Narrative Vs. Authenticity

In our context lecture last week we watched a lecture about the theory of using narrative to affect authenticity both positively and adversely.

It was argued that narrative can make people more authentic, and therefore we must stride to be as authentic as possible which will guide us down a particular path, and this path should raise constant questions about who we are, as we should always be learning and discovering new things. Authenticity is transformation process which will come from life's struggles, achievements, barriers and decisions. Stories supposedly show the real us, in comparison to opinions, which, particularly in the modern day and age, can easily be influenced and moulded. I think this is an interesting point, and I see where they are coming from, stories show what we have done and therefore what decisions we wanted to make at the time, showing a more authentic self. Opinions are usually constructed from what we hear. However I personally also believe that stories are often altered to make us seem better, therefore being truthful but surely be the key element to authenticity. Opinions may be influenced but at least they are constructed to represent what we believe.


Another interesting point raised was that authenticity is an ideal that can only be achieved by basically living life to the full as it comes. Opposed to worrying about the future, in terms of possibilities and opportunities. It was stated that we should be living in objectively and just living life as we are, fragmented by our daily routines and experiences. This is another good point raised which makes basically says we shouldn't dwell on the past or future too much. Just to live out life normally, then we learn what we expect from our lives, learn from our mistakes and push forward to our ideal all at the same time.  

Haunted ride - carriage inspiration

As I have a Jack the ripper style theme for my ride, or at least a murder trail set in 19th century London, I thought it would be fitting to do a horse and carriage style cart for my ride. This would give a really authentic feel to my ride and would definitely be in keeping. 








These images were my inspiration for my preliminary design which I created using Sketch Up:

A look at branding on the web

Our context one task was to find a website and define its brand as "something that company/organisation offers that that company/organisation would to be seen as making them distinctive from other similar companies/organisations."


Hello Monday is a 'creative agency' and from the outset I think it creates an image of innovation and sophisticated design. The layout of the website is visually inspiring, setting it above its competitors. It uses a minimalistic colour scheme and has an easy to navigate interface, with some really interesting interactive elements. Such as, the stylised animations and the portfolio switch from a classy sepia effect to full colour when the mouse is hovering over it. This shows off and highlights the work really effectively. I like the fact that you can immediately see their portfolio, which shows they are confident about their work. But naturally, with such a comprehensive and successful background, with some top clients, it is not surprising that they want to show it off. The overall feel of the website is one of professionalism and shows a keen eye for awesome design which, importantly, is backed up in their work. This would immediately instil confidence in any potential clients, and first impressions are key in such a saturated industry. Overall a brilliant design website, which stands against other design agencies, with really effective interactivity and a visually awesome design.




http://www.hellomonday.com/ 

Animation progress

I have now laid out my track and got a basic cart design which successfully animates following the track. I have also mounted a camera that goes round with the cart. Although I need to add some tweaks to where it shoots. However this will be easier once my scenes are in place. The track went into place without too many problems, I drew it out using the line tool and then spliced them together, next to give it track like appearances I drew out the shape I wanted separately and then using the 'custom section type' tool I integrated the shape to the track. The cart came from a box that was then extruded in different areas, I plan to add more appropriately themed details to it later on. The cart was then animated to follow the track and rotated at corners and so on. 

I also learnt how to re-create objects from images, by drawing around the image using the view port background in front view. Then the outline appears in perspective view which can then be extruded to create the object. For the gravestone below, I traced the outline of the cross and then added to circle afterwards, by drawing a standard circle, using the outline tool to create the ring and then extruding it. 

   

Inspiration for haunted ride

   




These are some inspirational images for my scary ride. I want to my ride to have a murder trail/jack the ripper theme to it. Set in the gloomy, damp streets of London, with lots of shadows and footsteps and barely lit alleyways. You never know what could be around the corner!!! 

DP2 begins

Just finished my first week of DP2 animation, and it seems like quite a challenging task that we have been set! Our brief is to create a haunted roller coaster ride complete with entrance, cart and scare scenes! I'm looking forward to progressing with the brief but am also fairly daunted by the task, as I still only have a basic knowledge of the virtual environment field and the tools around it. 

However this week I started by re-creating the space in which the ride will be (which the Waverley Theatre) in our seminar at the beginning of the week and started on the track design and research for the theme and and potential scare scenes and the like, yesterday. I like the idea of going down a sort of murder trail, where there is always a feeling of something following you as you go along the ride, and it also brings up the possibility of scare scenes of gruesome murders. In our seminar on Friday we were told that trying to make it as specific as possible is a good idea, and should make our ideas and work more focused. Therefore I quite like the idea of a sort old fashioned London feel, a sort of 'Jack the Ripper' theme could be quite effective.

The next steps will be to put together a 'mood board' of suitable research materials for my theme and also look at the design for my cart after the track design is complete.