Design Practice 1: Interactive Spaces: Analysis, Synthesis and Planning

Now I have the basic concepts and designs for my one shot film, but have made no solid judgements or sense of the development stage, I like to identify the implications of my inspirations and brainstorming before I continue with later processes. This allows me to learn further and avoid possible problems arising in the future. I  adapt any new ideas created by my analysis/synthesis at this point and usually incorporate them into my current project.

Analysis involves listing as many questions as you can think of regarding your project. The questions will vary from project to project but usually the majority of these questions are the same, whatever the project you are attempting. the Synthesis is the following section in the design process and is a list of answers. Quite simple really.

1) What software is most appropriate to use?
2) How long do I estimate to completion ?
3) What genre will it be?
4) What story am I trying to tell?
5) What is the main function of my interactive space?
6) What existing products were prime influences?
7) What are some good books, DVDs and useful information.
8) How long will it last?






1) The most appropriate software to use for HTML/CSS coding is Adobe Dreamweaver, It has an easy interface to navigate, has the time saving feature of displaying the link boarder and also is an industry favourite

















 2) I estimate my completion date to be Saturday 4th December 2010, I am basing this on the pace in which I'm learning the dreamweaver, The practical sessions I have between the two date and the overall access I will have to learning materials and the software. This is my goal.

3) I have decided I am going to go with a fantasy theme with an action/adventure story, the user will have to collect 3 coloured gems in order to save the world, I will mix in different locations to create a hybrid genre as well, such as the wild west and space.

4) The story I am trying to tell is that a scientist has created a teleporter, three mystical gems power the machine. The scientists lab assistant has stole the gems to sell on the black market, the player must travel to different places and find the gems before they become unstable and blow up the world.

 















5) The main function of interactive space is to take the player on a journey and entertain them along the way. I want them to experience a mixture of puzzle solving and adventure, without getting bored.

6) The existing products that were prime influences were defiantly the games stated in my inspiration and brainstorming post, Final fantasy 7 and Escape from stickville, the user will hopefully see similarity's while playing.

7)JavaScript: Your Visual Blueprint for Building Dynamic Web Pages, 2nd Edition.
Eric Pascarello. ISBN: 978-0-7645-7497-9.

8) I am estimating the total length to the user complete my interactive space to be 5-10 minutes, It will have 50+ photos so there's plenty to explore, i wanted it to last as long as possible to create a decent story.

Samuel Dobson

Design Practice 1:One Shot Film: Analysis, Synthesis and Planning

Now I have the basic concepts and designs for my one shot film, but have made no solid judgements or sense of the development stage, I like to identify the implications of my inspirations and brainstorming before I continue with later processes. This allows me to learn further and avoid possible problems arising in the future. I  adapt any new ideas created by my analysis/synthesis at this point and usually incorporate them into my current project.

Analysis involves listing as many questions as you can think of regarding your project. The questions will vary from project to project but usually the majority of these questions are the same, whatever the project you are attempting. the Synthesis is the following section in the design process and is a list of answers. Quite simple really.

1) What software is most appropriate to use?
2) How long do I estimate to completion ?
3) What camera angles and lighting are best and why?
4) What story am I trying to tell?
5) What is the main function of my one shot film?
6) What existing products were prime influences?
7) What are some good books, DVDs and useful information.
8) What is every one's position in the team
9) Characteristics and Setting. ?

1) Well in terms of editing I've been advised that Adobe Premier Pro is a industry favourite for post production of films. I have been fluently using this program since the start of term and seeing as it's recommended and has all the necessary tools I need, It looks like it will do the job perfectly.

2) My estimated date of completion is somewhere between the 10th and 13th of November, I am basing this on the arranged group meetings to start production and also allowing for possible interruptions to filming such as rain, absences and getting permission to film.

3) As we are filming outside we will be dealing mainly with natural light, our aim is raise the camera over the actors head, tilted down to create an over the shoulder perspective. This will create a 3rd person view, that puts the audience in a dominant position looking down onto our actor. Setting the white balance will allow for the most realistic sunlight possible, we will have to experiment with the angles of the sunlight to ensure it doesn't appear to strong or weak on shot, reflectors are also a possibility.



4) The main story we have concluded on is the journey of a young girl trying to cope with the break up of her parents, she begins of happy, the family is united symbolised with everyone holding hands and smiling. The emotions progress to worried, the crack in the family begins to appear and the girl becomes tense. The story concludes with sadness symbolised with a unhappy face, she walks of into the distance leaving an image in the audiences mind.

5) The main function of my one shot film is to engage the audiences imagination, It's up to them to solve the symbols and pictures and interpret them in there own way. The film aims to show a journey and emotions of a young girl, hopefully keeping the audience interested and portraying a meaningful message.

6) Without a doubt the prime influence was a short sequence in a lighting documentary we watch in a seminar, It involved a 3rd person perspective of a young girl drawing on the floor, this is what we are essentially elaborating on

7) Single-Camera Video Production by Robert B. Musburger
Directing: Film Techniques and Aesthetics, Rabiger Michael, 4 edition 2007
Sound and Recording: An Introduction, Francis Rumsey, Tim McCormick, 4
edition (June 2002)

8) The original plan for roles within the team (Wrote my Oli):

• Director - Oli - Ensure everybody is happy with the current situation, that there are no problems, and to make sure everybody is sticking to their roles & responsibilities, as well as suggest further ideas.
• Camera - Harry - Ensure that the camera is properly set up onto a tripod, adjust white balance, check battery level, no-one adjusts the camera other than himself. General camera controls.
• Editor - Sam - Edit the footage appropriately, add colour correction if necessary, as well as time lapse. Add credits too (possibly) and obviously importing and exporting the data.
• Actor - Becky - Becky has a small figure, and we felt that because of this, she could act as the child. The camera shall only be over the shoulder, so not a lot of acting is required, just basic drawing skills (the skills of an average child!)
• Lighting - Briony - General lighting controls.
• Runner/safety - Joe - Joe will make sure that the actions we take are safely done, as well as carry out a risk assessment before we set out to film.
  
  
  9) We have chosen to replicate a playground environment for our setting, although It won't actually be shot in a playground, the camera will be facing down onto tarmac creating the illusion. This is a good setting as people instantly associate playgrounds with childish behaviour. To portray our actor as a little girl we decided on a costume consisting of a red coat, were hoping the audience will be reminiscent of little red riding hood and associate the two.
  

Samuel Dobson

Design Practice 1: Animation: Analysis, Synthesis and Planning

Now I have the basic concepts and designs for my animation, but have made no solid judgements or sense of the development stage, I like to identify the implications of my inspirations and brainstorming before I continue with later processes. This allows me to learn further and avoid possible problems arising in the future. I  adapt any new ideas created by my analysis/synthesis at this point and usually incorporate them into my current project.

Analysis involves listing as many questions as you can think of regarding your project. The questions will vary from project to project but usually the majority of these questions are the same, whatever the project you are attempting. the Synthesis is the following section in the design process and is a list of answers. Quite simple really.

1) What software is most appropriate to use?
2) How long do I estimate to completion ?
3) What shapes and fonts are best and why?
4) What colours will I be adapting to my work ?
5) What is the main function of my animation?
6) What existing products were prime influences?
7) What are some good books, DVDs and useful information.
8) Where can I collect research material?
9) How long will my animation last?
10)What animation movements?

1) Well for this particular assignment, Auto desk 3DS has been assigned to us, and I understand that it's a highly rated piece of software, perfect for what I'm trying to achieve. The answer to this question would be more appropriate If I was doing an independent project, as I would have to deduce the best software for a project:

2) I estimate my completion date to be Saturday 23rd October 2010, I am basing this on the pace in which I'm learning the 3DS software, The practical sessions I have between the two date and the overall access I will have to learning materials and the software. This is my goal.

3) Through my brainstorming and Inspiration activity's I have decided up on the Fat Boy Slim font:

As It creates the required depth and energy I'm looking for, It also works well with 3DS effect 'squeeze'.
The shapes I have decided upon will be a cylinder for the swords, as I can use the 'extrude', 'beavel' and 'ident' tools to easily create swords. I will have two simple boxes as banners for my text:

 4) The colour scheme I'm planning is a yellow to black gradient for my banner boxes:

The swords will have a bronze material effect for the handles, a gloss metal effect for the blade and a gold material for the base. The text will be white. The background I'm attempting is similar to this gold cracked effect:

5) The main function of my animation is to keep audiences entertained in between shows while there watching a channel based on my life. It should be to the point, fast, easily identifiable and be interesting. The station indent should be what audiences instantly associate with the channel.

6) After many hours of thinking, I have came to the conclusion the my main influences would have to be a hybrid mix of these two videos:





7) There are several books recommended to us In the assignment briefs and student handbooks that could be used to further my knowledge, along with fellow students recommendations. YouTube and the Auto Desk website also harbours endless useful information :

• Learning Autodesk 3ds Max 2008
• Multimedia: From Wagner to Virtual Reality
• The Art of 3D Computer Animation and Effects

8) I can collect research material from the local boots library, through ebooks or privately purchase from the links above

9)  I am planning my animation to be between five and ten seconds in length, through my inspiration search, I realised that station indents are very spontaneous and do not aim to hold the audiences interest for long periods of time. The aim is get your message across and move on, hopefully leaving an image in the viewers mind.

10) I will be rotating and forwarding the banners/text, using the squeeze effect for the movement of the text and manipulating the pivot points of the two swords to stab onto screen and inter cross:

Now you can see how having this information is useful, I can future reference back to this section of the design process to help identify what my initial designs were, It also clears my mind of all the questions I was asking myself and paves a clear path for me to follow. I now have a plan to implement and will be progressing  to the research stage shortly.

Samuel Dobson