Where is your work for this unit Brandon?
I am going to assume you have done it and not uploaded to your blog... Ensure this is done by the end of the week. (20/1/17)
Targets:
To be able to successfully PEE throughout deconstructions of concept art.
To be able to experiment with varied techniques to complete your own concept art responding to the brief.
Key:
Teacher marking - Pink
Self/Peer feedback - Red
Amendments - Green
Introduction
Concept Art is a form of illustration used to communicate ideas to other people. It is primarily used in the modern era within the film, animation and games industries, but isn't just limited to it. In fact, concept art is used in many industries, most commonly automotive and architectural design. The majority of the things we see today were once sketches on paper, brought to life by a team of professionals and industry experts.
History of Concept Art
A Brief History of Concept Art
It's difficult to say when and where Concept Art truly began, since man has been writing down his ideas as soon as he was able. However, one of the most common civilisations to utilise art to convey concepts and ideas were the Ancient Egyptians.
The Ancient Egyptians would sketch out their architectural, cerimonial and even agricultural ideas so that they could be conveyed to a group, letting them know what they are working on and how the finished product should look. This procedure was highly efficient, and has led to some of the most fascinating things we've discovered today, including the Egyptian Sphinx, the Pyramids of Giza and The Lighthouse of Alexandria, as well as all their temples, burial procedures and agricultural processes.
Around the early 1930s the term concept art was coined, and has been reportedly used by Disney as far back as then. It was around this time it began to get recognition as an actual part of pre-production.
In 1938 the world's first concept car was released - the Buick-Y Job. This car influenced many later automobile companies very heavily in their designs.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Disney's first animated full length feature motion picture, is one of the most widely recognised animator to embrace the process of Concept Art. The main man behind the magic was Albert Hurter, the primary concept artist. His sketches influenced not only Snow White but also many other Disney pictures, with his designs going on to be used in other motion pictures such as Fantasia and Peter Pan.
Currently, one of the fastest growing industries, the games industry, employs around a third of all concept artists. Concept art in the games industry is one of its most important aspects, shaping the game long before any of its modelling stages. In fact, I would go so far as to say it's easily the most important, visually speaking, because it allows a team to go through many different designs and pick what suits their game best, whilst possibly saving other sketches for later projects. It also allows them to go through many different designs, taking what they like from some and removing what they didn't like from others, all to create the most accurate representation of what they want to bring to the audience. The point is, concept art is one of the most powerful forces in games design, shaping worlds and characters and creatures before a story has even been conceptualised.
This process of designing things on paper then going through many stages to create said things went on for centuries, and is still used today. From ship making, to blacksmithing, to construction, concept art was and still is the key to creating these builds as their creator/designer intended. It is used in just about every modern industry we can think of.
Concept Art for Computer Games
Pictured Above: Concept Art for Mario, Fallout 3, Super Mario Galaxy, Sonic, Tron and Life is Strange.
The Purpose of Concept Art
Concept art is a visual representation of an idea or character that can be implemented into a game or movie or any such media piece. It's the visual development of something that will gradually form a final piece inside the media piece. Artists generally try several different designs, showing them to whoever is taking charge of the project, and picking the most suitable piece to be refined and perfected. Remember concept art is not limited to just games, but expands across other media pieces too, like movies.
Deconstruction
'Life is Strange, 2015, Dontnod Entertainment'
Life is Strange is an episodic graphic adventure game that focuses around Max Caulfield, a college photography student who has discovered her sudden ability to travel through and 'rewind' time. The visual message from this game is to show players that a game can be beautiful without having realistic graphics, as shown by the more animated art style Life is Strange possesses.
It appears to be influenced by The Walking Dead, Gone Home, and Heavy Rain, but was in development before Gone Home was released. Additionally, it can also be claimed that The Catcher in the Rye was a source of inspiration, with its protagonist Holden Caulfield sharing the same surname as Max, the main character of Life is Strange. Life is Strange also bears incredibly similar aspects to the movie The Butterfly Effect, from the trilogy of the same name. These aspects include the ability to travel through time using photographs, the idea behind alternate realities being created for every choice made, and that any action made in the past will have an effect on the present and foreseeable future. A small reference to this movie could be made in the naming of one of Life is Strange's episodes, aptly named The Butterfly Effect.
The concept art present gives the feel of a natural disaster, as shown by the cars being lifted, the debris flying around and the bus that's seemingly been thrown towards the main character. This tells us that at some point the game will include a terrible natural disaster, with our main character being right in the middle of it, as shown by the picture being centred on her. The sky above is a dark grey, showing us it is indeed a heavy storm, with high winds throwing around debris and tearing apart the buildings. Our character clearly wasn't prepared for this storm, being depicted in casual clothes, a t-shirt instead of something more appropriate for a storm, such as a raincoat. She also appears to be either attempting to shield herself from the bus or, more likely, stop it, with one hand raised in a stance that gives a more 'halt' vibe. It does link back to the target audience (mature), by showing us the extreme destruction caused in a natural disaster, which can also be telling of tragedy, the loss of families, the death of many and the people that are forced to live on, broken.
This art in particular tells of the darker atmosphere portrayed closer to the end of the game, with the darker colours, the debris, and the feeling of terror in our character as seen in her stance and her outstretched hand, thrown in front of her in a seemingly futile attempt to save herself. The storm has obviously not gone on for very long, clearly evidenced by the extreme amount of debris, the vehicles being almost entirely intact, and only part of the buildings being chewed up by the storm, clearly giving us the idea that this storm was very sudden, with a lack of preparation present in our characters clothing and her presence right in the middle of the chaos, the amount of destructible objects and the incredible lack of any boarded up windows, sealed up entrances, or any other attempt to deter the storm in any way possible.
I analysed this game's concept art because I was inspired by the respawn/rewind/time travel mechanic and decided to implement my own
version into my game, via respawning. Whenever the player dies, they are given a choice of any point in time up until 1 minute before they died. This will place them earlier on the map, but
anywhere they desire, where they've previously been, incase they have missed any items, collectibles, or want to fix the mistake that killed them.
We will be going through deconstructing concept art in detail on 20/01/17
'Fallout 4, 2015, Bethesda Softworks'
Fallout 4 is an action role-playing game set in the year 2287, around 210 years after 'The Great War', in which a nuclear holocaust devastated the Earth, with the only survivors either surviving underground in 'Vaults' or being turned into Ghouls, hideous creatures with extended lifespans.
The concept art and in game style tells us this game is retro-futuristic, with a 50s vibe, but in the far future. Looking at the concept art, we can see that the surrounding buildings are very dilapidated, with our character walking over a large amount of debris. This tells us that this world has been through incredibly destructive disaster, but still lives on. The bright colours suggest that the world outside is more or less a safe place to be, but the surrounding wreckage gives a more ominous feel to the setting. The dog to our characters left tells us of companionship, and could mean that to survive in the wasteland it's better to have a companion rather than going solo. In addition to this idea, our character is holding a laser rifle of some sort, clearly stating that you need to be constantly armed against the dangers of the post-apocalypse. Looking closely at our character, we can see he is wearing armor. However, it is rather light armor, and appears to have a different function rather than protection, more likely for helping to carry lighter objects, signifying that keeping personal belongings on your person at all times is the best and safest course of action. Overall, we can glean from this concept art that the wasteland of Fallout is a harsh and unforgiving world.
I've utilised the idea of an apocalyptic wasteland that was the setting for the Fallout series.
'The Binding of Isaac, 2011, Edmund McMillen'
The Binding of Isaac is an independent roguelike dungeon crawler designed by Edmund McMillen and Florian Himsl and released for windows software in 2011, later being ported to OS X and Linux operating systems. The title and plot of the game were inspired by the biblical tale sharing the same name. The plot goes as follows: After his mother receives a message from God demanding her child's life as proof of her faith, she agrees and grabs a knife. When she approaches Isaac (to kill him), he flees to the basement, a horrible monster filled place where Isaac has to fight for his life.
In the center of this concept art we see Isaac, the main character in this story. Looking at the tear tracks and the clothes he wears, or rather lack thereof, we can see that Isaac is under extreme traumatic stress, with just about everything taken away from him, including his dignity, as signified by his nakedness. The background is heavily populated with monsters, indicating a large array of different enemies that we can fight throughout the game. The amount of disgusting creatures we encounter in the game and those that are portrayed in the concept art above show that there are no limits to how horrible the basement, the living nightmare, in which Isaac fights is.
The mechanics of my game are mainly based around this game.
RAG Rate your understanding of PEE:
Point
Evidence
Explain
B1 - Conceptual Development of Ideas in Response to a Brief
Brief - Clownin' Around
It is 1962 North America, the gamer controls the main character Alex ‘Giggles’ Malone, Alex has been having a tough time, juggling his home life and his work. He works in a travelling fun fair as the resident clown. Performing tricks and jokes for the few people who still attend the fair.
The game begins on a ‘normal’ day for ‘Giggles’ waking up after a heavy night on the laughing gas, as he leaves his rugged trailer he finds himself on the outskirts of a post-apocalyptic fun fair. Although this is the way most visitors would describe the fun fair on a normal day, this is not a normal day. The fair has had a large meteor land flat bang in the centre of it, on top of the central circus tent.
All of ‘Giggles’ friends and colleagues are now mutated almost beyond recognition and hungry for more than candy floss and toffee apples (although most were already part of the freak show anyway) Giggles must fight his way across the landscape, past various rides and amusements to get to the central tent where his beloved clown car (Betsy) is, so he can make his escape.
We have an idea how we would like ‘Giggles’ to look but we do not have the ability to create him ourselves, so we are putting this task to you. We have some criteria that must be abided by:
- Look like a clown
- Be appropriate for the era of 1960’s
- Be appropriate for the location of North America
- Look tattered and rugged – rough, dirty, unshaven
- Clown Makeup – although worn, smudged
- Big shoes
We also will have various weapons that can be located throughout the playable area, although we currently are undecided on what these could be, we would appreciate it if you could sketch and design us some ideas:
- Must be items found on a circus/fair
- One ranged
- One two handed
- One, one handed
Mood Board
Analysis
Clown 01 (The Joker) - This clown is one of the more relatable (appearance-wise) clowns to the one that we are creating. He has the same dirty sort of appearance, with matted, unkempt hair and heavily smudged makeup. The look in his eyes suggests a plan, an agenda behind that makeup, with a look mixed between mischief and sheer deviousness, this clown is obviously a mastermind. The hair and makeup are definitely going to be heavily inspired by this clown.
Clown 02 (Left-4-Dead Clown) - With a look from the devil in his eye, this clown clearly likes causing terror. Enjoying destruction, he has no vendetta, no cause, he just does it for fun. Again with a bit of a grunged up look, this clowns slightly more simplistic outfit is something I will be taking a look at, since it seems to be underclothes, as if the outer outfit was destroyed or too tattered to wear.
Clown 03 (Sweet Tooth) - A more petrifying clown, Sweet Tooth relishes in the death of those who get in his way. He takes part in a driving competition which involves the contestants brutally killing each other to get a leg up in the race. He enjoys winning. The hair and makeup style here I want to use, whilst adding in the smudged up, matted look from clown 1. The fire however, not so much.
Clown 04 (Adam the Clown) - A manic clown, he loves chainsaws, killing people and having a laugh while doing so. Keeping up with the persona of his job, Adam kills for laughs, just not for the amusement of others but rather himself. Despite the apocalypse, his outfit is remarkably clean. Whether this is due to the game not being able to support an over complex dirty outfit or just game design, I don't want to keep my clowns outfit looking like it has just come fresh out the laundry. However, the little top hat looks like a fun addition, and perhaps something a bit more battered and lopsided will make its way into my game.
Clown 05 (Krusty the Clown) - Definitely a take on the traditional clown, Krusty is not actually a psychopathic murderer with a penchant for big guns, but instead enjoys the finer things in life, like donuts and beer. His mannerisms (minus the raging alcoholism(?)) are what I want to take from, with a more laid back attitude being put to the test when thrust into a dangerous and unforgiving nightmare world.
Clown 06 (Mister Giggles) - Debatably the most terrifying clown on this list, Mr Giggles is absolutely mad. He ate his family when he was young, and then joined the circus. When you encounter him, he runs around in circles saying his own name, alongside strange things like "Wanna see my pocket?". Perhaps one of the most unique clowns because he isn't wearing a clown suit but rather bears a similar appearance with his face, he's set apart with his dead, empty eyes and fanged teeth. Again with the hair, something simple and easily styled, however I will add a bit more of an unkempt mess to my own clown. A fun little note is how this clown and my clown share the same last name, "Giggles".
