Zebra R&D for 'The Birds.'

I've joined the third year film 'The Birds' with the task of creating a stampeding herd of zebra charging across the African plains, as they said in their words, 'because I'm quite good at quadrupeds.' I couldn't turn down the opportunity to actually be tasked with drawing a massive herd of horses but before even beginning to look at R&D of zebras I knew that horses and zebras, although from the same family, aren't totally alike. Their build and gait movement are slightly different so although I have a decades worth of experience drawing horses, I have zero experience when it comes to zebra.

Their height difference was important too as this affects build appearance and muscle structure. My initial drawings were just figuring out the specifics: what they look like, stripe configuration, ear shape and height.

 

 

I also did basic comparison drawings of a horse and a zebra so I could see how head shape and joint length varied.

Below is the rough sketch of a horse.

 

 

 

And then the zebra:

 

 

What differs the two is the shorter neck but slightly larger head on the zebra along with the stockier legs with very little difference in abdominal structure to the horse. The significant variation in both is obviously their purpose: horses were evolved by man to be ridden or pull carts etc so they have stronger muscle builds and run faster. A zebra's only purpose is to survive on the African plains so although they can't run as fast as horses, their exceptional stamina means they can run for miles without tiring. And then there's also the stripes for camouflage and confusing the predators as several zebra seem to mould into one.

 

I've played around with style but haven't settled on a definite look yet. Below are my designs which will be finalised soon with the director and producer before I look at movement.