CINEMATIC :: 02/03/16 - Design Preparation

Met with the tutors today to discuss what we had planned for our project.  Overall we have a very solid idea of a person sitting down to meditate, the third eye opening and the spirit leaving the body as a particle simulation.  It attempts to cross the threshold from our mundane world into the spirit world, a vast, cosmic place with spiritual creatures roaming about just beyond.  When it reaches the threshold, it hesitates/is interrupted (not sure yet) and ends up returning to the body as it draws the attention of a creature (or creatures), which turn terrifying and fierce.

SCRIPT:
The script is still in the works, but we should have a final one tomorrow!  I'll post it here once its been shared around.

SCHEDULE:
This is the schedule we've worked out, but its more of a guideline than set in stone.  I'm sure Jo is going to keep us on track if we fall behind.

DESIGN IDEAS:
Since I haven't felt as though I could contribute anything to our script, I spent today making sure Oscar approved of my ideas for the monster designs and working on a moodboard for the spiritual realm.  Oscar has asked for something vast and cosmic, full of stars, nebula pillars, trees and a lake.  Floating islands were another idea, and we have decided to incorporate a parallax effect to make things feel as though they're moving through space in their own time.

Below are the sorts of things I feel would work well in this idea of a cosmic realm:

As you can see, stars and colors are quite important!  I erred toward cooler tones - deep blues and purples with green and cyan, but another thing I looked into was textures of things and stylization of the landscape.  I feel like the cosmic realm should have a very natural feel to it so we've been playing with the idea organic shapes and fluid movements.  I feel like the textures and patterns in natural gemstones would play a really nice role in influencing this world, particularly in gems like the various forms of opal, and labradorite, or formations of one mineral on another.  I've also been inspired by more man-made crystals such as aura quartz, bismuth and goldstone.

Keat mentioned today that I would also have to think about how the cosmic world would change when the spirits became aware of the human soul or the soul hesitated and drew their attention.  He told me I would have to think about how the place would become darker and what I would do to accentuate the danger aspect.  So tomorrow I plan on doing another mood board in order to think out the dangerous version of the cosmos, and one to work out the kind of shapes and animals that I would like to base the creatures off.

Hamish mentioned that the style of both the creatures and the matte painted world would have to look the same and flow together, so I might do a third moodboard just for stylization.  I plan to use the weekend to sketch up a few concepts and see which my group likes best.

INTERACTIVE NARRATIVE :: Gameblogging 01

Does your chosen game make user input feel meaningful in terms of story direction and progression? Why or why not?

The conflict and central story of Facade is staged very clearly – The PC's friends,Trip and Grace are in an unhappy marriage as they fight before the PC arrives, they make passive aggressive remarks to one another while they're trying to be hospitable, and eventually break out into a full scale confrontation that the PC must mediate in an attempt to meet a peaceful outcome... or so I would assume.

My playthrough ended with Grace leaving before Trip could confess that he was having an affair, and though I answered as personably and as honestly as the real me would have in the situation, I didn't feel like my input had any strong or lasting effect on either character and that this ending was inevitable. They seemed so argumentative over seemingly insignificant things and gave off the impression that they hated each other so much that it honestly left me feeling helpless to even try to solve anything between the two of them. Half the time what I typed went completely ignored or Trip and Grace just side-eyed each other awkwardly like they weren't sure what I meant. Other times I would try to help one or the other, only to accidentally interrupt them or answer a question that I hadn't heard and didn't mean to answer. Grace asked for a lot of yes/no answers, and simply interpreted my words as yes or no depending on if I had a negative or positvely associated word in it – I kept typing 'you shouldn't be fighting' and the AI interpreted it as me telling her she shouldn't feel like she was important or she shouldn't want to be an artist. It felt like my answers only mattered when I insinuated 'yes' or 'no' and everything else I said was inconsequential.

From what I gathered of the story, Grace was mad that Trip wanted to go on vacation all the time? Trip was mad that Grace was always angry and frigid? It felt like the pettiest conflict but over the course of my playthrough, I couldn't figure out whether there was any deeper meaning to it, though I felt like there had to be. I feel like this game is a case of too much player freedom and not enough actual player interaction. Realistic as standing around in a modern setting and talking is, its neither immersive nor stimulating to feel like the player's words don't mean anything and that the AI is only acting on key phrases.

CINEMATIC :: 02/03/16 - Scripting and pre production

Monday saw us getting organized into groups and choosing the roles that each of us would have.  Out of the following in our team, our role holders are:

DIRECTOR - Oscar
PRODUCER - Jo
HEAD OF 3D - Hamish

Me and Tea will be handling the mattepainting and 2D animation aspects for this project, as we have chosen to go with Oscar's project suggestion of someone reaching enlightenment in their meditation and their soul ascending to the spirit world.  Our live action character is the person meditating, our 3D object is the human soul and potentially the environment for the other world, and our animated characters are the spirits which dwell in the ether.

We've given each other today to work on improving and tweaking the script, but I really don't feel like I have much to add to it at this point.  Therefore I have been thinking about the kinds of creatures that we could incorporate on the spiritual world and what the interims might look like.  As I've been recording dreams and half asleep visions I've had for a few years now, I find some of the characters I've dreamed subconsciously quite fascinating and would love to incorporate similar designs into the creatures of our own project.  Here are a few I've drawn from 2012-2013

My own interpretation of the spirit world lines up with oscar's idea of how it should look as well, except in his mind its much brighter, more vibrant and with a lot less black.

I've also recently discovered Ebru painting, and feel like the process of creating droplets on water before swirling them into shapes and patterns would create a fluid and simple forms for a monster concept to be based around.

Overall, I guess I'd like my focus to be on character/creature design and bringing those to life more than anything else.  Of course I need to run my ideas by Oscar to see if they fit in with his vision, but I think overall these creatures need to be simple in shape, design and movement if we're going to have a handful of them in our final project.  I'm not entirely sure if my strengths lie in this area, but it is probably where the majority of my interest is for certain.

INTERACTIVE NARRATIVE :: Week 1 Questions

Wk1 Video Questions

TFX – Gaming Moment

1. What is the significance of the player coming up with a “gaming moment” or gaming narrative when playing a videogame?

The gaming moment helps to solidify the personal experience of the player, and adds to their understanding of the game itself. By discovering what they can and cannot do in the game, or experiencing something that is different to the proposed gameplay, the player learns where their boundaries lie and what they are able to do within them. It teaches the player how to play without holding their hand and giving direct instructions, allowing them to learn through their own mistakes and in-game choices and decisions.

2. Is my story of ejecting upside down a game narrative? If so, why? If not, why not?

Yes! Through ejecting upside down, you as the player are discovering limits and boundaries to the game and heightening your gaming experience. It also plays on the idea of a consequence of action narrative, in that the player character suffers quite graphically, especially for a game of this time period. The player experience also creates a story that can be spread to other players of the game, who may then go on to experience the event for themeselves in order to discern whether the original storyteller was being truthful and to create their own reaction to the situation.

3. What is one of your favourite game moments? Was it deliberate in the game, or did you come up with it through experimentation?

For me, one of the earliest gaming moments that has stuck with me was playing the old 16 bit game King's Quest I when I was very young. I'd watched my dad play the King's quest series many times, and through that understood that there were many different ways that the player could die. Playing the game was an anxiety inducing experience for me and my sister, as we were afraid of making mistakes or accidentally clicking in the wrong place to induce one of many pun-related deaths. At one point in the game, the protagonist, Graham, can enter a gingerbread cottage in order to obtain some items necessary to progress the story and potentially kill a witch. However, the witch captured us in her house and locked us in a tiny cell, which terrified us, and after a minute or so had passed, the scene cut to outside her cottage, where she emerged from the door holding a terrifying low graphic gingerbread version of Graham and placed it on her lawn alongside three gingerbread children. The terrifying part for me was the bulging marshmallow eyes on the Graham cracker and the screaming pixel mouth that he had – I had nightmares for weeks and because of that, I was determined to never get caught by the witch again. It was not a deliberate decision for us to remain in the witch's house when she returned home, we had no idea that she would interrupt our snooping. Weeks later one of my friends came over to visit and after my sister told her about the graham cracker incident, she proceeded to change my desktop wallpaper to a tiled version of graham's screaming cracker face.

Gamemakers Toolkit – Ico

1. What does Ico teach us about the relationship between narrative and design in videogames?

Ico's approach to design aims to show a very clear link between the elements within the game and the core concept that the game developer wanted to express. Everything within the game focuses or reflects the core concept of the relationship and values of Ico and Yorda, and everything that did not relate to this concept in some significant way was removed in order to keep the narrative strong and remind the player constantly of what they and the characters were aiming to achieve, creating a very strong sense of immersion through the prevaling power of the game's ideals and goals.

2. What are the benefits of “minimalist” design? Can you think of other games that are minimalist?
   Minimalistic design places focus on the key concept and morals of the story, strengthening it by providing no distraction or deviation from the central ideas or goals. The minimalistic approach can create a greater sense of aesthetic and is a concept that is seldom used in most video games today, generating interest for not adhering to the standard and offering a different way to experience a story.
   
   Fez is referenced as a similar minimalistic game in the video that places emphasis on rotating the world and taking a new perspective.
   
   A similar game known as Loved could be considered minimalist, as it is a 2D platformer with one core dynamic – there is a voice telling your character who it is and what they should do. As long as you obey, the world sharpens and desaturates creating an empty but logical world. The more you disobey, the brighter and more muddled the game gets, blocks of color covering walls and obstacles to the point that color is all you see. The game parallels the emotions found in one experiencing an abusive relationship.

Thomas was Alone is another game that has been recommended to me, which is a platformer done in a very minimalistic pixel style where the characters are bits of program shaped like rectangles. They have no physical human features though their given names and personalities creates a personable link to the player. The player moves these rectangles through portal doorways at the ends of a 2D platforming stage, and as the rectangles progress, storyline is achieved.

CINEMATIC :: 26/02/16 - Script/Moodboard

Spent today's cinematic lesson working on both a script for one of my chosen ideas, as well as a mood board.  I've chosen to go with the SPIRIT JOURNEY idea from yesterday's post, since I really can't pass up the opportunity to design both a charming ocarina and a really regal looking monster.  I may do some sketches over the weekend to strengthen my concept a little more, depending on the feedback i receive from my tutors later on today.

Just to recap:

SPIRIT JOURNEY

A human (live action) makes their way up an enormous mountain, all the way to the highest peak.  They take a plain but oddly shaped bird whistle/ocarina (3D object) from their pocket and blow a tune which summons an enormous swirling beast/yokai from the clouds.  Possession of the whistle implies that the human has control over the massive, awe inspiring creature, as it bows its head and allows them to climb upon its back before dancing and swirling away into the clouds.  After seeing nothing but sky for several moments, the clouds part revealing a (matte painted?) different landscape or spiritual city.  The human gasps and stares in awe, whispering that they never believed such a place to exist and that they had finally arrived at the world of their dreams before the listening creature flicks them off its back with a ripple of its spine.  The human screams as they fall to earth, cut short by the monster swooping down to devour them.

MOODBOARD

My moodboard contains some inspiration for the creature, the kind of landscape I envision for this project, color palettes and pendant ocarinas.  Ideas for the live action protagonist have been left out, mainly because I am having trouble envisioning them and am unsure if this would be set in a more modern or traditional setting.

SCRIPT

EXT:  A WINDING PATH UP A MOUNTAIN.  CAREFULLY PLACED ROCKS AND PATCHES OF BAMBOO LINE AN OVERGROWN BUT STILL VISIBLE PATH.

ESTABLISHING SHOT: A FIGURE WALKS ALONG THE WINDING PATH, LEANING HEAVILY ON A LARGE STAFF.

BIRD'S EYE SHOT:  THE FIGURE WALKS ALONG ANOTHER SEGMENT OF MOUNTAIN.  HE PAUSES TO VIEW THE LANDSCAPE OF THE VALLEY BELOW BEFORE WIPING HIS BROW AND WALKING OFF SCREEN.

WIDE SHOT:  THE FIGURE REACHES THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN AND STANDS FOR A MOMENT.  THE WIND BLOWS THROUGH HIS CLOTHES.  HE SETS THE STAFF DOWN AND LOOKS AT THE VAST EXPANSE OF SKY.

CLOSE UP:  THE FIGURE REACHES INTO HIS CLOTHES AND DRAWS OUT A SMALL BIRD OCARINA

EXTREME CLOSE UP:  THE FIGURE'S HANDS LIFT THE OCARINA TO HIS LIPS.  HE BEGINS TO PLAY A SIMPLE BUT HAUNTING TUNE.

WIDE SHOT:  AN EMPTY EXPANSE OF SKY.  THE MELODY CARRIES ON A WHISPERING WIND.  AN ENORMOUS SPIRIT/BEAST/YOKAI FLOATS ACROSS THE SCREEN, ANSWERING THE CALL OF THE OCARINA.

WIDE SHOT:  THE FIGURE STANDS ON THE MOUNTAIN AS THE CREATURE TWISTS AND COILS BEFORE HIM, HOVERING IN THE SKY ABOVE THE MOUNTAIN'S PEAK.

MID SHOT:  THE FIGURE'S EYES WIDEN AND HE GASPS SOFTLY.  SLOWLY HE REACHES A HAND OUT TO THE SPIRIT AS THE CAMERA PANS OVER TO SHOW THE CREATURE CLOSING ITS EYES AND BUTTING ITS HEAD GENTLY INTO HIS HAND.

WANDERER:  I never imagined the legends were true…

HE STROKES THE CREATURE'S HEAD GENTLY AS HE STARES IN WONDER AT HIS OCARINA.  HIS HEAD JERKS UP TO GAZE INTO THE CREATURE'S EYES.

Please!  I must see the spirit realm!

EXTREME CLOSE UP:  THE CREATURE'S EYE WITH WANDERER REFLECTED INSIDE IT.  IT BLINKS SLOWLY AND THOUGHTFULLY.

MID SHOT:  THE CREATURE TWISTS ITS BODY, SHIFTING SO THAT THE COILS OF ITS BULK SETTLE UPON THE MOUNTAIN.  WANDERER GASPS, A HUGE SMILE BREAKING ACROSS HIS FACE AS HE RUSHES FORWARD TO CLIMB UP AND SETTLES HIMSELF ON ITS BACK.

WIDE SHOT:  THE CREATURE RISES SLOWLY, A SHUDDER RUNNING THROUGH ITS BODY AS IT LAUNCHES ITSELF INTO THE AIR AND SWIRLS AWAY INTO THE DISTANCE.

MID SHOT:  THE CREATURE FLOATS THROUGH THE CLOUDS WITH A WIDE-EYED WANDERER ON ITS BACK.  WANDERER IS LOOKING AROUND IN AMAZEMENT AT THE SKY AND THE CLOUDS, UNABLE TO BELIEVE HE IS FLYING ON A TRUE SPIRIT.

CLOUDS THICKEN AS THEY JOURNEY ON, THE SKY FADING TO A SOFT GREEN, THE CLOUDS TAKING ON PASTEL TONES OF PINK AND ORANGE.

THE CLOUDS EVENTUALLY PART, REVEALING AN UNFAMILIAR LANDSCAPE.  FROM ABOVE IT LOOKS LIKE AN ENORMOUS ZEN GARDEN, DOTTED HERE AND THERE WITH SMALL VILLAGES AND TINY ANTHROPOMORPHIC PEOPLE.  FOX-FIRE DOTS THE LANDSCAPE.

WANDERER:  STARES ENRAPTURED, A LIGHTHEARTED LAUGH ESCAPING HIM.

It truly exists!  The realm of the spirits where wishes come true!  My hopes and dreams, my fame and fortune!!  Soon it will all be realized!

HE CONTINUES TO LAUGH, GROWING MORE AND MORE EXCITED, CLAPPING HIS HANDS AND CONGRATULATING HIMSELF.

We must descend!  Please, fly lower!

CLOSE UP:  THE CREATURE'S EYE LAZILY ROLLS BACK TO LOOK AT THE HUMAN ON ITS BACK.  A SMILE PULLS AT ITS MOUTH, REVEALING DANGEROUSLY POINTED TEETH AND BLOOD RED GUMS.  A VIOLENT SHUDDER RUNS THROUGH ITS BODY, ITS BACK ARCHING SUDDENLY TO FLICK WANDERER INTO THE AIR.

BIRD'S EYE SHOT:  WANDERER SCREAMS, STARTLED AND SURPRISED TO SUDDENLY FIND HIMSELF FALLING TO EARTH.  THE CREATURE SWOOPS IN FROM THE SIDE OF THE SCREEN, SNAPPING HIM UP AND DEVOURING HIM IN A SINGLE BITE AS THE SCREEN TURNS BLACK.

CREATURE:  CHUCKLING SOFTLY

You asked to see the spirit realm, and so you have.  But that is where my obligation ends.

CINEMATIC :: 25/02/16 - Story ideas

Teams were sorted out today and I'm really pleased with the people I've been assigned to!  Tea, Jo, Hamish and Oscar all have similar a similar aesthetic and sense of style, which makes me feel like we'll all work very well in a team together.

We were asked to come up with five stories, one of which we would develop into a script to be submitted on Monday.  The following are the general ideas that I've had:

• MAGIC MIRROR - The protagonist (liveaction) finds an ornate mirror (3D object) while exploring a quiet arcade/alley/block of shops.  Upon approaching it and looking closely at it, they discover their reflection is something/someone completely different (animated character - I proposed to make it the protagonist's fursona in order to imply the ills and stereotypes associated with the furry community).  After mimicking each other's movements for a few moments, the protagonist places their hand on the mirror's surface and is immediately grabbed by the animated character on the other side.  The mirror swells and bulges as the animated character struggles to pull the live action character through it, though the protagonist manages to break away from the animated character's grasp.  Stumbling backwards, they stare at the mirror in shock and horror before turning and running away.
  
• MAGICAL GIRL - The protagonist (liveaction) undergoes a transformation from a mundane and ordinary human to a magical superhero with the aid of a compact/wand/orb (3D object). To make it work, it is thrown in the air and releases a visual effect which wraps around the hero Sailor Moon-style and completes their transformation with an elaborate costume change.  Once her transformation is complete, she twirls on the spot and strikes a pose, pointing directly at an enormous monster (animated character) that is destroying/devouring the surroundings, telling it that it is not welcome here and that she is here to vanquish it.  She then proceeds to do so in the most dramatic way possible.
  
• VIDEO GAME - A less developed idea that features the protagonist (live action) playing a video game and doing very terribly at it.  After dying a million times, the poor character in the game (animated) gets so frustrated and fed up that they break the game's programming and throw something from the nearby environment (3D object) out of the TV where it hits the protagonist in the head.  This is followed by the animated character snarling curses and proceeding to finish the level themselves while the protagonist stares dumbfounded and rubbing their face.
  
• FAIRYTALE FABLE - Another less developed idea that features a hunter in the forest (live action) who shoots an arrow (3D object) at a mysterious and mythical bird with feathers made of rose blooms (animated character).  The creature curses him as it dies, and he transforms into a hideous monster.
  
• PON PON PON - No definite idea here, but I considered doing something inspired by Kyary Pamyu Pamyu's music videos
  
• SPIRIT JOURNEY - A human (live action) makes their way up an enormous mountain, all the way to the highest peak.  They take a plain but oddly shaped bird whistle/ocarina (3D object) from their pocket and blow a tune which summons an enormous swirling beast/yokai from the clouds.  Possession of the whistle implies that the human has control over the massive, awe inspiring creature, as it bows its head and allows them to climb upon its back before dancing and swirling away into the clouds.  After seeing nothing but sky for several moments, the clouds part revealing a (mattepainted?) different landscape or spiritual city.  The human gasps and stares in awe, whispering that they never believed such a place to exist and that they had finally arrived at the world of their dreams before the listening creature flicks them off its back with a ripple of its spine.  The human screams as they fall to earth, cut short by the monster swooping down to devour them.

In terms of which story I want to develop further, the first and last in that list are the most detailed ones that I have.  Both stories appeal to me very much, so it is possible I might just write scripts for the two of them and submit whichever one sounds better and more polished by the end.

LIFE DRAWING :: 23/02/16 - Week 1