Visual Research: Addams Family

After much thought i decided to work on the Addams Family home as it has so much style and visuals that would work well with my illustrations. It would be the perfect setting for a treasure hunting game, where the player would explore th house searching and collecting items.

There are three different time periods on the Addams Family. One is based on the comic strips by Charles Addams which is set during 1938 in The New Yorker. These strips are just one paneled cartoons with a single morbid joke from the family. These run between 1938 till Charles death in 1978. The shows took inspiration from the comics, using some of their jokes and interpreting them into full long episodes.

The Addams Family comic strip

https://uk.pinterest.com/emmalgh/addams-family-cartoons/

The show in the 1960's follows the comic closely, keeping their strange, morbid jokes with the gothic style. The show explores the house more than the comic, but keeping the same style, staircase and deathtraps. As the show was in black and white it is hard to tell the colours, however, there are some remastered images of the set. Surprisingly the set was brightly coloured as props were reused from other TV shows, which costs less than designing their own set. 

Their house is flowery pink and yellow....don't know whether to change the colours or use them.
http://www.fastcodesign.com/3021327/asides/the-addams-familys-living-room-was-pink

Comparing the 60's show to the show during the 90's and the Time Burton movies, the house was very dark, gothic standard with spirals, black, dust, etc. It was more misty than usual with the gothic style. It had richer colours that's not florescent, but the walls were peeling which was not how the house was represented in the 60's.

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/photopost/data/1791/newaddamscde45555.jpg

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/photopost/showphoto.php/photo/200947

http://www.lkessler.com/addshows.shtml

The house will have the same setting and style as the one in the 60's. For the colour scheme I would still use the bright colours, but darken them a little bit to have more a gothic atmosphere. I wouldn't need to add the cheesy props that was placed in the 90's show such as skeletons, scary statues, etc. The props in the 60's show were very basic and odd, with no need for horror as its basically about an odd family in a quiet suburban neighborhood who look down on anything that is un-ordinary.

The game I will create will be a simple point and click game, exploring the house and interacting with objects. There will be paintings of the family members around the house that can move slightly (eyes or expressions). I will be designing the house on Illustrator and Photoshop along with the objects/assets. I will then move these illustrations and assets onto either Flash or GameMaker to create the point and click.