BA1a Weekly Journal WordPress URL: maciek827885805.wordpress.com - PowerPoint Presentation

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BA1aWeekly Journal

WordPress URL: maciek827885805.wordpress.com

Maciej Nowakowski

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Anne-Louis

Girodet

de

Roussy-Trioson

, ‘Burial of Atala’, (1808)

Benjamin

Carre, ‘Dark Time’ (Comic cover)

Light analysis

This is a comic cover by Benjamin Carré, a French illustrator. In this illustration it’s clear that the main light source is the fire/lava below and in front of Darth Vader, illuminating the front of his body. Carré used orange, brown and white tones to show the reflections of the fire on Vader’s armour as well as on the underside of the cliff. The light that is shining onto the underside of the cliff is also bouncing off and illuminating Vader’s right arm slightly as well as creating strips of light on the back of his helmet. The dark, blue sky is complementary with the orange and yellow fire creating a huge contrast between the top and bottom of the painting making the fire appear even brighter and hotter.

In this painting from the 17

th century, there is a light source present in the form of the sun far out in the background in the top left corner. The sun is shining into the cave and directly onto Atala (the lady). Everything except her legs are illuminated causing her to come across as a pure and warm-hearted person. The contrast between her bright, white dress and the darker brown tones within the cave make her stand out causing her to be the focus of the painting.

The light bouncing off her dress is also slightly illuminating the right wall of the cave, giving the impression that she is literally glowing with light.

In general, the painting consists of dark, earthy colours such as browns, greys and dark greens, however, the man sitting down on the left has an orange loincloth which completely contrasts with the dark left wall of the cave. The two most important figures in the painting have aspects that contrast with the overall tone of the background, making them stand out creating a relationship between the two.

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Composition Analysis

This is a painting by Rembrandt depicting ‘

The

Rising of Lazarus’

. The painting seems to fit into the cross composition. The painting seems to be divided into four sections; the top left contains Christ with his hand up as well as a group of people who are much more illuminated than all the other sections of the painting. Lazarus rising from his grave is in contrast with the lighter left side of the painting. The left side contains more dark on light tones while the right has light on dark tones such as Lazarus’ white robe and the golden/brown swords hanging from the wall.

Using the rule of thirds, it is clear that the parts of the painting that are in or near the focal points stand out the most and therefore are more important than the subjects in the background. Christ and his hand are in one of the focal points, immediately getting attention of the viewer. Similarly, Lazarus, the crowd on the left, as well as the hanging swords are located near the focal points making them pop out more.

This is a painting by Johannes Vermeer, called ‘

The Art of Painting’

, also known as 

‘The Allegory of Painting’, or ‘Painter in his Studio’. The curtain and the chair in the foreground fit into the ‘L’ composition creating depth and fitting the scene of the studio into another frame. Although the curtain has some bright hues like oranges and yellows, it has quite dark values compared to the rest of the painting creating contrast.

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Ahindhil

, The Forest’s Guardians - Marie

Magny

Colour Theory

The colour harmony used in this digital painting is analogous, using three simultaneous hues on the wheel. The artist has used brown, green and cyan; a subdued harmony, which consists of hues found in natural settings. The colours of this painting are balanced because the brown dominates, green supports and the cyan accents.

The character is wearing armour that is predominantly brown, with green tones being blended in to represent the inspiration of vines and nature on the design of the armour. The saturation of the colours used is quite low, making the colours not very bright and subtle which gives the painting a natural and organic feel, again, reflecting the character’s background and purpose.

GUN - Jakub

Rebelka

The colour harmony used in this digital painting is complementary, where two hues directly opposite on the colour wheel are being used. The different tones of orange in the foreground and blue in the background create massive contrast making the subject very sharp and prominent; it jumps out at the viewer immediately. The colours aren’t really balanced that well, the different tones of orange, red and brown in the foreground seem very chaotic and it’s difficult to see the different shapes and the form of the massive machine/robot as well its pilot. This chaotic look and the use of orange can represent the chaotic and possibly dangerous nature of this character as he’s controlling a massive war machine. The saturation of both the blue and orange is quite intense, mimicking the aggressiveness of the character being depicted.

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Top 5 games:

Rocket League

Crash Bandicoot

Rainbow 6: Siege

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CSGO)Portal 2     Games such as Rocket League, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow 6: Siege and Counter-Strike were designed as highly competitive online games. The nature of these games allows better players to advance through the ranks and play against players with a similar level of skill allowing them to keep improving. These games fit perfectly into the category of

Agon; they are based on the rivalry between the main characters (players).

These games also fit into the category of mimicry because the player is put into the place of a character (in first-person shooters they view the world through the perspective of the character) creating an immersive experience. Portal 2, Rainbow 6: Siege and Counter-Strike are especially good at making the player believe they are in control and truly part of the game world due to the first-person perspective. In a sense, all the games listed above can fit into the category of ilinx as they all provide the player with the feeling of panic at some point. The competitive nature of Rainbow 6: Siege, CSGO and Rocket League creates the feeling of panic especially when, for example, a player is outnumbered by the opposing team. On the other hand, Portal 2 is a single-player game, so it relies on the storyline to create moments of vertigo. There is a chapter of the story where the player must run away from the antagonist while the environment around them falls apart invoking panic in the player. Certain aspects of Crash Bandicoot also provide vertigo, for example, there are certain levels where the player must run towards the camera and away from a big bear to survive, creating rush of adrenaline and a feeling of panic.On the scale of Paedia (spontaneous play) to Ludus (controlled play), these games are all close to the Ludus side due to the games having set rules and limitations. The closest game to Ludus is Crash Bandicoot, it has linear levels, which are always the same, no matter how many times they are repeated. There is usually only one way to finish a level in Crash Bandicoot, which is accomplished by reaching the destination by navigating through the level in the way the game wants. Rainbow 6: Siege, CSGO and Rocket League are all in a similar place on the scale, situated close to Ludus. They all have customisation options, let the player have their own playstyle by providing different characters or assets such as guns. However, there are set levels and even though there are different options for characters and assets, they are limited.  Agon (conflict)

Alea (chance)Mimicry

Ilinx (vertigo)Rainbow 6: SiegeX XXRocket LeagueX XXCounter-Strike: Global OffensiveX XXPortal 2  XXCrash Bandicoot  XX

Caillois’ Categories

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‘The World of Wrestling’ by Roland Barthes Analysis

In his essay about the world of wrestling, Roland Barthes looks at wrestling as if it’s a form of theatre and it being an act rather than a sport. He mentions wrestling is based upon a sign system, each element of wrestling (from the wrestler’s physique to his gestures) needs to indicate “an absolute clarity, since one must always understand everything on the spot”. Barthes continues to compare wrestling to theatre and that it isn’t a sport but a spectacle, where the audience is not concerned with “what it thinks but what it sees”.

He then compares wrestling to boxing and judo, however, unlike those sports, wrestling has no winner and the goal of the wrestler isn’t to win but to “go through the motions which are expected of him”; this sounds very similar to acting. Barthes describes that the bastard or villain is usually the sufferer in wrestling, and that the body of the bastard sums up all his “actions, his treacheries, cruelties and acts of cowardice”. He says that “the physique of the wrestlers therefore constitutes a basic sign, which like a seed contains the whole fight”. The costumes, much like those of the theatre, represent the play of wrestling.

In relation to games, the myth of wrestling is similar to games because essentially both are based upon a sign system where absolute clarity is important. While playing, the player(s) need to understand everything on the spot, much like while watching wrestling. Also, many game characters as well as their personality are represented by the way they look, much like the villain’s physique in wrestling sums up his acts cruelty, treachery etc.

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Character analysis -

Mäyrä’s

ideas of ‘Core and Shell’

Doctor Neo Cortex

: the main antagonist of the Crash Bandicoot series. He has been the archenemy of Crash (main character) since his first appearance in the game Crash Bandicoot. Cortex is depicted as a mad scientist and terrorist who craves nothing but world domination as an act of vengeance for his suffering in the past. Cortex embodies many of the classic traits of psychopathy, being short-tempered, reckless, having no apparent conscience, and frequently manipulating others to get what he wants.In the first game, the first cutscene the player sees shows Cortex experimenting on and mutating local animals to create an army to aid him in world domination, Crash is one of those animals, however he manages to escape. This cutscene gives the player motivation and a reason to try and stop Cortex. Straight away, Cortex is depicted as evil, cruel and dangerous.Cortex was created by 2 game designers; Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin. They came up with the idea of an “evil genius villain with a big head” who was “all about his attitude and his minions”. They mentioned that the animated television series ‘

Pinky and the Brain’ slightly influenced Cortex’s big head. When describing their new villain to character designer Charles

Zembillas, Gavin and Rubin said Cortex has a “huge head but a tiny body, he’s a mad scientist and dresses a bit like a Nazi from the Jetsons”.Cortex’s aesthetic qualities really add to his psychopathic personality which helps create a meaningful player experience because the character is well designed and thus more engaging.

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Propp’s Functions

In Portal 2, several of Propp’s spheres of actions are present, however, nearing the end of the game, they change. The main character (

Chell

) who is controlled by the player, fits into the ‘victim hero’ category.

Chell has been captured and used as a test subject by the corporation Aperture Science which is run by the artificial intelligence GLaDOS (the villain). Right at the start of the game, the player meets Wheatley, a ‘personality core’ (a robot created to give AI personality) which tries to help the player to escape the Aperture Science facility, making Wheatley the ‘helper’.Wheatley helps the player sabotage the facility, confront GLaDOS and perform a core exchange, replacing GLaDOS with Wheatley as the lab controller. This is when Propp’s functions shift. Wheatley becomes mad with power and becomes the villain while

GLaDOS becomes the helper. The spheres of action change, however, the personalities of the characters don’t. Even though

GLaDOS is forced to become the helper, her cold personality doesn’t change until the very end of the game. This supports Propp’s idea that the characters are categorised by what they do and not who they are.

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Human Centred Design – Strong/Ineffective Creative Communication with Players

Dead by Daylight

Dead by Daylight is a horror survival game which relies on strong creative communication to help the player escape the grasp of a serial killer. The signifiers and affordances that it provides help the player perform certain actions as well as lead the player away from the killer.

For example, the player(s) need to repair several generators to get the power up and running to allow them to open the gate and escape. While repairing these generators, the player needs to complete a ‘skill-check mini game’ (

Figure 1). They must press the spacebar every time the red mark hovers over the black/white bar until the generator is repaired. This is a well-known skill game which doesn’t require explanation, making this signifier discernible yet simple. On their first try, most players would understand what to do, making this heads-up-display signifier effective. Also, if the player miss-times the spacebar press and instead presses it while the red mark isn’t hovering over the bar, the generator slightly explodes and lets the killer know of your location using sound.Additionally, as a survivor, you can tell whether the killer is nearby because of a sound signifier. When the killer is in close vicinity of a player, the player can hear a heartbeat, and the closer the killer is, the quicker the heartbeat. This helps the player navigate and hide around the dark map.

Figure 1: A player repairing one of the generators; the skill game clearly displayed in the middle

Batman: Arkham Asylum/Arkham City/Arkham Knight/Arkham OriginsIn the Batman games, there is a very important signifier that lets the player know, while fighting, when to perform a dodge or a counter-attack to beat his enemies. Enemies who are going to attack the player will have blue indicators around their head, telling the player when to block and perform a counter-attack. The indicators are clear, and visible, making it easy for the player to react to them. This signifier is discernible and allows the gameplay to flow. Also, different types of attacks have different coloured indicators, for example, an attack which can’t be blocked or countered (but must be dodged) will have yellow indicators instead of blue ones. The different colours are easily distinguishable making this signifier effective at communicating information to the player. 

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Week 1 – Container

I started my silhouettes by creating pre-existing shapes such as bottles or backpacks to see if I could get some inspiration to create unique shapes. Since I don’t have any experience of creating silhouettes, I created some basic shapes first and slowly started making them more complex. This eventually gave me back some unique silhouettes that I could use in my iterations.

I particularly like this vase-like design: I will most likely bring this design alongside some others into the iteration process. Before going into iteration, I need to create some more complex and unique ideas first.

I learned how to use the symmetry tool in Photoshop and began to create more complex shapes to create more interesting silhouettes I’d be able to bring into iterations. Also, as my experience with Photoshop and using a tablet improve, you can clearly see the improvement in the complexity of the silhouettes.

So far, these are my favourite iterations. I used different styles of mechanical legs for each one, and slightly changed the shape of the chest in the middle to make them unique.

Concept Art Weekly Reflection

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Week 2 – Container (cont.)

I started to add in more detail and shading into my iterations to help me visualise and understand all the different shapes I’ve created. From the iterations that I have now, I particularly like the idea of a slime monster/alien container at the bottom because it would be an actual living organism which would open and close its mouth to allow people to store things in it.

I got the influence of a living organism for a container from the ‘mimic chests’ in various games such as Dungeons & Dragons. However, my container will not be able to move and won’t be hostile like the mimic chests from D&D.

I decided to give my container a green, slimy texture to make him resemble some sort of alien as with most modern adaptations of aliens, they usually tend to be a shade of green. Its texture is inspired by the sticky and oozy slime that can be made using glue, water and sodium tetraborate.

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Week 3 – Bridge

For the bridge silhouettes, I learned to use a design software called Alchemy, which can easily generate ideas by adding the aspect of randomness to designs and taking away control from the user.

Using the different brushes and effects that Alchemy provides, I made several shapes that could possibly be used as bridge silhouettes. The Alchemy silhouettes gave me some initial ideas:

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Using Alchemy, I also created some thumbnails to come up with ideas for the in-situ.

Overall, I am happy with my use of Alchemy to generate ideas because it helped me design some of my favourite silhouettes. I possibly could have messed around with the different effects and brushes a bit more to create even more abstract ideas because I only have 13 silhouettes, however, I am happy with the quality of the silhouettes.

Week 3 – Bridge

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Week 3 – Bridge

I didn’t create many iterations because I was happy with the natural tree design on the left. I researched some bridges of different cultures and came across this Dragon Bridge located in Da Nang, Vietnam. This inspired me to create the silhouette of the crocodile bridge.

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Week 4 – Bridge (cont.)

From the iterations, I liked the idea of a tree stretching over a stream/river with stairs carved out of the centre of the tree.

I think that I portrayed the form and texture of the bridge pretty well in the model sheet, however, I should have payed more attention to the proportions of the branches as they seem to be slightly off.

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When planning my in-situ, I created 4 different thumbnails, 3 of which are located in woodland areas to because the bridge itself is a carved-out tree. I tried to use different perspectives to make the in-situ interesting and to show off the bridge well. I took into consideration the composition and made sure it wasn’t too basic or uninteresting, however, I feel like I could have researched composition more to understand it better and apply it to the thumbnails. I decided to go with the top left thumbnail because it seemed to be the most fitting environment for the bridge.

Week 4 – Bridge (cont.)

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Week 4 – Bridge (cont.)

Due to the bridge project running over into the character project on the fifth week, I didn’t finish shading the environment properly. Other than that, I am happy with the way the in-situ turned out.

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Week 5 – Character

Just like with the design of the bridge, I started to generate silhouette ideas using Alchemy. Playing around with the different effects, I created some rough silhouettes of characters from the story provided.

I tried creating a variety of characters with different body builds and outfits to give me a large range of ideas. I selected my favourite silhouettes, cleaned them up in Photoshop and separated them into groups of characters from the story.

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I was happy with how the silhouettes turned out. I had a good number of silhouettes for each character type and I think most of them are interesting and unique. From these, I picked out my favourites and went on to iterate them and make them fit into the Georgian Europe time period.

Week 5 – Character (cont.)

I picked out this monster silhouette because I thought it looked quite cool and interesting, however, while iterating, I realised it would be extremely difficult to make him fit into the Georgian Era, so I moved on to a different silhouette.

Since the girl in the story was an orphaned girl that ran away, I gave her some slightly torn, basic clothes. I wasn’t happy enough with these iterations to make them into a rendered model so went back to my silhouettes and picked out some more.

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Week 5 – Character (cont.)

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Week 5 – Character (cont.)

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Week 5 – Character (cont.)

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Week 5 – Character (cont.)

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I moved on to plan my in-situ and created four thumbnails each one with a different composition. The throne room idea, although it fits the character’s personality, is quite basic and there isn’t much going on making the idea quite boring. The second thumbnail doesn’t really reflect the character’s personality in any way, and although the composition is slightly more interesting than the first one, it’s still pretty bland. I particularly like the thumbnail in the bottom left corner because, the low angle shot makes the character look sinister and overpowering. Also, the burning forest in the background further emphasises his evil intentions.

Week 7 – Character (cont.)

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Evaluation

Overall, I think that all 3 of my projects turned out quite well and up to standard, however there are definitely quite a few areas that need improving. Firstly, I need to focus on improving my time management and organisational skills to make sure I don’t have to rush certain tasks in order to complete them on time. For example, the bridge task went a couple of days into week 5, meaning that I had less overall time for the character task. Being able to manage my time properly will improve the overall quality of my work. Considering that I only started using Photoshop since the beginning of the first task, I think that my general Photoshop skills have greatly improved, and I am much more efficient using Photoshop now than I was 8 weeks ago. Over time I have become more confident in using Photoshop, especially when shading. I think that in all 3 projects, the rendering of my work has been decent, however I need to take the time to understand light theory a bit more to make sure my shading is even better.

I also need to improve on my compositions, because the compositions I used for these tasks were quite simple and not very interesting. I will need to learn some of the different types of compositions and how they affect the painting, as well as improve my knowledge on lines and dynamic composition.

In my opinion, the model sheets are the best parts of my work so far because they’re thorough and well presented. The rendering on the model sheets is quite good, clearly depicting the shape and form of the models, making it easy to understand and model using a 3D software.

I think that my silhouette and iteration work is probably in need of improving the most. I struggle to come up with a lot of ideas with slight differences which limits me to only a couple of ideas per project. I improved my idea generation process slightly using Alchemy, however, even while using Alchemy I don’t generate enough silhouettes to satisfy me.