Selecting a final character

I chose to do some mock ups of how I wanted to portray my favourite characters. I looked mainly at atmosphere and colour and tried to get across the mood and feeling of each character with a suggestion of possible environment. 

During a Group Crit session last week it was pointed out to me that I kept going back to talk about one particular character. This was the second of the three shown. I feel that for myself it was the strongest character as

Solemn-Eyed

Model and Character Sheets

Iterate, Iterate, Explode

Notes: Composition Lecture and Application throughout BA1

I found the lecture very insightful and refer to the PDF on the VLE regularly. I decided to attempt to construct my environment thumbnails starting with rough guides from the lecture notes. I attempted combinations of golden spiral, rule of thirds, the cross and even the 'Nigel method'. I felt that it really helped me to compose better environments by having 'guides' over my work to really work into the best composition possible. I feel like I still have a lot of improvement but I am very happy with the progress I have made as a result of this lecture. 

Back to basics: Research for BA1

In hindsight I feel that the contextual research I was able to implement into my project was restricted by my choice to go down a much more fantasy and mythological route. I was given the time period 'Iron Age Britain'. My first thoughts were 'but what is an Iron Age Britain?' and so I began frantically researching the era. Staring at the overdue library book that I've read but a fraction of titled 'Celtic Connections' it is safe to say I struggled to connect with my time period but I DID find out some cool stuff.

After looking at hill forts and mud huts I decided that I didn't really want to go down a realistic route recreating what I consider to be a relatively dull period. I attempted to paint a typical Iron Age village and just looked in despair at the mess I created. I needed a niche. I went to the library and grabbed 'Celtic Connections'. After a brief flick through I thought there was no hope until I stumbled across druids and pretty trees. It was at this point I decided that I would take a more mythological approach to Iron Age Britain.

Iron Age Hill Fort Illustration, Google Images

When I started developing my silhouettes I was producing lots of druid inspired humanoids, hunched over witches and some ents for good measure. There was one silhouette that I fell in love with instantly and even more so after I began iteration. Inspired by the Celtic carvings and the Green Man mask I produced a malformed humanoid wearing a mask. In the beginning I imagined my deformed witch to be mostly human which had adapted to a darker environment. I could imagine the way she would crawl around and loved the idea of a gollumesque character.

Rendering multiple textures required multiple image references all found via Google

Upon further iteration I broke down the key characteristics of my character into categories of which I would further iterate. These included skin colour, skin texture, mask style, malformations and growths. For the growths I looked at a new concept to me, cordyceps - a type of fungi that attacks mainly insects and arthropods invading and eventually replacing soft tissue creating over 400 types of fungus to grow out of the body. I found it extremely uncomfortable to look at but found the concept fascinating. I played around with a few fungus themed iterations which worked well for my character. I also researched tumours and did 6 iterations of possible tumour formations on my characters back. The process was grim to say the least and I ended up using an image of a mucinous borderline ovarian tumour for reference (and learned some fancy words too). I did lots of research into Celtic illustrations to use for reference to develop my mask. I also looked at the legend of the green man and created a mask based on that character. After being inspired by the 'Sea of Stars' I started research into bioluminescence. I loved the idea that something natural could glow. I did some iterations where I played around with glowing cysts on the back of my witch character. The bioluminescence has been a present staple throughout the rest of my work, creating multiple light sources and dramatic atmosphere. The most relevant research I did for my environments was looking at lots of different trees which grew during the Iron Age. I looked closely at trees such as the Magog and Ashbrittle which are present in all of my environments. To make my environments more authentic and believable I researched caves and forests a lot, as well as referring constantly to notes on a composition lecture we received during the course of the project.

Sea of Stars

Magog Oak Tree

Contextual Studies Research Task and Perspectives on Play notes

'Every instance of play carries with it the seeds of transformative play.'

Katie Salen, Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals

Transformative play: If we accept Salen and Zimmerman’s definition of play as “the free movement within a more rigid structure,” transformative play then constitutes the free movement that then alters that rigid structure for others. Rather than playing by the rules, the player changes them for herself as well as others, thus permeating the magic circle. Game mods, manipulating game engines and even partaking in imaginary games where the rules and context may be altered at any point are all examples of transformative play. 

Research Task:

In teams of 4 select 4 different games from different eras. Answer given questions on selected games then present your findings to your class.

The game I chose was Dishonoured (2012) after many recommendations from friends. Despite owning the game I have never played it so I thought it was a good excuse to 'find out new things'. 

When and where was the game made?

It was officially released on September 28, 2012. The full Arkane team worked on the game which involved offices in Lyon, France, Austin and Texas.

How did the cultural background of the game influence it?

Dishonoured was originally set in medieval Japan however Arkane moved the setting to London in 1666. The mood of the game was partially inspired by the works of nineteenth-century artist John Atkinson Grimshaw depicting London scenes at night. The game was also inspired by late 19th and early 20th century London and Edinburgh. Edinburgh provided a sense of containment and a variety of architectural designs which when combined with a futuristic vision were thought to create something new and exciting. In game characters were inspired by illustrations from adventure and pirate stories such as Captain Blood 1922 and the work of Charles Dana Gibson as well as mugshots from Edwardian London and Australia. 

John Atkinson Grimshaw: Nightfall on the Thames, 1880

Charles Dana Gibson

What happens in the game?

The game is set in fictional, plague-ridden city on Dunwall. Dishonoured follows the story of Corvo Attano, bodyguard to the Empress of the Isles. He is framed for her murder and forced to become an assassin, seeking revenge on those who conspired against him. Corvo is aided in his quest by the Loyalists - a resistance group fighting to reclaim Dunwall, and the Outsider - a powerful being who imbues Corvo with magical abilities. 

Is play meaningful? How does the player’s interaction affect the rest of the game?

     The game is played from a first-person perspective and allows the player to undertake a series of missions in a variety of ways with an emphasis on player choice. Missions can be completed through stealth, combat, or a combination of both. Exploring each level opens new paths and alternatives for accomplishing mission goals with multiple outcomes. The story and missions are determined by the players actions. Magical abilities and equipment are designed to be combined to create new and varied effects.

  The player's actions are not judged to be good or evil, but instead are tracked by a "chaos" system that records the amounts of friendly fire, violence, and deaths the player causes. This modifies the game world, affecting the story without punishing the player or forcing them to choose one style of play over another.

   The game reacts to the chaos caused in scripted ways, such as changing dialogue, increasing the presence of rats and plagued citizens and adding new scenes. This can affect the active mission and future missions.

Does the game offer the player opportunities for transformative play?

Dishonoured features role-playing elements such as the ability to upgrade powers with the addition of the ability to make moral choices throughout the game with a focus on non-linear consequences. The game is designed to allow the player to complete it without killing any non-player characters including boss characters and mission targets. Each mission contains multiple ways to explore and reach targets. Exploration of levels is designed to support the character's abilities rather than specific paths that are aimed at a particular gameplay style. The game offers plays the ability to play the game in their own play style however is limited to the capacity of the game. The game offers mods over multiple platforms which would definitely enable transformative play.

 Where does the game fit on Caillois’ scale of ‘paedia’ to ‘ludus’?

Paedia meaning spontaneou snad Ludus meaning controlled play I would say that Dishonoured falls in a limbo between the two and it's definitely designed that way.  Whilst Dishonoured is a game which will always be at the mercy of the limits of game design it offers real time moral decision making which do affect the play style of the game. Whilst this is nothing new in modern games, think Skyrim and Fallout, they all share the same concept that there is an end game, which would definitely limit the paedia side of things. That said it cannot go directly under ludus because of the elements of paedia present. Dishonoured also features elements of Mimicry and Agon (dependant of your play style). 

Character Iteration #2 and Silhouettes #3 (20-52)

My second batch of silhouettes was a lot more loose than my first. I felt that to buy myself time I had to be more loose and illustrative with my silhouettes. The first 10 were hard and the last 20 came easier. I found 7 that I wanted to iterate from this batch and with the time I saved on the silhouettes I put into more detailed iteration. 

I am so glad to be over the silhouette stage of the project as I have so many more ideas for the iteration stage. My favourite iterations are the banshee, the first masked/cloaked figure and the tree/octopus. I think the masked figures and the wooden stag are influenced greatly from the temple spirits in the Legend of Zelda series and from the forest spirit in Princess Mononoko. 

From here I will select my favourite characters from both batches of character iterations and iterate them further, possibly doing a mini character portrait for each.

Character Iteration Batch #1

 

I couldn't be happier with my first batch of character iterations. I've found the process of developing silhouettes both rewarding and challenging. I've always felt that my biggest challenge other than the standard daily fight with anatomy was my 'lack of imagination'. The process has shown that I'm not as sqaure as I thought I was which means massive progress for me. I'm really shocked at how much the silhouette stage benefited my character development. I doubt that without following the criteria I would have been able to create any of my coloured iterations which still baffles me. 

I can't wait to do more silhouettes and hopefully more iteration. I would say my favourite from this batch is number 4 mainly because I have such a strong idea of how it would move and act as a character in a game or film that I've become weirdly attached to it. It's my little crazy tree man. For crazy tree man I used a brush in a strong colour with the colour dodge setting to create the strong colours around him. I know some might question why would I put the blue around him but I really like it and I imagine him to have a strange glowing aura. 

My little mushroom head child would make for a great witch and storyline however I feel that the character itself looks rather plain. I imagine her to have little leaves on her shoulders. The story I made up for her is that the witch intended to be killed my the soldier, and for him to eat her. When he eats her mushroom head out of desperate hunger he absorbs the spirit of the witch and goes on to dominate for the rest of the story.

It's late...

    

Light and stuff

Jeremy Mann 'A Long Abandoned Dream' Oil on Canvas

I've always been a massive fan of Jeremy Mann and his ability to combine beautiful abstract brush strokes with more refined detail giving his pieces a main focal point. A strong understanding of colour theory and light is present within all of his work making him a true master at what he does. In the piece, 'A long abandoned dream', Mann interprets an emotional atmosphere through the use of cold blue hues and juxtaposes these with a pale orange to really make the blue stand out and also to show where the main light source may be coming from. There are two pale orange sections of the painting, inside the right section is a very crudely painted white mark which I imagine to be a lightbulb and the shadows on the figure support that this could be the light source. Within the piece light bounces around the room and the cold tones suggest that the room is large. There is reflective light present as you can see the figures reflection in the mirror where in her reflection her back appears to be of a warmer tone, showing the warm light raidiating from the lightbulb onto her back and from her back to the mirror. With further examination there appears to be a secondary light source which could possibly be the second pale orange section. Mann's style makes it difficult to depict exactly what the light source is however following the shadows and direction of light it is evident that there are multiple light sources and lots of light reflection.

Character Silhouettes #1 (1-19)

My plan was to avoid producing any artwork until I knew I had done sufficient research on Iron Age Britain. I have yet to type up some of my notes and intend on doing a lot more research but wanted to try out a batch of silhouettes based around the research I have done about Celtic beliefs on gods and druids. 

This first batch is based around the character of the witch. I have incorporated a few different inspirations including my research on Celtic druids, Celtic mythology and a lady that I've seen wandering around Norwich. 

I started my silhouettes as little scribbly balls in Photoshop then I extended them when ideas came to mind. I wanted my silhouettes to take more form so I worked into them a lot and spent between 2-5 minutes on each. I worked back over some using texture brushes to both add and take away texture, giving some of the silhouettes a nice 'fading away' look. 

I really enjoyed this process and I will most certainly keep this for my next batch will be an extension of the witch character. I struggled a lot at first because I was challenging myself too much to try to create a whole new character for each silhouette but when I started developing ideas instead of making up new ones I got into the swing of things. At the top of the page I have selected my favourite characters which I intend to work on during the iteration stage of the project. I don't think I will do 100 silhouettes, I am aiming for more around 50-60 so that I can spend more time working into my silhouettes and on the iterations. 

Synopsis of The Tinderbox

A brief overview of Hans Christian Anderson's the Tinder Box

A soldier returning from war encounters a witch with a tempting proposition - she will bathe him in riches in return for a small seemingly meaningless tinder box. The soldier does her bidding enduring a confrontation with three separate dogs each guarding chests and each with larger eyes than the next. Although the dogs are said to be vicious the witch gifts him her apron on which he places the dogs so that he should not fear them. Upon his return to the witch he questions the value of the tinder box assuming it must be of notable significance to be exchanged for a chest filled with gold. The witch refuses to divulge this information and the soldier ruthlessly beheads her and steals the tinder box. 

For some time the soldier enjoys unimaginable wealth until, one day, he is left freezing cold with nothing but the memory of a stub of a candle left inside the tinder box. As he uses the tinder box to light the candle one of the dogs mentioned before runs to his aid. He requests that the dog brings him money and the dog returns with a sack of gold. After returning to his previous wealth he enjoys socialising and hears of a beautiful princess locked in a tower due to a prophecy that one day she will marry a common soldier. The soldier is obsessed with this and decides to use the tinder box to bring the princess to him. The soldier summons a dog to collect her and she later speaks of 'dreams' of riding on a large dogs back into the night. The King hears of these 'dreams' and asks her maid to keep a watchful eye over the princess. The maid sees the dog and princess following them quietly. After seeing the dog and princess enter the inn where the solider stays she marks the door with a white cross. The dog sees the maid marking the door and marks the rest of the doors in the town. When the King and Queen return the next day they cannot find the correct inn. The Queen produces a silk bag filled with flour and ties it to the princess's neck and cuts a hole in the bottom so that a trail is left behind. The dog does not observe this and the following day the King and Queen arrest the solder. 

The King and Queen decide to behead the soldier and on the day of his hanging the soldier sees a young shoemaker's boy passing by from his cell. He calls the boy and offers him money in return for his tinder box from the Inn where he left it. The shoemaker's boy collects and returns the tinder box in exchange for money. The soldier is brought outside to be beheaded in front of the whole town. The King offers the solider one last gift from the world of which the soldier requests one last pipe. The soldier strikes his tinder box three times and summons all three dogs. The dogs toss the King, Queen and executioners up in the air from which they fall to their deaths. The soldier then assumes power and takes the princess as his wife and they live happily ever after.

Analysis

The Tinder Box follows the story of a man blinded by lust and greed toxically combined with a lack of morals and a ruthless animalistic approach to life. For me the story is a cynical indulgence, designed to highlight Anderson’s flippant views on money and the role it plays within society. Possibly the most notable aspect of the story is the brutal lack of morals. Anderson challenges society’s need for moralistic fairy tales and replaces that happy ending with something that leaves the reader with the theory that uncontrollable greed will end up working out well for you.

There are several ongoing issues throughout the story, the main being the constant display of greed throughout – not just from the soldier, but the people who follow him whilst he is wealthy. In the story it is noted that whilst the soldier has lots of money he is flocked by well-wishers which turn their backs on him when he loses everything. This highlights the fickleness and pretentiousness that comes with wealth and prestige. Lust plays a part in this corrupt tale in the reflection of the soldier’s obsession with the princess. Without having met the damsel his obsession stems purely from descriptions of her beauty. Manipulation concludes the story as the soldier uses his cunning ways to manipulate a young boy to bring him his tinder box which leads onto his eventual escape and gaining of power.

To conclude the story is an interesting one – as far as fairy tales go it shares many similarities with its better known counterparts however what interests me most is the issues it raises about the role money and greed plays within society as well as the preconceived idea that all stories must have a happy ending. The soldier is a fascinating character as he has many relatable qualities such as cunning, greed and an irrational streak. The soldier symbolises everything society frowns upon however many of his traits are indeed hard to avoid completely – he serves as a reminder that no one is perfect. The witch is a confusing character. Many would assume that the witch would possess something that would aid her against the soldier’s vicious attack, however she seemed completely defenceless. I think that in this case there could be a link between the prophecy of the soldier and the princess, and the witch. I would love to develop the witch’s character further on the pretence that she did not fully reach her demise. Combining my knowledge of the Celtic beliefs, in the Celtic version of the Tinder Box the witch could have simply been posing as a spirit of the forest and upon her supposed demise she may have returned as her other self.

I am going to further explore Iron Age Britain and the Celtic culture then alter the story to fit my era. At present I imagine the soldier to appear somewhere between Khal Drogo and William Wallis (Mel Gibson), the witch to be in the form of a forest spirit / druid and the dogs to be giant metal statues of which the eyes are made from different precious gems. 

BA1 - Concept Visualisation - Project 1 Introduction

BA1 Project 1 has been set and couldn't be more excited to get started. The project brief was to read the short story / fable, The Tinderbox, and develop a character from the story with a twist. We were each given in addition to the brief a set time period of which to base our chosen character around. I was given 'Iron Age Britain' which I admit terrified me at first however two weeks down the line and after tedious hours on Google / in the library I think that this era suits me best.

To lead up to our final character design and final pieces we also have a range of criteria that we must meet before the deadline of 21st November 2014:

• A brief synopsis of the story, The Tinderbox
• A minimum of 50 character silhouettes
• Development of silhouettes / character iterations 
• Model and character sheets
• Observational and imaginative environment studies
• Research portfolio
• Reflective journal / blog
• Final character piece
• Two final environment pieces no smaller than 2200*1300 pixels (one to include character)

Environment concept work must include:

• 4 x thumbnail sketches 500*250 px showing only line work
• 4 x thumbnail sketches 500*250 px showing only tonal values
• 4 x thumbnail sketches 500*250 px showing only colour / colour relationships

Throughout the course of the project I will gather research from both primary and secondary sources to support both character and environment designs. I will document all research through journals and this blog ultimately posting most research here. 

I have a bundle of ideas and at present I am torn between developing characters based around the witch and the soldier in the Tinderbox. I am currently juggling university with a job and moving home, however I would love to be able to produce work for both characters. 

Throughout the blog I will post my notes at the bottom of relevant posts to keep everything in one place. 

Agôn, Alea, Mimicry and Ilinx

Roger Caillois (1913 - 1978) was a French writer and philosopher whose work combined philosophy, sociology and literary criticism, focusing on the diverse subjects of game and play. His influential book Man, Play and Games, 1961 (French, Les jeux et les hommes, 1958) focused on the sociology of play and games. Caillois builds on and critiques the theories of Johan Huizinga, a Dutch historian and cultural theorist, adding a more comprehensive review of play forms. Johan Huizinga formulates his theories on play in his book titled, Homo Ludens - 1938, of which Caillois challenges Huizinga's exclusion of bets and games of chance noting that "An outcome known in advance, with no possibility of error or surprise, clearly leading to an inescapable result, is incompatible with the nature of play". Caillois proposes a categorization of games consisting of 'four main rubrics' which are to depend on the dominance of either competition, chance, simulation or vertigo. Caillois calls these Agôn, Alea, Mimicry and Ilinx.

Agôn - Competition eg. football, chess

Alea - Chance eg. roulette, lottery

Mimicry - Simulation eg. pirate, hamlet, imaginative role play and make-believe in character

Ilinx - Vertigo eg. playful activities such as rapid movement or whirling which would cause a sense of dizziness and disorder

We were given the task to produce a table with Caillois's four categories and to add modern and classic games into the categories, explaining why we have done so. 

Agôn (Competition)	Alea (Chance)	Mimicry (Simulation)	Ilinx (Vertigo)
Chess – A classic competitive game of which both sides have equal chance at winning.	Lottery – Caillois criticised Huizinga for not including betting and gambling in his theories.	Sims – Possibly the most obvious choice as the word Sim is derived from simulation.	Spinning around on the spot – If it’s good enough for Caillois, it’s good enough for me.
Call of Duty – One of the most prestigious competitive games of current time. The games are set up so that both sides have equal chance at winning with the main clause of difference in ‘skill’ which you could argue shares similarities with the premise of mimicry.	Monopoly – Alea is the Latin name for the game of dice. Monopoly relies solely on the use of dice which makes it a game of chance. You aren’t roleplaying any kind of character despite having a metal counterpart so is therefore not also a game of mimicry.	World of Warcraft – A highly addictive game and the go to example of how people can use games as escapism. There are aspects within the game where you can focus primarily on either role play, player vs player or player vs computer which would give WoW the credentials to combine Agon, Alea and Mimicry however I feel personally that Mimicry is the strongest for myself.	Slender Man – Possibly the scariest game of all time assuming you know that it’s meant to be a scary game. Slender relies on the build-up of tension for the player as they explore levels. When Slender appears the player is so worked up by trying to avoid the lanky beast that the result of seeing him reduces them to a traumatised state.
Football – Another classic game. The game is designed with set rules so that both sides are at an equal advantage which is what makes the game so competitive.	Dungeons and Dragons – This is one of the biggest role-playing games of all time so it’s extremely acceptable to argue that it is mostly Mimicry, HOWEVER, as the game relies on the use of die I have placed it under this category. I am aware however that the game also relies on a dungeon master which some may argue again that it would place it under the Mimicry category, and to these people I say – When have you ever played D&D with less than 3 people? Caillois’s theory of placing games under categories is dependant of the most dominant category which is obviously the one of which it relies mostly upon.	The Kim Kardashian Game – The aim of the game is to become a top celebrity through completing a seemingly endless series of rather trivial pursuits. This game falls under the mimicry category simply because it is a roleplaying game no matter how seriously you take it, you’ve made an avatar that you are according to Kim Kardashian pretending to be.	Roundabout – If you’ve never been pushed around on one until you’ve felt sick then some may say you had a slightly less nauseated childhood.

I am aware that many games fall technically into more than one category however I have placed them under the categories that I feel they fall mostly into according to Caillois's theories and have stated the opposing categories.