Research 5/8

Proposal day. Positive feedback overall, people seem keen to find out what my character turns out like when Im finished. I am a little bummed that I skipped half of my notes, but thats just nerves and something i need to work on. Practice makes perfect.

2D Animation 5/8

Pitch Bible List

A4, themed

Title Page
Contents page
Logline and Treatment page
Character Bio pages
World Pages
Storyboards


Background for pitch bible pages. The spiral is a throwback to the old "spooky" graphic from mystery spots, and older cartoons ghost appearance/disappearance.

2D Animation 29/7

Character and world environment colour palettes finalised today is the plan. After wasting time trying to clean up an exported png from harmony, and discussing with Ruby, I will stop trying to stick with comfortable and branch out into making the backgrounds in harmony.

Drawing 31/7

Playing around with composition for the comic book cover. Still not sold on the layout yet. Finalising the story will help with new ideas though.

Game Design 1/8

UI - User interface(HUD and Menu)

UI is not UX(user experience), rather UX is more about design of how the game works, how the player has to interact etc.

UI = visual design. Responsible for level maps, HUD, level editors, web experiences, quest windows

- Understand your audience
- Systems thinking
- Layout

 - Motion Graphic Principles

• Responsiveness
• Intention
• Awareness
• Consistency
• Physical Intuition

"Real art is knowing which mistakes to keep"

Clarity - must be recognisable, should be readable, player needs to understand how to interact, no room for confusion, clutter free.

Interface connects humans to the game world. they are not the end product themselves, but part of the game.

Attention - Keep Immersion. Use primary goal attention techniques. Dont distract the player.

Keep the users feeling like they are always in control. Keep it simple, reduce unexpected outcomes.

The best interface is no interface, keep as much information within the world for the player to find organically.

Give the player one piece of information at a time. Make sure the next step feels natural, items do what they are expected to do.

Make everything Consistant

Test in a Zero state - like you are brand new to it or grab someone who hasnt seen it as an alpha tester.


HUD

Non-Diagetic - Most common. 2D widgets that display stats from game manager ie. kill feed, ammo remaining, health bar.

Diagtic - Ingame ui, so glowing armor showing health left for example. ingame map, handheld radar etc

Meta - 2D Widgets brought up using ingame triggers, helps keep immersion.

Spatial - Not so common these days. Think the glowing arrow barriers in NFS to show where to go.

Menu systems should be clear, not overly complicated and confusing.

Proposal due next friday, essentially a pitch bible.

I need an interface art page, controls page, UI page. Concept art throughout.

Discussion with Thomas has suggested having the ghost throw items down as another hazard, and the ghost holding the ultimate cat toy at the end as the final push to get the ghost.

Screen Arts 1/8

New Wave Cinema

American New Wave

Most film directors worked for one of the major studios between 1930-1960(Golden Age of Hollywood). Some, like Alfred Hitchcock and Orson Welles were the authors of their own films(auteurs) which was picked up by the french critics. American New Wave was started in NY by independent film makers. Little Fugitive(1953) by Morris Engel, Ray Ashley and Ruth Orkin is credited as the inspiration for French new Wave.

Some NY New Wave

• 1956 On the Bowery - Lionel Rogosin
• 1959 Pull My Daisy - Robert Frank
• 1959 Shadows - John Cassavetes
• 1961 The Connection - Shirley Clarke

New Hollywood was the emergence of the new generation of filmmakers in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It was around this time that the studios were prevented from owning their own studios anymore (Paramount Antitrust case in 1948). British films started gaining traction in america in 1966, showing that the audiences were open more explicit content and different narrative structured films.

MPAA got a new head in 1966 in Jack Valenti who updated an old restriction on film content, to allow filmmakers more freedom with their films. 

Bonnie and Clyde(1967) was written in 1963 by Robert Benton and David Newman, based on a couple of american criminals in the great depression. After losing Francois Truffaut and then Jean-Luc Goddard as directors, it took actor Warren Beatty reading the script and producing it himself to get created. Warner Bros was the financial sponsor, but were not happy with the rough cut so did not release it fully. Thanks to England loving it, it was re-released properly and got nominated for Academy Awards.

Dustin Hoffman got his start in the 1967 film The Graduate. the director Mike Nichols won an Oscar and the soundtrack was done by Simon and Garfunkel.

The first x-rated american cartoon was published in 1971 called Fritz the Cat. Fritz lives an alternative lifestyle in NY filled with sex drugs and rocknroll. Ralph Bakshi adapted Robert Crumbs comic strip character to the animation scene.

British New Wave

The British Free Cinema movement was created in 1956 by film makers and critics.They created the Free Cinema Manifesto which states belief in freedom, the importance of ppl and the significance of everyday life. Karel Reisz, Lindsay Anderson, John Fletcher and Tony Richardson were struggling to get their films shown, so they created their own mini screening at the National Film Theatre(due to Karel being the programme manager there)

This Free Cinema is what led to the British New Wave during 1959-1965. They got the nickname "kitchen Sink" films because of how ordinary and everyday life is depicted. The films were based on plays and novels, that focused on white working class men that rebelled against their circumstances, coining the term "Angry young men". Known for being shot in black and white, and using unknown actors with regional accents and shot on location.

If it wasnt for British New Wave's acceptance as groundbreaking new style of cinema, American would not have jumped on the bandwagon. These angry young men films opened the way for modern day films that are commentaries on the downtrodden, and communities that arent accepted by the general population. 

Gaming Design 1/8

Week Four

Game Flow chart

You start in the lounge, and must navigate around the various platforms to reach the cat toys that have been dropped by the ghost. Not all of the platforms are safe however, and if you fall through one, you are back on the ground where you started. Some toys will be in such a position that the player will have to go back to the ground in the process of collecting and restart the jumping process all over again. 




Level Map



Mechanics/Hazards - Random platforms will break when jumped upon, 1 per room that will hopefully be randomised at the beginning of each game. There will be a timer counting down to add a sense of urgency, and the level considered complete when the player collects all cat toys, and catches up to the ghost in the attic. Replay-ability is hopefully in trying to beat your time.

Level Art - Not as far through as I would like, need to catchup this weekend to finish the last three stages. The last three rooms will be in green for the bathroom, and red for the bedroom. The attic will be warm browns to compliment the primary colour scheme of the rooms below.