Month: November 2017

BrandonHyun-LookingOutwards12

Ken Okiishi is an artist who uses television projection to combine the aesthetics of painting and moving image all at one entire television screen.

According to ArtSpace Okiishi’s “series of paintings on flat-screen monitors, gesture/data, evolved from a routine museumgoing act: Okiishi admired a painting by Joan Mitchell at MoMA and tried to capture it on his iPhone. His sheer, streaky brushstrokes, which veil an equally glitchy mixture of VHS and digital recordings, remind you how much gets lost in translation from the wall to the cloud.”

His dialog between the new media which is, in this case, a tv monitor and the old Media which is the painting over the television screen is so captivating and interesting for me because it is a combination of the things that we are talking about in class.

Projection does not always have to be using projectors. Every electric device that we use in order to absorb information and imagery is what “projection” means to me. So, in this case, I think Okiishi is touching upon a good point because he uses television screens rather than projectors that uses light beams.

Ken Okiishi’s Website

Ken Okiishi at Reena Spaulings
GESTURE/DATA by Ken Okiishi

mecha-lookingoutwards-12

For my final project, I am hoping to collaborate with Allissa Chan in order to create a choices-based video game in which a user is faced with different opportunities (or not) depending on how they interact with characters in the game. With this in mind, I decided to research choice based video games and how they worked.

trailer for night in the woods game

The first game that I looked into was Night in the Woods, a game available on Steam created by “a teamup of Alec Holowka (Aquaria), Scott Benson (Late Night Work Club), and Bethany Hockenberry”. Published January 10, 2017, the game follows a cat who returns home after dropping out of college. Available for PC, Mac, and PS4, the game operates by changing dialogue and scenes based on which characters the user interacts with more. Even though the consequences of user choices within the game are subtle, they have a significant effect on the relationships that the user creates with each of the characters, providing an extremely different and personalized experience.

The choices in Life is Strange make for more dire consequences within the game.

trailer for life is strange game

Released on January 29, 2015 and developed by Don’tNod entertainment, Life is Strange follows the story of a girl with the ability to go back in time.  The choices that the user makes directly affects the choices available from then on, as well as the relationships that the user has with the other in-game characters. What I find inspiring is the amount of detail of the game and the amount of choices and consequences that seamlessly connect together.

Both of these games can be considered relevant to our final project work in that it shows how a series of events can be triggered based on user choices.

Jihee Kim_SectionD_Project-12-Proposal

Project Name — Subject to Change: The Snowman
Project Partner: Daniel Noh (dnoh– section D)

sketch of project

For our project we intend to make a vertical “shooter” game (more emphasis on dodging). The plot of the game is a snowman who does not want to die and tries to avoid the snow which will, obviously, make it bigger and eventually cause him to explode… The snowman can dodge the snow that is coming down to hit him, however, he has a special move where he can throw his nose (a carrot) to hit the snow every 10 (also subject to change) seconds. The game will have a gauge that will show the carrot loading back and a counter at the bottom of the canvas that shows the number of snowballs that have hit the snowman. At the end of each level (every 30 seconds), the snow will fall faster… there will be 10 levels. Also, whenever the snowballs hit the snowman, something ominous in the background will happen (i.e. an avalanche goes off in the mountain in the background). After 10 snowballs hit the snowman, the snowman will explode and a game over screen, the level you have reached, and a sign that tells you how to replay the game will show.

dnoh-sectionD-project12-projectproposal

Project Name — Subject to Change:  The Snowman
Project Partner: Jihee Kim (jiheek1 – section D)

For our project we intend to make a vertical “shooter” game (more emphasis on dodging). The plot of the game is a snowman who does not want to die and tries to avoid the snow which will, obviously, make it bigger and eventually cause him to explode… The snowman can dodge the snow that is coming down to hit him, however, he has a special move where he can throw his nose (a carrot) to hit the snow every 10 (also subject to change) seconds. The game will have a gauge that will show the carrot loading back and a counter at the bottom of the canvas that shows the number of snowballs that have hit the snowman. At the end of each level (every 30 seconds), the snow will fall faster… there will be 10 levels. Also, whenever the snowballs hit the snowman, something ominous in the background will happen (i.e. an avalanche goes off in the mountain in the background). After 10 snowballs hit the snowman, the snowman will explode and a game over screen, the level you have reached, and a sign that tells you how to replay the game will show.

cduong-Looking Outward 12

For my final project, I wanted to create a landscape that looped in an entertaining and visually appealing way that told a story and maybe implemented some human interaction.


Project: The Seed
By: Johnny Kelly
Link: http://www.johnnykel.ly/projects/theseed
This project is a two-minute animation that shows nature’s life cycle using an apple seed.


Project: Basecamp
By: Leander Herzog
Link: https://leanderherzog.ch/basecamp/
This project is an ongoing loop of pyramids that are constantly changing colors with the background.

I really like how the first project, The Seed, tries to tell a story visually and it is easy for the user to follow what is happening. In a way I wish the video followed through with using the same, single apple seed rather than just changing the fruit that was being used as the scene moves forward. Basecamp, on the other hand, does not tell a story like The Seed did but it does have a visually soothing aspect to it that just makes the user want to look at it forever. I really like the simplicity of it, but I really wish there was more going on in the animation, like maybe incorporating aspects that would make it really seem like it’s a basecamp because without the title “Basecamp” it could potentially just look like random pyramids that were scattered on a canvas.

I would like to incorporate the ideas of storytelling from The Seed and the simplicity and visually appealing aspects of Basecamp into my final project.

cduong-project 12-Proposal

As a really big Disney fan I really wanted to create my final project based on my favorite movie: Big Hero 6. I wanted to create an animation of SanfranTokyo because I’m just really in love with the city and would love to draw it using p5js. I’m not sure what view I would want to draw of it yet (first-perspective view in the city or an aerial view from the sky overlooking the city) but I definitely want to include the iconic golden gate bridge in it. Below are some of the pictures I’ve been looking up for references. I plan on drawing the city view I want on illustrator first before actually coding it. What I specifically want to do with this city is to make it interactive in some sort of way (unsure specifically how) and have it change appearances depending on the time of day and incorporate several animation aspects like having the characters or just random people walking around the town to make it seem really lively like the city actually is.

“BIG HERO 6” Pictured: Baymax. ©2014 Disney. All Rights Reserved.

From the movie “BIG HERO 6” San Fransokyo Concept Art. ©2014 Disney. All Rights Reserved. Test render of San Fransokyo during the day

Robotics prodigy Hiro teams up with robot Baymax to save San Fransokyo in Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Big Hero 6.” In theaters Nov. 7, 2014. ©2013 Disney. All Rights Reserved.

alchan-Project 12-proposal

For this project, I am planning on collaborating with Maddy Cha (andrew id: mecha, section E) in order to create a story-based game in which the choices a user makes affects the rest of the story. The story/ game will be presented as a series of images with text. Players will be able to choose options/ text prompts by pressing corresponding keys.

The story will revolve around the player’s trip to a grocery store, in which the player can choose to buy items that will help them progress. Each part of the story will have a different character that will respond to different objects that the user decides to purchase.

We will also implement randomness in order to make it so that each user’s experience is a little different. We will randomize the order in which characters may appear in the story as well as different events that may help the player later on.

mecha-project12-proposal

For this project, I am planning on collaborating with Allissa Chan (section E) in order to create a story-based game in which the choices a user makes affects the rest of the story. The story/ game will be presented as a series of images with text. Players will be able to choose options/ text prompts by pressing corresponding keys.

The story will revolve around the player’s trip to a grocery store, in which the player can choose to buy items that will help them progress. Each part of the story will have a different character that will respond to different objects that the user decides to purchase.

We will also implement randomness in order to make it so that each user’s experience is a little different. We will randomize the order in which characters may appear in the story as well as different events that may help the player later on.

amui1-Final-Project-Proposal

For my final project, I want to make an interactive game inspired by Super Mario. The game will feature a penguin in which will travel throughout levels, avoiding obstacles and battling big predators, such as sharks. In addition, I am still thinking of ways I could make it educational. The penguin will be controlled by user inputs such as mouse pressed, dragged, or key pressed. The penguin will travel through an ever changing generative landscape, getting harder with each level. I also want to add a sound effect to accompany the actions.

Caption: Above, I created a model that will help me consolidate my thoughts. The model details different touch points, where the user interacts, throughout the game.   These interactions includes picking a player, jumping, slide on the belly, or fights.

Caption: Above, I created a storyboard that helped me visualize my game concept. Each frame illustrates a different human interaction throughout the game.

LookingOutward-12

For this weeks post, I chose to compare The Creatures of Prometheus and Atlas, two generative videos that pair audio and visual experiences. The Creatures of Prometheus, creates by Simon Russell, is a visualization of Beethoven’s ballet. The animation combines both the audio and visual, directly setting up the graphics to react to the music: pitch and amplitude derive the height and speed of graphics, volume effects color, etc.

The Creatures of Prometheus

Similarly, Atlas is also a generative video that combines audio and visuals. Created by Agoston Nagy, Atlas is an “anti game environment” that produces music in a conversational cognitive space. The video uses a combination of text, sounds and graphics (“tasks”) that are automatically generated and composed and carried out (“solved”) through machine intelligence without the aid of human input. Agoston questions concepts like ad infinitum, presence, human cognition, imagination, etc.

Atlas

Although both projects have similar products (both are generative videos combining audio and visuals), the concepts driving the projects and ideas behind them are very different. The Creatures of Prometheus takes a very direct approach, programming an animation where the graphics react directly to the sound.

Atlas uses a more cognitive approach, focusing on the generation of an environment and space through audio and visuals.

Atlas

The Creatures of Prometheus