Sunday, 29 May 2011
Tuesday, 24 May 2011
Sunday, 15 May 2011
Post-Pitch: HIV Concept
My new concept for the HIV particle. I wanted something in-organic and dangerous looking for the design. In terms of colour and texture, I wanted something rough like rusted metal.
Saturday, 14 May 2011
Post-Pitch: Music (WIP)
The pitch offered some mixed insight into my choice of music for the animation, but it seemed to be heading in the direction that it was too decorative. Admittedly it wasn't really establishing the tone that I was aiming for and the reason for that was that I was compelled to keep it away from anything that might suggest apocalyptic themes.
Post-Pitch: New Ideas
I've been mulling over my ideas for the animation and after everything that was said at the pitch I think I have an better idea of where I'm heading for the final animation.
Target Audience:
I've decided to widen the audience range in which my animation was originally designed for. I wanted to aim the animation for an A level target audience to begin with but now I'm leaning towards aiming it at teenagers in the age range of 14-18 years. There are a couple of reasons for this choice, but the foremost is that at this age, teenagers are becoming more aware of the world around them and the changes happening within their own bodies. They would be learning about drugs, sex, alcohol and infections from school (and other places) and as such I thought it would be appropriate to aim for this age range.
Style:
As my animation is being re-aimmed at 14-18 year olds I though it might be a good idea to change the style. Originally I had planned to make it solely for educational purposes for A level students for the purpose of a better understanding of what they were being taught. Now however my animation has to reach a larger audience of teenagers who will have no grasp on A level concepts.
I've been thinking of a way in which to solve this problem, so I strolled down memory lane to pick up on what lesson I was taught about infections like HIV. The two most dominant were science (Biology) and PSHE (Personal Social and Health Education). Thinking of PSHE reminded me of all the drug, alcohol and sex education videos we were put through watching and I'm now being drawn towards the idea of stylising my animation in a similar way. This way it would retain its educational merits and not have to go to the lengths of explaining and conveying some of the more complex concepts of HIV infection.
I also want to consider how the HIV gets into the bloodstream and have that as a rough starting point for the animation. I get the feeling that starting the scene with something sexually or pregnancy based could be received negatively, which leaves me with the needles! (Cringe)
In terms of the artistic style I want to withdraw the idea of an aquatic world in favour of something a little more reality based. As Peter said at the pitch HIV doesn't swim in the blood it is carried along with everything else. This means NO more bioluminescent fish themed viruses and cells! :D
Peter said at the brief that HIV was a foreign entity - effectively an alien - to the human body and I really want to play with that. As such I've been thinking of theming the animation with an 'Organic Vs. Inorganic' idea; man against machine sort of thing. I would keep the normal body cells to be organic looking so fluid, curved and natural shapes whilst the virus could be sharper and unnatural in form.
To Summarise:
Target audience - 14-18 year olds (still at school)
Style - Awareness education (similar to Sex Ed videos)
Art style - Organic Vs. Inorganic
Target Audience:
I've decided to widen the audience range in which my animation was originally designed for. I wanted to aim the animation for an A level target audience to begin with but now I'm leaning towards aiming it at teenagers in the age range of 14-18 years. There are a couple of reasons for this choice, but the foremost is that at this age, teenagers are becoming more aware of the world around them and the changes happening within their own bodies. They would be learning about drugs, sex, alcohol and infections from school (and other places) and as such I thought it would be appropriate to aim for this age range.
Style:
As my animation is being re-aimmed at 14-18 year olds I though it might be a good idea to change the style. Originally I had planned to make it solely for educational purposes for A level students for the purpose of a better understanding of what they were being taught. Now however my animation has to reach a larger audience of teenagers who will have no grasp on A level concepts.
I've been thinking of a way in which to solve this problem, so I strolled down memory lane to pick up on what lesson I was taught about infections like HIV. The two most dominant were science (Biology) and PSHE (Personal Social and Health Education). Thinking of PSHE reminded me of all the drug, alcohol and sex education videos we were put through watching and I'm now being drawn towards the idea of stylising my animation in a similar way. This way it would retain its educational merits and not have to go to the lengths of explaining and conveying some of the more complex concepts of HIV infection.
I also want to consider how the HIV gets into the bloodstream and have that as a rough starting point for the animation. I get the feeling that starting the scene with something sexually or pregnancy based could be received negatively, which leaves me with the needles! (Cringe)
In terms of the artistic style I want to withdraw the idea of an aquatic world in favour of something a little more reality based. As Peter said at the pitch HIV doesn't swim in the blood it is carried along with everything else. This means NO more bioluminescent fish themed viruses and cells! :D
Peter said at the brief that HIV was a foreign entity - effectively an alien - to the human body and I really want to play with that. As such I've been thinking of theming the animation with an 'Organic Vs. Inorganic' idea; man against machine sort of thing. I would keep the normal body cells to be organic looking so fluid, curved and natural shapes whilst the virus could be sharper and unnatural in form.
To Summarise:
Target audience - 14-18 year olds (still at school)
Style - Awareness education (similar to Sex Ed videos)
Art style - Organic Vs. Inorganic
Monday, 9 May 2011
Sunday, 8 May 2011
Saturday, 7 May 2011
Thursday, 5 May 2011
Tuesday, 3 May 2011
Bioluminescence
I particularly interested in capturing the glowing X-ray look of the images and videos I've been looking at and so I have turned my attention to bioluminescence. Seeing as this is an occurrence that takes place commonly with deep sea fish and creatures I thought it would be an appropriate way of designing the cells and virus. Bioluminescence gives that jelly appearance which I'm growing more and more fond of, because in effect the pictures of cells we see today have a similar aesthetic. There is also something that is really enchanting about bioluminescence that makes it beautiful to look at.
Scenes From Crysis 2
Considering how effective the virus in Crysis 2 is in terms of its design, I wanted to look more at how it operates. Here are a few scenes:
Monday, 2 May 2011
Aquatic/alien Combination
Remaining on the idea that cells and viruses hold interesting physical characteristics that hold the ideas of alienation and aquatic life I thought it would be interesting to see what is out there in terms of this interesting combination.
One example of an aquatic alien would be these shown in the Doctor Who special 'The Waters of Mars', in which the crew of a mars base become aquatic alien nightmares after exposure to what is said to be a virus frozen in an underground glacier on Mars. The infection is extremely quick and can be transmitted just by touching infected water (one drop is all it takes). The result ends up with the victim looking like this guy:
Perhaps a more recent example of an alien virus is the so called 'Manhattan Virus' seen in Crysis 2.
Created by the alien race the 'Ceph', a supposed aquatic species due to their gelatinous form, this virus is used for molecular breakdown, similar to the way HIV disables the immune system. The virus plays with this idea of aquatic origins in that its shape, and movement for that matter, are strikingly similar to that of a squid or octopus - it swims in its victims body fluids. In terms of colour it has an X-ray quality to it which is likely used to show how it functions and spreads.
One example of an aquatic alien would be these shown in the Doctor Who special 'The Waters of Mars', in which the crew of a mars base become aquatic alien nightmares after exposure to what is said to be a virus frozen in an underground glacier on Mars. The infection is extremely quick and can be transmitted just by touching infected water (one drop is all it takes). The result ends up with the victim looking like this guy:
Perhaps a more recent example of an alien virus is the so called 'Manhattan Virus' seen in Crysis 2.
Created by the alien race the 'Ceph', a supposed aquatic species due to their gelatinous form, this virus is used for molecular breakdown, similar to the way HIV disables the immune system. The virus plays with this idea of aquatic origins in that its shape, and movement for that matter, are strikingly similar to that of a squid or octopus - it swims in its victims body fluids. In terms of colour it has an X-ray quality to it which is likely used to show how it functions and spreads.