Directed Study

Personal development project

For the PDP I worked in a group four with Jack Moore, Georgia Roan, and jade Phillips. I was in charge of drawing the character designs; I did full character sheets for characters including alternative outfits. The idea we used we had already come up with prior to this project but hadn’t used it for anything. So we had already got characters in mind or designed. I asked every one for any sketches they had drawn of their character so I could draw it up. The scenario we had come up with took place in a fantasy world where supernatural beings such including all but forgotten races that lived before humans, magic users, psychic users. The characters are a part of a travelling circus that promotes the acceptance of the supernatural; they are constantly on the run from the Inquisition, a faction of soldiers whose goal is to wipe out the supernatural. I designed the characters in standard outfits that they would wear to blend in when visiting towns, and a circus outfit that they wear during performances. In order to protect their identities they all wear masks when in circus gear, all of the members of the crew have stage names also as a proportion all of them are different types of birds, as birds represent freedom, this being what the crew want for the supernatural races.

Helen McCarthy project  

I was really looking forward to having a go at this project, as it was to do with a topic that I am very interested in. I was enthusiastic as I had enjoyed all of Helen’s lectures so far and was thrilled to have the opportunity to work with her. I was really stuck at first and didn’t know what direction to take my project, so I wrote a list of the things about myself, like what I liked or disliked, quirks etc. I chose to look at a fantasy theme, as I enjoy fantasy games, specifically final fantast games. My favourite animal is a Red Panda, so I combined the two and made a mage Panda creature, I chose to make her a red mage from final fantasy, as it is my favourite class. 

Show real

I used iMovie to make my show real, I found the program easy to use as I have had previous experience with it, however it was a newer version so I had to get used to the new layout. I selected a handful of my best work from projects BA5 and BA6 as the majority of the video, but also added in a few of my personal creations to show a wider range of what I can do. Each slide last between 4-8 seconds depending on the size of the image, I used basic transition animation so it didn’t look tacky or too flashy. Then at the end I made it fade to black so it didn’t just cut off. 

Portfolio

Portfolio

For my portfolio I was a bit lost at first, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to make my own website from scratch as I have never done it before and in the amount of time we had I doubted I would be able to learn enough to come up with a decent result. I was directed to a portfolio sharing website that would be perfect for my work by a fellow course mate. The website is www.carbonmade.com, here you can customise your own portfolio; it is easy and simple to use, very user friendly. The look and theme of the website is very welcoming. There are two options on the website, you can either have a standard account that is free to use; this allows to have about 30 images and limited video. Whereas the better account let’s you have up to 500 images. I chose the free one, as at this current time I don’t need all that space. I have put a mixture of my own illustration work, Project work and some development sketches to show all areas of my work. 

More designs

I settled on doing two main character designs for each race, one design of a type of unit and then a commander also showing customisable variations. I have had to limit myself to what I am doing and have had to cut out the concept pieces from my learning agreement, instead of rushing the character designs to make time for the concept pieces I chose to focus on the character designs themselves.

I did the human commander trio in the last post and also did one of the elite troops specified in Jak’s game design document. I designed the sniper class.

For the shay I designed the Hunter class and a commander trio.

With the design for the commander they needed to be more elaborately dressed than the generic troops, I designed them with jewellery made out of fur and fangs as a symbol of how many creatures they had killed or how many battles they had won.

For the Kojiki I designed the elite class Reaper, the Mount for the cavalry and a commander trio.  The designs are meant to be like Traditional Japanese monsters but are also aliens so I had fun mixing them up a bit.

The reaper was really fun to draw, as it is completely different to what I would normally draw. I feel that I have pushed myself during this project and have improved because of it, I now know that I am able to draw a much more diverse range of material. 

The Kojiki commander is a kami one of the more intelligent of the race; they often wear masks to make themselves look more like the others of their race. They have natural armour plates that are part of their skin.

Socialising through gaming

Socialising through games.

The gaming community has grown significantly over the last few years with the explosion of online gaming. MMOs (massive multiplayer online games) have proven to be very popular, in these games you join a large community of players from all over the world to play together. Player communities are formed and people make teams and talk with one another, some people only talk about the game they are playing working together to get through a certain part in the game. While others like to make friends and use the socialising aspect of the game to its fullest.  Following an experiment in (2006 by Constance Steinkuehler, Ph.D., and Dmitri Williams, Ph.D). in which they were looking into social online gaming, writing that people may spend ours absorbed in these games but it doesn’t mean they are antisocial. They came to the conclusion after interviewing some of the players that it was a very positive experience and they felt more confident and they didn’t have to worry about what they looked like and where happy they weren’t being judged on their looks. The experience broadens peoples friendships with a wider range of people, however for those looking for deeper and more supportive relationships this was not the answer and should not be used as a replacement for real-life relationships. (Article by Miranda Hitti 2006 “Online Games Provide Social Connection”)

http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-500368_162-1912860.html

Kate Schneider wrote an article in 2008 about a study done by the Pew Internet & American Life Project about whether video games were improving young peoples social skills and not causing them to become violent like a lot of myths and speculations out there. The study showed that gaming involved a large significant amount of social interactivity that could help teens engage with the world around them. It shows that around 97% of teens play video games and is a important part of their social lives with their friends and family, “dispelling the myth that gamers are anti-social outsiders”. (“Video games social, not violent, study finds” 2008) “The study, released last week, also found 52 per cent of teenagers played games in which they considered moral and ethical issues; 43 per cent played games in which they made decisions about the way a community, city or nation should be run; and 40 per cent played games in which they learned about a social issue.” (“Video games social, not violent, study finds” 2008) The study gives a very positive outlook on people reactions to video games, going against many speculations, the report then goes on to say that young people who play games together are more likely to volunteer to do things for society and be able to make arguments politically as well.

Article from http://www.news.com.au/technology/video-games-social-not-violent-study-finds/story-e6frfro0-1111117579541

Video games have a lot of potential as a means of teaching young people life skills, there needs to be a way that these messages of socializing and being active within the community should be integrated more into games, so those who might play alone or with people online can learn the same skills. Young people could have a better chance of being ready for difficult social problems and life issues if they are maybe exposed to them within a gaming environment, where they feel comfortable, and have to solve those issues in the game with a positive outcome. Hopefully by learning skills like these they would be ready for problems that they might come across or be able to deal with problems they may already be experiencing.  

Gaming influence

How does gaming influence your studying and socialising? http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1880410

This blog opened up the discussion asking students how gaming affected their studying and socialising, either in the past or present day. It was really interesting to read down the comments on this forum, as they were very varied mostly neutral in opinion but some slightly more negative which is to be expected. A few people admitted that they had had a problem in the past and their grades at school were stunted because they had been obsessed with a game at the time and neglected revising for their GCSE’s. One person expressed how he had been disappointed in his grades but instantly new what was the cause, in his words “I got a sinking feeling as I immediately knew the cause of my failure.” He then went on to say, “Games in moderation are fine, you just have to know when to stop and unfortunately I didn’t…” (“The student room” forum user “Betacra” posted January 2012) Despite his bad experience he still doesn’t think badly of the subject just that caution and self-control is important. This was quite a common opinion within the discussion, gaming isn’t bad in moderation, and you just need to be sensible. On the other hand some people stated that they hadn’t had problems managing school or university work with gaming. One user said he was surprised he managed so well, “I've found it easier than I thought to manage my gaming habit while at uni. I still manage to get my work done and sometimes won't play for a few days or nearly a week. Then again, sometimes I'll do a bit of work then stop and go on the Xbox for a few hours as a 'break'.” (“The student room” forum user “ManBeast” posted January 2012). Using games as a treat for doing your work can be a really good motivator, for actually cracking down. As this student did it is good practice to have breaks doing work and completely get your mind away from what you are doing so you can come back refreshed when staring work again.

I enjoyed this forum because it was asking the people who it would affect directly and wasn’t an outside source that would only speculate at game negative affects on young people. Unfortunately a lot of this type of article exists and I have come across a lot of negative articles in my searching. 

Progress 3

For the humans I wanted to incorporate the new with the old, I started looking at old military uniforms and took heavy influence from the Blues and Royals uniform. I drew up some silhouettes including commander like clothing as well as foot soldiers.

I took a couple of them and sketched some rough ideas down, I used a mixture of 2 and 4 for the commander design.

Once drawing the sketch I copied across to another file and drew over the top to produce a final design. I made sure to keep the model simple as I used it to make alternate outfit designs.

I used a combination of Photoshop and Coral painter for these 3 designs. 

Progress 2

The Shay are the Shamanistic race that we came up with, for their design I started looking round for inspiration. I used a mixture of Native American and druidic inspiration; I wanted them to be very natural and animalistic.

I made some silhouettes making sure to show that there would be different job types such as warrior or archers. One unit of the army would have the ability to transform into a beast form, for this I looked at werewolves using Magic the Gathering cards for reference.

These are some bust shots of the shape shifting members of the race; I used pictures of real wolves to get the facial markings and then mirrored them on the fur of the best forms.

Social Realism

Realism in games is completely different to social realism in games. Game companies are always trying to make their games look as realistic as they can, with stunning graphics and realistic environments. Realism in games is more to do with the visuals of a game. However social realism is more to do with what the game is about, the game might be based of a historical moment in time following events that actually happened. Realism is often fluffed up versions of the event whereas with social realism it would be closer to the realities of the situation. 

CS Video Game Addiction

Video game addiction

            ·      What is classed as addiction?

            ·      Symptoms of video game addiction.

            ·      What is the attraction towards games? How is the medium changing to cause this?

            ·      The affect it has on people, changing people’s lives.

            ·      How can developers create an experience to change the stereotype, encourage people to play in social groups rather than locked away in their rooms. Include problems and puzzles that require the player to learn certain things before being able to progress. Make integrate games into more things such as education to encourage active learning with computer games. Make people more informed to the dangers of gaming addiction.

Symptoms of game addiction

             ·      Most none working or school hours are spent playing video games.

             ·      Falling asleep at work or school.

             ·      Falling behind with assignments and projects.

             ·      Worsening grades and quality of work.

             ·      Lying about computer or video games use.

             ·      Choosing to play video games instead of socialising with friends and family.

             ·      Dropping out of social groups, school clubs etc.

             ·      Being irritable when not on the computer or playing video games.

A lot of these symptoms are also relevant to other addictions such as gambling.

Physical symptoms

·      Carpal tunnel syndrome.

·      Sleep disturbances.

·      Backaches or neck aches.

·      Headaches.

·      Dry eyes.

·      Failure to eat regularly or neglecting personal hygiene.

 People may turn to video games to escape their everyday lives, for example if a child is being bullied at school they may see their games as a place where they don’t have to have face to face confrontations with others making them feel safe and in control of the world they are playing in. People often feel powerless in their day-to-day lives whereas in games they have their own virtual world where they have power over what happens, they are put into a position of power. While this may be good for them to feel some sort of comfort it is not a solution, maybe if some games could address issues such as bulling and include stories they can relate to on social levels it may help them with the own lives and give them a positive outlook. Games could be a good way to communicate ways in which they can resolves their problems in none harmful ways.

Source information from (http://www.video-game-addiction.org/what-is-computer-internet-addiction.html) “What is computer and video game addiction?” accessed 1^st May (2012).

Presentation notes

Slide one: For this project I will be working with Jak again as we found it worked out well in the last project. In our game idea you play as a commander of one of three races all struggling for power over a planet. I will be focusing on the character design for the project. I will be creating an iterative design document showing the development of the three different races within our game idea. This will include character sheets, silhouettes and a concept piece for each of the three races.

Slide 2-3:

·      As it is not my job within the project to come up with the game idea itself all I know is that there are 3 races each one having arrived on a uninhabited planet after a disaster struck the home world. They are all fighting for control of this new world.

·      The three races are humans, a race based off of Japanese mythology and a race based on Native American and Shamanistic influences. Jak told me the base ideas he had for them and then I went away to do some research and brainstorm some ideas.

·      For the humans I didn’t want to go with the generic space soldier look, I wanted to include old style military uniform in there. Mixing the old with the new, old military uniform, but modern weapons and equipment. I wanted them to be different than what you would expect from a science fiction type setting.

·      

    For the shamanistic race I have been looking at human like people but with animal features, more like beast men. The Native Americans always dressed up like animals to do rituals and dances claiming they were calling the animal spirits into themselves. In some beliefs Shaman can change their shape, or send their own spirit into animals. I wanted to capture this with my designs, so I thought about giving them a second form that could be accessed by certain members of the people this would be seen as a very impressive thing among them and would be revered. I chose the wolf as a starting point as they are a symbol of freedom, and are protective of their territory.

·      The Japanese inspired race are meant to be a race that came to earth a long time ago and were the ones that inspired Japanese mythology, they are the real thing that inspired all the demons and monsters. With these creatures I looked at Japanese monsters for inspiration however the plan is to change them to look like they might be the origin of some of them, not necessarily what the Japanese themselves might have seen them as. 

Progress

So far I have looked into possible roles within the industry and what is needed to do them. My area of specialism is 2D character and concept art which is quite a specific role, I have learned that you need to be the best at what you do and stand out from others in order to get where you want. Although you will start at the bottom and might not be doing exactly what you want at first, if you work your way up you might have more of a chance to do something you really enjoy. It was a harsh realisation but in order to get what you want out of life you have to work for it.

I have also been looking at card games, comics and graphic novels for inspiration and have considered them as alternative roles I might like to take up in the future. I was particularly impressed by the artwork on the Magic the Gathering cards and artwork in Tabletop role-play game books. I follow the artwork of some people who produce artwork for Fantasy Flight Games, a company that produces tabletop games and board games, the company hire freelance artist to draw illustrations for their guidebooks.

For project one I have decided to work with Jak Moore again as the setup seemed to work well last time and I was happy with the outcome we produced. This partnership worked well for each of us as we both got the opportunity to focus on our strengths. Our idea is a third person action-strategy-RPG for the home console where the player takes control of one of the commanding officers of one of three different races in a three way war for control of a planet due to an ominous presence threatening their home worlds. It is my job to design the three different races, which we decided would be based off of different cultures so they stood out against each other and were easily distinguishable.

We wanted one of the races to be human with western influences; one of the main inspirations was the, 2002 Science Fiction, TV series Firefly created by Joss Whedon. The show is based far into the future when humans have migrated to a new star system because numbers on earth were too large for the planet to support. They have spread to a series of planets and moons that have been “terra formed” to enable human population, so a lot of the planets have very little technology available to them so they live quite simply making do with what they have, on the other hand other planets have quite advanced technology. The program is a mix of Science Fiction and an old western, a strange combination but works very well. I decided I wanted them to be quite advanced but not all polished and shiny like in the movies, I want them to more realistic, a bit grungy and bashed around. I thought they have just laded on this planet with nothing but what was on their ships and they would have had to make do with what they had, so I want my designs to reflect that.

The other race we wanted to be based off of Edo period Japan, but not humans like the others. We wanted to base them off of the Japanese Oni (demons) some of which are quite monstrous in appearance, as inspiration I also looked at Kabuki theatre particularly the costume and masks they wear. In Kabuki Theatre the actors play out stories about demons and folktales, they wear scary mask, elaborate clothes and brightly coloured makeup. There will be two different sub species in this race, one will be quite feral like the monsters in Japanese mythology while the other will be more refined and elegant as some others are portrayed.

For the third faction in the game we were a bit stuck, neither of us new what we wanted it to be, so Jak set me on the task. During my brainstorming I came up with the idea of having a shamanistic, Native American like race, which are very in tune with nature. I have been looking at creating a race with animal like qualities and abilities, the strongest and most experienced of which can access a beast form changing their bodies to become more powerful. There will be warrior types, rangers, and shaman within this race. The Rangers will act as the armies long-range attackers, using bows and arrows, the Shaman will be the magic users and the warriors will be the hard hitters using melee weapons as their form of attack. All of the races will have a similar layout; there will be different roles to choose from. 

Inspiration

Tetsuya Nomura

Tetsuya Nomura was the first video game artist that I was interested in and was what started my love of concept art. He is one of the lead artists involved in the famous Final Fantasy series; he works mainly on the main titles or numbered titles rather than the spin off games. He also led the art team on the Disney, SquareEnix cross over series Kingdom Hearts.

Final fantasy VIII was the first JRPG I was in contact with, shortly followed by the others in the series. It was Tetsuya Nomura’s characters that I fell in love with and them that got me playing more video games. It is the characters and narrative behind them that draw me to games.

(Squall FFVIII Image from www.creativeuncut.com)

He uses a mixture of traditional and digital media, using final fantasy VIII as an example again, he draws the image in pencil on paper then transfers it to a computer to clean up and colour digitally. This reflects my own work, as I prefer to draw things in pencil before colouring as I find I have more control over a pencil than drawing directly onto a computer using a graphics tablet. This is something that I am practicing and is a skill that I want to be able to do well. However I do like the affect that pencil outline gives to a drawing, I really like the sketchy feel to it.

Tetsuya has two main distinctive styles, his original style is more realistic, that he generally uses for the Final Fantasy titles, but he also has a much more stylised and cartoonlike style that seemed to be developed for Kingdom Hearts, another SquareEnix title. This style was then used again in the Nintendo DS game called The World Ends With You.

(Image sourced at www.creativeuncut.com )

This is and example of a design for Dissidia Final Fantasy, with his designs for this game the proportions are normal and the character is quite detailed. She has quite elaborate clothes and it is gently shaded.

In comparison this is a character from The world Ends With You (2007), this character is a lot more stylised. The outlines are very thick and the colouring is block colour with cell shading. The whole look is a lot more cartoonlike.

Looking at Nomura’s work has made me realise that it is good to have your own distinctive style, as it is what makes you a memorable artist, but also to be able to adapt your artwork to fit other genres and requirements.

(Image sourced from http://twewy.wikia.com/wiki/Shiki_Misaki )

Kimihiko Fujisaka

The first time I saw Fujisaka’s work was when I found a game on the shelf that I liked the look of. As I have said before I am drawn to games by their artwork and while browsing new releases in a small game shop I came across Drakengard 2. Rather than a 3D render of the character in the game, a piece of 2D concept art had been put on the cover, I loved the characters design and decided to give it a go.

When I was in college and specifically started looking into game artwork more seriously and focussing on certain artists I was interested in, it was then came back to Fujisaka’s work and looked at more of his work. 

This is the main character of Drakengard 2, his stance shows that he is a strong character and isn’t afraid to fight.

Nowe from Drakengard 2 image from (www.creativeuncut.com ) 

Kimihiko’s work has improved over the years as shown in his latest title The Last Story (2011). His characters have a lot more detail to their design however some features are very similar. Most of his designs have over sized strange shaped swords and large armour pieces that are generally only on one side or limb.

You can see the similarities in the designs looking specifically at the facial features and clothing designs. However you can clearly see that there is a lot more detail especially in the armour. I like the soft shading used when colouring the characters, this is something I would like to try with my own artwork, as I am not that confident with digital painting yet and tend to stick with quite simple shading. By working more on the shading it will give my work a more polished and professional finish.

Zael/ Elza from The Last Story image from (www.creativeuncut.com )

Magic the gathering

I have only recently been introduced to Magic the Gathering (Wizards of the coast), as card games have never interested me that much. However recently I have had more exposure to it and have began to collect and play on a small scale. The artwork on the cards is beautiful and diverse, as the creatures have found a wide range of talented fantasy artists to create card designs for them.

I have picked a few artist to research that have done artwork that is relevant, and good reference for one of the designs I’m working on for my project.

Mike Sass

This card is from one of the new set of Magic the Gathering cards. It is a double-sided card that flips when curtain situations are met during the game.

    

Mondronen Shaman (http://www.magicspoiler.com/dark-ascension-art/) 

I really like the lighting in this piece, the fire creating light from behind her makes the character stand out, and gives the picture and overall dramatic feel. 

Tovelar’s Magehunter (http://www.magicspoiler.com/dark-ascension-art/) 

I really like how the two cards tie in together as you can see the same building in the background signifying that she has just transformed.

I have chosen to look at werewolves in particular because one of the races within the game idea are quite in tune with nature and shamanistic. I came up with an idea that the warrior class of this race’s would be able to tap into a beast form making them stronger and faster. Wolves are quite often used in shamanistic or druidic beliefs and are seen as a symbol for wilderness and nature. 

David Palumbo

I chose this card and artist, again, because of the lighting. The moon is obviously a key feature in this card shown by how he is looking over his shoulder at the moon and his one side is brightly lit up by it. A lot of the detail on the character is only visible because of the highlights that outline it in white.

Afflicted Deserter (http://www.magicspoiler.com/dark-ascension-art/)

Werewolf Ransacker (http://www.magicspoiler.com/dark-ascension-art/)

With the cards flip side the brightness of the moon is almost blinding in comparison to the light coming from the fire. The werewolf in the foreground is practically a silhouette standing out well against the light background, because the figure itself is so dark the glowing eyes really draw your attention. 


Lighting is something that i want to work on with my own work as it adds dynamic and emotion to a piece of artwork.