Blog Update 2

Weekly Progress Update

This week I made a lot of progress towards fully forming my idea for my project. I also was able to look at some similar exhibits and better understand what I need to do on that front. A lot of this week was planning and research, but I still think it was productive. I’m planning on making a tamagotchi-inspired ‘game’ where the tamagotchi in question is a housewife. It’s a satirical and heavy handed metaphor about how society views women, particularly in marriage or a relationship. The goal is to make it a point-and-click game that focuses more on environmental storytelling instead of just being a linear game with a beginning and end.

I’ve mostly just done planning this week, but that’s an important thing to do before starting any coding or creating any assets. I’ve basically split up what needs to be done into a few different categories. For the background/environment, I want to use 3d modeling, and for the actual character art/ interactable objects, I want to use 2d art, most likely pixel art. This is very much inspired by pixel chix, but I also think it will create a disconnect between the character and the environment, and give a kind of dollhouse effect. The other ‘category’ of work I need to do is the actual programming.

Reflection on Progress

I feel like even though I don’t have a lot to show for this week, the work I did was beneficial. My plan needs to be solid before anything else. For example, I don’t want to waste time modeling a kitchen only to then not even use it. I also don’t want to do the reverse and realize I need more assets than I’ve created too far down the line, so I think it’s good that this week has involved a lot of planning.

I think I still need to narrow down some of my ideas a bit. I have a lot of ideas and I think my issue going forward might be with editing down those ideas, and making everything mesh together more. I think that I’m having to make myself focus on a little bit at a time so I don’t try to do too much and make this concept into something overly excessive just for the sake of including every single idea I have.

Inspiration, Ideas, Readings, Research

Since I am finding a lot of inspiration from the art of Wallace and Gromit, I think that it is fitting to talk about the creator, Nick Park. Born in Preston, England in 1958, Park is an animator and filmmaker who is known for his work in stop-motion animation. Many consider him a pioneer in claymation, and his work has inspired many to take stop-motion seriously as an art form and medium.

His work has a sense of realism despite being claymation. For my project, I’m particularly inspired by the environment design. I like the unreal but still somehow realistic feeling of the clay environments, and the muted color palette is something I plan on utilising as well.

Unlike the clay animation Park is known for, I plan to work in a digital medium, using 3D modeling and animation to achieve a similar feeling. I think a lot of this will depend on the modelling techniques I use, as well as the textures. I plan on using softer edges and thicker surfaces to emulate this look. I’m not necessarily trying to make my work read as claymation, but I’d like to try to achieve a similar feeling and tone.