Focus project

Eager to get some production going I started sketching small art concepts and defining the character in words.

The protagonist is called Brooke Warren. She is 45 who grew up in a small town. She is from a working class family. Is single and has no kids. When she left for the big city her entire family still lived in the small town. She is a brave/heroic woman who values her privacy even when from her family. She has a dominant disposition and the force admires her tactical intelligence. Meaning she can think and act quickly on her feet and assess a situation in the blink of an eye.

The child Brooke meets is called Ryan Goodwin who is 10 and witnessed a murder committed by the local Mafia. Ryan was put up for a closed adoption at birth. This means that the birth family has no ties with Ryan or his future family. Ryan transferred a lot between questionable foster families and at the police station became known as a frequent run away. Ryan grew up in the rough neighbourhood of the city where all of his foster families are. He is sly, values his independence and can be ambitious. He takes joy in learning things from books and newspapers as well. 

During sketching  I had trouble fitting the story into a single artwork using only one character, as the story and game concept evolves around the relation between Brooke and Ryan.  

Huize Marseilles

To get more insight into photography I visited a photography museum called Huize Marseilles in Amsterdam. There were two exhibitions at the museum, The Imperial Court by Dana Lixenberg and Metropolis by Martin Roemers.

The Imperial Court is a project evolving around the life in a poor district in Los Angeles. Dana visited the place called the Imperial Court in 1993 to take pictures of the local residents and then came back again in 2015, to take pictures of the same residents and their family.

The power of this exhibition was in the context. Some of the people who were alive in 1993 were dead because of criminal activity. And the picture of a girl in 1993 the daughter of that girl 2015 at the same age proved how little had changed over the years. Knowing these facts and seeing their portraits was a powerful combination.

Although I initially came for the work of Dana Lixenberg, I learned a lot from Martin Roemers as well. Where Dana focused on people, Martin focused on the environment and how it interacts with it's population. From his pictures I learned what makes an environment natural.

In the world of Concept Art everything in the picture is designed and is placed with s specific reason in mind. In the photo's of Roemers there was no such luxury. Any composition made, was made from the world already there. Creating a much more natural and complex image. To convey the idea behind the photo camera angles and techniques were used.

Portrait research

Becuase I knew my goal was to convey information about a character in a single image, I looked into a medium that shares this purpose: photography. To divide the variety of photography into sections is almost impossible, but I made an attempt anyway.

Passport photos

Made for functionality. Usage identification documents (passport, driver's license, mugshot), buisness social media. Natural features. Neutral lighting

Translated information: Facial features, face recognition, posed.

Glamour portaits

Made for beautification of its subject. Usage advertisement (magazines, websites, billboards), actor/actress portfolio. Posed. Heavy makeup and often photo edited.

Translates: the attractive sides of its subject. Portrait often tells more of it’s photographer then it’s model. Luxery, drama. Sometimes a product is promoted. (or it’s effects)

Selfies - moments

Made to share a moment, to tell who you are. Holiday photo’s. Tells something about the photographer and the model. Posed. Casual. Subject both the model (s) as a prop or background.

Translates: Hobbies, destinations, interests, skills, planned emotion, social group. What does the subject look like in this situation/time. (clothing preferences)

Selfies - Sexy shots

Made to beautify the subject. Expressions are tweaked to get the most attractive shots. Tells little about the person. Usage online dating, social media, personal collection.

Translates: attractive sides of the model (or what the model/photographer considers attractive) Background not always intentionally chosen. Appearance.

Staged photoshoot

The captured moment of a staged situation. Conveys the artistic capabilities of the director. Large category, because the range of purposes and goals. Charity organisations sometimes make use of staged photoshoots to gain awareness for their cause. Wedding photoshoots are made on a seperate day to commerate the occasion. Artists design the environment to create unique images.

Journalistic Photography

Catagory credited for it’s realism. Real emotions and situations are captured in the photo’s to convey to the viewer. Journalism evolves around actualities.

The Project

This blog is intended to record my progress of my Graduation Project.

In this project I will develop the main character from one of my game concepts.

The game:
A police officer is transferred from a small community precinct to a station in the big city. For one of her/his (there will be gender select and a character creation) assignments she will have to look after a kid who became a vital witness to a crime the local Mafia committed. Unfortunately the kid isn't planning on staying hidden while crime runs rampant in the street.
This game focuses on the development of the bond between the kid and the officer.

My motivation:
The way characters are written in games and their potential had always fascinated me. Most/nearly all of the games I play rely heavy on a story and/or NPC interaction.
A recurring trend in these games were that parenthood was often overlooked. Parents that occurred in the game either played a small role in the story, weren't very well written (the mother in Dragon Age 2 got mad at me because my brother died, thanks mom!) or died early in the game.
Any chance the player got to be a parent was disregarded as something insignificant, when it was possible the child was an empty shell with generic dialogue. (Skyrim Hearthstone DLC, the Sims, Fallout 4)
That's why I wanted to make a game where the player takes on the role of parent where he/she is responsible for the life and development of an NPC while still experience the interactivity and excitement most games offer.

The project
The character I will be developing is a female version of the police officer. This character will be rendered in a small 3D scene that tells the story of the game, who the character is and how she handles the situation.
My research will focus on how to convey these emotions through a single shot.