07/04 - Update

Our group met up today to get the filming out of the way >< (Thank you Mikayla and Michelle Zhen for letting us film at the apartment!)
Throughout the day, I helped around with adjusting minor details within the storyboard and acting to make it appear more natural. As the director, I was also the person who decided whether some shots were good enough or not, along with my group members.
Jerwin's friend gave us advice regarding how we can bounce light off different surfaces, so at some point, I was adjusting the paper we were bouncing the light source off to direct it towards the desired area.
..Mikayla and I was also tasked with taking numerous photos of the work environment ><

Bouncing the light off paper~

...We forgot we had a tripod

Jonathan filming

Prepped food :D

Men, use your muscles

We decided that the wall threw off the white balance with how blank it was.
...This was also a chance to add character to Michelle Zhen's character.

Took photo of the lighting within the fridge: good idea for the title screen concept

An orange tinted light was added to the bottom of the fridge. It was casting
shadows on the sponge (butter) but that can be fixed when we add the plate
and through matte painting.

Everyone! Get in here!

Initial light test while Mikayla was preparing the "food"
From this, we knew that the scene wasn't bright enough and created too much contrast.

Hello to our actress ><

Acting with a slight over the shoulder + high angle shot

The lighting for the fridge was great for setting up a romantic atmosphere
around Butter inside the fridge.

Pointing the light directly at the scene created too many harsh shadows
so we had to bounce them off walls too.

Michelle getting reading for filming

Jonathan checking again :D

Lights

(Photos from Mikayla and Myself :3)
Everyone was pitching in ideas during the filming so it ended nicely. Just have to go through and select the footage we want in the final piece.
Lighting was a problem initially because the apartment was quite dark. Problem solved: Jerwin's friend provided us with multiple lamps with a yellow light. This was able to produce a rather romantic atmosphere for the lighting which we can complete with a pink filter during the editing stage.
...Time for us to get ready for editing! ><



Regarding the plate:
I ended up modelling the roses that sit on the plate.

The middle...

Adding the first few petals

Second layer

I will say that I am a bit glad it didn't turn out as something....that doesn't look like a flower OTL However, I'm not entirely sure if it's the look I'm going for so I intend to ask what the group members think about it. Adjustments must be made depending on how we decide to texture the plate.

Little stand added

I also made a rough addition to the plate to see how it would look with it. (It isn't connected to the actual plate yet). I actually think it looks a lot better than having it as a flat plate.

I also just added the roses onto the plate to see how it looks so far. The base of the plate also had colours altered because I wasn't too sure of having just a white plate. (A sort of colour test?) This was because the fridge itself is white and I wanted the plate to have even the slightest difference in colour to not blend in with the background.

I personally think the purple shade would create more contrast with the yellow butter but I'm going to need to get the opinions of others. I also have to remember that the rose bed will be in the center of the plate...

ONWARDS TO NEXT UPDATE! ><

03/04 Update

Colouring Done

I was able to get the rose bed coloured today :D I wanted there to be shading, but not in excessive amounts so it would only be to the extent of accentuating Butter's presence, rather than overpowering him.

On top of that...I should probably update another about the plate. >.>;
Progress shots of the plate modelling!

One half done >.>;

I initially used duplicate special to mirror the geometry

I hadn't connected the vertices yet so I went ahead and did so.
But...

..#@%!@#%!@%
I was greeted by new faces and disappearing vertices?;;

...No worries however! A fellow classmate came to my assistance! T_T;

I was told to use the mirror geometry tool in the mesh tab instead

Mirrored twice and done!

For now, I added a white blinn for the texture to get a better idea
 of what it looks like so far

Smoothed out

Haven't added the bottom yet ><

From this, I noticed I really need to brush up on Maya and go back to and try remember everything we learned last year: I have to model roses T_T;;;;

Interactive Narrative - week 6

After trying out "Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy" for this week, I found that the way the player interacted with the playable characters played a large part in the progression of the narrative and my own involvement with it.

Throughout the game, the player is able to control different characters to progress the narrative from a multiple of perspectives. The game's mechanics mainly involve the player to decide how they will carry out certain objectives given to them, an example being the beginning of the narrative when Carla and Tyler are investigating the restaurant for information regarding the murder. Some actions performed are clear that it actually impacts narrative progression, while the player is also open to make decisions such as Tyler turning on music which isn't necessary at all to the given objective. However, the game has a mental health meter which is affected by each character's interaction with the environment, meaning it is affected by what actions the player wishes the controlled character to carry out. Keeping a character healthy can also be considered important to the narrative, as the story wouldn't be able to progress when the player gets a game over due to the meter reaching zero.

The game seems to follow a linear narrative, but with non-linear gameplay. This can easily be noticed even within the first level of the game: Lucas can either hide his murder weapon, meaning it would be slightly harder for the player to find while playing as Carla and Tyler, or he can completely forget about it and have it abandoned in clear view on the bathroom floor. The game's narrative only seems to branch off the player's decisions during the final level, as there are a total of three separate endings to this game, while earlier choices alter the player's gameplay experience until the next story node. The choices offered within this game, whether it being actions or conversations between different characters, allows the player to become immersed and feel an interaction between them and the environment within the game. An article about video game characters mentioned, " As such, Andrew Burn (2006, pp. 72–73) argues, they play a dual role as both player agent and fictional character, belonging simultaneously to the “ludic” and “representational” systems that comprise the game." (2013). This statement describes the relationship the player has with their playable characters: they control their actions much like a puppeteer, but the characters themselves would be an entity with their own thoughts and emotions within the game world they exist. This relationship allows the player to feel a connection to the set fictional universe and in "Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy", the way the player's choices affect a character's actions makes the gameplay appear more interactive in comparison to, maybe a platformer.

From my experience with the game, "Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy" involves game mechanics which allows the player to form a relationship with the characters they control as they interact with the game's universe. This interaction which allowed for non-linear gameplay of a linear narrative was a driving factor towards my want of further playing the game.

Resources 

Quantic Dream. (Developer). (2005). Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy [Video Game]. France: Quantic Dream

Aldred, J. (Author). (2013). Characters from: The Routledge Companion to Video Game Studies [eBook]. Routledge.
Retrived: http://animation.onlearn.co.nz/pluginfile.php/2711/mod_resource/content/0/Characters.pdf

02/04 Update

This week, I focused on finalizing plate designs by making notes on what shape it would have, along with what shapes it would include.

What is on the Plate?

I talked with the group members and they agreed when I said I wanted to make it look as if the butter himself had decorated a space for him to invite his love interest to. As mentioned in a past update, I really wanted to make it appear like some setting for a cheesy romance film but at the same time, not overdo it too much to the extent it pulls the focus away from our butter star.

For starters, I shaped the plate into a flower shape because it wouldn't be as interesting if we just had a circle. Also, it follows the theme with the multiple roses placed at the four sides of the plate since roses symbolize love. I also intend to include a flowerbed of roses in the middle for Butter to situate himself on - litter him with roses and it is a bed made with love >.>;;

Drawing for the Rosebed

I drew up a bunch of roses for his bed and intend to colour it with simple shading so it doesn't stand out too much - the red will already be enough to make it noticeable. If I feel that there are too many leaves, I plan on removing them along with making some of the roses have less petals as they look rather...detailed(?) compared to what I want (apart from the rose on the left side).

Past Update >.> - 28/03

Jerwin from our group had made a bunch of colour concepts (Thanks man!) and from looking at those, we all decided that the golded wrapper for the butter would make him look the most elegant, as well as emphasize his "high end creamy blend" status.
However, we had changed our wrapper shape into the Elvis Presley type high collar shirt as suggested by lecturers due to how we couldn't really have a bathrobe without the waistband.
We weren't too sure how we would make the folds look realistic so...
Jerwin, Zack and I had a job:
Round 2 photoshoot with butter. Jerwin went to the dairy and purchased a stick/block/bar of butter >.>;;;; (A plus being that it had gold wrapping! :D)

Front of butter - Couldn't open it fully because it already smelled bad as it was

Side view of the butter wrapping

Back of butter - raised for the butt

The back would have the brand name and logo

We did this mainly to figure out how the wrapper would have its creases and folds, meaning it would help us to make the wrapper look as natural as possible during the modelling process.

After studying the butter, we had a few design points that we knew we had to include in the final design:

Results during investigation

-Barcode at "front" 

-Might include nutritional information
-Ripped Top Half for Collar: Presley shirt
-Bottom of wrapper curls up + folds at the back for the butt
-Writing on the "back" for logo

Producer Michelle Zhen also suggested we include the slogan "Spread the Love" where Love is replaced with a heart symbol instead for the ripping effect at the end when the butter is heartbroken.