Ted's Dolls House

A while ago I helped the artist (and family friend) Ted Coney[1] furnish and decorate his large dolls house and took some photographic records. This is now part of his permanent exhibition in his home, to accompany some paintings featuring sections of the rooms. Here are some of the (terrible quality) photographs I took:

I can remember thinking that in some of the photos it could be a real room, but now I feel it is obvious that it is miniature and I like this feeling.























[1]http://www.tedconeysfamilyportraits.co.uk/

Dreamspace and The Neverhood

Nigel also introduced me to Maurice Agis's Dreamspace - "An inflatable, walk-in sculpture made with brightly colored cells was designed to induce a tranquil, relaxed mood and be a colorful interactive experience for visitors." http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/10/view/5554/maurice-agiss-dreamspace-breached-safety-rules.html

 

 The colours and organic shapes bear a similarity to my 'sweetland' but what I found most interesting about searching for information on this installation is that it has a sinister side. The source of the above description is an article covering how 'Dreamspace V' breached health and safety regulations resulting in injury and death. The though of such a down to earth tragedy in such a surreal environment is creepy and sad, but as it was accidental it does not subtract from the innocence the artist intended. Ironically I am trying to achieve a darkness among my game environment while retaining an innocence appealing to children, but not in this way at all. This is simply tragic and very sad. 

Another source have recently been studying for my sweetland research is The Neverhood. A puzzle game for PC (I have generously been made a Mac compatible version by a very talented friend). The environments are mostly plasticine and objects such as glass and wood and metal, that has been filmed to create an interactive scene. It is fairly old (1990s) and I recently saw a 'look back' section of GAMES™ magazine, Imagine Publishing, feature it. I will try to find it and include it in a short review when I have played the game more. For now, here are some images from the web:

 

  

  

So far I mostly like how the scale is so obvious, you can see fingerprints reminding you constantly that it is plasticine and that it has been lovely hand crafted. 

Lauren Child

I have been introduced to Lauren Child recently by Nigel my tutor. Her illustration style when drawing is similar to Quentin Blake (who I looked at in my first research document) but feels more carefully constructed to me, but just as wistful and alluring. Most famous for her books Charlie and Lola (below left) and Clarice Bean (below right)













Her work I have found most interesting though is her book The Princess and the Pea (below)

This book is illustrated with photographs taken by Polly Borland of scenes created by Child of cut out paper illustrations and dolls house furniture arranged together in small, hand painted card or wooden sets.

After making one model I am enthusiastic to make another, more intricate and accurate to the changes I have made - and more substantial. This is a bigger task though and I will attempt it next year. For now I may make a section (eg the shop counter and old man) in paper to see if it would work.

I have always loved doll's houses and have animated this way before. I am still keen to do some 2D drawn animation, but this is a different way a 2D image can be brought to life.

Adverts

Two uk adverts influenced my design for embedded illustration:

Robinson's 'Just for Milk' cordial and squash adverts 2008/9



And the McCain's Rustic Over Chips advert April 2008




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnNDX_uiMag


Both feature animated figures and recognisable imagery emerging from a two or three colour scene or texture.

Embedded Illustration

The sweet land levels, as explained in full in my game guide document, will be made of seemingly unstructured patches of colour taken from different traditional sweets, within which the player will have to construct a path. The background or foreground colour will sometimes contain illustrations of scenes relating to British cultural contexts (fields, the seaside, railways, orchards etc).

To get ideas I looked at some books in the library:

The English Farmhouse and Cottage, M. W. Barley, routeledge and Kegan Paul, London and Boston 1961


Industrial architecture in Britain 1750- 1939, Edgar jones, B.T. Batsford ltd, London 1985


Nostalgia spotlight on the fourties, Michael Anglo, Jupiter books 1977


Looking back at Rural life 1901-1939, C Fielden Hughes, EP publishing limited 1975


A peoples war, Peter Lewis, Methuen London, 1986



These books gave me some idea of what became important to Britain during wartime, such as the underground and farmland for their change of use. Other things became important because of the ways they changed irreversibly, there is a lot of sentiment for the things that were lost in the war that can be brought out subtly in the game's scenery.

Update - 5th week

I have been making my documents for hand in over the past week, finished my orthographic views and most of my research into the shop and real world aesthetics. I have written most of it up again (when relevant) in my style guide document to accompany my document of final images. Next I need to finish my drawings of the old man in the shop, and some of the boy in the shop from the model photography I recently uploaded. I was planning to do a lot more of these but I am finding it hard, I am conscious of time and how much I have planned to do still for sweet land environment concepts. I originally wanted to do all 6 proposed level designs with embedded illustration (needing research of its own, some of which I have done already). Now I think 3 will be a more realistic target and will communicate what I am aiming for just as clearly.

I know now that, even with the extra week extension, any animation is unrealistic at this stage. But I have looked into time management on a larger scale, and including next year into this project I will be able to concentrate fully on animation and building a fully realised model in that time. That leaves me 6 or so images, and plenty of pages of style guide still to do this unit.