Taking a tip out of James Gurney's
Imaginative Realism, I did a rough colour painting of one of my cave thumbnails using a large brush, concentrating on colour rather than detail.
I then played around with the layer options and filters to try out different versions
Interim Online Review 09/11/10
ReplyDeleteHey Dan,
If I'm being honest (and when am I not?) I must admit to some disappointment at your body of work produced thus far; it's not a quality issue, rather an enthusiasm and 'buzz' issue; there seems to be something largely unspeculative about your work so far - a kind of middling investigation. For example, yes, your thumbnail of the mushroom forest is nicely immersive now but it also frustrates me because it doesn't feel cinematic enough in terms of its scale and grandeur and wonderment. It feels... cosy, as if you're used to this view, when instead it should be 'WTF? A forest of MUSHROOMS!!!!!!!' I'd be tempted to use this drawing to extend from, and 'widescreen' it x 10.
In terms of your visual concept, I detect that you're beginning to work something through i.e. aesthetic - what with cel-shaded trials, but I'd suggest you might need to drill into the logic of your spaces a bit more; get a bit 'Avatar', in so much as work out the ecology of the innerworld, and from it formulate ways to bring your scenes to vivid life. The problem/challenge of your book is that it's been adapted before and sits squarely in our imaginations. You might, for this reason, formulate a rationale for making a departure from the book (within reason). Yes - a mushroom is a mushroom, but there are different varieties, and arguably, even if you did depart from the sort described, substituting them for another kind doesn't alter the book in any real sense. Personally, I encourage you to take a step to the left...
http://dazed.org/npa/npj/200206/fungi%20pic1.jpg
http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/gallery/files/4/8/3/honey-fungus.jpg
Also - check out the incredible glass work of Dale Chihuly:
http://www.chihuly.com/
Your essay proposal is an interesting one - that game looks very beautiful... see below.
ReplyDeleteHere is a list of links back to the CGAA Group Blog, where I have recently uploaded loads of information regarding the way I want students to tackle their written assignments. As you now prepare your unit 2 assignments on production design, pay close attention to the advice given. I will be looking for clear improvement in terms of use of language, academic ‘voice’, use of conventions, argument structure and correct methods of referencing.
Academic style/Do’s & Don’ts
http://ucarochester-cgartsandanimation.blogspot.com/2010/11/cgaa-yr-1-written-assignment-stuff-or.html
1st Person to 3rd person conversions
http://ucarochester-cgartsandanimation.blogspot.com/2010/11/fao-1st2nd3rd-cgaa-students-from-1st-to.html
Use of footnotes
http://ucarochester-cgartsandanimation.blogspot.com/2010/11/fao-1st2nd3rd-cgaa-students-use-of.html
How to satisfy essay criteria/assignment presentation/hyperlink to referencing methods
http://ucarochester-cgartsandanimation.blogspot.com/2010/11/fao-cgaa-yr-1unit-2spacewritten.html
thank you for the feedback; I can certainly see your point of view on the "cosiness" front ^^; I think my problem was I was sticking too close to the original text, which was after all pretty hard sci-fi at the time. As a result, I think I focussed more on getting the technical details of depicting landscapes right (they are something well outside my confort zone), and not enough time actually interpretting and imagining.
ReplyDeleteI'll just have to do some more developmental thumbnails I guess :)