Final Major Project – Theme Ideas

Below is a list of themes that I want to explore before choosing a final design idea for my diorama. Beneath each theme, there are scenarios that are suitable for that scene as well as a list of games/films/books that I could look at for inspiration.

City

Scenarios

• Crime scene.
• Night Time.
• Early Morning.
• Car Crash.
• City in the sky. (Other cities in the background floating).
• Super Hero Battle.

Game/Film/Books/Environments Inspirations

• Bioshock Infinite (Game)
• Grand Theft Auto (Game)
• Life is Strange (Game)
• Fallout (Game)
• WatchDogs (Game)
• Payday (Game)
• Batman: Arkham (Game Series)
• Murdered Soul Suspect (Game)
• Prototype (Game)
• I.P.D (Film)
• The Avengers (Film)
• Captain America (Film)
• Iron Man (Film)
• Gotham (TV Series)
• The Walking Dead (TV Series)

Garage

Scenarios

• Vehicle parts everywhere but no vehicle.
• A vehicle with bullet holes.
• A vehicle being built/re-built.
• Vehicle buried underneath belongings.
• Old race vehicle dusty, trophies and posters covered in dust.
• Garage used as a social area.

Game/Film/Book/Environments Inspirations

• Life is Strange (Game)
• Grand Theft Auto (Game)
• Need for Speed (Game)
• Fallout (Game)
• Looney Tunes: Back in Action (Films)

Theme Park

Scenarios

• Isolated and abandoned.
• Working theme park.
• Video Game inspired theme park.
• Futuristic theme park.

Game/Film/Book/Environments Inspirations

• Sam and Max Hit the Road (Game)
• Medievil (Game)
• Left 4 Dead 2 (Game)
• Bioshock infinite (Game)
• The park (Game)
• Carnival Games (Game)
• Batman Arkham Knight DLC (Game)
• Grand Theft Auto (Game)
• Zombieland (Film)

Arctic

Scenarios

• (Showing signs of people living there).
• (Showing signs of damage from a wild animal).
• Secret government base hidden within the snow.
• Lonely cabin.

Game/Film/Book/Environments Inspirations

• The Thing (Film)
• The X Files (TV Series and Film)
• Tomb Raider: Legend (Game)
• Uncharted 2 (Game)
• Crash Bandicoot (Game)
• Star Wars Battlefront (Game)
• Star Wars (Film)
• Skyrim (Game)
• Harry Potter (Books)
• The Polar Express (Book and Film)
• Elf (Film)
• The Nightmare Before Christmas (Film)

Desert

Scenarios

• Equipment left from stranded people, skeleton remains on the floor.
• Broken down campervan.
• Animal living space.
• Secret area 51 base.

Game/Film/Book/Environments Inspiration

• 127 Hours (Film and True Story)
• Bear Grylls: Man VS Wild, Extreme Desert (TV Documentary)
• The Hills Have Eyes (Film)
• The Mummy (Film)
• Mad Max (Film)
• Fallout: New Vegas (Game)
• Jak 3 (Game)

Festival

Scenarios

• The aftermath of a festival.
• Festival setting up.
• Car/bench on a hill with a festival in the distance.
• Carnival at the festival, festival tents, stages etc.

Game/Film/Book/Environments Inspiration

• Download Festival. (Environment)
• Isle of Wight Festival. (Environment)
• (Environment)
• O2 Arena. (Environment)
• Sheffield Arena (Environment)
• Leeds First Direct Arena (Environment)
• Hellfest (Environment)
• Monsters of Rock (Environment)
• MetalFest (Environment)
• Rock Hard Festival (Environment)

Bedroom

Scenarios

• Packing/unpacking a room. Boxes everywhere, messy space, assets placed randomly around the room.
• Messy teenager room.
• Themed room. Superhero bedroom, princess bedroom, office-like bedroom etc.
• Decorating the bedroom. Paint cans, covered furniture, items covered in paint.

Game/Film/Book/Environments Inspiration

• The Sims (Game)
• Animal Crossing (Game)
• Grand Theft Auto (Game)
• Crash Bandicoot: Mind Over Mutant (Game)
• Life is Strange (Game)
• Gone Home (Game)
• Watchdogs (Game)
• Prey (Game)
• Tomb Raider: Legend (Game)
• Atypical (TV Series)
• Stranger Things (TV Series)
• Black Mirror (TV Series)
• Video Game High School (TV Series)
• Ready Player One (Book)

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Final Major Project – Diorama Research

For the third and final year of my university course, I have the task of making a Final Major Project to present at the Hull School of Art & Design degree show. If you want to know more about my project please read my previous post ‘Final Major Project Proposal’. Follow this link: (https://hannahbalesblog.wordpress.com/2017/11/15/final-major-project-project-proposal/)

Throughout my proposal I have a range of ideas for my project; the final idea chosen was idea 3, creating 2 dioramas. Having the idea in my head was just the first step, the second step was looking for inspiration, art styles and similar works so I can get an idea of what I want the end result to look like. I created a Pinterest account and looked for a lot of images on there as many artists post their work so that it can be shared with the world. Below are some of the boards I created.

I also have some slideshows that show the images I have looked at mostly for this project, as well as some images I have shown individually as they are the main inspiration towards my work.

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Here are some other dioramas that I really liked, some of them are just so creative.

I pinned this one as I like the way they have used an object to place their environment inside. Depending on the theme I choose I could have many ideas just from this one image such as having a library hidden inside a book, a video game within a console or even a garden in the base of a vase.

When I first saw this image it made me think that I don’t need all four walls for an inside environment. Simple using a backdrop, photograph or even a 360 material (similar to what is used via the sketchfab website).

And finally this diorama I liked because of the size. Even though I am making the diorama in 3D on the computer, I still have to consider the size of it. The final diorama could end up in a scene with a real-world object next to it to show the size (similar in the way that this one has someone holding it to demonstrate the size).

Final Major Project – Project Proposal

Now that I am in my final year, I am required to work more independently.  As a third-year student, I am to create a final major project to present to the public at the end of year degree show. This project can be anything (as long as it is games design related). I am to take my skills from my previous years and use those skills in this final year as well as learn new skills on my own. Everyone will have a different final major project as we all decide which part of the games industry we are interested in and make our project as if we worked in that department. For example, I aim to be an environment/prop artist so I would be making some sort of 3D environment, whereas someone else could be more interested in coding/blueprint and only use basic shapes to create a working prototype of a game.

Already I am speaking to industry professionals for advice and have also taken part in a game jam and summer school throughout the summer holidays. My aim is to improve the quality and quantity of my work as last year I had a few setbacks happen from home in which I struggled to focus, however, I now know that I must progress through work even when times get tough. I also want to boost my confidence this year as sometimes I do not like to share work of mine that I do not like because I feel like it isn’t good enough or that it is unfinished; the only way to get feedback is to share my work with others and that is why I have created a Sketchfab Account (which is in progress).

We are to engage critically with an appropriate topic in relation to the subject area that interests us as well as provide documentation of our proposals, design processes, results, and evaluations. The brief requires us to show a sense of independence as we are to use all of our skills that we have learned in the previous years. I have a few ideas and would to like to share them with you.

Idea 1 – As I was working in year 2 on the website sketchfab, I realised that you could create a fully 3D environment and then have assets within that environment that would be labeled. When these labels are clicked on the camera will then zoom in on the asset and reveal more information. I then thought about our first year of games design and remembered that Gareth and Paul showed us a video of a 3D environment that was built to tell a story. I would like to do this via either video or sketchfab with my own environment that also tells a story just by the type of environment and the placement of assets. For this idea I had a few environments in mind (as seen below):

• A game design studio, telling a story of what it is like to be a games designer and having little assets at desks that show our personality.
• A family house, showing what everyday family lifestyles are like. Bills on the table, toys everywhere and chores needing to be done.
• An abandoned theme park, showing what once brought people lots of happiness has now changed to a miserable and lonely setting.

Idea 2 – Creating a 3D area in which the player can walk around and explore, possibly even interact with a few items. Also having at least one character animated and basically having the end result of an immersive environment. Having a busy environment that people can walk around rather than just watching a video can make it so much more immersive. I have thought about making a crime scene area as that can tell a story but in order, so the player must explore the environment to understand the story behind it.

Idea 3 – This is my favourite idea. I want to create two small diorama environments; they will not be big as I am on a time limit, however, one will be a cartoon based environment and the other will be more realistic. This is so that I can show that I can model and texture both realistic and cartoon art styles. The diorama won’t be big, it will just be a small platform with a few props and assets on it and hopefully a character. The character will only make small gestures when keys are pressed or if idle and I just wanted to incorporate this so that people would be drawn to the environment. People love characters, especially cute ones, as they can give them a sense of ownership.

 Overall

I like idea 3 the most because it shows my skill-sets are varied and that if I went into the games design industry I would have more to offer them. I want to stay away from most blueprint, however, I do want to try and have a title screen and the characters making basic gestures. Below are some images of art styles that interested me for both cartoon and realism.

Yooka Laylee, 2017

Crash Bandicoot – Warped, 1998

Spyro the Dragon, 1998

Coraline, 2009

Marek Denko, Her Eventual Hesitation, 2016

Finlay Pearston, Robbed Vault

Marvin Tischler, The Door

Richard Van Brunschot, Tommy’s Room

Edmund Aubrey, Against All Odds – Inertia Game

References

Image 001 – Yooka & Laylee Characters: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yooka-Laylee

Image 002 – Yooka Laylee Environment: https://www.xboxachievements.com/news/news-24339-E3-2016–Yooka-Laylee-is-a-Rare-Slice-of-Platforming-Nirvana.html

Image 003 – Crash Bandicoot Character: https://www.crashmania.net/en/encyclopedia/crash-bandicoot/

Image 004 – Crash Bandicoot Warped Environment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8P6-XE1_jVM

Image 005 – Spyro the Dragon Character: http://martindb.wixsite.com/martins-games/single-post/2015/04/11/Crash-Bandicoot-VS-Spyro-the-Dragon-public-vote

Image 006 – Spyro the Dragon Environment: https://imgur.com/gallery/iY6ro

Image 007 – Coroline Character: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/467248530064723559/?lp=true

Image 008 – Coroline Environment: http://coraline.wikia.com/wiki/Coraline_Wiki

Image 009 – Marek Denko, Her Eventual Hesitation – http://marekdenko.net/

Image 010 – Finlay Pearston, Robbed Vault – https://www.artstation.com/artwork/VVnVb

Image 011 – Marvin Tischler, The Door – https://www.artstation.com/artwork/lyllJ

Image 012 – Richard Van Brunschot, Tommy’s Room –

Image 013 – Edmund Aubrey, Against All Odds – Inertia Game Studio: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/r44B5