Saturday, 2 March 2013

The Gazebo (Log 3: Characters & Dilemmas)

(March 2nd, Mild Sunny)

Characters in The Gazebo are all very much influenced by and represents certain weight of dilemmas and tragedies. This also plays a big part in the solving of each in-game realm; the environments are catered to the different character's personalities, each one serving different purposes and poses different conflicts. I also designed them in a way that looks recognizable from one another, be it in terms of shape, color, size or feel.


I'll divide this into sections just simply because its easier for everyone to browse, including me.

Characters & Dilemmas:
Protagonist
Antagonist
Recurring Characters
Plot Characters

Protagonist
Tryp 

Final Version of Tryp, slightly an older version than initially intended.


Early conception, was meant to resemble the kid from 'The Omen' and a young Thom Yorke.


Antagonist

(TO BE CREATED)
I have no idea at this point who or what the villain is going to be just yet, but I do believe a good story needs a good conflict and although technically all the Plot characters represents this intent; I still think having a main psychotic baddie is always a plus especially in an almost JRPG-esque feel game like this.

Recurring Characters
There are 6 main recurring characters that Tryp will bump into time and time again in The Gazebo world.

The Puppet
Semar
A shadow Puppet that wants to stop living in the shadow. Semar is a comic relief in the entire journey and often does silly and morbid jokes, but is also a very insightful and knowledgeable individual.
Only exist in Gazebo worlds as Tryp’s shadow and guide.

(In-game guide, Padawan is the one player will refer to for objectives in a current gazebo level and also level hints) 






The Musician
(Only in Black & White)
Jean
A wise street musician - the only person in the game without an apparent dilemma or tragedy. Jean is very fond about the idea of space, time and communication, he also plays his guitar for the nearby Illuna trees to hear.
He hangs out under an Illuna tree in the central part of Bloom Town.

(Serves as a background-storyteller and hints for upcoming events)

Final look of Jean, very suave - his serenades will tickle your braincells

Jean is modelled after Django (Jean) Reindhart - as a homage to the godfather of Gypsy Swing

Left & middle; Jean where you find him in the game - under an Illuna tree.
Right; Jean's guitar - resembling him with them Frenchy moustache-like design.

Early Sketches of Jean

The Traveler
Trevall
An aimless traveler, also a peddler. A calm but troubled introvert who travels around in search of a purpose. Trevall starts out just indifferent, but as encounters gets more often, he starts to get more and more agitated by his tragedy of being lost & free.
Can be found in many places throughout The Gazebo realm.

(This character sells items to Tryp in exchange for currency points.)



 Final B&W design for Trevall, just nerdy, introverted & brave enough for the Gazebo world travelling

Left: The pants are cool but they made him look TOO cool, and he ain't that kind of peddler

Right: He looks like he just wasn't into it in this...
So I scratched this, but kept the overall feel - the cap, glasses, jacket, bag and boots

The Pilot
(Only in Black & White)
Ludwig
An old man that lives on a blind Whale-Dugon’s back; on a mutual ground – that he utilize the Dugon as his extension of maneuverability, and that the Dugon  depends on him as its ‘eyes’.
First found beneath the Mansion area of Bloom Town. When befriended, appears wherever the Whale Whistle is played in Bloom Town’s edges.
(Once befriended, he and the Whale-Dugong functions as a form of transport within Bloom Town world)
Final version of The Pilot, he's very zen

His coat wore a crest that resembles the Dugon-Hut
Initially the pilot wasn't even crippled, but its not a fair dilemma if only the Dugon that has psychical disability, so I broke the old man's right leg.

And the 
Whale-Dugon
(Only in Black & White)
Oscar
The Dugon is blind and not just psychically, but also metaphorically, its a very gentle creature so not only does it have scratches on its skin; they are also present in its soul, the old pilot is its best mate and they've been taking care of each other for timeless. it also grew so large due to the spacious nature of the environment its in.
Final version of the Dugon, just ginormously sensitive enough

Left: The first final version was too colourful and jolly for this tortured being

Right: Final profile design

The hut that sits on the Dugon's back was built on barnacle layers that grew on the back - therefore no harm was really done to the Dugon itself

The Aardvark
An Aardvark, with the whole universe in it!




Plot Characters (So far)

The Superficial
Maschera
A person with many layers, mask and personalities. A generally hostile character, but changes personality depending on the character its ‘donning’ at the time. Its true form consists of only a blank mask on its face, because it had forgotten its true self.



 Final B&W look of the masked-being, you'll never know who he/ she is
The final mask designs serves as a face even when its upside down,
this helps keep the ambiguity of the character

The early 4 layer of truth design; 
the 4th being a Shield to represent Defensiveness
3rd being a Demon to represent Hostility
2nd being a Goblin to represent Mischievousness
and lastly the 1st layer which is also last, Blank-Mask to represent Superficialness.


The Astronaut
The Astronaut
The space explorer that dreams of being in outer space but misses home.



Final B&W design of the Astronaut, simple and orbity


The Twins
Lunna & Solla
(description to be updated)


Current look of the twins, still tweaking
Wanted to make them a siamese twins at some point, but not really working, so meh...

Lunna (Left) & Solla (Right)



The Scarecrow & Flightless Crow



The Reflection of one’s own
A corrupted, cubist looking Tryp that has mirrors as his eyes.


The Gazebo (Log 2: Updates)

There are 8 other characters that I've designed for The Gazebo, this will be dicussed in more detail on my next log. But its nice to see my characters slowly coming together.


Bloomtown
The Black & White town is finally named, the name comes from the words Bleak and Gloomy.

Rough 1st Bloomtown scene in the game

Concept of Bloomtown street & Illuna Plants

Illuna

Concept of Illuna plants, further detail will be in the digitally developed pieces


More sketches and early concept of the Illuna Tree.





The Gazebo (Log 1: Re-entering the gate)

I explored the initial idea and research for The Gazebo in my last year's log and since its been almost 4 or 5 months since my last log on this topic (been really busy) - there are naturally many things that I missed and would not have the time to dig up and post here, therefore I'll be only posting main concepts and developments and some of my random extravagant discoveries along the way. So hold on to your private parts and lets go.

before I start i'd like to share the craziest and best OST from an amazing game that I'm currently playing, Just click here -> Earthbound/ Mother 2 OST and you're welcome!

'The Gazebo' is the title of my BA8 project for my 3rd yr in NUA (Yes its called NUA now! so weird!). This project involves me creating a document for an original game idea, putting various types and amount of work  into it; in my case a game document (made up of narrative, concept art, gameplay mechanics, scenes, research & influence, etc), a video-demo of some kind/ storyboard-video and music.

I thought its best to first introduce the concept by showing bits and pieces from the Early draft-document & some from my pitch presentation slides.







None of the concept art to this point is the complete/ final version, so lots of things were improved and explored further.

to be continued on the next log!









2013 (Cosmic Couch, The Gazebo & My Random Indulgence)

Having not posted anything in a looooooong time, I decided to sort things out today and post the main things I have done so far in 2013.

Starting with my doodles to set myself the standard of my work for this year in January and then about The Gazebo (my current BA8 year 3 Project) and Cosmic Couch (Dare To Be Digital competition), this 2 will be explored more in detail in the next post - up till the point of where ever I'm currently at.

Random Doodles/ Practice/ Random Indulgence

Hayden in Red
(The very first piece I did for 2013)

Django in Grey
(Django Reindhart, grandmaster of Gypsy Swing)

Tyra in Pink
(Not into Tyra Banks, but I love this pose)


Foxx in Green
(Django Unchained is defo QT's best film yet)


Kurdt
(Kurt Cobain, one of the reason why I picked up guitar) 

Kurt in Blue
(Young Kurt Cobain)

Kurt in Abstract
(Trying my hands on a more abstract approach)

Everyone Is Full Of Sheep
(One of my proudest work portraying harsh reality)

Counting Sheep
(Product of insomnia)

Fats Weller in Brown
(Fondling with more abstract approach yet again)




Rainy Daze
(Drawn during Xmas 2012, from this ref http://komarr.deviantart.com/art/rainy-day-285020855
and she resembles my gf! I printed this and gave it to her eventually.)

Nqi
(Moar of my serious-faced lady)


A tree
(I'm not sure why...)

A Big Balloon
(Drawn a while back in 2012, but still remains as one of my fav piece)

Saturday, 20 October 2012

3rd Year Log 2


Friday 19/10/12

A few reference books that I ordered just arrived and although I have only browsed through some of them; 
I found quite a few interesting facts and artist to discuss in this log. The followings are some of them that I’m covering today;



Surrealism by Cathrin Klingsohr-Leroy
The book starts of with “SURREALISM, noun, pure psychic automatism by which it is intended to express, either verbally or in writing, or otherwise, the true function of thought. Thought dictated in the absence of all control exerted by reason, and outside all aesthetic or moral preoccupations.”pg 6

As I have only skimmed through the book at this point, I looked up 2 familiar artists that I know and realized they had an interesting similar principal in their work.

Rene Magritte shared that, “My painting is visible images which conceal nothing; they evoke mystery. … Mystery means nothing either, it is unknownable.” Pg 64. Similarly, Giorgio De Chirico quoted, “… the work of art must have neither reason nor logic. In this way it approaches the dream and the mind of the child.” Pg 32. I can see what this great painters are saying; that to bring out the purity of the art, it is best not be tainted with unnecessary message or ‘noble’ meanings behind it, like how a deaf/ blind could create better (because he could not hear nor see the world around him, therefore what he create is purely of his perception eg. Ludwig Van Beethoven and his disability in hearing). However I don’t necessarily agree totally with them because I have grown up not by experiencing art or music as a technical and perceptive medium, but as an immersion whereby a concept and atmosphere are the keys. Therefore, to certain extent I agree with their views, but I guess its more like a Video-Killed-The-Radio-Star problem; whereby in fact by utilizing the aid of music videos one can further enhance a song; either to be doubly worse or brilliantly better. Similarly one can use a concept in art as both a tool of disaster or masterpiece. I found a quote from Dali that expresses this, “I think I am, in what I create, a rather mediocre painter. What I regard as brilliant is my vision, not what I actually create. “ pg 42.

Rene Magritte


Son Of Man


The Door To Freedom


Intermission


More random Artists quotes from the book,

“It used to be that the painters were mad and the picture-buyers clever. Now the painters are clever and the picture-buyers mad.”
Giorgio De Chirico, pg 34


“A painter is lost when he finds himself”
Max Ernst, pg 48

“Painting always has one foot in architecture, on foot in dreams.”
Matta, pg 72

“Art is a lie that allows us to see the truth.”
Pablo Picasso, pg 88

“Give me two hours a day of activity, and I’ll take the other twenty-two in dreams.”
Luis Bunuel, pg 18

“The secret of art lies in the fact that one seeks not, but finds it.”
Pablo Picasso, pg 20


Expressionism by Norbert Wolf
This book is about the earliest precursors of the Modern Art Movement. Vincent Van Gogh was the one and only painter I am familiar with in this book, however I am glad because this book opened up so MANY doors, so many that I am literally ecstatic when I stumble upon painters like Max Beckman, who’s paintings are very full of agony and movement and a subtle sense of cubism. Lyonel Feininger, George Grosz, Ernst Ludgwig Kirchner, who were all cubist artist. However I’ve hit the jackpot when I learned about Ludwig Meidner, who’s paintings I first saw on page 24 of the book, with a painting called, The Corner House (Villa Kochmann, Dresden) and that was it. I had since been looking at his various works and just am simply astound by the sense of exaggeration and movements in his paintings, they are also very dark, often expressing the times of war that he was in at the time. I will be doing some exercise of this style and feature it as level s concept in my game.

 Ludwig Meidner

The Corner House

The Burning Factory

Apocalyptic Landscape
  
Apocalyptic Landscape (Nr. Halensee Railway Station)

Berlin

Essentially I have by now discovered 2 painters from the opposite ends of the Modern Art Spectrum, which I can study more and apply to my game idea. Giorgio De Chirico style is very atmospheric, full of long shots, very photographic, very calming and often depicts a place where time has stopped flowing; it is also very often monochromatic and uses a lot more harmonious combinations of color. This could be applied to a more exploration-based levels or represents the creepier more atmospheric area in the game, possibly some that involves passive puzzles.

On the other hand, Ludwig Meidner’s style is very kinetic, full of movements, a controlled chaos, visual insanity at its finest; often using a more complentary and ‘loud’ choice of color, also often depicting a very disturbing apocalyptic realities.
This could be applied to a more action based level, so in contrast to the Chirico style; this would in turn be like the 2 realms in Silent Hill series, where you have one calm atmospheric reality and another which is completely bizarre and intense.