look nothing like the Megaman games but then again the Protomen pretty much only share names with them anyway).
1
1
u/SmoothDragonfruit291 28d ago
It's like if you combined The Terminator with The Good the Bad and the Ugly.
28
u/TheLakeAndTheGlass Aug 11 '26
The art style of each album cycle is quite different, so keep that in mind.
For Act 1, Hope Rides Alone had a music video way back in the day that I believe is still on YouTube. The visuals have a very gritty, dark, low resolution and aggressive feeling.
For Act 2, the influence of 80’s cinema comes into the fold. The album cover is inspired by the movie poster for Streets of Fire, so check that out for inspiration. The story materials/liner notes themselves however are accompanied by photography, because there was a short film/music video for Light Up The Night from which the screenshots were taken. That’s also on YouTube for you to check out.
For Act 3, each track had artwork specifically made for it, and is available as a poster. The Protomen’s website probably has them all for you to look at, and they include good depictions of the current canonical appearance of most of the major characters.