The most important and fascinating aspect of a Bachelor of Design Innovation in Media is the idea of a virtual escape. Every element of media design (film, photography, animation, special effects) all evolve around being a virtual experience. The most virtual escape possible is gaming. “Offering not just passing entertainment, but complete new worlds in which to become immersed,” (Parsons, 2010, pp. 354-353). In media design, not only can one become immersed in a game but have the experience of creating and developing a new world.
Game designers have the ability to immerse others into a world, showing them new ideas. “Artists and political activists can design games either as a means of creative expression or as a way to focus attention on social issues,” (Parsons, 2010, pp. 354-353). Rajagoploan and Schwartz argue that in the past, the idea of learning to create a video game in college classes was outrageous. However, now game development as a cohesive industry is extremely young and as an academic discipline certainly in its infancy (2005). Students at Victoria University who’re studying media design are part of a very new and innovative moment in history. The course is unique as it offers an understanding of design as well coding, animation and 3d modelling. “Games are made both better and faster when everyone has a good sense of design,” (Rajagopolan, Schwartz, 2005, pp. 29-32). Rajaploan and Schwartz also suggest that programmers are unable to develop games without artists, and vice versa (2005). Virtual experience design is the way of the future as “games are now ubiquitous in popular culture. More than 40 percent of U.S households own some kind of game system. Kids now spend more time playing games than watching television,” (Rajapolan, Schwartz, 2005, pp. 29-32).
The animation will show the development of an idea, from sketching to coding. It will then explore the effect of a virtual escape where even the creator is sucked into his own imaginative world in which he’s created. The idea is not only showing the most important aspect of media design – a virtual escape, but also the exciting and innovative process of Media designers. The virtual escape will express the idea of a “new way of seeing.” The colour palette will include black, white and purple. This keeps it simple and helps the main subject, the character, to stand out. Purple will add vibrancy and fun to the film. Claymation will be the style of the stop motion as this creates a 3 dimensional effect as opposed to drawing, tying into the theme of media design. Also, the plasticine is very mouldable and the main character can be ‘sucked’ into the television while playing a video game.
Reference:
Parsons, S. (2010). Critical play: Radical game design. The Knowledge Engineering Review, 25(3), 353-354. doi:10.1017/S0269888910000068
Rajagopalan, M., & Schwartz, D. I. (2005). Game design and game-development education. Phi Kappa Phi Forum, 85(2), 29-32. http://search.proquest.com/docview/235184685?accountid=14782
The Clip
The Clip - A Virtual Reality from Ally Baldwin on Vimeo.
Storyboard
