Supervisor Meeting 03

Ryan spotted me in Whitespace and invited me over for an early meeting. I had just settled down on the couches to write out the meeting diary, so without it I stumbled a bit and wasn't as organised. As I went home after last weeks meeting, I haven't got much practical stuff done since. I worked on my blog, more on planning posts and sorting my notes. A lot of theoretical context was figured out too. Since the last presentation, my survey idea has been cut, and now I'm doing three pairs which have certain hierarchies, and this is what I was explaining to Ryan.

Image

These models cover all options for which character leads or is controlled by the player, except for a fourth which is nearly impossible to use. Follower-Follower is the one model that I didn't develop, as if neither character has a drive, how do they get anything done? In this case, they would both have to be following something else, either a third character (making it a trio), or a situation. Ryan thinks multiplayer/party games might fit, as the game itself is the driver. I'm focusing on platform games, and there's always a lead, so this justifies leaving Follower-Follower out. Ryan commented the models almost have a scale of difficulty: Leader-Follower is most common and easiest, Leader-Leader is less so, but Follower-Leader is the rarest and hardest besides Follower-Follower. He said he quite liked the idea of these models that others can use.

In common pairs with pets, the animal tends to be just added on, not fully developed, or passive, like in the Fable games. My Follower-Leader designs the pet to be a fully developed persona, with intelligence and speaking ability. I don't quite consider mine a true pet, as in an animal you keep and look after, but more of a companion you fully interact with like another person. However, my pet is the main drive of the game, and the PC is there to execute that purpose - it's a back to front relationship.

With my Leader-Follower pair, with the female human and Giant, I'm trying to implement the pattern of balancing with opposition: the Giant is made up of rectangular and triangular shapes, while the female human is rectangles and circles. The Giant is large and bulky, but is actually friendly and shy, where the female looks gentle but is really the fighter of the group. Overall, there's a hierarchy expectation switch, especially in gender. With the art style I've started to apply - using thick and thin line art - I've been partially inspired by Japanese art, especially from Okami. The Leader-Leader pair are equal in hierarchy haven't been as developed visually yet, but the aim is to have them linked together with visual hints. The fashion for all the duos will include colour co-ordination, as well as visual interest in patterns and shapes.

I worked on a few things in my sketchbook while at home, such as colour theory, perspective, and anatomy. I looked at different methods for drawing the human body, such as by using building blocks and shapes etc. I liked Solarski's idea of the basic character types leading with different body parts: with the head - thinkers, with the chest - heroes, with the pelvis - lazy, with the knees - cowards. Ryan pointed out it's nice to break these rules, such as the knees also being someone who is shy. We briefly looked at my blog, just to get an evaluation of its quality at a glance. I know I need to go back and analyse certain examples. Ryan said it was nice and neat, very detailed, and that my references lists will come in handy later on. Overall, he has no concerns even though I'm behind.

Action Points

• Finish Leader-Follower pair.
• Start Follower-Leader, then Leader-Leader.
• Start thinking of final images asap.

Supervisor Meeting 02

Meeting times have been changed since pitch week to the standard other lecturers use - once a week for half an hour. I feel this will push me more, but I did like having the bulk of work from two weeks to show as sometimes not much is done in one week. I started off this meeting with a few small questions about referencing, then went on to show my progress. I've decided to keep a separate sketchbook for just anatomy and life drawing practise, of both humans and animals, just to keep in practise as regularly as I can. I began with colour theory, using the wheel to create various complementary and analogous colour sets, as well as descriptors for the meaning of colours. I briefly sketched some basic perspective grids, then went on to shape theory and how it can be applied to characters in different ways. I did a study of the muscles and skeleton structure of the human torso as well as the face, thinking that knowing how the muscles form can help in proper placement and anatomical accuracy. I also briefly tried drawing by building on shapes from the book Ryan lent me, and found it interesting, so I'll go back to it eventually.

I started doing art style tests before the previous meeting, and I've continued doing these based on my research of artist inspiration. Ryan really liked these, and said they were all nice, the line work precise and clean. As I've stated before, I wanted to backtrack on my creature designs, and I've started with the Giant character, going back to my inspiration from deer, bears, trees and leaves. I started with his face, as it's a main focus point, and then worked on the right shape for his body, straightening him out from his slouched position. One thing that was pointed out again was that he wasn't being designed next to his partner, mostly because I just haven't got to her yet, but I need to keep away from developing in isolation.

This duo's role revolves around breaking conventions of archetypes and their expectations: the female leads instead of the male, and she's also smaller and is the fighter of the two - this is usually expected from the bigger, bulkier character. Ryan seemed to like their story, where the Giant is assigned to protect a mother tree seed and take it to another village whose own has been damaged, carrying the seed in his chest - this species grows seeds in their chests and then plant one from each gender to reproduce - and the female is his guard, from a sect of humans who act like liaisons for the Giants. He said it was a nice gender flip, and the Giant was almost like a pregnant man which was endearing and challenges common stereotypes, making the female's fighting more worth while as she's protecting such a big gentle creature. I had a few thoughts about the game concept, and Ryan warned not to get too caught up in it or too mechanical, but it was good I had a proper narrative context. I also picture the art style for this duo with black outlines, bright visuals within a colour scheme, and lightly textured, so it has an almost illustrative feel.

The other duos aren't as developed, but I want to redesign the Pet creature - change her mane and beak to something more like a muzzle, and check her body shape is actually capable of carry a human as I think her neck and head tips her balance too far forward. The Pet species usually has a rider partner, who are used as runners and on urgent missions. These two are thieves who got caught and went rogue, and the story is more like an RPG in that you can choose your morality, and just steal for selfish needs, or do it to better the city etc. They'll have a more realistic style in terms of texture, but their porportions will be a little exagerated.

For the co-op duo, the two species are mostly quite alike but dispute over certain things. The Humanoids are strict, formal, highly civilised, and don't like 'lower' races like the Giants, where the Mini species is much more optimistic and adventurous. The two meet and both have the same goal, so agree to work together, becoming frenemies. The Humanoid is a bit of a rebel and wants to have more fun, and essentially the Mini shows him other ways of thinking. It's an adventure platform game, with a more cartoon-based style with clean shading and shapes.

A major decision I've made since around the presentation is a change from the survey. My eight archetypes were mixed in that they were based on roles and relationships, and I want to concentrate on the roles and hierarchy as relationships can change or be applied to most roles. I've cut these down to three - Leader-Follower, Co-op, and PC-Pet, each with their own genre and art style. I'll develop the concept for each game, and do mock up screenshots along with marketing material. I felt this was better as it used more aspects from my research, and Ryan agreed.

Ryan said I've done great work and I present myself well. He has two issues; first, is to start designing and presenting duos in tandem; and secondly, to start to aim for that finished quality. My work so far has been healthy, and he has no complaints on quality or standar, but just wants to push me that much further. My project is really well directed, and I apparently speak strongly about it. We decided that I should keep the final piece open as it could change, but for now the showcase will feature a book on everything in my process, and posters will consist of development process, final duo designs, then marketing pieces of the game concept. Overall, it's about the process which Ryan has said has become so tight and well developed.

Action Points

• As I'm going home for a week I'll concentrate on theoretical and sketchbook work for now.
• Blog catch up.
• Anatomy sketches.

Supervisor Meeting & Ethics

The hand in for the Ethics form is tomorrow, so not much work done overall since hand-ins. Going through the examples online I found were quite bad, they were so obvious in their mistakes, and what I really wanted was an example of someone who thought they didn't have any ethical concerns and how they justified not having any, as that is similar to my case.

I printed out my form for Ryan to check in our meeting, and we started by going over it. He said I might want to specify video/computer games in my project title, and that my description could be done in less words and detail. The wording was a little difficult to pinpoint when I was asked about how I could possibly make human subjects stressed. Basically, my questionnaire asks people to pick answers, and they might feel anxiety in doing so, especially in getting the wrong answer. But I intend to state that there is no true wrong answer except when obvious, like where siblings or a parent-child pairing can't be a romance. Then Ryan just checked I had the right boxes ticked, changed the participant number from 10 to 20, and reworded a few terms. He said not to be worried if it comes back, and that usually it only needs slight rewording etc. I would edit the document and print it off for him to sign after the meeting, and then handed it in.

Ethics Form.

Next I showed Ryan my Pre-Production Portfolio and Concept Development Document to update him since the holidays. A main point was a rewording of my critical framework to Character Design, Narrative & Character Performance, and Player Interactivity, and this made my action plan image much neater. We talked about the number of case studies I had, which normally he would recommend I cut down, but they were varied enough that I needed their full coverage for my research. Ryan recommended I look at Papo & Yo for their monster-pet-like archetype, and also showed me a design document for DOTA 2 which was really interesting. It showed the pipeline process for the game and how they created the characters. I'll be sure to look at this in more depth.

We went through all my work and research so far. Ryan says I've made good observations, and liked my silhouette designs. He enjoyed the size scale and pairing pages, as it solidified everything I've been working for. I said I wanted to backtrack on my final designs, iterate them a bit more with sketches or greyscale. He said as an illustration the final image characters were very good and he liked my style, but now I just need to push my anatomy skills and accuracy. We discussed how to further the designs with their clothes, armour and accessories, and how their designs could be different if styled for a different genre. I confirmed the final outcome was definitely not going to be a model, as that isn't important for my project. I had an idea that I could do a mock up of a popular duo in a game screenshot, showing the style in-game, possibly hinting at mechanics. Ryan wasn't too sure about this as he wants me to focus on the characters and process, and suggested getting a printed book. Overall, he said my work was excellent and he was impressed. The way I talk sounds professional, I direct the conversation well, and that I'm making connections most people don't. It was quite a confidence boost and I'm not too worried now about grades.

December Reference List

Reading:

• Freeman, D. 2004. Creating emotion in games: the craft and art of emotioneering. Indianapolis, IN: New Riders.
• Kennedy, S. R. 2013. How to become a video game artist: the insider's guide to landing a job in the gaming world. New York: Watson-Guptill.
• Kretschmer, A. and Rohrbach, K. 2007. Pictorial encyclopedia of historical costume. New York: Dover Publications.
• Whitlatch, T. 2010. Animals real and imagined. California: Design Studio Press.
• ???, Ryan. 2011. Fantasy armor and lady bits. [online]. Mad Art Lab. Available from: http://madartlab.com/2011/12/14/fantasy-armor-and-lady-bits/. [Accessed 07 December 2013].

Watching:

• Lilo & Stitch. 2002. [animated film]. Directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois. Burbank, California: Walt Disney Pictures.
• The Lion King. 1994. [animated film]. Directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff. Burbank, California: Walt Disney Pictures.
• Monsters, Inc. 2001. [animated film]. Directed by Pete Docter. Burbank, California: Walt Disney Pictures.
• Robin Hood. 1973. [animated film]. Directed by Wolfgang Reitherman. Burbank, California: Walt Disney Productions.

Games:

• The elder scrolls V: Skyrim. 2011. [disk]. Microsoft Xbox 360. Bethesda Game Studios.
• Mass effect. 2007. [disk]. Microsoft Xbox 360. BioWare.
• Ratchet & Clank. 2002. [disk]. Sony Playstation 2. Insomniac Games.
• Spyro: a hero's tail. 2004. [disk]. Microsoft Xbox. Eurocom.

Fashion: Historical & What Not To Do

Through my study of the Pictorial Encyclopaedia of Historical Costume, I've become more familiar with various country's fashion and their periodical styles. I've noticed that even in ancient times, despite distance many locations have taken inspiration from others as patterns can be formed. This can also be attributed to the differing manufacturing process and technological advancement. As I'll have a sense of culture across my species, fashion would be a great way to connect them, but this also means certain styles will be better than others to fit all body types.

Antiquity

English 1100's - 1800's

German 1100's - 1800's

French 1100's - 1800's

Often in fantasy, fashion is based off elements of the real world, but can become extremely extravagant and defy physics. I've always had a strong interest in fashion when it comes to character design, so when it's used in such a way, it really stands out to me and dispels my immersion in the game. This also occurs when armour is used in a ridiculous manner. If armour is used it should cover most of the body and not leave vulnerable areas. Characters can be wearing something so skimpy it's insulting, especially when there's no attempt at being subtle, and this isn't just females either. Or they can have armour that's so bulky they couldn't possibly move. I intend to keep functionality and practicality firmly in my mind when designing my characters, but not so that it impedes my creativity or appealing aesthetics. I think this makes my point:

Yeah... There's nothing wrong with making a character attractive or giving them sex appeal, but seriously, these tropes are getting irritating. I also found an article relating to this that was quite interesting and entertaining.

Fantasy Armor and Lady Bits

"As the placard indicates, this is from the film Elizabeth: The Golden Age. It is gorgeous. Modeled on German Gothic Plate, I have only a minor gripe with it: no neck protection. That’s important stuff, but let’s look more at what they did right. They made the armor functional, yet feminine with the detail work. The overall form could easily go on a man, but the trim, the collar, the cuffs were character and period appropriate. Brilliant."

"However, artists aren't always going for practicality or historical relevance. Style will often trump practicality in costume design. Just look at Sauron, one of the most epic suits of armor ever worn; If this guy lifted his arms too high he’d poke his eyes out with his own pauldrons. So this is awesome but impractical armor, so why don’t we deride this design? Because we believe that it’s appropriate for the world and the character. More on that later."

I like how the author talks about how to balance what is acceptable, as in letting artistic license and sense of disbelief allow you to believe designs are appropriate within a certain limit. Enslaved: Odyssey to the West does this well with Monkey and Trip, who both show a bit of skin. But this is reasonable: Monkey is shirtless, but this is to make him akin to an animal or savage. Trip's clothes are tight fitting, showing off her form without it being bare to the world.

Research Proposal & Supervisor Assignment

Today was the hand in for the Research Proposal. I finished my final polishing in the early hours of the morning, uploaded it to Blackboard, then went for much needed sleep before I had to make a physical submission by 4pm. Interestingly, what I've learned from this particular written submission is that I need to start making my sentences more compact even as I write them, as by my first finished draft I had 4662 words for a limit of 3000, plus or minus 300 - the final was 3112 without references and titles etc. Before I would have thought actually getting the word count would be hard, but I was wrong. Very wrong. Editing was worse. Trying to combine thoughts and use less words without loosing the impact of what I was saying was difficult at first, but comparing the two editions I can clearly see the final was better in terms of readability and concise quality, so in the end I'm pleased with it, but wish I could instinctively do that in the initial drafts next time.

Link to Research Proposal.

We were also assigned our Project Supervisors earlier this week and I'm with Ryan Locke, which I'm quite pleased with as he seemed to show genuine interest in my topic in my first presentation and talk with him. So, I organised an unofficial meeting with him before the holidays, and we met yesterday for about an hour on the 12th. I wanted to go over my plan of action and what I've done so far.

We started off looking at my Proposal as I wanted another opinion on a little content, as well as section layout and appearance. My research aim had started off as "To investigate the effective use of duo companion characters in games, and to research what effects their design.", but it hasn't changed since the start of the semester, and I felt the wording wasn't quite right or was too general. I described my project the best I could, saying it revolved around form and function, of how I can justify the use of duos to make them successful and fit for their purpose, and how a lack of this breaks the flow and immersion of the game. Ryan agreed with the wording, as design should be the priority, and "use" sounds too mechanical. He suggested it was back to front and should be more along the lines of "... effective design of duo companion characters and their use...". Otherwise, he said the rest looked fine, but to just perhaps introduce the idea of duos rather than general characters in the beginning a little earlier.

I briefly described my strategy - what games I picked for my case studies and why, the design theories and pipelines I've investigated, my practice-based research, how my critical framework is applied to these, and my idea for the mix and match final outcome. He said that it sounded interesting, and asked if the results would feed back into my designs, which they would given the right time frame. I said I wanted time left to do a nice final piece, possibly taking one of the most popular pair sets and modeling them, which I'm unsure about it as I've never modeled a character before, or at least a digital painting as I'm much more confident in it.

I feel the questionnaire concept tests the characters design, but also covers others aspects from my critical framework in theory. Ryan agreed it's all about the design and process, and I shouldn't worry about post-production stages too much. He said modeling is a good skill to show off, and as a learning objective is good in the sense that it's a further process in design from the transition from 2D to 3D, to getting that final pose and in-game look. He recommended ZBrush, as it's quick to build a mesh, and easy to iterate on renders, but 2D is also important. He asked about the importance of gameplay elements as it's a part of my framework, but I replied the project is mostly about design, but the theory of player interactivity is relevant while practical application is out with the scope of the project. For instance, a character's role might be reflected in their design etc.

Overall, Ryan said my research sounds solid, and was impressed with the amount of work I had done and the attention to detail in my planning and investigation, that I was thorough and going in the right direction. He said there's little to worry about, that my Proposal seems tight and it looks good aesthetically. I think this meeting went really well for a first proper talk about my project, and it seems I'm doing something right!

---

Feedback Update
We got our grades back on the 6th of January, just as I was rushing about to catch a train, so it was quite a hectic moment when I opened my email. But I got an A! An A. For a written submission. I don't think that's ever happened before, it only went as high as a B17. I'm incredibly pleased with that, disbelieving I may be for a while, and think it's boosted my confidence about this project. As usual, in the Rubric we got feedback from Robin Sloan to go with it, which is as follows:

"The introduction is a good place to lay out some of the research context for the reader by giving examples of notable character duos that proved to be particularly memorable. This wouldn't be an analysis, but would give the reader a sense of what kinds of characters interest you.

The literature review touches on a range of concepts that will eventually form your critical framework. These are all of relevance and will enable you to critique character duos effectively, provided that additional literature is brought in to support some of the less well developed sections. For example, the sections under Player Interactivity draw only from games as examples, but could look to the game design literature (as well as character design for games literature) in order to build a more substantial understanding of the associated theories that relate mechanics to character design. In the dissertation, it would be great to see the review extended to bulk out all of your identified sections. Freeman and Solarski are great sources earlier on, but Ibister, Tillman, and others are also useful, as are the game design theorists Schell, Zimmerman et al.

The overall research proposal is excellent but look to extend the review to include sources in support of all of the identified sections, as this is essential to the framework. Also note that a framework really ought to be in place prior to conducting the case studies, with the case studies more of a means of testing your framework, detecting weaknesses etc. You can then reflect on the framework, make adjustments if needed, and put this into action in your practice based research."

I agree on many points Robin makes. My introduction was still quite a general approach to character design and duos, and an example or two would have been better as it would show, not tell, what I'm talking about. The topics I was discussing later on in the literature review were underdeveloped and did lack evidence to support my points as I had done previously, mostly due to Player Interactivity being less important and not as thoroughly researched, but will seek to improve on for a deeper understanding. Authors like Tillman and Schell are already on my to do list, but I will look up the others. In a sense, my critical framework has been formed before the full case studies, as so far they're more of an overview, and have been developed to its current state because of my findings, so I think it's at a good stage. Overall, the feedback is quite positive with improvements I understand and agree are needed, so I feel quite confident in tackling the dissertation.

The Project Concept

My final outcome for this project is not necessarily a final piece of art. While I could produce high quality digital paintings or models of a duo, which I would do if time permits, I've decided to put my research into practice. My process and pipeline is a major feature of the outcome, so I thought what better way to validate it than to test it with an audience?

I have designed characters from five species, four creature based and one human. There is one of each gender for all races, so there are ten characters in all. These will then be paired up, with the duo's relationship based on the reoccurring archetypes from my research. I intend for some pairs to be what's expected, but others will go against convention. The audience will be asked to look at the mixed up designs and descriptors, and be asked to match the as they see fit. This will essentially test my various assumptions from the researched theories against audience expectations, and justify my designs by industry standards.

This is the latest action plan, containing my methodology and critical framework.

The following are the aspects I consider most important in researching and designing for my project.

Character Concept Design Process

According to Kennedy, silhouette thumbnails are one of the most commonly used exercises in pre-production in the creative industry. People recognise objects and other humans by their silhouette long before they see details. Using silhouettes in addition to references can stimulate creativity and imagination, and produce a high number of concepts in a short amount of time. My own process follows more traditional media, sketching and scanning, which often takes longer as I tend to become precious about designs. I think adapting to this digital pipeline will not only help me overcome that and become more productive, it will raise my skills to that suited and expected of the industry.

Initial designs are discussed with the art team or director, and another batch is normally drawn, developing on the most popular previous designs and refining. The next step is to introduce detail, and using a greyscale value painting is a great way to convey the major abstract shapes of the details of the character. Sometimes, many iterations of a character is needed, as the first variation is almost never picked. With direction from the art team, a selection of the iterations may be chosen and have more detail and colour added to them.

November Reference List

Reading:

• Freeman, D. 2004. Creating emotion in games: the craft and art of emotioneering. Indianapolis, IN: New Riders.
• Gray, C. and Malins, J. 2004. Visualizing research: a guide to the research process in art and design. Aldershot: Ashgate.
• Hartas, L. 2005.  The art of game characters. Lewes: ILEX.
• Laughey, D. 2007. Key themes in media theory. Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Watching:

• FZD School. 2011. Episode 43 video game characters. [online]. Youtube. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xldrl3kl-aw. [Accessed 16 November 2013].

Listening:

• Sanderson, B., Tayler, H. and Wells, D. 2008. Episode 2: blending the familiar and the original. [podcast]. Writing Excuses. Available from: http://www.writingexcuses.com/2008/02/17/writing-excuses-episode-2-blending-the-familiar-and-the-original/. [Accessed 16 November 2013].

Games:

• Brothers: a tale of two sons. 2013. [digital]. Microsoft Xbox 360. Starbreeze Studios.
• Prince of Persia. 2008. [disk]. Microsoft Xbox 360. Ubisoft Montreal.
• Ratchet & Clank. 2002. [disk]. Sony Playstation 2. Insomniac Games.

To Investigate:

• Kennedy, S. R. 2013. How to become a video game artist: the insider's guide to landing a job in the gaming world. New York: Watson-Guptill.

Media Test: Shape-Based Silhouette Design

Again going back to shape theory, but I know I need to improve my skills at using a digital pipeline, so this is a good exercise for that. I am determined to stick to this to adapt closer to that of the industry, despite my computers slowness. I started designing these creatures based on circles, squares, and triangles, keeping them relatively basic in form as if they were of the same art style. I think the designs are quite varied and unique, but I suppose they could easily be mistaken for Pokemon. Some designs look to be inspired from my memory, and I need to keep this in mind as usually the first iterations are never accepted because of similar reasons. I did enjoy doing this though, and it was done much quicker than I thought I could do which surprised me. Hopefully I can keep up the pace.

Character Development Techniques

David Freeman has explored emotions in games extensively, and has 32 categories his Emotioneering techniques can fall into. These techniques can then be applied to strengthen the bond between each character and towards the player.

The Character Diamond is used to design the personalities of dynamic and interesting characters. The Diamond's four corners each represent a Trait, which dictates how the character sees, thinks, and acts. Major NPCs should have at least three corners, but can have up to five, with the risk of too little making the character boring or cliché, and too many making it hard to read the character. This technique can be applied overall to a group, while the characters still retain their individual Diamonds. Using this helps identify a collection of characters working as a single entity, and could aid in portraying a duo's compatibility and relationship. The use of this technique can aid me in keeping a character distinct, individually and when with others. It will firmly keep in mind how the character thinks and acts, which is not to be confused with quirks like being clumsy, or situationally appropriate emotional outbursts.

The Character Arc is the development process characters should go through, as people never stay exactly the same when they have an emotional experience. When a character faces an emotional struggle and they overcome it and grow, it makes for a gripping story. To be able to develop, the character's personality and context must be understood early on. They should be designed with their history in mind, as you cannot give a character a strong personality if they have no roots. This evolution can cause a change in their Diamond.

Media Test: Shape-Based Character Design

Following my previous research on shape theory, I decided to develop this in practice a little further from the silhouettes I've already done. This time, I've produced full sketches of the two characters from Ratchet & Clank, where I've evaluated their existing form and changed the alignment of their basic shape. Originally, Ratchet is the hero type, who is adventurous, agile, and impulsive, and Clank is the calm, logical mind that aids him.

I applied a strong square, triangle, then circle to both characters to see how this effected their overall design. As you can see, the instinctive changes I've made have had an impact, where the new designs at least to me portray different base personalities. With Ratchet, the square makes him look more tough and serious, the triangle makes him look more cunning, maybe a little evil, and the circle has made him cute and innocent. With Clank, the square makes him also look more combat orientated, the triangle makes him look a little blank or precarious, and the circle makes him look jolly and friendly. Again, I believe based on the art style used, the shape theory effect differs, but I should still keep this in mind as a building or evaluating tool for the future.

October Reference List

Reading:

• Baillie-de Byl, P. 2004. Programming believable characters for computer games. Hingham, MA: Charles River Media.
• Barrington, B. 2007. The complete book of drawing skills. London: Arcturus Publishing.
• Hartas, L. 2005.  The art of game characters. Lewes: ILEX.
• Mattesi, M.D. 2008. Character design from life drawing. Burlington, MA: Focal Press.
• Solarski, C. 2012. Drawing basics and video game art: classic to cutting-edge art techniques for winning video game design. New York: Watson-Guptill.
• Solarski, C. 2013. The Aesthetics of Game Art and Game Design. [online]. Gamasutra. Available from: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/185676/the_aesthetics_of_game_art_and_.php?print=1. [Accessed 16 October 2013].
• Tillman, B. 2012. Creative character design. MA: Focal Press.

Watching:

• Doctor who: the complete seventh series. 2013. [dvd]. Directed by Saul Metzstein et al. London: BBC One.
• How to train your dragon. 2010. [animated film]. Directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois. Glendale, California: DreamWorks Animation.
• Lilo & Stitch. 2002. [animated film]. Directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois. Burbank, California: Walt Disney Pictures.
• Megamind. 2010. [animated film]. Directed by Tom McGrath. Glendale, California: DreamWorks Animation.
• Men in black. 1997. [film]. Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld. Univeral City, California: Amblin Entertainment.
• Monsters, Inc. 2001. [animated film]. Directed by Pete Docter. Burbank, California: Walt Disney Pictures.
• Supernatural: the complete eighth season. 2013. [dvd]. Directed by Robert Singer et al. British Columbia: Warner Bros. Television.
• X-files. 2008. [film]. Directed by Chris Carter. Los Angeles, California: Ten Thirteen Productions.

Games:

• Brothers: a tale of two sons. 2013. [digital]. Microsoft Xbox 360. Starbreeze Studios.
• Dragon age: origins. 2009. [disk]. Microsoft Xbox 360. BioWare.
• Enslaved: odyssey to the west. 2010. [disk]. Microsoft Xbox 360. Ninja Theory.
• Gears of war. 2006. [disk]. Microsoft Xbox 360. Epic Games.
• Halo 2. 2004. [disk]. Microsoft Xbox. Bungie Studios.
• Halo: Reach. 2010. [disk]. Microsoft Xbox 360. Bungie Studios.
• Ico. 2002. [disk]. Sony Playstation 2. Team Ico.
• Jak & Daxter: the precursor legacy. 2001. [disk]. Sony Playstation 2. Naughty Dog.
• The last of us. 2013. [disk]. Sony Playstation 3. Naughty Dog.
• The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning. 2006. [disk]. Microsoft Xbox 360. Krome Studios.
• Mass effect. 2007. [disk]. Microsoft Xbox 360. BioWare.
• Prince of Persia. 2008. [disk]. Microsoft Xbox 360. Ubisoft Montreal.
• Ratchet & Clank. 2002. [disk]. Sony Playstation 2. Insomniac Games.

To Investigate:

• Tillman, B. 2012. Creative character design. MA: Focal Press.
• Freeman, D. 2004. Creating emotion in games: the craft and art of emotioneering. Indianapolis, IN: New Riders.
• Gray, C. and Malins, J. 2004. Visualizing research: a guide to the research process in art and design. Aldershot: Ashgate.
• Laughey, D. 2007. Key themes in media theory. Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Media Tests: Silhouettes

Since the presentation, I've striven to do more practical work as suggested while finishing reading The Art of Game Characters. I started off with these silhouettes, but only for practice at drawing with my tablet, which has only recently been working properly. As the pipelines in character design tend to be increasingly digital, I thought it best to push myself into the medium. The figures are simply basic poses and not truly design related.

When it came to do my own character silhouettes, I found the idea of going digital a bit difficult still, and given practical work has had me stumped I decided to go traditional just to get me going then switch over. Here, I used inks and watercolour pencil to create these designs. As shown by the blank splash on the bottom left, I started with a wash of colour to take away the white background, then a darker wash to give a basic shape. I then took the pencil to sketch the design based on that shape. I finished with another darker wash of ink for the shadows to give more depth. Overall, I'm quite pleased with the process. My aim was to just let go and stop thinking of and planning the design, and this really helped to do that. I didn't use references, but I can already see influences from existing products shining through. I find this interesting, and figure down the road exercises like this will help flush out stereotypical traits in character design.

I've decided to try and go to the extra life drawing classes that are on every Thursday, in another attempt to loosen up and produce art just for the fun of it. My first few quick poses were as terrible as expected, being out of practice as I am, but once the longer poses started I could really get into getting the models features anatomically correct. This class is in high demand, so I know I wouldn't be allowed to go every week, sometimes not even every two, but I will apply as regularly as I can as it truly helped.

Shape & Silhouette Theory

I've known of the idea of the psychology of shapes and silhouette for a few years now, but I can't pinpoint where I learned it, much like having knowledge of the colour wheel and relevant theories, but not knowing specifically where it came from. I've just carried on with the thought that these theories are a commonly accepted practice that many artists agree on, which justifies them. Now, I want to go into the ideas with more depth, and actually provide evidence that shows my research.

Going back through my art books, I've found references to such theories. In The Complete Book of Drawing skills by Barrington Barber, form and shape is discussed as a way to "break down the process of visual perception to its fundamentals". It explains that our eyes take in shape, colour, light and shade, and our mind interprets images based on our experience to form something we recognise; "Shape is the outline visual impression we have of an object. Because we get used to seeing objects in certain positions we tend to see what we expect to see rather than what is actually there".

The chapter goes on to continue with how instinctive recognition uses characteristics of an object to define it and its role, and how there are clues to its identity in the shape. In this series of silhouettes below, you can tell by experience and symbol associations that the images are planes, but the details in their main frames allows you to identify the individual models of the aircraft. This works in the same way in other given examples, such as when you see the Eiffel Tower, you think Paris, or the East when you see the Taj Mahal.

I found an article online by Chris Solarski called The Aesthetics of Game Art and Game Design, which covers the psychology of shapes and dynamic composition in depth, extending the theory from not just character shape but also the way they move in animations, the paths laid out in levels, and the relation of their shape to the shape of the environment. It mentions this is based on the topics from his book, Drawing Basics and Video Game Art, which I'll be looking into to cover this topic in much more depth.

It begins with saying artists can deconstruct objects into their simplest form to aid in rendering reality, and that primitive shapes have aesthetic associations in art, in relation to our life experiences and sense of touch:

Circle: innocence, youth, energy, femininity
Square: maturity, stability, balance, stubbornness
Triangle: aggression, masculinity, force

He gives the example of the sphere, cube, and star objects pictured above on a table, then imagine shaking that table to show their properties. The sphere would roll, and the cube would stay in place. If the objects were thrown at you, you'd catch the sphere easily, but would hesitate with the star because of the sharp edges. This concept of associations with the three shapes, which Solarski refers to as a shape spectrum of emotions, can be incorporated into any design, as shown in the example below. He also states that this is not a definitive formula, but a tool to assess artwork.

This theory can be applied to various design elements. These were the examples given:

Character Personality: Mario is dynamic, youthful, and positive, and circular based. Luigi is the supportive brotherly type, shown in his vertical rectangle figure, and Wario is aligned to the triangle, which portrays his aggressive enemy role.

Character Animations & Paths: Lines of movement can be used to convey personality, emotion, or physical status, which can clearly show alignment to curves (delicate, dynamic), straight lines (slow, peaceful), or angular lines (aggressive). Journey uses broadly visualised lines in the character's movements in such a way; "In the opening sections of the game, the character has an upright posture and jumps freely and gracefully. But we witness a delicate shift in the character's physical state as we eventually guide it up into the storm where it begins to hunch forward against the pounding winds."

Character Shape vs Environment Shape: A character's relation to their environment can suggest similar responses and create narrative. "A circular character in a circular environment (top-left) exhibits a sense of harmony because the character's shape is echoed in its surroundings. The echo gives us a sense of home -- suggesting that here is where the character belongs. We also get a sense of harmony if both the character and environment are square, or triangular (lower-right), although the change of primary shape gives us a different aesthetic sensation. We get a sense of dissonance when character and environment shapes contrast each other. A circular character appears threatened when placed in an edgy environment (top-right); while a triangular character appears the threat in a soft and rounded environment (lower-left)."

Solarski also states breaking the conventions of these shapes can make more interesting characters. For instance, a character might be full of triangles and their design portrays them as a villain, but they might turn out to be the hero who is friendly and kind. This makes the story emotionally richer and engaging.

In Michael D. Mattesi's Character Design from Life Drawing, the artist discusses the importance of understanding depth and flatness in art, or form and shape respectively. By using shape design to build up the smaller elements allows for an interesting launch point before filling it with form and detail. He states, however, that it's best not to get trapped into drawing like this too often as it can result in a flat, dead design (much like Solarski); "The shapes are abstract parameters of the figure for placement relationships". Using shapes is only one step to make unique designs, and should be built upon further. He uses shapes as abstract thoughts to aid in placement of the figure, and proportion is secondary. Again, shapes are said to have emotional relationships to us:

Triangle (Point down): athletic, dynamic, precarious
Triangle (Point up): solidity, unmoving, energetic
Circle: friendly, soft, safe
Square: strength, solidity 

As you can see in the image, he goes on to apply force to the bottom row of shapes to bring them to life, whereas the top row is static because of their symmetry. This theory follows his rules of straight to curve design in depth to create forceful shapes; the curve represents force, and the straight line is structure. 

From this selection of artists, it's clear they each conform to certain aspects of shape theory, such as emotional or aesthetic qualities in certain shapes, our instinctive associations with the forms silhouettes make, and the process of using shapes to build upon for interesting designs. I agree with most of what they say, and so will try applying this to my work in my practice-based research to see what kind of impact it has on my style and process.

September References List

Reading:

• Campbell, J. 2008. Hero with a thousand faces. 3rd ed. Novato, California: New World Library.
• Booker, C. 2005. The seven basic plots: why we tell stories. London: Bloomsbury.
• Patnode, J. 2008. Character modeling with Maya and Zbrush: professional polygonal modeling techniques. Oxford: Focal Press
• Wade, D. 2012. D'artiste: character modeling. Australia: Ballistic
• Wade, D. 2007. D'artiste: fashion design. Australia: Ballistic.

Watching:

• The Gnomon Workshop: Character design pipeline. [DVD]. Narrated by Thierry Doison. USA: The Gnoman Workshop Inc.
• The Gnomon Workshop: Creative character design techniques. [DVD]. Narrated by Neville Page. USA: The Gnoman Workshop Inc.
• Digital Tutors. 2012. Methods for painting realistic skin tones. [Online]. Available from: http://www.digitaltutors.com/tutorial/842-Methods-for-Painting-Realistic-Skin-Tones. [Accessed 26^th August 2013].

To Investigate:

• Tillman, B. 2012. Creative character design. MA: Focal Press.
• Mattesi, M. 2009. Character design from life drawing. MA: Focal Press.
• Freeman, D. 2004. Creating emotion in games: the craft and art of emotioneering. Indianaplois, IN: New Riders.
• Gray, C. and Malins, J. 2004.Visualizing research: a guide to the research process in art and design. Aldershot: Ashgate.
• Laughey, D. 2007. Key themes in media theory. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
• Noble, I. and Bestley, R. 2011.Visual research: an introduction to research methodologies in graphic design. Switzerland: AVA Publishing.
• Mayra, F. 2008. An introduction to game studies. London: SAGE.
• Creswell, J.W. 2009. Research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. London: SAGE.

Character Pipeline

Knowing at the least that I want to go down a character design route rather than an environment one (or possibly a mix of both), I've drawn out what I think is my general pipeline approach. I tend to do a lot of visual research for inspiration in design as well as improving on basic anatomy skills. I also have a method of production I almost always follow; working in pen or pencil to sketch, scanning that in, then digitally enhancing and painting from there. I would like throughout this project to explore new ways and methods of designing characters, such as looking into silhouettes, shape theory, colour theory, and other exercises to help with creativity.

Skill Set & Gaps

I've decided that taking a look at my skill set would really help inform my decision on what I should do for this project. I want to go down a route that I'm at least confident in, but at the same time still want a challenge and room to explore. I need to think about my technical ability, mostly dependant on software and technology, my creativity in certain areas, and the challenge of completing this all within one year.

	Art Skills	Technical Skills	Personal Skills
Strongest	> Concept Design: Characters > 3D Modeling: Architecture Environments > Digital Painting	> Photoshop > Maya	> Organisation Skills > Visual Research
Medium	> Pencil Sketching > Graphic Design > Concept Design: Architecture Environments > 3D Modeling: Organic Environments > 3D Texturing > 3D Animation	> Illustrator > Flash	> Time Management > Text Research > Communication of Ideas
Weakest	> Concept Design: Organic Environments > 3D Lighting > 2D Animation	> Mudbox	> Public Speaking > Essay Writing > Critical Self Evaluation
Non-Existent	> 3D Modeling: Characters > 3D Rigging > 3D Dynamics