For our final major project, we are not bound to what we can create for it, other than it is “an area of creative interest you have that is somewhat related to the degree and, where appropriate, related to a specialist area you wish to work in after the degree (although this employability focused outcome is not mandatory; it is simply a way of helping you to understand the idea of focusing onto a specific area). ”
As there is no actual brief, I decided to create a mind map and decide a ‘theme’ of what the project would be based on. I also need to determine various aspects such as what are I want to specialise in and which industry I am most interested. I decided that I want to focus mainly on the design (concept and 3D design) for this project as I want to go into 3D character design after I graduate. From here I decided to base my project on my strengths which led me to focus more on the design aspect of the course rather than animation. The reason being was because throughout the 3D Digital Design and Animation course my ability to animate has improved but doesn’t match my ability to create concepts/characters. Therefore I decided to focus on producing various design decision to create a final character or characters.
Throughout the holidays I challenged myself to think of what I could do for my FMP, as I knew there was no brief I essentially am able to create anything. I began to search for problems that could be challenged or fixed through my FMP. I went on a trip to Japan and Korea and discovered the Tickeye Museum in Seoul, an optical art museum where painting on walls create fact illusions. Putting the purpose of the museum aside, the franchise suggested downloading the app which essentially brings the illusions alive.
Above I have included an example of what the illusion artwork looks like with and without the AR app, in addition, two other examples of how the AR app works with the artwork. From this, I was able to finally decide that I wanted to include the use of AR within my FMP. The reason for this was that AR is a relatively new concept, I wanted to explore a way to use this. In addition to this, it would be a niche way to present my work for the FMP rather than presenting on a screen or VR, which I predict many in my year would be utilising.
Idea 1. Posters with AR
For this, I wanted to study how AR could be used in conjunction with posters and bring a subject to life. I would carry this out by studying how AR works and how it can recognise shapes and colours in order to bring a certain model or animation to life through an AR app. I would want to create posters based on various Japanese folklore an example of this could, the legend of kitsunes and creating a 3d model of a kitsune and projecting it off the poster in order to introduce the aspect of technology to display a character from the stories.
Idea 2. 3D with AR
Similar to idea 1 with the research aspect, however, instead of posters I would try to accomplish the same idea but with a 3d object. I wanted to create various 3d characters based on Japanese folklore and 3D printing it. I will then find an AR app or software that will recognise the objects and cause an animation to come to life. In addition to this, the objects will be placed so the viewer would have to ‘find’ the characters by following a trail which shows up via AR.
Idea 3. AR Interactive Story
Here I wanted to create an interactive story which could be played through an AR app. Essentially I could create a game which can be accessed by the AR app through a logo or object. Here I would want to give the viewer the ability to choose their story outcome.
Final Idea
After discussing with my lecturers I decided to stick with the AR idea but developing from the use of masks that are used in Japanese culture. The reason for this is that masks have a long history especially within Japanese culture and also in storytelling in general. I want to design and create various masks depending on various Japanese folklore, this would express one of the ‘traditional’ props that have been used in conjunction with storytelling. However, as I want to introduce technology (specifically AR) as a prop, I want to introduce it by connecting it with the traditional masks and looking at the various views of introducing this approach with storytelling.
Animation Project 