Brief Description:
The phrase “Transform” can have many meanings and definitions. Under my own circumstance for this particular project, I wanted to do an outcome associated with how one place or item could change throughout the course of time and space. I have developed extensively according to that idea, and accomplished my outcome with the assistance of various primary and secondary researches. Under this specific blog post, I have reorganized and displayed the progression of my primary research in an easier configuration for browsing and understanding. Directed by director Carlos Saldanha,
Inspiration:
Ever since the beginning of my level 3 study, I had been wanting to developed a project that’s based on my quaker parrots that I have as pets in real life. So as soon as this project begun, I saw the opportunity and implemented that idea as a starting point for the development of my outcome. By making my parrots as the protagonist of the story for my outcome, I combined them along with the environmental deforestation issue that were inspired by the “Rio2” film which publicly demonstrate and discusses about this very problem. The animation film Rio2 was released it in 2014 hoping to bring people to raise awareness for the importance of rainforest protection and as well as the possibility for balancing the development for human’s modernization and sustainability. Carlos is trying to warn people through the Rio series movies that saving the rainforest is an immediate and continuous matter. The protagonist Spix’s Macaws in the Rio series of the movies are a large species of parrot that is on the brink of extinction from the Amazon Rainforest. He uses these animated Spix ‘s Macaws leading the animals with the assistance of their human friends fighting against the loggers that’s causing massive destruction and deforestation. In my version of the development for the deforestation animation outcome, I took the idea and made it in to a video game which demonstrate how rainforests were transformed in to industrial factories through massive logging and mankind destruction and how the pollution is also harming the innocent animals that depend on the forest as home.
I started off with potentially developing 3 different ideas. The first idea would have been proceeded through rotoscope animation technique to draw a series of animation sequences about a parrot who lost her home due to the deforestation issue. The second idea will be done through frame-to-frame animation from a 2D perspective, where a parrot will fly from the rainforest, the damage that’s being done and what it has become (the city) to demonstrate the problem of mankind transforming and destroying nature closer and more rapidly than we presumably known.
Idea three will be done through a combination between rotoscope and frame to frame animation techniques. It describes the story in the form of a flashback memory from a parrot, who has to forced to immigrant from her home in the rainfrest because of the deforrestation issue. The concept of this idea is to put the audiences in the perspective of the experiences of wild lifes that suffered through countless difficulties because of the greed and selfishness of mankands.
Finalized Storyboard:
The outcome for this project is a video gameplay demostrated using the form of animations with Adobe Photoshop. Its about a parrot that has to escape her home due to the deforestation problem. The “gameplay” will begin with a sequence of non animated frames which would also come with some captions, displaying the parrot living a normal daily life, but then suddenly, the loggers came started destroying her home. With no other choices, she has to run away from the destruction. That’s where the game starts, which is also the primary part of the outcome. There will be 3 levels in total for this game, with the first one starting from the rainforest where trees are cut down and the protagonist has to doge these obsticles. In level 2, the parrot would arrive at the “grave of the trees” and has to avoid hitting on to the heavy machineries. In level 3, which is also the final level, the protagonist will arrive at the city and has to evade the pollution and the skyscrappers. Passing all three levels will result in a sucess at the gameplay and a frame with the context “You Win!!” will pop out. An interface for the game, health bar and powerups that would create the atmosphere of a gameplay will also be added as part of the finalized version of this outcome. The concept of this game is to share awareness to the public about the seriousness of the rainforest deforestation problem through the perspective of the wildlife animal that reside within it. The actual game itself will be put as part of an exhibition that’s demostrating the deforestation issue, and the people would be able to interact with the game via an old style arcade machine.
In the end, the name for this game would be called “Parrot Run” (which was inspired by the infamous animation Chicken Run)
Character Development:
The main protagonist of this outcome is a Quaker parrot called Angela. She’s my bird in real life and I had done many different assignments that was all inspired based on her personality and appearance. Her animation in the game is generally a flying cycle that consist of 9 frames.
Crystal the Quaker parrot is the 2nd character I had developed for the outcome of my project. He doesn’t have a lot of screen time, but plays a very important role as Angela partner awaiting for her to return home during the final part of the animation. In real life, Crystal is also Angela’s husband/partner. I was orignally going to make Crystal flying still waiting for Angela’s return. However, I want my creation to be more “realistic” and since Crystal can’t fly in real life, I decided that putting him in front of their house would work as a better result.
Assests and Obstacles:
Various assests were designed as obstacles that would cause the game to end instantly if the player makes collision with. These included the fallen trees, bulldozer, excavator, cars, factories and many more.
Background Sequence Development:
3 variations of the backgrounds were designed based on the 3 different stages of the game. Which is the forest, land of deforestation and the industrial area. Each represent a degree of mankind destruction to the nature, from the minimum to the most devastating. There’s a 4th background which were briefly demonstrated throughout the gameplay animation, and that is the ending sequence where Angela meets up with her husband and companion, Crystal the parrot. With the factory pumping smokes behind them, I intended to deliver a message that wild animals have to live under harsh condition because of the selfishness of the human race. Initially, we should stand against this kind of scenario and aim to provide a cleaner and safer home not just for ourselves but also for them.
Title and Tutorial Sequences
The title sequences were designed and inspired by various video games such as Super Mario and Flappy Bird. I intended to make it as simple as possible, yet giving it its own personailty and characterstic that would match up with the rest of the gameplay animation.
In the tutorial sequence, there were a brief introduction of the protagonist and the control instruction, as well as the fundamental rules for the gameplay. I find this section to be very essential, because if you just instantly get the players in to the gameplay, they would be very confused and uncertain about what precisely is going on. The development of the tutorial is to eliminate that confusion so that the player could quickly get on track and enjoy the game the way it’s meant to be.
Background Sound Effects and Music
The music was compiled with a series of different Basa Nova genre music I had obtained from YouTube’s copyright free album. The Basa Nova style of music are one of my top favorites, and they were also used vastly within both the Rio and Rio2 film. Whilst the escaping for Angela the parrot is intense and life threatening, I want to provide an atmosphere for the player that’s also not too dark and depressive. I believe that with the cheering and passionate rhythm along with the cuteness of Angela, it would bring a more comfortable result for the experience of the gameplay.
The sound effects were inspired by Super Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog, especially in regard to the sound effect of collecting the seeds. Each type of seeds has their own unique sound.
My Game Design In An Exhibition
If my game is to be exhibited in an environmental exhibition, it would have its own designated area with the description of the game and reason it was developed and demonstrated. The game would be played by an arcade machine specifically designed for the Parrot Run game. The primary audiences are for younger people aged around 4 to 30 years old.
Pre-development Primary Research Progression:
Research progression for the personal project brief (21st of March):
• Consider what the word ‘Transform’ means to you: Write /
draw 100 words, phrases, images, patterns, symbols, forms,
shapes, textures, colors, sounds etc
The word ‘transform’ can mean a lot of differently depending on the type of circumstances that’s going on. However, personally I would say that ‘self improvment’ is one of the most important association that relate the transform word with myself. Throughout many years of my life, I had grown and matured through various different kind of small and big events. Those experiences I had gained strengthened and better educated me in to becoming a better and more improved version of myself. That being said, the transform word can also mean how one item turned in to something else, or like how a caterpillar turning in to a butterfly. The outcome for this paticular keyword can have endless combinations and possibilities, each interesting and unique in its very own ways.
• Make a list of technologies and platforms (past or present,
analogue or digital) that you think of in relation to the word
‘Transform’.
I think the best examples that could best represent technologies or platforms that’s associated with the keyword ‘transform’, would be the following.
Analogue:
Computers (beginning as super huge and heavy machines, it has transformed in to as little as a small block of plastic that could be held on our hands in the present)
Airplanes (transformed starting from propeller planes and later evoluted in to jets)
General power sources (we had gone from using tradtional combustion methods of generating power in to a greener and more sustainable sources in the present)
Digital:
Facebook (was established in 2004 and quickly become the world’s most popular social media platform)
YouTube (founded in 2005, YouTube is presently the world’s largest multi-media service that provides a broad varities of options allowing any users to upload any videos they wanted, while also giving anyone the chance to see them)
Google (created in 1998, Google is presently the world’s largest and most popular search engine)
• Consider how you personally relate to the phrase ‘Transform’
with regards to attributes, qualities, ambitions, past, present,
personal history, family history etc. Make notes and visualise
your thoughts.
The word ‘transform’ can mean differently based on the circumstance that’s occurring, as mentioned in one of the previous paragraph. Primarily I’m mostly related to this phrase with personal improvements. However artistic wise, I like to transform old things and refurbish them, making them look different or like new.
• Record a minimum of 30 time-based media research ‘images’
using photography, sound, and film recordings.
• Produce a minimum of ten observational drawings using a
range of experimental media, ten collages using found
imagery, and ten digital manipulations of your drawings and
collages.
• Collect images and words cut from magazines, newspapers etc.
that relate to the theme of Transform. Collage them in interesting ways in your sketchbook. How can you create new meaning in the way you juxtapose images and words? Reflect
on the collages you create. How could you develop them
further?
• Collect images and words cut from magazines, newspapers etc.
that relate to the theme of Transform. Collage them in interesting ways in your sketchbook. How can you create new meaning in the way you juxtapose images and words? Reflect
on the collages you create. How could you develop them
further?
• Interview a minimum of three people you know, either in
person or online, to find out what transformations they have
experienced. Document the interviews. Will you film them,
draw the conversation, transcribe the conversation, make a
sound recording, make a screen recording of the online
conversation, or take screen grabs?
Interviewer 1, Caroline:
To me, the word “transform” refers to a significant chance. I think that we all transform in small ways every day, however since those changes are frequent and minimal, they tend to go unnoticed. On the other hand, When people make big changes, people tend to notice/point it out. I also think that the idea of transformation doesn’t always equate to someone changing. Our way of seeing that other person could change itself, even if the person remained the same. Or perhaps our knowledge of that person’s transformation could come about quite late. I know that I already mentioned it but I think it’s quite significant. Basically, while we make a lot of small changes that tend to go unnoticed, those changes build up over time. I reference this before, but I think that as a person/individuals, each day I become a slightly different person. I gain new information and from time to time how I think changes. When I hear the world transform I keep thinking of two things, transformers and of trans people. I don’t know why but I do. I think that both in the eyes of society and in general, trans people do transform a lot of aspects of themselves so that their physical form aligns with who they are as human beings. I think that transformation/change can be both good or bad, and I think that the goodness of the change depends on how the individual perceives it. I also think that when we think of “transformations” we think of physical ones that we can see with out eyes. We don’t focus on spiritual/mental transformations that change how we see the world. E.g. a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly
Interviewer 2, Scarlette:
Transform means to me: what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.You come stronger out of a terrible situation. At least that’s it for me
Interviewer 3, Lea:
Changing your appearence to get a new appearence which matches you better I guess? For me, I guess I could say my integration. When 2 alters in a DID system integrate, the two alters become (“transform”) into one brand new being! (could be volontary or not)
Interviewer 4, Cassie:
I always think of the robots, the Transformers or something mythical, like transforming into another creature or magical being. I suppose Sailor Moon would be an example of the latter. Idk if that helps. My mind is always in a fantasy lol.
Interviewer 5, KR Tan:
I think for me it is when you of somebody else pushes you over a boundary, whether that is in a good or a bad way. I don’t really know how to explain it, which is why I took so long to reply. I kind of see it as that you’re living in your own box where you always have the same view and same comfort spaces. Once something happens that pushes you outside of that box, or lets you peer outside of that box, you have transformed. Because you can’t go back to what and who you were in the box. As a weird and non depressing example, someone taught me as a kid that a hare was a male rabbit. I’ve lived nearly my entire childhood believing this and when I found out it wasn’t, I was transformed.
Interviewer 6, Natasa:
Hm, Transformation would be used for daily experiences in our life as for physical as for mental basis or even emotional. But for me one of biggest transformation is development of our own personality as we are growing up, getting through different chapters of our life that shapes us into the people who we are today. Transformation that help us through our traumatic experiences,to overcome them and become better people. Also,transformation in terms of letting go from what chained us for a very long time,being free from it… Transformation,as i said could be in many ways but that emotional ways are one of the most important ones for me. And i believe without them,other kinds wouldn’t have it’s meaning. We are transforming constantly,in fact. Learning, feeling and experiencing different things that transforms us in whole new people. Good or Bad, it’s up to each one of us. But being careful for that transformation not to result in being something toxic for this humanity. If that happens,we aren’t progressing,but dragging down all the good qualities of a human. As they say “We all are people. But not everybody is a human.”
My personal experience? There’s many to choose from but let’s say one of biggest was dealing with the abuse on a whole different way. As i live in abusive family (physical and emotional,mental abusive) it was hard to accept,and i lived in a way that i should love them regardless of how they are treating me. Which wasn’t the true. Once i managed to pull up Enough strength,even though i was on my own,i started following the new,correct way of how should i deal with them. That is shall NOT accept it as a normal thing. And SHALL not love them if they are abusive. It didn’t matter if they are a family. If they had no love and respect for you as whole, it’s not worth investing your feelings…So the Transformation began there. When we decide to take a new page and look, treat things differently around us. Getting a grip of reality that feels right and not the one that is set by the society.
Draw with lights art work result:
March of 26th workshop session emoji art work result:
Draw 10 art works during easter holiday:
Easter holiday reflective post:
As the transform project started before the holiday, I had begun taking my primary and secondary researches and made various progression by the time of 14th of April, 2021. I had aimed to create my outcome for this project to be associated with rainforest deforestation issue, while using my monk parakeet pet birds as the protagonist. However, I also explored various other information in regard to the meaning of the word “transform” that relates to myself. Throughout the course of the holiday, I visited various places in real life that inspired me with extending such ideas. Uppon processing my thoughts, I turned them in to art works afterward which some were done through various different kinds of experiments.
At the moment, I don’t have a patricular story for the outcome yet but I will start building it up according to the progression I’d be making with the project in the upcoming project.
Workshop Session of 12th of April, 2021:
10 things to put in to the time capsule:
1, New Papers
2, Art works from the present
3, Pictures
4, Letters
5, Face masks
6, Clothes
7, Plane/train/bus tickets
8, Candy/snack wraps
9, Model cars/planes/trains
10, Books
6 things to put in to the time capsule + a letter to my future self:
The items I will be putting in to the time capsules are digital files of the current hobbies I have which consist of various vehicles and birds. The time capsule itself will work like a little USB drive which would contain all of the required informations.
A letter to my future self:
Dear future me,
I hope you’re doing much better in terms of the aspect of your mental health. How’s things looking like there in the future?? I wonder if you’re still in London, working in an animation studio or even opening one by yourself?? There would have been a lot of difficulties for you to look behind for, but they’re definetely worth the price and effort. Are my two baby birbs doing?? I wonder if they had moved to the UK by that time as well. I suppose you’re finally able to spend time with people who could cherish and truly make you happy, ones I’ve always dreamt of happening. I hope that you’re no longer really lonely as I currently am. I have put multiple digital files of my current interests and hobbies in to the capsule, you could take a look and see how many of them are still companying you by that time. In the end, I hope that you’re becoming better and happier than I’d always dreamt and forseen. Thanks.
Sincerly,
Richard of April of 12th 2021
Workshop Session of 13th of April, 2021:
Narrative: These feathers have magical powers and they’re abe to transform in to all different kinds of shapes and form. They live in peace and harmoning and they enjoy celebrating. In the beginning, they formed in to a bigger feather out of the smaller ones and then they transform in to butterflies as they dances around enjoying their time. But suddenly, the evil version of the magical feathers appeared These evil version shaped in to that of viruses and started attacking the good ones. To evade these evil feathers, the good feathers transformed in to a forrest and camoflaged. The result was successful and eventually, the evil feather left them away.
Workshop Session of 16th of April, 2021:
16042021 Workshop Session Reflective Writing: During today’s session, we were asked to work in pair and produce a number of edits by fusioning various amount of different objects. During the group work period, me and my partner discussed about the possibility about how our outcomes could turn out. Due to the nature of the objects we had selected, we decided that a series of space themed bird editings would suit best for the completion. The commuication was excellent and there were more or less no issues at all, besides from the broken microphone on my side which forces me to write instead of speaking by my voice. In the end, we managed to create the expected outcomes by processing images of our objects with Photoshop and the result was pretty random yet sucessful.
Workshop Session of 19th of April, 2021:
19042021 Reflective Post: During today’s workshop session, we did audio visualization edit with a sound recording of ourselves that’s related to the Transform project. I used a previously recorded sound file of me discussing about deforrestation issue with a friend, and then threw this file in to a software that could visualize its appearance. Due to the fact that I don’t have After Affect, I used an alternative software during this section of the progression. After that, I took a screenshot of the sound wave and edit it it through Photoshop. The idea of this outcome is to create a potential poster for a music festival that would be hosted in a rainforest. The waves/lines stand for the forests and the blocky background stands for the rocks and cliffs.
Workshop Session of 20th of April, 2021:
Write a short storyline for a sequence:
Title: The greed of mankind
A parrot was living a happy life in the rainforest. One day, the grounds starts vibrating and smoke were everywhere. Then, the trees starts falling down and very loud machines started running all over the place. The parrot made a run for it, and as she looks back during her escape, what was once her home is now a scattered graveyard of the trees. It was the humans, who took over the place and used it’s resources for their own greed.