Here is a quick plan I have done so far...
(Introduction)
Which pathway should I choose to take further in levels 2 and 3? There are three options to pick from; will it be Interactive Media, Moving Image, or Virtual Environments? It is time to make my all important choice.
Firstly, there is Interactive Media – so far, this has involved graphic design and structuring websites with HTML and CSS. Coming from a graphics background previously, I found this pathway quite interesting in terms of design principles and job opportunities. However, I feel taking this pathway further could be an easy way out for me, as I find HTML and CSS quite simple and unchallenging in my current projects, and web design was not the reason I applied for this Multimedia programme.
The second pathway is Moving Image – during these projects I have made short films in small groups and focused mainly on editing for my own personal roles. The main reason I do not wish to pursue with this specialism is due to the high use of team work. I realise how important team work can be in the design industries, yet I feel I am more of an independent worker, so the other two pathways are more suited to my work style. I did enjoy taking on the role as the editor due to it being a more independent role, but found other parts of the experience very stressful and hard work.
The third pathway, however, is the one I wish to continue with for the rest of my course – Virtual Environments. The main reason I chose this course over a graphic design course was my keen interest in animation and games, therefore this pathway is where my passion lies. I have really enjoyed producing short animations and visualisations so far this year, and although sometimes it can be quite frustrating, I feel the challenge of producing 3D work is the most rewarding for me.
(Practitioner 1 – Jim Unwin, Media Molecule)
Media Molecule is a game developing company based in Guildford, UK founded in January 2006. They are most famous for producing the game “LittleBigPlanet” for Sony’s Playstation 3. The company always planned to produce a highly popular game, but to keep the size of the company and its number of employers down to cope with costs. To this day, the company still only employs fewer than 40 people in total to stick with this theory.
Jim Unwin is an illustrator and designer for both screen and print, but is mainly interested in the functionality and usability of games. He most recently worked as Media Molecule’s Motion Graphics Designer, working on designing the interface for their latest title “LittleBigPlanet 2”. This involved lots of graphic and concept design for the layout of the menus and navigation of the game. Although this does not involve as much 3D work as some other roles within the company, I have always been interested in graphics and the effect of composition and find it interesting how this can be incorporated within 3D animated games.
(Practitioner 2 – Shane Acker, “9” film)
Shane Acker is a film director, animator and designer, most famous for his recent collaboration with Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov for the feature film “9”, which he directed. This film was based upon an 11 minute short by Acker from 2005 with the same name.
He is also studied at the UCLA School of Arts and Architecture, where he aspired to be an architect but ended up going into animation. Whilst at the UCLA, he was known for producing animated short films; firstly “The Hangnail” in 1999 which was a 2-D animated film for Spike and Mike's Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation, before later directing a computer animated piece called “The Astounding Talent of Mr Grenade” in 2004.
Although a lot of Shane’s work is directing, which could be more associated with moving image, he has stuck with animation throughout his career despite not producing a vast amount of work so far. As Tim Burton is also one of my biggest influences, their collaborated work on the film “9” really inspired me. The dark style was typical of Burton’s work but produced in 3D animation rather than stop motion which I found much more suitable to link to my decision of the virtual environments pathway.
(Practitioner 3 – Edward Gordon Craig, “Space & Light” at V&A)
Edward Gordon Craig is my practitioner chosen from the field trip to London after seeing his “Space & Light” exhibition at the V&A. although his work was not directly related to my chosen pathway. He was an English theatre practitioner, working as an actor, director and scenic designer (sceneographer).
His most well known concept was using neutral, mobile, non-representational screens as a staging device. He patented his idea of a system of hinged and fixed flat screen that could be arranged efficiently to provide scenery for both internal and external scenes. He was also known for his innovation in stage lighting within theatrical works. This is what I noticed and admired within the exhibition in the V&A. There were models of theatres on show with various examples of lighting to flatter the work.
Although I am not doing moving image where this type of practitioner could be considered more useful, I feel the idea of lighting and sceneography is also a very important aspect of virtual environments: without the environment and animation is nothing, and without good lighting the environment is nothing.
And some shots:
