From establishing the backstory for the game/film, I have compiled a mood board for the tone I want to establish when developing the items. I want settings to look as though they were reclaimed by nature, bricks and buildings slowly being torn apart by growth. I think this gives me an opportunity to consider how life and construct interact with one another. Having a setting densely populated with trees and humidity can cause the metal to rust and break. Choosing a setting like this was intentional as it gives me an opportunity to explore conditioning on items and props.

I’ve also decided to look into concept art for alien technology and weaponry. Smooth surfaces and curves, bringing an overwhelming sense of futuristic to the world. Alien technology can be created from elements not known to Earth so coming up with a set of rules for the elements to follow will give me the chance to really explore fantasy and really practice world building.

Artist Simon Stalenhag typically explores themes of alien arrival and how their technology interacts with our own. It creates interesting narratives in simple paintings that say everything and yet nothing. In one frame, ten years of narrative can be constructed. He is definitely someone I want to analyse to assist with world building. If he can create a whole story in one painting, analysing how a prop fits into the bigger picture and how it influences other things is exactly what I’m trying to do.

I have assembled a Pinterest board to use as  reference material, making sure that I can keep referring to it when I construct the items and make sure they are in touch with the themes and narratives I want. Pinterest board

Even though this isn’t part of my overall brief of creating 3D models, I thought that in order to give my project a sense of belonging and purpose that I should provide it with a full name and logo. As seen in the image below, the title that I have decided on is Life After Light. The meaning of this title stemming from the Alien visitation in the narrative providing enlightenment to humanity and the game taking place in the years following on from the technological advancement. It’s a good description of the world I want to build with a lot of the natural light being taken by the plant life reclaiming the planet.

The logo design was inspired by games such as Dying Light and Watch Dogs which show the font being skewed by a glitch. When shown in the animation, the logos typically have a glitch animation which reflects on the themes of the game. This is something I wanted to include in my logo design.

Following my work into basic web-design using Adobe Muse, I wanted to push myself to learn something new. Something that a lot of my classmates did last semester was 3D modelling, using programmes such as Maya, Blender and Cinema 4D. I found this quite interesting and something that’d I’d like to learn as a designer. 3D modelling can be used to enhance my work with graphic design as well as my work with film. I’m an enthusiastic follower of science fiction where 3D modelling is most commonly seen. I’m also keen on the filmmaking process and how computer-generated imagery is used to de-age actors or change locations to fit the narrative. Video games are a big inspiration for me, games such as Fallout and Halo have a wealth of stories and lore which dictates the look of the games as well as how that affects the narrative. With CGI, it’s important to tell a story in the details. How was the item damaged? How was the building ruined? It fills in the gaps for the players without going through a lengthy background story. It allows audiences to make their own stories, their own reasons for it all which creates a deeper sense of immersion.

My intention for the project is to create an asset pack to be used in a science fiction film or game. The theme of this game will be that an alien race visited the Earth in the present day, with them, they brought technology capable of saving the Earth from the threat of Global Warming. The main gift is a tool that can increase the amount of Carbon Dioxide plants can process as well as a way of increasing plant growth. After the aliens leave, mankind begins to abuse this technology upon seeing the benefits it holds to the Earth. An increase in food leads to overpopulation which leads to population control and subsequent riots all while the plants show no sign of stopping with their increased growth. The world’s population declining, the plants begin to take over urban areas. The law is a long forgotten ideal and what’s left of humanity becomes unruly, using the remnants of the technology to make weapons and tools, some wanting to restore humanity and some preferring the world how it is.

With a brief like this, it gives me a lot of opportunities to explore narrative through design. What will tools look like? Buildings? Clothing? Will the alien technology look wildly different? Will it carry a sense retro-futurism? All of these questions are things to be considered when establishing the look of the items. I want to make a collection of things that can be displayed in real-world imagery as well as in a virtual space. Weaponry is always a go-to item as it says a lot about the characters choices, preferences as well as the current state of the world. Apocalyptic worlds need power, they’d get this through generators, but how would they look with alien machinery enhancing Earth’s technology? Clothing can say everything about a character as it’s seen as a layer of protection but also what a character’s beliefs are, what their preferences are etc. Because of this, I want to make at least one weapon, a piece of clothing and a prop from this fictional world. Assembling these in Maya as it is known as being the industry standard for 3D modelling and so will set me up for potential work in the industry.