The Battle

In late 2021, I was lucky enough to get a job with Stronghold Film under the Kickstart scheme, working as a Concept Artist. Even though it was only a six-month contract, Stronghold - and its CEO Stuart Brennan - took me under their wing, and set me to work on their newest feature film. To my delight, this was an epic fantasy film on a huge scale, one based on a spectacular IP, and I couldn't believe my luck. Fantasy fiction and culture is a cornerstone of my love of narrative, and to be able to work on a fantasy film as my first job was a dream come true.

I spent the first month of my contract creating concept art and designs for the antagonists of the film, including the villain himself. We had spent many meetings discussing the culture of the antagonist and the society he comes from, and, struck by inspiration, I pitched an idea to Mr Brennan and the rest of my team.

What about language?

I had created a language from scratch for Kao Lai, my University short film, using a program called VulgarLang, and I was confident that I could do so again for this film. I could expand on the language found in the source material and create a version that could be spoken or even learned, like Klingon or High Valyrian, and I took inspiration from J R R Tolkein and professional "conlanger" David J Peterson. The thought of the characters speaking in their own language was an exciting prospect, especially considering the "us versus them" narrative in the original work, and Mr Brennan was incredibly supportive of the idea.

Using the phonemes found in the few examples I had, and some additional sounds I included after learning the International Phonetic Alphabet, I constructed a language I felt was befitting of a warlike people. I ensured that the structure of the language matched the words already found in the source, but also made sure that the language's sound and feel were as sharp and intense as its speakers. Alongside that, I crafted an entire system of grammar and syntax, and presented in-depth documentation on how to use it.

On top of all that, I envisioned phrases of daily life, naming conventions and customs, traditional greetings and farewells, mathematics and finger-counting, and expressions of respect. To make sure it all worked smoothly, I wrote a scene in the work's universe and translated it all into the new language, where - to my delight - it worked perfectly. All this was a fascinating exercise in worldbuilding and lore development, and I was delighted when Mr Brennan asked if I could work on a second language for the film as well.