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tildexart · 5 months

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The Magnus Archives (Season One) Production Design Project

Hello everyone! Let me introduce myself- I'm Tilda (or Tilde), and I'm want to be a production designer.

Production designers create the overall look of a piece of media. From costumes, lighting, environments, props, etc., these designers make sure that everything looks cohesive and sets the mood.

So, I thought it would be fun to put my skills to the test by designing season one of The Magnus Archives. My winter break started as soon as I became interested in the show. Needless to say, a new obsession and an abundance of free time go well together.

You may have seen these illustrations posted separately, this is a master post of the whole project. My thoughts, processes, and critiques are all included under the cut. If you read them, I hope you enjoy! If, not, thank you for supporting my work regardless.

The Characters

When designing these characters, I tried to avoid being influenced by fan interpretations. Though, that was a challenge (especially with Jon and Sasha). I found that I looked to my friends for inspiration. Certain elements (Jon's glasses) were based off of what they wore.

Pinterest was also useful for finding clothing and pose references. Some looks were based off of different actors- in particular, Tim was inspired by Nicholas Galitzine and Elias inspired by Matthew Lillard.

Jane was the most fun to design! I believe in making terrifying characters actually terrifying.

Elias's design needs the most work. Having now finished the show, I see that it doesn't fit him. The purple is overly saturated, especially compared to the set. He looks out of place! I'd reverse the color palette to mostly green/yellow with purple accents instead. Although, I will forever defend the purple tint in his gray hair.

The Set

Jonathan's office was a treat to design! Balancing the color and clutter was especially important. This room is meant to be claustrophobic and uncomfortable, but not overbearingly so.

The wood looks to be full of splinters, but not so worn that it can be thrown out. The chairs offer no back support, and the shelves make the room smaller. The goal was to represented Jon's mind. Intricate, messy, and suffocating (Note: that is more of a season two description).

One goal was to capture the look of an actual archive. Valuable times was spent researching the different kinds of storage, files, paper, etc. The texture and color had to be accurate.

A split-complementary color palette of blue-green, yellow-green, and red was used. Of course, I had to get green in there, and the varying hues and desaturated reds worked well for the wood and filing supplies.

Jane's ashes and the Web lighter on the desk place this set at the end of season one. I find details like this to be important, it's one of my favorite parts of design. There is much needed abundance of eye imagery as well. Most obviously in the carpet, but eyes are carved into the table and watch from the shelves.

My main critique is the lighting- the filters used could be adjusted as to not distort the colors of the boxes. They look inconsistent. The Web lighter could also be more obvious, yet it is small and pixelated.

The Props

I designed these as I re-listened to season one, and it is the most recent piece I finished. Combining the details described in the show with what the objects would have realistically looked like was interesting. That was most useful for the clown, the Ming vase, and Ex Altiora.

Each of these objects came from a specific time with a specific look. Ex Altiora was bound in calf leather from the 1800s, so those books were referenced. Same with the frills on the clown's outfit.

The Ming vase was especially interesting, as it is from the Jiajing period. When looking at photographs of Jiajing vases, I found that many of them lacked handles and had an hourglass shape. That was fascinating to me, as many artists depict a standard oval-shaped vase. Also, the vase's design is described as straight lines that create distorted patterns when looking at it. That effect was achieved using chromatic aberration and the liquify tool (chromatic aberration was used to create a vertigo effect on Ex Altiora).

My critiques are... nitpicky. minimal. The shading on top of the garbage bag is unnatural. The thickness of the gold engraving on Ex Altiora is uneven. The "I" in "Immediate Consideration" is not capitalized. Other than that, I'm happy with how the props look.

Conclusion

First off, if you read everything, thank you!! It is a lot, I know.

My greatest takeaways are that 1) ask for critique, always 2) research skills are necessary for design 3) references are your friend! Seriously guys, use your references.

I hope you enjoyed this project and I'm excited to share more of my work in the future!

#and before anyone asks #i am not doing this for any other season #feel free to ask any questions about this project!#tma #the magnus archives #tma season one #production design #tildexart #tilda rambles

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kald-dal-art · 2 months

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Compilation of the first part of TMA episode Posters.

What is your fave episode out of this lot?

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my-magnus-rabbithole · 2 months

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I love Jon so much. He had one heart to heart with his coworker and then immediately asked him if he was dead.

#he’s so socially awkward #I love him #jonathan sims #jon sims #the magnus archives #martin blackwood #tma #tma s1 #tma season one #mag 39

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oniyunsouffle · 8 months

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Season 1 Archive Team Moment!!!!!!!

(Closeups under the cut)

#oniyunrings is my instagram handle i cannot be bothered to change it #the magnus archives #tma #martin blackwood #sasha james #timothy stoker #tim stoker #jonathan sims #magpod #magnuspod #tma fanart #tma season one #tma martin #tma sasha #tma tim #tma jon #my art

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future-crab · 16 days

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ADHD really can make you feel like you’re being attacked by that homophobic vase from the Magnus Archives

#i set something down for ONE SECOND and it gets erased from existence #i bought new paintbrushes i put the bag on the kitchen table #the next day - those paintbrushes never were #they’ve been erased from the minds of all who saw them #tma #the magnus archives #tma podcast #magpod #mag 38 #lost and found #tma season one #tma season 1 #magnus archives season one #the spiral #adhd

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jouxlskaard · 1 month

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he managed to get a selfie before the ECDC showed up

addition: a humble introduction to Creepy Ring Doorbell Elias (credit to my friend Pickles you are incredibly cursed and amazing for suggsting this)

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lostenzz · 10 months

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MINOR TMA SPOILERS AND SCOPOPHOBIA

RAHHH MY DESIGN OF JON THROUGH ALL THE SEASONS

I swear if some people point out some details i have as headcanons i WILL implode, this is a threat /pos

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snubbullls · 4 months

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Gosh I hope nothing bad happens to this lovely group of people

#the magnus archives #the magnus protocol #tma season one #tma podcast #tma fanart #In honor of my mom's favorite podcast getting a sequel today <3 #jon sims #jon archivist #martin blackwood #elias bouchard #sasha james #tim stoker

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jewishnightvale · 1 year

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I posted something to r/advice on Reddit, pretending I was Martin in early season 1, and people are taking it seriously..

#the magnus archives #tma #tma season one #tma s1 #martin blackwood #magnuspod #rusty quill tma #guys i’m actually losing my shit #the people responding thinking they’re giving real advice #like girl i’m lying through my teeth rn but thank you #office job roleplay time #casually dropped the part abt workplace deaths in and somehow no one has called me on it

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pisscentral · 12 days

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i have been listening to (and a fan of) the magnus archives since july of 2023.

almost a year.

i am not proud of what i have become

#i am honestly so sick of myself #i am not seeing the gates #tma #the magnus archives #my art #digital art #doesn’t deserve to be considered art #magpod #tma shitpost #tma season one #jonathan sims #martin blackwood #tim stoker #sasha james #elias bouchard

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mxd-mortells · 1 year

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Jon really couldn't have anything, mans couldn't even hate a guy in peace. NO he had to fall deeply in love with him and spend the rest of his life just absolutely eating his words

#listening to s1 is so funny #“martin is so annoying i hate him” sure you do Jon #tma #tma spoilers #tma season one #jonmartin #jon sims #martin blackwood #my post #This mortells coil

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kald-dal-art · 4 months

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Bringing back this series hi. Trying to do a proper relisten of the series, so have the first 4 episodes of TMA posters. Hopefully manages to do all the episodes of the first season 🤞

Ko-Fi

#the magnus archives #tma #tma podcast #tma season one #tma angler fish #nathan watts #joshua gillespie #amy patel #graham folger #dominic swain #mike crew #artists on tumblr #fan art #digital art #procreate #tma art #the magnus archive fanart #rusty quill #tma fanart

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my-magnus-rabbithole · 2 months

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So I'm like 80% of the way through tma season 1 and currently I'm absolutely loving the cast. We have:

tired archivist who is so nonchalant when it comes to death I think there might be a deeper psychological problem there,

his coworker who once broke into an apartment buildings basement twice in one day,

a woman that was willing to follow an obviously non human dude into a cemetery with basically no hesitation,

a dude who has used the institutes funds to bribe nurses for information more than once, and

their boss, who is obviously not telling them something about their late coworkers death.

Honorable mentions go to:

the worm infested woman that is hunting/haunting them,

and said not human dude - Michael, he's chill.

#tma s1 #the magnus archives #jonathan sims #martin blackwood #sasha james #tim stoker #elias bouchard #jane prentiss #tma season one

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hauntedhotel · 2 years

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With hindsight tma season one is hilarious because Jon is constantly criticising Martin for being crap at his job but actually neither of them know what they're doing and neither of them can afford to admit it because Martin is terrified of drawing too much attention to himself in case people realise all his qualifications and experience is bullshit and Jon is so stubborn he's determined to be good at a job he has no idea how to do that he got through a promotion he knows he didn't deserve and isn't even sure he wants. But it means that half their interactions are presumably just:

Jon: Martin, I need you to follow up on this statement by harassing this witness/breaking into a person's house/digging up further information on them through morally dubious means.

Martin:

#tma #the magnus archives #jonathan sims #martin blackwood #tma season one #tma spoilers #sort of #hotel talks about tma

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the-lantern-lights · 1 year

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i have feelings for your s1 jon design.

(This was meant to be a doodle but it got out of hand)

((I’m not making comics for the time travel au but I do love drawing them))

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g1rlb0yatth3v4mp1r3m4n510n · 4 months

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Tim and Sasha :D

#tma #the magnus archives #tma fanart #magpod #sasha james #sasha tma #tma season one #tma s1 #tma season 1 #tim stoker #timothy stoker #tim tma #tma tim #timsasha #my art #btw he’s trans to me!!!!!#art

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