MFP Y1 4. pre production
- 2. Pre-production• What am I making? • For the main part of my project/production I am making a animation of a videogame created from scratch. I will design the characters, the background and make and choose the music and sound effects. The secondary item I am making is a side product from the main videogame. I will be creating a poster for my videogame. • Why? (What is the purpose of making my products) • The purpose of my videogame is to entertain my target audience. My videogame can also be used as a fun way to spend time when bored or when people have free time and want to play a videogame. My posters purpose it to advertise my videogame, while also allowing fans of the game to enjoy having a reminder of the game in their possession. • Who is it for? (who’s my Audience) • My products are designed to appeal to both genders. The age I've designed my products around is 15 to 24 and the different psychographics my products will mainly attract are; – Needs driven- • This group act upon impulse and instinct. This group does not plan and will respond to messages relating to missing opportunities and impulse buying. – A mix of some socially conscious type A’s and B’s • People who are concerned about how their actions effect the world and people who have given up on humanity. E.g. people who are concerned how they affect others with their emotions and people who don’t want to take part in society and would rather stay home online in virtual reality. – Emulator/Wanna be • This group wants to be/appear like an Achiever to attract the opposite sex or the approval of their peers. They respond to messages about making them seem more successful and becoming Achievers. e.g. People who want to show of after completing a hard computer level. • Where will it appear/on what? (How will my audience see/play it) • The device used for my videogame will be on a P.C this is because this device is what most people have commonly access to. If I was to release on multiple devices next would be PlayStation as it is what the majority of people who answered my survey said they played games on (not multiple choice). My poster would appear on paper but be created digitally so it can be shared online. Reflection:
- 3. Style sheet - Colour scheme The colours I decided to used in my projects consist of a variety of black and white tones, with a few traces of slightly dark tinted blues. I wanted to add the small traces of blue as a nice subtle contrast as it will be used sparingly from the endless tones of black and white. I also wanted to add the small amount of a different colour so when the character went to different locations they wouldn't’t feel/look the same. I chose this colour pallet because I wanted to keep the look/design of the game layered and simplistic. This is so you would appreciate the design but would focus more on the gameplay. As well as for me I could focus more on the animation and not struggle with trying to find multiple complementing and contrasting colours. This is because I would spend an excessive amount of time trying to get all the colours to work well together and make a intricate background that I don’t think I would be able to keep up consistently with the amount of time I have and things I need to do.
- 4. Style sheet - Videogame background
- 5. Style sheet - Videogame characters
- 6. Style sheet - Videogame characters/background analysis Background – These images I have chosen have a variety of minimally detailed line work to more complicated and sophisticated line work. The art styles range in material, some using watercolour or photo realism, chalk and then there are some that just use a pen. This range of photos show different textures that can be created with the different materials. I will be creating my backgrounds using Photoshop with a graphics tablet and mouse so the style material I will be focusing/using is a pen and I will explore different brush tool setting so I can add some texture to my background. I want to keep my background simplistic so I will not clutter it with excessive amounts of background props. The majority of locations shown in my images are of quiet places like mountain ranges and forests. These are the places I will make my character explore/start in. This is because quiet and isolated settings are places where people start to think about things more especially eerie thoughts and I want my main characters main enemies to be their own thoughts (different versions of them self ) a quite place where they are alone is a good place where your mid can be overtaken with all sorts of thoughts and questions. Characters – The characters page is split into different sections. The top right having images for the mobs. I wanted to add in a villainess side character who wasn’t the main evil character that would trick the protagonist. I thought that I wanted it to looks like something cute and trustworthy and I thought that a sly fox was the best animal that could deceive the main character by leading them to danger. I wanted the fox to represent an emotion that the main character had felt to put them into this upside down dream like world thy are trying to escape from. I think the addition of this character gives this game depth. Their where a few other mob character ideas but I didn't’t want to add to many characters since I would only be able to animate so much (like the cut scene and opening level or so). Without the top right the rest of the page has the main character/ villain (as they are reverses of each other) design and customisable features. I wanted to give my audience a way to make the character their own and also add in more game like mechanics. For this to happen I wanted to add in the game collectable character features. So the player can find special items they can use to change the the protagonists appearance like hairstyles and articles of clothing and find these through playing the game so for people that love to show of what they have completed/ brag and completest would look forward to playing and finding something.
- 7. Story board Videogame story board/ scene plan
- 8. Style sheet - Poster The images I chose contain many different ways to present/layout a poster, along with different background images and styles. A majority of these images and existing posters use a layered effect to build up the image. Almost all of the images are coloured in black and white with this there are lot of sharp contrasts and it keeps the image looking clean and defines shapes. The images I chose to look at have a variety of big, little, simple and complex shapes. A large portion of the images have textures or effects. For example mist, scratched, fade and smoothed. Most of the images keep to the bare minimum of text with just the title . This leaves all the focus on the imagery. Although the text is minimal most of the text on the images is bold and stands out in a contrasting colour from the background. This makes it an important part of the poster/image. Some posters even build their image around the title. Posters without titles are harder to recognise as part of that brand/game unless done well. Since I am making my poster as an advertisement for my game I will be adding a title on to it so it is recognisable as a product related to my game.
- 9. Layout plans: poster Lake Main character Trees Rocks protagonist Light clouds Evil character Good side Bad side Dark clouds Good side Main character Evil character divide Bad side Good side Chest Clouds rocks Main character I made a potential design for my videogame poster. I wanted to see a plan that used a mirror effect. This is because my videogame main protagonist and evil character are mirrored opposites of each other. I liked this plan the most out of the mirrored layouts. However I struggled to think about what could go in the background and I think it can only really work with plain or textured backgrounds and I wanted to add a non cluttered background but for it to include some terrain. This design was the seconded mirrored layout I created. I liked the simplicity but I struggled with the same problem of what to include in the background, the same as the first one. I like this one less that the first design because imagining the poster I can do more with the characters stances and positions in the first design than this one. This design was created with the target audience in mind saying they preferred one main focus. I prefer this design to the others as the terrain type background fit well and I can create this terrain as a level in the game so both products link. When look at this layout I like how I can make the background layered (with the trees and rocks) and I think this design is more visually pleasing. I just have to make sure not to make it to cluttered . I created this design with minimal background props to keep the design simplistic. I also wanted the poster to feel a bit more personal so I zoomed in on a small space. I liked this because it makes you feel like you can escape (escaping a the dream world being the point of the game).I chose the protagonist to be on / coming out of the chest because I was thinking I could use that prop as what the character searches for in the game to make it a familiar object layers/audiences can look for. title title Title title title
- 10. Lake Main character Trees Rocks Layout plans: chosen poster This layout was chosen because the wide view gives more context to the scene. The singular protagonist near a empty forest also gives of the feeling of isolation. I like how the scene gives this impression because the game is about breaking away and leaving bad emotions to escape back to reality. So this poster would represent more of the start of the game witch I am working on. To make my game and the poster link more I will make my first level terrain a forest. I'm not sure I like the placing of the title so I will move that around in the creation process until I am pleased with the outcome. I will also try to keep the poster not too cluttered but with layers and depth. title
- 11. Poster/videogame style sheet: fonts Out of all the fronts I tested my favourites where these two; -smile and wave- and- ailerons-. I still hadn't decided a name between pandemonium and anarchy and I preferred Anarchy in font smile and wave and pandemonium the font ailerons. To decide I asked the people in my classroom as they fit in my target demographic and the majority preferred pandemonium in the ailerons font. I chose this font because I preferred the way that the title pandemonium looked. It’s clean has nice spacing. It also look minimalistic with no crosses on the a and it simple. Also my demographic agreed with this decision. Chosen font:
- 12. Sound effect/music list Sound effect/music list Background music(s) minor/ major notes = happy and sad sounds Collecting items Complete puzzle/quest sound character getting hurt and Harming monster Animal background noises Terrain running/walking sound (Eco's/textures). Weapon(s) Mouse click(s) How would I create my music and sound effects? To create sound effects for my videogame I could create them manually using physical materials or using digital means. For example using digital beep box and garage band rather than using real instruments and recording it using physical materials. I want to create my sound effects/music I can. However, for harder to create sound effects like If I don’t have the equipment to create them I am not against downloading a couple sound effects and trying to edit them. This is because I want my video game animation to look like an actual game being played and sound effects would effect its authenticity. Why are sound effects and music important? The music and the sound effects are important because they are used to heighten/lower a mood, they provide us with information about the location of a scene, advance the plot and tell us about the characters in the. Without music or sound effect the player/ audience wouldn't’t know how to think and feel and probably get confused when watching something.
- 13. Resources/Budget Equipment/ Props/ Costume needed Locations needed Cost Graphics tablet College/home Free (already owned/ provided) Adobe software Photoshop College/home Free (already available/provided) Adobe software premiere College/home Free (already available/provided) Computer/ devices to work on College/home Free (already available/provided) Sound effects Home Prices vary ( 0 - £ 10) – free from creating online – costs to create own with materials
- 14. Contingency Planning Potential Issue Solution One potential issue is for me to not be able to access the computers/ internet. A solution to this problem is for me go to somewhere with public Wi-Fi/software access when not in college or complete most of my work in college and leave as little as possible for me to complete outside. I could also come in to college on my study days and come in earlier/ stay later on non full days. Another problem I could come across is loosing any of my progress. To stop this from happening I need to keep all my work saved up to date in multiple area. For example the computer at college, my memory stick and my laptop at home. Not being able to access my work could become a problem if I work with different computers./ laptops. To keep this from becoming a problem I have to make sure I can access my work from different locations even if I forget my memory stick. A solution to this would be to email my self or put it on cloud storage. This is because they are less likely to crash as they are reliable services. A potential issue is me misplacing and loosing my memory stick. To make sure I can still assess my work I need to make sure I have my work saved in multiple areas that I can access. Also to make sure I don’t loose my memory stick I need to put it in a place I will remember and make a note if I'm leaving it somewhere. My computer /laptop I'm using can overheat which is a potential issue. A way to make sure this doesn't happen is for me to take breaks and make sure the device I'm using is well ventilated so the possibility of it overheating is low. Another potential issue is if I were to become ill or any other reason and be absent from class and unable to attend college. If this were to happen as a solution I would need to be able to access my work outside of college and be in contact with my tutor to see what I could do outside of sessions.
- 15. Health and Safety Potential Issue How will the issue be avoided? One potential health and safety issue is for me to get eye strain from looking at the computer for long periods of time. To avoid the issue I will take breaks every 90 or so minutes to help my eyes from becoming o strained. I can also make sure to keep my screen brightness at a reasonable level. My joints becoming stiff is another health and safety issue. If I start to get stiff joints I should stretch them before they become a problem. For example with my leg joints I should get up and walk around as it is not good for the muscles to be constantly sat down. Another potential health and safety issue is for me to damage my ears listening to load sounds/music. To stop this from happening I will keep devices ( e.g. the computer, my phone ) volume levels at reasonable levels to not harm my ears or disturb people around me. Electrocution from electronical devices is another health and safety issue. One way to stop this from occurring is to keep away from plugs and not to mess with them if something stops working. A potential health and safety issue is (RSI) repetitive Strain Injury which is damage to the fingers, wrists and other parts of the body due to repeated movements over a long period of time. To make sure this is avoided I need to make sure make my posture is correct and I have a five-minute break from typing every hour or so. Another issue regarding health and safety is spilling liquids and foods over equipment making them damaged and other problems to occur. keep drinks and food away from the electric’s can stop this becoming an issue
- 16. Production Schedule Day/Lesson Tasks week 1 Tuesday - basic characters Wednesday – detail characters Thursday - movement of characters Friday - movement and finishing detail • Product reflection in-between for a break or done at home week 2 Tuesday - left over work from week 1 Wednesday- basic background(s) Thursday- detail background(s) Friday putting all together/ finishing detail week 3 Tuesday - Wednesday- create anything else needed Wednesday - Friday –animate • Product reflection in-between for a break or done at home week 4 Tuesday – poster basic layout/design Wednesday – Thursday - Thursday detail/ text Friday - finish anything needed • Product reflection in-between for a break or done at home
- 17. Schedule Week Tasks to be completed Specific tasks 1 Initial ideas and proposal • Initial ideas • Mood boards, mind maps and analysis • Characters, background, texts/fonts. • Key influences-Companies/people • Proposal • Target audience, concept, rational, schedule, evaluation, bibliography 2-3 Research • Existing products and analysis • Secondary and primary research • Subject research • Experiments • Bibliography 4 Pre-production and planning • Style sheet and visual planning • Sound effects/ music list and the budget • Storyboard, scene plan, poster layout and action plan • Health and safety, contingency plan 5 production • Create all the characters, character text/ movements and monsters/ minions. • Product reflection 6 Production • Create all the backgrounds and different levels that the character will appear on • Create any needed props 7 Production • Create anything else needing • Start to animate to make a coherent videogame. 8 Production • Product reflection • Secondary product creation (poster) • Text selection, photo creation 9 Evaluation • Research, planning, time management • Technical Qualities, Aesthetic Qualities and Audience Appeal • Peer Feedback, Peer Feedback Summary
Editor's Notes
- #5: Use this space to document whatever pre-production work you did for your project. It will vary from person to person and project to project.
- #6: Use this space to document whatever pre-production work you did for your project. It will vary from person to person and project to project.
- #7: Use this space to document whatever pre-production work you did for your project. It will vary from person to person and project to project.
- #9: Use this space to document whatever pre-production work you did for your project. It will vary from person to person and project to project.
- #10: Use this space to document whatever pre-production work you did for your project. It will vary from person to person and project to project.
- #12: Use this space to document whatever pre-production work you did for your project. It will vary from person to person and project to project.