Modelling

This is the animation I did for modelling history as I know it.

Group Project Concept

Story Genre: Dystopian Cyberpunk

The initial idea was Neon-Noir. Neon being the 80s cyberpunk dystopian world and Noir being the style of how the story is going to unfold.

The game will showcase a Cyberpunk narrative set in a dystopian future. It also features film noir elements. The noir elements will be present in the form of lighting, shots and tone to compliment the world that the game it is set in.

Cyberpunk and noir work together really well because cyberpunk narratives reflect the nuclear anxiety of the 60s-80s during the cold war. Nuclear anxiety caused social unrest during that time and this gave rise to neo noir narratives similar to how the post war and depression era gave rise to noir narratives.

Refrences include Robocop, Akira, Bladerunner, Cyber City Oedo 808, Snowpiercer

Story Theme/s: Capitalism, Greed, Corruption, Poverty, Crime, Mystery/Conspiracy, Hierarchy/Caste System, Utopia/Dystopia equilibrium

The themes that the story would be about will reflect in how the world looks rather than explicitly telling the state of the world through NPC interaction. They could exist as micro narrative elements that could tell something about the bigger world without explicitly showing/narrating the things that are going on. These could be clues in the form of posters, ads, or tv-screens.

The film Robocop (1987) did this really well through the satirical news and advertisements that provide exposition for the world that they live in. Often the news hint at the nuclear anxiety that the world is experiencing. The film itself just shows one aspect of the world which is a city in a state of unrest and plagued with crime to which the only solution was....Robocop!

Game Genre: Puzzle, Action

The game features a fictional alternative power source called "Neon" which is central to both the story and the mechanics of the game.

Why is Neon important?

After the war, people suffered the effects of nuclear fallout. But thanks to the advancement in technology, dysfunctional body parts can now be replaced by artificial ones. These artificial body parts have become a common commodity given the state of the world. But the only power source that can power these parts is Neon. Neon not only powers these parts but also reduces the rate of degeneration caused by radiation poisoning.

Neon was at first a radical solution. But the corrupt capitalists and government exploited this power source to keep themselves rich. But through the years, the effect of the fallout declined steadily. The corrupt government needed an alternative so that they could stay on top and keep on controlling the hierarchy of the society.

The level would take place in a shady storage where an alleged stolen crate of neon is being kept which turns out to be a black market den. This would be the level wherein the protagonist first encounters Noir. The protagonist will have to use Noir in order to progress and continue his investigation because some areas can only be accessed by using Noir. Neon and Noir will be used interchangeably to access different sections of this black market den.

Traps may exist in the form of traps set by the leader of the gang as he appears on the screen showing his control over the place. Or they could be environment traps animated as gang members hiding behind walls that the main character has to deactivate. Basically environment traps that are set to look like a shootout.

Setting: 80s vision of the future, New Lodz

New Lodz is a city divided into the upper and lower class. The game level will mostly feature the lower class portion of the city. It is a polluted and cramped space full of man made structures. Features of the well structured upper class areas can be seen throughout these areas to hint of what people hope to accomplish but it is but a hopeless dream in this tired world of theirs.

Aesthetic: Stylized

Music: 80s Synth

References include Kavinsky, Daft Punk, Noir Deco

Character Moodboard:

Style Moodboard:

Embodiment

I made a rough animation about Oscar's favourite childhood memory for our embodiment animation exercise. His favourite childhood memory was when his mum painted his and his brother's room as a jungle like that of Where the Wild Things Are.

Unity Level Design Basics

Some material and lighting practice in Unity.

Cubemap Skybox

6 Sided Skybox

Procedural Skybox

Then I tried lighting the stairs I made. I made new stairs too.

Unity Level Design Basics

Another practice in Unity.

Unity Level Design Basics

I built a magical castle with a fancy staircase in Unity. I reckon this exercise is really helpful for getting familiar with the Unity program. I reckon before we get into the nitty, gritty stuff, building levels with simple shapes would be helpful to construct the actual level itself; the path that needs to be taken.

Transdisciplinary Animation Ideas

I was really struggling to come up with an idea for my transdisciplinary animation. So I started looking into history because it was my 2nd favourite subject in high school, art being my favourite of course. I thought of the different themes they tackle in historical movies. Then I thought of how these themes could be used in different stories for my animation narrative. I then thought about how the story could be told, what genre/s they can be told. Then I thought about mixing genres and how it's like a chemical reaction. At the end, I ended up going with chemistry for my discipline. I haven't decided yet about which aspect of this discipline I'm going to use for my project but I came up with ideas about what I'm going to animate. The idea so far is about colour change in chemical reactions. Mixing two genres to create another one. The idea so far is to use colour opacity to show that. Each colour would represent a genre and they would mix with each other and go through some sort of chemical reaction. My idea for this project is about genre mixing but utilizing an aspect/aspects of chemistry for the animation. I still have to research about the processes are involved in chemical reaction to expand my knowledge and also my ideas for my project but it's a start.

Narrative wise, genre mixing in itself could tell stories. I do enjoy watching Marvel movies and one thing that they've done really well is mixing genres. I like how they mixed the superhero genre with just about anything to suit the narrative they are telling. Captain America: Civil War mixed the superhero genre with the political genre. I never expected to see superheroes and geopolitics in a movie.

Using what I learned from the synesthesia exercise that we did, I wanted to show the visual feel of chemical reactions through colours and animation. In saying that, chemical reactions are visual themselves. But I want to use a certain aspect of it so I can show visually genre mixing. I reckon genres can be represented through different colours. I'm going to use Marvel movies for example cause I really like them. What's awesome about it is that they exist in one world but different aspects of this world exist. For example, the vibrant and wacky colours of space in Guardians of the Galaxy. The blue world of politics in Captain America movies. And then there's the gray area of Daredevil and Jessica Jones as street level heroes.

 I still have to do more research to expand my ideas and utilize that research to make my transdisciplinary animation work.

Patterning

A quick animation I did for patterning.

Level Design Thumbnails

These are my thumbnail sketches. My idea about these sketches is that a parasitic plant has grown in a nursery and releases pores that turn humans into zombies. For some reason (probably medication) an attendant wasn't affected by it. He/she now has to battle zombie nurses, doctors and babies.

I coloured one of the sketches I did. 

The purple atmosphere is the indicator of the plant pores in the air. The flowers are the parts releasing the pores. The rattle would be an indicator that a zombie baby is present. Rattles can also be heard to further support their presence.

Comic Remix

This is the comic remix I did.

Games as Hypertext Activities

Exercise #1: Tome

This is the tome I made for a fan-fic about Transformers in a post apocalyptic Earth.
The first one is an in-game mock up of the tome. The second one is the message itself.

Exercise #2: Flavour Text

The Unholy Redemption

Forged from the depths of hell, this weapon is imbued with the most unholy hellfire. This sword was wielded by the Blood Scourge to free himself from his Demon masters, fighting fire with fire.


Exercise #3: Steampunk Item

I also made my steampunk item a cursed weapon. It isn't really steampunk, it's more like post apocalyptic diesel punk but close enough I guess.

Experimental Animation

For this experimental animation, I ate a seaweed biscuit. It tasted like corn and it was really smooth. I thought of it as being rich yellow in colour and has the spiked taste of corn. It dissolved really smoothly too.