Frank Gehry

Image from

http://www.admea.it/images/praha/Praha_dancing_house.jpg. This building called the Rasin Building also know as the dancing house, was made upon the idea of the natural fluidity of a male and female dancing, which relates to my idea as there is this idea of man made materials yet the contrast with nature and its fluidity.

Natural Architecture

Interested in the idea of using natural materials in my project, i researched natural architecture where structures were made from natural materials. Images from the book "Natural Architecture" by A. Rocca.

Cubist Picasso

In reference to these images i found related tomy idea as they are both natural images, one of a hunam body the other of natural trees, but have this contrast through the technique of cubism. There is this sense of contro within this technique. The was I see it, it portrays the idea of the distortion of control, that being technology in my idea. The images are derived from the book "Cubist Picasso" Edited by A. Baldassan. (pages 191 and 215)

Yokohama International Port Terminal

Researching the Yokohama Port Terminal, I fould really related to my idea, as i wanted to portray this contrast between nature and technology. control and freedom, as within the port terminal, they also have this contrast that of the harbour and nature. Image from the Foreign Office Architects, El Croquis Book. Page 42.

Michel Foucault

Michel Foucault's theory, in which i focus on in my project of fear and paranoia, is that which focuses around Jeremy Bentham's idea of the perfect prison. The Panopticon. This prison was not only just a prison, but a prison that had life changing, behavioural changes within the inmates that were inside the institution. The reason of that being, was because of the watch tower being one that guards could see out of, but no inmates could see into, so constantly on their guard, not behaving as they usually would“.There was this sense of control, constantly. In the book, written by A. McKinlay and K. Starkey, called "Foucault, Management and Organizational Theory:from panopticon to technology of self." And how it relates to this generation and how technology has affected this society and generation. Where "real lives are converted into written case notes. In short, the body loses its mystery" (p19) Where no matter where we go and what we do, there is "a constant surveillance constituting a new discipline of norms and behaviour" (p35) so linking this to not only the prison, but there is this sense of power that technology is ebbing away from ourselves, and slowly taking over. image from http://www.ucc.ie/ucc/depts/geography/stafhome/denis/panopticon.gif

William G. Staples

As I was researching the thinker William G. Staples, through his books, "Everyday Surveillance: Vigilance and visibility in postmodern life" and "The Culture of Surveillance: Discipline and social control " which investigates the idea of how through technology and surveillance, although its to make this work safer and better, to what extents are we willing to extend to, as a quote goes in one of his books, "worth surviving the risks of life only to end up “living” in a surveillance society?" and that in this generation with all of this surveillance there is the fact of trust becoming diminished in this culture of surveillance as you totally rely on technology and not on the truthfulness and honesty of a human any longer. Can you really trust anyone anymore? That "trust is becoming a rare commodity in our culture". And that there is this fact of how we always "assume that all technological change is always "for the better"." But if through this type of technological generation we are just being controled by technology, and trust is diminishing, it is obvious that technological change is not always for the better. "obviously, we want to stop needless loss of life and injury, but on what basis and with what values do we evaluate the choice between reducing life's risks and tragedies by some unknown amount versus limiting our constitutional rights and personal freedom?"

Banksy

Banksy's graffiti. Representing the idea of how in this society, technology and surveillance is controllings us and is restricting our lives to its potential. Image from http://www.dsng.net/uploaded_images/banksy_what_full-769135.jpg

Abstract model V

Abstract models IV

Made out of clay. The contrasts of freedom and control within the designs

Abstract models III

Abstract models II

Abstract Model: using popsicle sticks in a uniform yet fluid manner. A mixture between the fluidity of freedom, yet the uniformity of control. Wanting to experiment with wooden popsicle sticks as my idea is mainly about technology versus nature. The idea used this brief fear and paranoia, is this fear of how technology and surveillance is taking over our lives. In a sense technology is taking over our freedom and we are losing apart of ourselves in a sense.

Abstract Models

Abstract model: portraying the idea of freedom vs control. Using a reflective material as i felt that the material reflected the control as you see within the Auckland CBD with work places and artificial buildings full of control and routine, surveillance and order. using weaving to show the condensation of freedom, and how the pieces ebbing out are the freedom.

Abstract Drawing III

Abstract Drawings II

Abstract drawings I

Abstract Drawing: emphasizing the idea of freedom and being trapped and controlled. the random colourful squiggly lines representing freedom. The dark black lines, the control.

Abstract drawing: lines condensed and less so, to represent the idea of freedom vs control

storyboard final

My storyboard final video

Haunted treasure hunt- haunted, ghostly, chilling, eerie

Story starts off with people going into a house and are looking for a treasure at night. At night is when the ghosts come out and passages oopen up to a dark world of intimidating fire and beyond that is the treasure. Only one is the real one and is hidden amongst the other similar objects, revolving, golden and sleek. Only one has that shininess, and once they get hold of it, find a way out but can't go through the fire. Goes through the other end of the hidden world to get back. They get back to the ghostly world as everything turns normal again as it becomes day.

ghostly haunted space

I made the walls of this video, all sorts of different levels of translucency and made the spirit-like forms not to have such a literal form and gave each of them similar but different colours. Making it in a higher quality.

Final 2

This has different colour change as my idea was that it would only happen as a specific time and so shows from changing from a different colour and 100% opacity and decreases and seems more ghost-like

Final

Water render 2 techniquies

The final was one that I liked, that had the right textures with the water and positioned correctly with the uvw mapping. I liked how this material worked better that the snow and I think it looks better as it is more interesting along with how the camera is set up to elaborate the surprise, as the sense of anticipatiion is shown as you do not know what will be shown next. I like how it is a closed space as it looks cropped and you do not know what is beyond the space that I show. The spirit-like forms are also placed how I wanted them rather that the other renders I made that did not seem quite right. I also liked how the water render was more like the ghostly kind of material and the translucency of the walls went well with the material in my opinion.

water render 1

In this video was not quite right, although the water texture made it more interesting, the moving spirit-like forms did not move as fluidly as I would have liked

techniques

Making the spirit-like forms floating in the space to heighten the idea of the haunted. I used a online tutorial from the source, http://www.cadmonkey.com/tut9.htm, which helped me to make the ghost look more scary. Changeing the glossiness and specular level and fallout to make it. I also tried the snow and water texture to see which one would suit better, and as the snow just did not seem as a texture, it rather give the idea that I just made the diffuse colour white. As I used the water texture however, it give more of a texture that I liked, changing the diffuse level and using uvw maps for the effect I wanted. Getting the water and snow textures from http://www.freefoto.com/images/33/04/33_04_3---Water-Texture_web.jpg and http://radio.weblogs.com/0103021/images/snow.jpg. Using lighting to give the atmosphere the ghostly idea rather than it just being dark, and using the camera so it can be seen in different angles as well as though seeming as though someone is walking thorugh the space, zooming out from an insignificant part to make it look more interesting as time progresses.

Snow render

In this video, I tried to make it as the material being snow, did not give the effect I wanted especially though.

Interaction- ghostly

In this, I wanted to make the little forms to represent spirit-like things as they float around making the space seem scarier, and to interact in the space.

Intimidating world- intimidating, threatening.

This world is a world of intimidation and threat, in a closed space with spiky dangerous looking objects, it heightens the threat it is trying to portray. This world relates to the second assignment which I had the keyword "dangerous", this world leads from the ghostly world

Altered haunted experiment

Using the same idea, but just altering the opacity of the ghostly walls and making the walls part with edit mesh rather that rotating the whole object so it looks more fluid and interesting

Haunted experiment 2-shows exit

This is the extension to the haunted experiment, where it shows how it would lead to the next world. As the curtain-like ghostly walls part it seems like the wind is blowing them apart but suddenly stops as though a ghost is holding them apart or something, as you go through, with the view point of the camera.

Experimentations

Trying to merge different worlds together, I found it difficult to do it in virtools, as I attempted to export my video, from 3d max to virtools, although I don't know how to import 3ds max videos to virtools, I thought I could import the still image instead and to experiment with the effects virtools could have, and would have liked to do my world with a character going through the spaces but seems too difficult as I do not know much about it.
So, with my idea, of going from world to world, using a 3ds max animated video works, and makes it interesting as I can zoom out to make things interesting and make the objects odd shapes, unrealistic and the characteristics of the space I would like to portray

Haunted video experimentation

In this experiment, I tried to make the material haunted and ghost-like with the transparency and colour used. Making it wavy with the ghostly characterisstic as they are not solid.

Also wanting to experiment with zooming out of the image and making it interesting, as you expect it to be nothing but as time carries on, it shows more and gets more interesting.

haunted idea 2

In this idea, I had an idea of shadows, and how they only come out at night, the scariest time of day. Where the shadows will be moving, seem as though you are being followed without no object there, giving a haunted feeling. As hand brushes against shadow, its a portal. peep through it and get curious whats inside, so goes inside portal to a world where there a spikey creatures that are running after you, but seeing a slightly hidden hole, peep inside and looks colourful and safe, hop inside and is more safe than the spikey creatures, as the hole seals itself as they get inside, where the treasure is.
Then the next portal is where the treasure stood, and as you look it is the place where they first came from, the room of shadows, and go through, but as you land, it is day again and all the ghostly and scary aspects are there no longer.
Entrance is a night begins to settle in, with shadows and ghost-like aspects. then exits and leads to a intimidating world where the creatures are spikey and the walls are rugged and about to fall, then exits that world and enters a hidden world with the treasure, which then returns to the beginning world, but where all shadows and haunted aspects are gone as daylight breaks.

Haunted idea.

Trying to base my idea still on the "haunted" of idea for the world, I tried to make the forms more about my idea, so as it moves and launches into another world, the forms would be based on the idea of the intimidating and the threatening, as dangerous was too broad.
Then it leads to a portal that you would have never assumed would be there.
At the beginning, it starts off with a story that there is fog, where no one can see, but a translucent mysterious fog is there, giving the idea of a whispy ghost-like feeling, as though you're being followed, then as you walk through the fog, you end up in a cave as the fog dissapates, with the cave like world a dark and gloomy space, intimidating with the spikes protruding out of the the cave walls and sharp icicles that seem to almost be on the verge of falling onto the ground, with the spikes unknown if they will strike or not. Finding the hidden treasure. At the end would be the end of the line but there is no way down and nowhere to go. But as they get closer they put put hand in space but it disappear, and finds out it is a portal, then the spikey walls begin to close in so jump through. ending up in the same mysterious fog as before, and exits as the fog disappears as mysteriously as it came about.
The entrance of the impossible world is where the mysterious fog comes, where there are people who are looking for a treasure, entering the intimidating threatening cave as they walk forward and a portal that joins back into the world full of ghostly fog.
The idea of the intimidating and threatening comes from assignment 2, where my idea was about the dangerous, and the idea of the hidden, is how the hidden world of the intimidating world is brought and taken away, as there are the two hidden portals from one place to the other. The hidden idea coming from my first idea of the hidden illusionary patterns of assignment one. As well as the treasure that is stowed away in the intimidating world.
The treasure being a colourful colour as the hidden is now found, where as the other parts are gloomy, dark coloured and dull colours.

art galleries alive

In this idea, I had the idea of a painting in an art gallery of a Tyrannosaurus rex, unmoving at daytime but alive at night. Coming out of its frame and trying to leave the building. As it comes alive it brings in the impossible world as in real life this is impossible and brings in the danger from the second assignment.

Then as the T-rex tries to go out the doors. what he really is doing is goin back into his own picture frame in the end. The real way out is actually in a cave hidden by a stone in a mountain in the T-rex's own picture frame.