Working progress…

Before I begin the main designs for my Logan’s run environment I’m going to have a practise run on creating a concept piece from the things I have learnt over the past weeks. Sketches derived from random objects. A few scribbles on a train journeys nothing to major at this stage. There is a huge amount of emphasises from James Clyne’s methods of performing concept design, looking back on the Gnomon DVD’s he was frequently giving examples of what he does on a regular basis sometimes not having the concept fully established in the earlier phase. This is evidence from my attempt.

The Techniques of James Clyne

http://www.jamesclyne.com/projects.php?gallery_id=297

Yet another Gnomon Video this time James Clyne shows ways in which to start a concept and render it into a cinematic environment. I’ve always found it fascinating watching these DVD’s my brain is constantly engaged picking up ways in which to enhance the foundations that go into a concept piece take this for example(black and white sketch above) the development stages into the final concept push me to learn new things from Volume 1 heavy use of lines are collected on the page this in turn will enable a stronger feel of the environment that are being drawn, having the basic knowledge of the environment being represented can determine the strength on structures and architecture allowing your concept to enter the realm of realism.“As a concept artist you are trying to push the boundaries into realism.”

Most recently I have watched the sequel to the previous DVD (Volume 2) the techniques of James Clyne. What I had noticed is the use of colour and layering patterns James uses over the 2 hour period on his concept, they do not differ largely from what I already do although some of the main strategy’s to construct the Render can come in handy so in this case I have taken note. He suggests sticking to around 10 main brushes and using adjustment layers to add extra depth when your environment is looking slightly dull.

James Clyne

 

THX 1138 Geroge Lucas

 

A large amount of the work I am creating will often have some kind of filmic research behind them watching films like this will only greater my understanding of the subject area that is being worked upon. Another source of inspiration has came from the Film THX 1148 director George Lucas, the films was recommended as it is a similar adaptation of the Logan’s Run and more importantly its plot line.

A couple of thoughts pondered my head after watching. I find it strange on the way everybody in the beginning have these factory like worker roles to play, to some extent it can be seen mimicking the modern day and lives. I noticed the Porcelain type of environments and taken note of these as it may come into my work later, because of White clothing/bold heads it seems like society obtain no identities as if they are clones of one another. This quote suggests this

‘’Occupations to fill work hard increase production prevent accidents and be happy’’ robotic voice quoted from the film.

Life is about being watched the classic scenario in the modern world today is CCTV camera monitoring. In the film much like Logan’s Run things are being watched studied by a higher status. Seeing the way in which emotions (happy/Sad) and surroundings in THX1128 corresponds to the environments plus the overall ascetic allows me to capture the imagery from the film to my advantage for example if the mood it anger surroundings and the environments will be more sharp in terms of architecture structures this was something I noticed, the atmosphere would obtain more darker values less vibrant colours for a sense of distraught.

(Racing action scene end of film impressive stuffs)

THX 1138

Plot Summary

The human race has been relocated to a underground city located beneath the Earth's surface. In the underground city, the population are entertained by holographic TV which broadcasts sex and violence and robotic police force enforces the law. In the underground city, society controls all life, all citizens are drugged to control their emotions and their behavior and sex is a crime. Factory worker THX-1138 stops taking the drugs and he breaks the law when he finds himself falling in love with his room-mate LUH 3417 and is imprisoned when LUH 3417 is pregnant. Escaping from jail with illegal programmer SEN 5241 and a hologram named SRT, THX 1138 goes in search of LUH 3417 and escape to the surface, whilst being pursued by robotic policemen.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066434/plotsummary

Written by Daniel Williamson

Another Value Study

I’m really beginning to get the hang of the conceptual art side if things using values on concepts like this one, there was no main focus when creating these they just came naturally so to speak. The more and more time given (detail) to the thumbnails the clearer the reason behind them become. A Sci-fi landscape kind of tunnel caves are my thoughts, it’s great also you can use your own imagination to portray what is happening in these scenes. Success on many levels very happy with what I have achieved here.

Logos Re-think

The logo design I had created looks to be kind of isolated from the sci-fi content of my work. It was suggested by tutor Phil that I go for a more fantasy like design therefore re thinking it and coming up with some more examples. I like the combination of the R and L linking together so perhaps keeping this could be an option the main gist of the previous idea was very basic, time to change.

Here I picked up a cool looking font which I think works best with my logo.

http://www.acidfonts.com/scififonts2.htm

Before I began sketching some of my own ideas it was important to gather some reference just so I know I’m on the right lines to what I’m trying to achieve.

Design:1

Design:2

My Categories

These are the main categories that represent me and the kind of area I work best. Just a nice indication and summary of my strengths.

Utopia

Researching Utopia

One of the main assets to my project concerns this words ‘utopia’ the decision was made to really try to explore the word and find out some real truth and meaning, I’ve established the words profile description but this is not enough to go by, during last weeks tutorial session a good indication of a utopian environment was depicted. Now immediately when the name mentioned is George Lukas, star wars is a highly recommended topic of discussion although other pieces under his direction are not forgotten here I am referring to the film THX 1138 and the quality’s it consists of. Whilst the tutorial session some aspects about my choice of direction for the unit needs to be more clear, what is utopia?

a. often Utopia An ideally perfect place, especially in its social, political, and moral aspects.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/utopia

James Kanjo
http://james.wikidot.com/blog:12
Utopia is often referred to as the “Perfect World”

Future City: Experiment and utopian in architecture (Thames & Hudson)

Hollywood Utopia: Ecology in Contemporary American Cinema (Pat Brereton)

The quote shown here was taken from Hollywood Utopia

‘1950s science fiction films dealt with ecological fears most exploring the potential effects of nuclear destruction together with environmental degradation. With the, transformation of science fiction films in the 1980s, the mood had changed, many claim, towards the presentation of much more complex, pessimistic and nihilistic vision of the future.’

The reason for this quotation is to show that time scale in which best depicts the notion of utopia now from reading through its obvious this can be seen as being a bias statement by Pat Brereton as it does not reflect on the world as a whole it’s a single someone’s view although very useful as it can be looked upon if I’m rearing off track with my work.

Utopian Reader (Claeys Gregory, Sargent Lyman T)

Utopian Reader (Claeys Gregory, Sargent Lyman T)

Future City: Experiment and utopian in architecture (Thames & Hudson)

Branding project work

Giving my work an identity was an easy process and key for a more professional appearance, the main bases of my thoughts where on the title of this project, it was best at the begging to use the words Logan’s Run Transcription as a start off point. Things began to change as I drew and decided not to use the transcription initial in the actually design as it may become to complex ,My novel’s title Logan’s Run obtain the perfect variety of lettering to develop and adapt a logo so therefore the L and R where used. It ended with merging LR into to something nice and basic. After this from a previous project Curtsey of the website http://www.dafont.com/ I explored a few potential fonts coming to a conclusion.

Maya dynamic tests

It’s really time to start thinking about Maya and the type of things I’d like to incorporate with in my project, as the technical classes consists of leaning dynamics I’m going to kick start with a few tests and tutorials perhaps generate some understanding for future work.
Testing Deformers


Emitting Particles

From an interesting tutorial located on http://www.tutorialized.com/tutorials/Maya/1 I discovered a possible title sequence that could be added to the introduction for instance of an animation. Can under few problems as the tutorial doesn’t fully explain what I was following although learnt something useful.

My Logans Run novel is here!

After some anticipation about my novel it has finally arrived. I have already begun to read a few pages from the Logan runs novel and have established a few facts. Society lives until 21,there is a crystal like objects attached in the right palm of ever being which also obtains a colour after 7 years of living yellow sun from birth then electric blue into mid teens and final blood red as it approaches 21 the end of your life span. A dull black appears as people come to reach of there 21st birthday.

Narrative is key despite my goals of achieving a game environment I must considered every aspect of the novel taking in account even the smaller details. Over the next few days I’ll be reading the novel and jotting down key notes from which I can work from also in addition will keep up to date with the plans of my project and developing the key implements to this assignment.

Feng Zhu - Colour Values

Colour Values

A study of Colour Values dark, medium and light indicates a great basis for a concept only taken around a few minutes to do. You are able to see an immense deal of special awareness in the scene by placing light colour value in the background of the image more finer details can shine through for example the selling point of the piece other detail to be aware of in colour studies such as this one are the foreground elements again by adding recognizable figures into the thumbnail things become more comprehensible.

The next stage concerning the concept phase for this unit is to take this further and develop more of these colour studies for my project.

The Techniques of Feng Zhu

Feng Zhu is a great inspiration and prime example of talent in the in the digital art scene, I’ve had the chance to explore and examine his way of design from a Gnomon Workshop DVD showcasing various fundamentals from designing digital environments. Some of the topics that are covered: Perspective reviews, Camera angles, Thumbnails, Shot Planning, Use of scale, Use of value and Composition. After watching the DVD I had noticed some of the fundamentals that are touched up on which are practical in concept design. Feng first covers the basics of perspective, and then follows with demos explaining the use of scale and composition. Next he shows the fundamentals of lighting and values. To enhance my drawing capabilities I set out to try the techniques Feng was demonstrating.

Feng Zhu states that there are 3 main perspective points in which to follow, below shows sets of cubes as the sample these images are depiction of a 1 point perspective, 2 point perspective and 3 point perspective at work. In order to capture a more dynamic shot you would use a 2/3 point perspective this allow a variety of ways to portray your scene.
Perspective

I was intrigued when watching the DVD Feng Zhu had shown a simple technique in which you can multiple generic objects to the right proportions, repeating these shapes is sometimes useful to give a sense of volume for instance.

Repetitive patterns

Often when reading an image human silhouette can add to the composition, adding real life objects whether it be a human or a vehicle (something recognisable) into a concept creates awareness of the scale. Environments begin to make sense in terms of there dimensions. You can see how from the samples above repeating patterns and repetition of the buildings in the next two thumbnails below brings the composition closer.

Composition

Placing the vanishing point onto a page this can determine your perspective camera angle. The eye is drawn to the horizon line of the image, the lower the perspective point/points the more height(background element) will show, the higher the point a birds eye view comes into frame and lastly a tip to a dynamics shot is to position one vanishing point on the concept and another off the thumbnail this will allow the viewer to acknowledge the angle of the shot and improves the selling point of the piece which is generally the middle ground.

Vanishing point placement

Enviromental Sketches

The motive behind these drawings are purely being futuristic they where drawn before this project in my feel time during the holidays and now I feel its time to publish them as they may come of use. Roughly drawn out from the top of my head no reasoning behind them, when I look back onto them you can notice the live work at play. I feel that my sense of prospective needs some touching up on this will allow my concept art to shine through.

This is a quick first attempt at a concept of my underground utopia. I will need to know my landscape structurally therefore creating individual unique buildings , obviously from this image a great detail is not seen as of yet, the next stage for this concept is to take it into Photoshop and fabricate some realism into it colours shapes and size of buildings should be considered.

Another rough outline blocky shape mainly focusing on using perspective.

More Research

I’ve gathered a list of websites here that I will look back and assess, things of interest which show a useful range of information concerning the foundations of my work.

General sci-fi artists and work
http://www.sci-fi-o-rama.com/category/artist/syd-mead/
Architecture
http://www.ronsaari.com/slideShow.php?gallery=googie&image=TWATerminalExterior.jpg
http://www.european-architecture.info/A-HIST.htm
Environments
http://www.gric.at/home.htm
http://www.chaosquake.de/files/h_da/interactive-media/demo/gridsolver/index.html
Concept artists
http://www.janditlev.com/
http://www.jamesclyne.com/projects.php?gallery_id=297

Art Direction

Researching images that relate to my novel has really allowed me to think about the kind of art direction I’d like to peruse in this unit. I’ve come across contemporary artwork which could play a part in the designing of my environments.

I don’t want to focus too deeply as this will come later when the novel arrives, the main focal point now is just gathering ideas and thinking about the art direction.

Art styles
(Futurism)
Futurism was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy in the early 20th century. It was largely an Italian phenomenon, though there were parallel movements in Russia, England and elsewhere. The Futurists practised in every medium of art, including painting, sculpture, ceramics, graphic design, industrial design, interior design, theatre, film, fashion, textiles, literature, music, architecture and even gastronomy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futurism
http://www.usc.edu/schools/annenberg/asc/projects/comm544/library/styles/index.html
I may make an attempt to look upon an art movement of some kind to influence the art direction.

Contemporary structures and designs.

http://www.icehk.com/work_3v.html

The library is a great resource therefore the next stage is to take a gander round in there to see what I can find and build my imagination ready for design stage. It’s clear that a large amount of my design will come from futurism artists and there work simply because of there broad lines and distinctive colours.
Josie Cox

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-pictures/Futurist+art+exhibition+at+Tate+Modern-latest.do?id=23370433

Christopher Richard Wynne

http://www.italianfuturism.org/2009/06/futurism-opens-at-tate-modern/

Notable futurist artists: Umberto Boccioni, Nikolay Diulgheroff, Angiolo Mazzoni, Giacomo Balla

Valve's Francke: Game Art Direction In Its 'Infancy'

I have come across review of an art director Valve’s Francke discussing at Lyon Games Developers conference his distinctive art style on ‘Team Fortress 2’.

For future projects, do you think you’ll get to do other interesting, strange art styles? What do you want to try next?

The next thing I’d love to do is not based on realism, but stylizing with a little more in-depth look to the materials in the world. Instead of just having an impressionistic background, or having highly stylized characters. Making the characters a little bit more believable, even incorporating bold design, getting a little bit more specific.
So it would be a little bit slash realism and stylization all at once. And it can be achieved. We’ve done experiments like this, where you take a character and you make them -- instead of taking photographs of the character, you base it off of lots of drawings and studies and paintings of the character, with real proportions. But with true design to it. You’ll be amazed at what you can do.
Human beings are a very interesting species. There’s not one generic person. Everybody’s unique. So you can get some really amazing face shapes and body designs and clothing and all these things fit into that.

The question raised at the conference is very interesting whilst reading I noticed that some of the things that Valve states I can relate to for example not basing the work on realism but more stylized this is evidence from the last project. Perhaps its time to break out of that realm and try a more realistic approach and base this project on a more believable art direction.

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=16498

Team Fortress 2 - Trailer

Visual Research

Post-Apocalyptic Visions:

Artist:Lori Nix 'The City - church', 'The City - Bontanical Garden', 'The City - Laundromat', 'The City - Vacuum Showroom, 'The City - Nature Histroy'

                             

 

http://www.lorinix.net/ 

Artist:Motoda Hisaharu 'Kabukicho', 'Landscape towa'

http://hisaharu-motoda.petit.cc/muscat2/

 Artist:Studio Lindfors 'Aqulanta 1', '2', '3', 'Cloud Skippers 1', 'Cloud Skippers 2', White House 1', White House 2'

 

 

http://studiolindfors.com/2010/

Artist:George Grie 'Arrested Expansion', 'Dehydration', 'Age Premonition', 'Infinte Improbability', 'Sanctuary'

http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2008/03/surreal-art-update.html