Research (Images / Videos / information )

Background Knowledge 

I have always had an interest in Asian culture, mainly Chinese and southeast Asian culture, but in the past few years have become increasingly interested in Mongolian traditions and history.

 I already had some knowledge of Mongolia I have traveled to china and seen the Great wall which was built to divide to great nations the Chinese and the Mongolians. I also read the three books by Con Igulden which focused on the life of Genghis Khan. The book explained that the people were tough the land was extreme and explained in detail how the people lived. These books are the main reason I wanted to make a short animation about this particular culture.

Mongolian Lifestyle

The Mongolians lived in Gers which were like tee pees of the native Americans, they are like huts. Their diet would consiste of milk blood and cheese. The people would be continually on the move following their herds to new grazing lands, this mean the people were physically fit and were quick on their feet. The people were warlike and would be very possessive over their possessions, as they were a people who acquired little therefore would aggressively protect what was there's. They were known to have a thirst for knowledge and an insatiable  curiosity, From a simple life the people traveled as far as Europe Mongolian people would travel with the army therefore witnessed many different nations. 

Religious Belief systems

The Mongols believed in one main God named Tengri, but also believed in spirits like the native americans and many shamanistic belief systems.  

What did they look like? 

The mongols were short, with heavy stout bodies and often bowlegged due to the amount of horse riding. they would have prominent cheek bones and often had large round heads the skin was tanned by the harsh weather.


Mongolian Landscape
The lanscape consisted of blistering winters and boiling summers. The sky is often a rich blue and the land consists of large mountain hill, forests and some of the land is desert.


Applying research into the film
The research often forms a basis for the story and characters, By doing this it give reason to the context of our film. Providing reason to why this Mongolian is hungry, why he looks like he does, and why he is so possessive over his tiny piece of chicken. 

 Film Reference 
 I was also inspired by the film Mongol. Which was a russian made film depicting the life of Genghis Khan . 

These are a few images depicting medieval Mongolia, The paper style background could be integrated to our film, to give the movie a traditional feel. We could also match these rustic, earthly colours to the movie.

I started researching, various characters of the film Mongolian men, Marmots and Eagles, as well as some of the props such as the Mongolian hut (Geer) 

Mongolian landscapes. 


The following videos, I found during the research process. I wanted everyone to get a feel and understanding of Mongolia, none of us had ever been to Mongolia so we were all trying soak up as much information as we could at this point. 

Ok guys the one above with Sm's style renders it would be good if we could combine Matt painting to get a really nice feel like this!! GO TO 0:09 GREAT TONES.



Hayley Posted this a while back. Its good for texture references and for Art styles.



Its good to remind us all what Mongolia is like.



More Scenic Reference