Sudden Inspiration

I am running a bit behind with my flash banner (although we haven't been set a deadline for it). So far I've found flash banner a bit dull and too annoyingly commercial. Do I want to be part of that annoying pop team?! Well anyway whilst looking for inspiration I came back to the studio-output website (that wouldn't load on Friday!) It looks really good I love the simplicity of the mouse over and the text below the title changes and the video is really vibrant and creative with a flowing energy.

The second screen shot above has made me think of interactive animations I could do for my banner as I keep changing my mind about what choice to go for. One of the USP's for the blackberry is it's GPS which fits in with the name storm so I could do a quick miniature adventure that suggests that the phone can get you through any situation.

Exercise 13 Update

Whilst I have been mind-mapping ideas for the Blackberry Storm it has got me thinking about why people will buy the phone and not a cheaper one. Well to start with it has-

• Touch screen
• 3GS
• Loads of applications
• Camera
• Sleek design
• In competition with the iPhone (might attract people who don't like apple but want a product of a similar nature to the iPhone).

Also by buying this product what will it say about them as an individual who has brought it? I think this is a good way of looking at teh product so I want to use peoples faces as interaction tools between the USP's (above) and different people therefore the point being that who ever you are, wherever you are there is a use for the Blackberry Storm.

Changing Ideas

After my review I realised I was making my ideas too complicated for the time scale that I have to work with so to support my idea of people around you changing/adding to my identity I have created an interview situation. It is basically a question and answer game where you choose the picture and comment of a person who you think is most valid to my identity. 

For example a comment like "Gayr's first memory is..." might add more to my identity than "Gayr lives in Nottingham." The aim of the game is to reach the end of the game and get as many clues about me as possible.

Initial sketches

Images I will use but I need to add text in flash. Each person in the game I know well so it will show how they have influenced me as a person.

Progress so far

I feel my project is developing all of the time even though time is quickly running out. At the moment it is at the following stages:

1) AV element: I definitely don't want to take the audio visual specialism route so I am in the process of creating a pixilation. I have got the basic visuals and just need to add the music but as you can see form my last post I might be adding more to the story.

2) Logo: Done a small survey of want logo people are attracted to see if it stands out as a form of advertising. Fully designed on paper. Now in the Process of altering in photoshop. Depending on time and outcome I might alter it in 3d max.

3) Avatar: Altering in 3d max. Experimenting with female figure as strong part of my identity. Need to create clothes, hair and most importantly the facial features. Still need to think about how the avatar and hand (still need to make) will work together and if the hand is a strong enough image to symbolise how the government/money/politics/society help to mold our identities. Probably going to add text to explain its story. In the process of creating avatar.

4) Idea is finalised to create pirates map for the route my travelling experiences took and by following this map in a game people will find out what elements of that trip made me who I am today. Still doing tutorials to grasp techniques I need in flash, about to start it in flash but will probably leave it until the avatar is on its way as I don't have 3d max at home.

5) I am going to create a digital comic to express morals that I believe in and that were put upon me as a child to express how my identity is the was it is through my conscious and believes. Still sketching the comic picture to play with in photoshop and export to flash. Another idea is to create a flash based website to test my more information based use of website design and whether online environments is for me.

So far I think that my ideas are all strong but I need to work on the final element. At the moment the tutorials for flash and 3d max are really helping me work out how to do my ideas.

Lego Men- The dark night!

Evil Character (for my Pixilation)

http://tomztoys.blogspot.com/2008_01_01archive.html

Check out this amazing version of a trailer for the dark knight all done with Lego men. It's put a new light on my Lego man pixilation. So far in my pixilation I think it's gone off to a really good start but it needs more of a story. I think the answer to this is a more obvious villain. Before the villain was a bird flying in and taking them away to symbolising the loss of people throughout my life and how important family and friends are to me. However I think that villain should take a face and maybe it could look like a trailer to a 'film' rather than a short narrative. The narrative of my pixilation is that life is part of death. Although it seems like a distant part of my identity it has become a very important one to me in the last few years since loosing family to death. It has helped me become who I am today through remembering the influence that that person had on my life. I want to represent it in a film trailer style way because it is one of those things that you think will only happen in films never to you. Also I can dramatise certain aspects of it through the introductory text, fading/ merging scenes from day to night ect...

Pirates of the Floatin' Internet

This is a simple question and answer treasure map. i found it a bit boring but it has some good basics that I think could be easily achievable in flash. I want to design a basic map such as this that will lead to different treasures along the way. It is a game based on cultural experiences and things that I have found out about myself whilst I was travelling around the world. You will follow a map and along it it will give you clues and choices that you will follow to the next country. The aim of the game is to pick up as many clues as possible to get the treasure and find out your identity and destiny...  I want to up the complexity of my game and add in animation and more diverse outcomes to where you end up in the game.

http://rochedalss.eq.edu.au/fish4.htmt

I liked the idea of getting a pirate name. It gave the game a sense of character and imagination. It is a form of your identity outside of the physical you. I think this really appeals to kids to get them wondering what their character will do next.

Unholy Island (Pirate Game)
http://www.fncgames.com/tag/pirates

This is a flash game where the aim of the game is to protect the treasure and make sure you reach it before the live pirates get it. (You are a cursed skeleton pirate.) This is both an action and strategy game. You reach this choice by choosing either a sword or a cannon of which the sword is more manual.