Douen Mudbox Sculpt Test

Process and Analysis

I carried out another Mudbox test, so that I could sculpt a rough version of the Douen's head digitally in 3D. At first, I made the straw hat base separately in Maya and then imported it into Mudbox. I used a sphere, halved it and then moved the edges outwards to form the shape of the hat.

I then imported the hat into Mudbox and enlarged it to place over the basic head mesh. The underneath of the hat was invisible due to the thinness of the faces. I changed the visibility setting in the Display menu.  I then did an initial face sculpt for the Douen, but I was not content with how the face formed the 'void' shape. Therefore I attempted to recreate the face, this time using more of a swirling formation instead of a circular formation, which had a stronger effect as it seemed to move deeper into the face.

 I then finely sculpted a detailed ear and short stippled hair, as well as adjusting the collar bones and the size of the neck and head. I examined the model and tried out different base materials to see the effect. I went with a material that seemed the closest texture to skin, and then prepared the hat and bust for painting.

 I started by applying a block skin colour and hair colour onto the bust, and then I created an extra layer for toning and to paint the void. Listening to my peer feedback, I decided to try making the face without using the eye in the centre. The effect was a more mysterious and scarier depth to the Douen's appearance. I added a straw texture to the hat, but I had the initial problem where I could not separate the objects, but by adding a new material to the hat the paint layers were separated.

Evaluation

I was mostly pleased with the final outcome of the test Douen sculpt, although I feel that the colours are too flat and unlike skin textures. My peer feedback acted as a useful design guide- removing the eye in the centre of the face and trying out new textures on the hat and the hair. Although I encountered small problems during the process, I was able to fix most of them. The one problem which I was unsure how to fix was the rendering error on the back of the hat. Next time I will test the rendering immediately after importing the hat. If the error re-occurs I will try another method of importing, or create two separate Mudbox files. Another element that I will change for the final model is the shape of the hat- The semi-circle shape that I used did not have enough subdivisions. Therefore when I make the next hat in Maya I will need to increase the subdivision levels for a sharper shape.

The test sculpt of the Douen was very useful as I now have a planned method for creating part of the final digital sculpt that I will create for the final outcome. Although it is challenging to fix technical issues I think that this sculpt has taught me how to overcome them for the future.

Altering the Context and the Effect- Digital Drawings

Testing and Analysis

I carried out a similar experiment with my digital drawings as the one I did with the Jumbie wood carving. I decided that I could edit my digital concepts that I had of my folklore creatures so far, into different scenarios to see the effects. I wanted to create a really dramatic change in scenery to see if the emotional response was different when they were removed from the original context.

At first, I placed the Soucouyant into a natural bamboo forest environment, which is where I interpret the character dwelling in the game and also in the folklore. The effect was a mysterious image, and a feeling of dread and suspense, almost as if the Soucouyant was prowling through the forest looking for a target. However, I then placed it into a completely different environment, a market scene full of people. The result was a feeling of ridicule and humour, as the people in the scene did not seem bothered by this seemingly scary figure at all, when in reality seeing this creature would most likely frighten people. I also continued to put the Soucouyant in scenes that seemed out of context, such as in New York. This reminded me of a typical movie scene in an action/horror film, where a creature has invaded a city. The taxis in the image, now that it has been edited, look almost as if they are stopping in surprise at seeing the Soucouyant. The crowd on the other side of the street could be perceived as equally shocked bystanders, but despite this there is still too much of a bustling and cheerful vibe that puts the Soucouyant's horror aspect out of context. The last edit shows the Soucouyant in the interior of a house, which is distinctly not in the traditional Caribbean style, already placing it slightly out of context. Furthermore, although there were no people in the forest edit, the fat that there are no people in this house makes it hard to see the effect of possible human interaction that the Soucouyant would have and the emotional responses that could occur. The edit leaves us only with the indication that the Soucouyant was looking for something or was lost (which comes across as quite funny).

I carried out the same test with the Jumbie drawing, placing it it into scenes that I thought fitted the context well and scenes that did not. The first featured the Jumbie on the coastline, which has a sombre and melancholy feel to it, alongside the disturbing feeling when seeing the tall shadowy figure of the Jumbie lurking in the distance. This fits well with the context to me as I relate the Jumbie to water and the sea- it is a spirit of a slave who died on the passage from Africa to the Caribbean, and the skin of the Jumbie represents the wood of traditional carvings and also water rotted wooden ships. Despite having a grim background, the glow of the sun against the shore seems almost uplifting, giving mostly a peaceful and melancholy feeling to the Jumbie in this context, rather than that of fear. I then placed the Jumbie on an abandoned pier, which had more of an eerie feel to it. The pier reaches into the distance and the dark sky and foggy scene seem to place it into a context better suited for a horror game. This was the most effective in sticking with the context out of the edits that I tested. I then placed the Jumbie on a ship deck, but the fact that it was during the day and that the ship was clearly occupied by sailors removed the fear aspect. Instead, it appeared as a lost creature wandering around populated areas. The last Jumbie edit was the  most ridiculous and I found it very out of context. I placed it into a busy playground full of parents and children, none of whom seemed to care about the presence of the Jumbie, much like the Soucouyant at the market. When the environment is wrong and no one reacts or cares, automatically the creature seems less scary.

The last edit test was for the Douen drawing. I placed the Douen in a forest setting but this time on a rickety bridge that seems dilapidated and unused. I really liked the effect of this and how it seemed to fit so well with my context. It was almost like it was looking at the view saying "Follow me", much like in the folklore. For the second edit I placed the Douen beside an old abandoned wooden building. I was playing around with the idea of a children's hideout area. I received a malevolent and mysterious feeling of foreboding. The Douen seemed to communicate without words through the image, getting the viewer to follow. I then placed it outside an old Caribbean home, which seems to resemble a typical 'haunted' house. Despite the disturbing image of the weather worn and aged house, it wasn't really scary as the Douen was outside it on the street during the day. Perhaps if it was night time then it would be scarier. The last image seemed fairly out of context, until I thought about Horror film scenes, showing haunted photographs of spirits in the background like in 'Indidious' (2011). As it takes a while to point out the Douen at first glance in this edit, when you do finally find it  it is almost startling.

Evaluation

I found this experiment very useful to my project. Not only did I discover what removed the fear factor from the characters, but I also found scenes and contexts that I could vividly imagine my characters to dwell in a game. I found it very interesting how fear could be replaced by humour depending on the setting and context. This experiment shows how important it would be for a game environment to use the correct context that allows suspense and fear to brew.

Altering the context and the effect- Jumbie Wood Carving

Testing and Analysis

I wanted to experiment with manipulating the context in which my character designs are placed by putting them into related and unrelated environments and noting the effect that this has. I decided to use my wood sculpture first as it was a physical object that I could move around easily. At first, I took it outside of the house and into natural environments such as the garden plants, and holding it up to the sky which reminded me of the looming effect the Jumbie had in my illustrations. These more natural environments were in line with how I interpret the setting of the game and the characters that live in these settings.

However, I then turned this around completely by placing them into more domestic environments, such as on the windowsill of my bedroom, placing it onto the mantle piece like a piece of collected art, and finally in an altar-style environment. The mantlepiece setting seemed to entirely reject the meaning of the Jumbie and removing it from it's original context completely. When the Jumbie once meant a reminder of slavery and lingering spirits, it now becomes an insensitive decoration for a house. However, when I placed the Jumbie on the altar arrangement, it seemed to be more connected with the spiritual context of the folklore. It reminded me of the Yoruba woodcarvings used for spiritual rituals. When I placed the Jumbie on the bookshelf, in the shadows it did appear a slightly more ominous and scary, but it was easy enough to dismiss this and have it resemble a functional book end, which takes away from it's context. The windowsill setting reminded me of a spiritual ward that would be placed in the home to ward off spirits, which is ironic as I perceive the Jumbie character as a malevolent spirit itself.

Evaluation

This experiment made me think about how easily something can be removed from a context and how the emotional response can be changed and manipulated due to this. Although I am only using a wood carving rather than a whole concept of the Jumbie, I was still able to find ways that the Wood craving fits with the folklore context and how it can be removed from that, like in everyday life when we see the work of different cultures placed in the home or in buildings. It reminds me of the importance of knowing different cultures, and how exposing different cultural folklores and practices can change how people perceive certain symbols and images in a context.

Developing Narrative and looking at existing game descriptions

Analysis

Regarding narrative, I understood from the beginning of the project and in the project proposal that I would mostly be using the narratives provided by the folklore itself. However, I decided to compile and analyse photos of box art for games that give a short synopsis of the game's narrative, and considered creating a short narrative draft of my own in this style. I wanted to see how the box could convey a game's narrative using a limited but exciting synopsis. This was also an interesting experiment as I could see how the description includes the player strongly alongside the game context and story, e.g. for the box cover of 'Until Dawn' (2016) the basic narrative is portrayed as well as the line "You'll have to make split-second decisions that will mean life or death, for each member of the group." This line alone interweaves the player's role into the roles of the characters in the story, as well as giving away the genre of the game.  Other game descriptions, such as 'Tomb Raider' (2015) give the impression of the types of combat that the protagonist and player will face, "... in order to survive and escape from lethal predators that stalk her every move." This could be referring to people, animals, or something else entirely. It doesn't give too much of the game away, however, and leaves us with a feeling  of suspense. Horror games in particular, such as 'Amnesia: The Dark Descent' (2010) and 'Silent Hill 4: The Room' (2004) focus on the need to survive, in particular how the player's movements and options will effect the fate of the protagonist amongst malevolent creatures. Whilst illustrating the story, the blurb implies that a tactical approach must be taken by the player in order to survive in the game. Many other instances were used, such as the Uncharted series which features tag lines and exciting vocabulary, adding suspense towards the end that makes you want to play the game.

Therefore I attempted to write a short narrative draft in the style of action-adventure and horror box descriptions, which I thought would help to provide a stronger context for my game characters, almost as if I were pitching the game to a player:

"In the Caribbean islands of today an historian, a skeptical descendent of a spiritual family, attempts to find the origins of West Indian folklore and myth. Journeying into the depths of the bamboo forests at night, the lonely shores of the Atlantic Ocean, the cold caverns and rivers dotted around the land and the archeological sites, the adventurer discovers something chilling that they wish they had not found. Disturbing traditional Obeah and Yoruba ruins and artefacts deep within the island awakens malevolent spirits and beasts, which are released into the wild and cities. These fearsome creatures, full of spite and malice, serve only themselves and seek the undoing of their disruptive guest and the meddling with the world of the living. Through the use of methods as described in the folklore and through rituals, the adventurer must learn how to avoid harm and kill these creatures to restore spiritual peace to the islands. In order to survive, one must learn their enemies’ weaknesses and fight when necessary. And when the foe is truly as sinister as this, running and hiding is essential."

Evaluation

In some places, I feel as if the basic narrative could be improved and the description made more succinct. However, I feel as if I achieved a balance between expressing the basics of the narrative and describing the role of the protagonist and player. I could create a stronger draft towards the end of the project to cement the context of the characters.

Peer feedback- emotional responses to my concepts

Analysis

I decided to  review my progress so far against what my class mates thought and felt when they examined my Soucouyant, Jumbie and Douen concepts. I asked several classmates of their opinions and recorded four detailed accounts from classmates regarding each of the three characters. At first, I did not give any context to see how they first reacted, and then when I gave the context after, I was able to see if their views on my work were any different. I asked what the initial feelings were, if the work reminded them of anything/anyone, and what they found most interesting about the work.

For all three characters, I received the general response that they were scary and evoked feelings of sadness and confusion. This was very useful feedback for me as I knew that my designs were in line with the Horror genre, which was most important to me at this stage. I did not want to produce something with the intention of it being scary, and having it end up appearing positive and humorous. For the Soucouyant, after giving the context to the people in interview I received good feedback for what I could improve: e.g. experimenting with adding more fire when it is angry in the game, and looking at natural disasters such as volcanic eruptions, which could span to the other characters too.
The feedback from the Jumbie was also useful: I was told that I could look at different types of ritual scarring from countries and tribes within Africa and the symbolism of scarring for greater knowledge and context. I was also told that I could look at other creatures from TV shows and anime's such as Doctor Who and Bleach, as well as to find what makes those creatures in the shows scary to the viewers. Lastly I was told to look at other natural events such as insect wood rot from termites and similar bugs, an the formations that they produce, relating these formations to the wooden body of the Jumbie. The last creature, the Douen received the feedback: looking at textural differences, e.g. skin on the outside and the inside of the body, as well as being told that the entirely void face was scarier than the void face with the eye. This, according to my peers, made the Douen feel less human and more mysterious and unknown, as well as evoking more fear due to the almost endless appearance of the face.

Evaluation

This feedback was highly valuable to me as I was given an outside perspective of the effect my characters give with and without context. I knew that I was on track as the horror theme was clear and as well as the feeling of fear, I was told of other emotions that my classmates felt when looking at the creatures, which I did not consider evoking before, e.g. sadness and confusion. Although most of the feedback was useful to me, although I will only follow up research on the aspects of feedback that most interested me and that I deem most suitable for my designs and context.

Zdzisław Beksiński's Paintings

Research Analysis

Zdzisław Beksiński was a Polish painter, sculptor and photographer, who specialised in dystopian surrealism. I was struck by the gothic and post apocalyptic style, as well as the warm and almost dusty colour palette that Beksiński used. Whilst having a focus on surrealism, Beksiński also used abstraction in his work, particularly with faces and facial features. He mainly used oil paint on hardboard panels, but also used acrylics, achieving a more classical effect. To me, the paintings appear to have grim meanings and a dream-like feeling. This is similar to the feeling I got from LeRoy Clarke's work- his abstracted and surreal paintings and drawings evoked a feeling of dreams and nightmares. Beksiński seemed to be enthralled with the idea of human mortality, emphasising this with the use of flesh decay and skeletons in his paintings.

From this, however, I receive the feeling of spirituality in the way that the painting appears to perceive dreams of life and death, as well as the depths of the human subconscious. This links very well to my work, as my focus on folklore in the Caribbean fits well with the exploration of human perception and interpretation of mythical beings from words only. I decided early on in my project that I would work mainly from description of Caribbean folklore beasts by text, which is similar to Beksiński's work, as he was mainly inspired by classical music- something non-visual that prompted his imagination and interpretations.

Digital and 3D Concept Development

Testing and Analysis

In order to develop the character designs of the Soucouyant, Jumbie and Douen, I decided to use Adobe Photoshop to illustrate and alter aspects of their designs. I wanted to use simple and complex sketches in colour and in greyscale to take into account the use of colour symbolism that I researched, form and evidence of the character narratives told through their myths and legends. I began by developing the Soucouyant using simple line drawings and copying and pasting elements of my sketches, taking them and then developing them further. In particular I looked at the placement of the extra faces on the Soucouyant, such as placing them in a vertical row along the side of the face and adding more distorted faces. I also looked at adding more eyes to and around the faces. I also got the chance to do full body greyscale and colour drawings of the body and head, developing the lanky and disproportionate figure and the details such as the jagged skin and claws. In another experiment I drew over my 3D Mudbox sculpt, in an attempt to visualise the development of the 3D aspect, as well as to place it in the setting of the forest where the Soucouyant moves through at night.

Wood Carving Test

I then took my time to research traditional Yoruba wood carving methods by watching a youtube video of the process (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mP36rJ8SJy4) and learning about the tools and techniques used. The wood carvers were from the Igbo-Ora state in the South-West of Nigeria and traditionally pass their techniques on from generation to generation. Using natural woods from nearby forests and hacking, carving and detailed cutting tools (the Awobuigi ax and Ifayi knife), they produce mainly ritual figures, drums and furniture. I then decided that I would like to create a wood carving of the Jumbie character, which I associated with Yoruba wood carvings in my initial ideas. I bought two planks of soft balsar wood, cut them into quarters and stuck them together to form a block. Once the glue was dry, I used a small carving knife along with a Stanley knife and a dremel to cut the basic shape of the head, finally to add details. I then took the carving and applied mahogany wood stain and waited for it to dry. I was very pleased with the final result, as it felt authentic and represented how I imagine the head of the Jumbie to look. To follow this up, I did some more concept sketches to develop the character and place it in an environment.

I lastly did some development drawings for the Douen. I began by experimenting with black and white line drawings, altering the shape of the hat and referencing against my original ideas. I then drew a more detailed version, looking at patterned cloth for the wrap and most importantly, placing it into a forest background. I was pleased with the overall mood of the piece and the eerie effect of the void face.