2. Existing ProductYume Nikki
Yume Nikki is an RPGMaker
game about a shut-in girl
who dreams of travelling
through different worlds.
The game is abstract and
creepy for the most part,
with each dream world
being filled with strange
imagery and dark
psychological subtext. I
plan to use the same
engine, RPGmaker, in my
own product.
The game begins with the title screen, which is mostly black and
contains the logo, the colours are minimal. The aesthetics of the game
follow this minimal theme, using a small palette of colours for each
world and the predominent colour in them being black. This helps
drive the fact that it's a psychological game bordering on horror, which
is the same kind of game I want my product to be. The art style of the
game is pixel art, which is also quite minimal, the most detail being on
the main character. I plan to use pixel art in my project as I like how it
looks. Games that use pixel art tend to be from small budget indie
developers, as it is much easier and more time efficient for flat 2d
graphics than to program a 3d game with high quality models, This
applies to me as I am the only person who will be creating my project
and I won't have time to create 3d graphics.
3. Existing ProductYume Nikki
The audience appeal of this game comes from the mystery
of it, as the premise of it is vague and the concept is
interesting to a lot of people, as everyone has dreams. The
game also creates an audience through relatability, the
vagueness of some of the situations leaves room for
people to imagine and project their own feelings onto it,
which can create a highly interested and dedicated
audience. The majority of the product's audience is late
teens to young adults, which is the same age range as my
product's audience.
I chose to research this
product as I think it's quite
similar to my product in ways
like the genre, the audience &
the design of it. From
researching this ive learnt that
I can still create a product with
a strong audience without
having a clear concise
storyline, I am able to be
abstract and creative.
4. Existing Product
Poster of the tv show, dark
muted colours.
Images from the show's version of the
internet 'The Wired' the colours are mainly
two toned, black and pink. I like the cryptic
and somewhat creepy look of it, and how
the images are pixel art, giving it a retro
computer aesthetic. I chose to research
this because it fits with the vision I have for
my product, a somewhat creepy and
cryptic sci-fi game.
Serial Experiments Lain
Serial Experiments Lain is a
cyberpunk psychological anim
e tv show from 1998. The plot
follows a girl named Lain and
her descent into internet
obsession. The show follows
themes of loneliness, isolation
and mental illness, as
throughout the show Lain's
obsession leads her to develop
multiple personalities. There is
even religious themes at
times.
The title's font looks like a
typewriter's font, which
furthers the retro feel of the
series. The typewriter is also a
means of communication,
which is a large theme in the
show. Lain enters the wired to
become connected with
people.
5. Existing ProductSerial Experiments Lain
The audience for this product would be anime
fans in the age range of teen to young adult. The
audience perhaps relates to the main character
in ways like being socially isolated and awkward
around people. Shows like this can build a strong
audience of people who can relate and
sympathize with the qualities and struggles of
the main character. This applies to the audience
I want to appeal to, as my target audience is in a
similar age range and my product will have
similar themes as the tv show.
6. Existing ProductSilent Hill 2 Silent Hill 2 is a survival horror game made in
2001. The game was created as a sequel to Silent
Hill, although it did not continue the story from
the game. The story follows a man named James
Sunderland and his journey to the town Silent
Hill, in search of his supposedly dead wife who
sent him a mysterious letter. The game follows
James and how he dealt with the grief of his wife
dying, as the town of Silent Hill seems to create
twisted and dark manifestations of his
subconscious. Throughout the game, we realise
that James is not the sort of person we initially
thought he was.
Silent Hill 2 fits into the Psychological Horror
genre. Although there is fighting and shooter
aspects of the game, it is not the focus. The main
focus of Silent Hill 2 is its story. The game has
influences from various film directors such as
David Lynch and Alfred Hitchcock and there is
heavy inspiration from the 1990 movie Jacob's
Ladder, and the 1866 novel Crime and
Punishment.
Another important part of Silent Hill 2 is the music. The music in
the game is composed by Akira Yamaoka and the music in the
game was created to invoke emotions in the player, which helps
further the story narrative. Akira Yamaoka wanted to create an
unsettling environment with the music, and for other areas
create 'sad melodies' which fit with the core theme of the game
– grief. Yamaoka stated that one of his influences was
Trent Reznor, of Nine Inch Nails, which can explain the
industrial feeling of the music.
7. Existing ProductSilent Hill 2
The artstyle for Silent Hill 2 deeply coincides to the hardware of its time. Due
to the limitations of the Playstation 2 a lot of the areas were foggy and you are
unable to see in the distance. This is to save processing power on the system,
but it also works to further the narrative as Silent Hill is a mysterious town –
and the fog eventually has a reason for being there. The graphics of the game
are typical of a PS2 game, with low-poly models and muddy colours. The
colour palette of the game fits stylistically and was also more efficient, as the
budget for the game was relatively small. The primary colours you see in the
game are greys and browns and reds. As the game is inspired by various movie
directors, the cutscenes in the game are shot like a movie – which makes them
visually interesting to watch. The voice actors also give great performances,
which furthers the enjoyment of the story.
The audience for Silent Hill 2 is mostly young adults. The game is rated M
due to its violent themes and imagery. The game draws its audience in
through the mystery of the game, and the survival horror genre is almost
like an invitation to the players daring them to try and beat the game. As
Silent Hill 2 is a sequel, it also attracts fans of the original Silent Hill game
to its audience. The heavy story aspect of the game will also attract
people who like to play story driven games.
I have chosen to look at this game as the genre of Psychological Horror will
apply to my project. I can take ideas from the game such as gameplay
mechanics, and story elements and incorporate them into my own game. I
also like the art style of Silent Hill 2 a lot, so I will take inspiration from it for
my project. By looking at this I have learnt that story can matter much more
to an audience than enjoyable gameplay – as the audience of Silent Hill 2 are
8. Research Analysis
• What common features do the researched products
have?
– The products I have researched all have the Psychological
Horror genre in common. They are all also very story
driven.
• What aspects of the research will you include within
your own production work?
– In my own product, I plan to make a game that’s very
focused on the story and includes genres of Psychological
horror and cyberpunk. I will also take inspiration from the
art styles and colour palettes of the products I have
researched, such as pixel art and dark colourschemes.
10. Secondary Audience research
• Observation: The gender of my audience is 50% male and 50% female
• What this says about my audience: There is an equal gender ratio in my audience
• How will your product appeal to this audience: My product will incorporate things
that appeal to both genders in my work. For example, my main character will have
a gender-neutral appearance, so both genders are able to relate to it.
11. Secondary Audience research
• Observation: 35% of my audience is aged 16-18, 42% of my audience is aged 19-24, 21% of my
audience is aged 25-34+
• What this says about my audience: This tells me that most of my audience is in the young adult age
group.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: My product will appeal to this audience by having
young adult themes, such as being very story based and deals with themes that someone of that
age could relate to – For example, internet culture and loneliness.
12. Secondary Audience research
• Observation: My audience has played at least one of the games out of the ones listed. The majority
of my audience has played the games Off, Corpse Party & Wadanohara
• What this says about my audience: This tells me that my audience is familiar with games like the
product I want to make
• How will your product appeal to this audience: My product will appeal to this audience by having
similarities with the games listed, but still being its own original product.
13. Primary Audience research
• Observation: 50% of the responses said that they liked characters the most in RPG horror games.
57% of the responses said they like the storyline in RPG horror games
• What this says about my audience: This tells me that my audience finds good characters and good
story the most important in an RPG horror game. My audience is narrative driven.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: My product will appeal to this audience by having a
strong focus on story and will be very narrative driven. I will also create well written and interesting
characters.
14. Primary Audience research
• Observation: 64% of my audience dislikes battle systems in RPG horror
games
• What this says about my audience: This tells me that my audience doesn’t
enjoy battles in RPG horror games.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: To appeal to this audience,
my product will not feature a battle system or any battles.
15. Primary Audience research
• Observation: On a scale of 0-50, the results were 40. This means that my audience prefers typical
horror.
• What this says about my audience: This tells me that my audience prefers typical horror to
psychological horror. This could mean that my audience has immature tastes, or simply
enjoys slasher type horror.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: My product will appeal to this audience by having a
focus on typical horror. Since the results weren't fully in favour of typical horror, I will also
incorporate elements of psychological horror into my product.
16. Primary Audience research
• Observation: 78% of my audience thinks that a good story matters very much
• What this says about my audience: This tells me that my audience is narrative-
driven and will turn away from products that don't have a well written story.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: I will appeal to this audience
by making sure the story in my product is interesting and enjoyable. I will use
themes that the young adult audience will enjoy and relate to in order to make it
interesting.
17. Primary Audience research
• Observation: 64% of my audience plays games on PC. 35% plays games on mobile. 35% plays games
on Nintendo Switch.
• What this says about my audience: This tells me that the majority of my audience plays games on
PC, Mobile, and Nintendo Switch.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: My product will appeal to this audience by releasing
on these platforms. This will give me a bigger market share if I am releasing my product on these
platforms. I will have a higher chance of reaching my target audience.
18. Primary Audience research
• Observation: 100% of my audience associates the colour black with horror. 85% associates red with horror. 40% of
my audience associate grey with horror.
• What this says about my audience: This tells me that my audience associates the core convention colours of
horror with the genre.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: My product will appeal to this audience by following typical horror
conventions, such as dark and red colour palettes. The horror scenes in my game will heavily follow these
conventions, and to create a contrast and give my audience relief, I will use alternate colours in non-horror scenes
– such as grey. Grey is still somewhat associated with horror, but doesn’t have a strong connection with it so while
it will still give a creepy atmosphere in my game, it will still provide moments of relief to the player.
19. Primary Audience research
• Observation: 71% of my audience enjoys the adventure genre. 57% of my audience enjoys the
mystery genre. 42% of my audience enjoys the science fiction genre.
• What this says about my audience: This tells me that the majority of my audience enjoys adventure,
mystery & science fiction. As the majority of my audience likes adventure and mystery, it tells me
that they also enjoy narratives – as these two genres heavily rely on narrative and story.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: My product will appeal to this audience by having
the adventure, mystery and science fiction genres as subgenres. At it's core, my product is a horror
game but will feature elements of adventure, mystery, and sci-fi.
24. Practical Research
To experiment with designs I created some
concept art of what could be the main
character of my product.
At first I experimented with different
hairstyles for the character.
I settled on the second hairstyle, as I thought the
shaggy look would fit my idea of a main character.
25. Practical Research
Next I experimented with
colour schemes. I decided I
didn't really like the muddy
colours I put down. To
experiment with other
colours, I used the gradient
map tool in the art
software I use. From the
different palettes I tried
out, I liked the blue and
green one the most – as I
think it looked the best and
the colours fit the science
fiction and cyberpunk
theme I want to convey in
my project.
26. Practical Research
Next, I added some glitch
effects with a custom
brush. This allowed me to
add small details to the
drawing. Along with the
colours I chose, this creates
a science fiction look.
27. Practical Research
For a pixel art experiment, I decided to
draw a character design. I utilized different
pixel art techniques such as dithering. I
started with a simple sketch, then I resized
it to a much smaller size. This is because
pixel art works best on a small canvas. After
resizing the sketch I drew the lineart and
put down some flat colours. I created an
alternate colour palette alongside my initial
colours to see an alternate viewpoint.
I decided to stay with my initial
colourscheme, as I thought the
purple and browns
complimented eachother well.
The red eyes also made a nice
accent colour.
28. Practical Research
Next, I added some simple
shading and highlighting. I
used a dithering brush on
the hair highlights to make
it fade naturally. Dithering
techniques are commonly
used in pixel art, as the
canvas is usually too small
for traditional shading.
I then added more detail to the
shading and highlighting. I added
highlights with sharper colours to
create contrast and give the face
dimension. To create the sharper
colours I used the Color Dodge
layer setting. It creates a vibrant
contrast to the colours
underneath the layer which I
found useful.
29. Practical Research
Finally, I coloured the
lineart. This is because
using plain black lines
make the drawing look flat
and less visually
interesting. To do this, I
locked the transparent
pixels of the layer, allowing
me to colour over the
lineart.
To finalise the piece, I
added some additional
dithering to areas like the
hair and skin shadows.
30. Practical Research
For my next experiment I
created sprites in the
software I plan to use –
RPGMaker. The software
has it's own Game
Character builder which I
decided to use.
The software provides
bases to create
spritesheets with. I would
much rather create my
own sprites but the bases
give a good idea for
proportions.
32. Practical Research
To create the sprite, I started with a simple
base body. I used the pixel brush tool to do
this as it’s the most effective way of making
pixel art. I then added hair and clothing. I
chose to make the design simple, as there isn't
much space to create complicated designs in
pixel art. I also added simple shading, to make
the character look more interesting.
33. Practical Research
To create the movement sprites, I copied the first
sprite I made and removed the arms and legs. I then
redrew them but with one arm and leg slightly
smaller and with dark shading so it gives a depth
effect – making it look like walking. To make the next
frame I simply copied the body and flipped it.
After testing the animation, something felt wrong with it. I realised that the
head was staying completely still as the character walked, which doesn’t
really happen in real life. Something small like this can easily ruin a walking
animation so to fix it I moved the head of the sprites that are walking down
one pixel. This creates a small headbob and while it is a small change it
makes a great difference in the quality of the animation.
36. Bibliography
1. Potter, Daisy (2020) Target Audience Research Survey (conducted on
MAY 2020)
2. Interviewees, Name. (2020) Target Audience Interviews (conducted on
DATE)
Editor's Notes
Choose a recent product similar to your own and annotate it
Type of image- studio/location, angle, effects, post-production
Use of lighting/composition/mise en scene/costume/props/location/colours/fonts etc.
Audience appeal- how does it make its audience want to buy/watch/play it?
Why have you chosen to look at this? What have you learned that can help you in your project?
Choose a recent product similar to your own and annotate it
Type of image- studio/location, angle, effects, post-production
Use of lighting/composition/mise en scene/costume/props/location/colours/fonts etc.
Audience appeal- how does it make its audience want to buy/watch/play it?
Why have you chosen to look at this? What have you learned that can help you in your project?
Choose a recent product similar to your own and annotate it
Type of image- studio/location, angle, effects, post-production
Use of lighting/composition/mise en scene/costume/props/location/colours/fonts etc.
Audience appeal- how does it make its audience want to buy/watch/play it?
Why have you chosen to look at this? What have you learned that can help you in your project?
Choose a recent product similar to your own and annotate it
Type of image- studio/location, angle, effects, post-production
Use of lighting/composition/mise en scene/costume/props/location/colours/fonts etc.
Audience appeal- how does it make its audience want to buy/watch/play it?
Why have you chosen to look at this? What have you learned that can help you in your project?
Choose a recent product similar to your own and annotate it
Type of image- studio/location, angle, effects, post-production
Use of lighting/composition/mise en scene/costume/props/location/colours/fonts etc.
Audience appeal- how does it make its audience want to buy/watch/play it?
Why have you chosen to look at this? What have you learned that can help you in your project?
Choose a recent product similar to your own and annotate it
Type of image- studio/location, angle, effects, post-production
Use of lighting/composition/mise en scene/costume/props/location/colours/fonts etc.
Audience appeal- how does it make its audience want to buy/watch/play it?
Why have you chosen to look at this? What have you learned that can help you in your project?
Use this space to record any secondary audience research you might do. This is finding out about the audience for existing products.
Use this space to record any secondary audience research you might do. This is finding out about the audience for existing products.
Use this space to record any secondary audience research you might do. This is finding out about the audience for existing products.
Use this for any primary audience research that you do. Questionnaires, interviews, vox pops, focus groups… whatever you did, record the responses here and note what you have learned and how it will influence your project.
Use this for any primary audience research that you do. Questionnaires, interviews, vox pops, focus groups… whatever you did, record the responses here and note what you have learned and how it will influence your project.
Use this for any primary audience research that you do. Questionnaires, interviews, vox pops, focus groups… whatever you did, record the responses here and note what you have learned and how it will influence your project.
Use this for any primary audience research that you do. Questionnaires, interviews, vox pops, focus groups… whatever you did, record the responses here and note what you have learned and how it will influence your project.
Use this for any primary audience research that you do. Questionnaires, interviews, vox pops, focus groups… whatever you did, record the responses here and note what you have learned and how it will influence your project.
Use this for any primary audience research that you do. Questionnaires, interviews, vox pops, focus groups… whatever you did, record the responses here and note what you have learned and how it will influence your project.
Use this for any primary audience research that you do. Questionnaires, interviews, vox pops, focus groups… whatever you did, record the responses here and note what you have learned and how it will influence your project.
If you do any additional subject research, record that here. This might be most relevant if you are producing a magazine or a documentary but even a fiction trailer might require some additional research in to a particular subject.
Getting some background information on your subject would be a really good idea.
Find some resources, log them, read them and write something about them.
If you do any additional subject research, record that here. This might be most relevant if you are producing a magazine or a documentary but even a fiction trailer might require some additional research in to a particular subject.
Getting some background information on your subject would be a really good idea.
Find some resources, log them, read them and write something about them.
If you do any additional subject research, record that here. This might be most relevant if you are producing a magazine or a documentary but even a fiction trailer might require some additional research in to a particular subject.
Getting some background information on your subject would be a really good idea.
Find some resources, log them, read them and write something about them.
Undertaking practical research is another great way to improve your project. Experimenting with techniques, equipment and processes you might want to use in you project will help you plan for the future.
Think about what you will research. It could be studio photography, or sound recording, or post-production techniques for video or animation techniques for a video game. Tutorials are useful here.
Make something similar but unrelated to your chosen idea.
Do not make it a version of your final product; it is an experiment
Provide a reflection of the processes you used and how it has been useful.
Don’t do something that you already know how to do.
Undertaking practical research is another great way to improve your project. Experimenting with techniques, equipment and processes you might want to use in you project will help you plan for the future.
Think about what you will research. It could be studio photography, or sound recording, or post-production techniques for video or animation techniques for a video game. Tutorials are useful here.
Make something similar but unrelated to your chosen idea.
Do not make it a version of your final product; it is an experiment
Provide a reflection of the processes you used and how it has been useful.
Don’t do something that you already know how to do.
Undertaking practical research is another great way to improve your project. Experimenting with techniques, equipment and processes you might want to use in you project will help you plan for the future.
Think about what you will research. It could be studio photography, or sound recording, or post-production techniques for video or animation techniques for a video game. Tutorials are useful here.
Make something similar but unrelated to your chosen idea.
Do not make it a version of your final product; it is an experiment
Provide a reflection of the processes you used and how it has been useful.
Don’t do something that you already know how to do.
Undertaking practical research is another great way to improve your project. Experimenting with techniques, equipment and processes you might want to use in you project will help you plan for the future.
Think about what you will research. It could be studio photography, or sound recording, or post-production techniques for video or animation techniques for a video game. Tutorials are useful here.
Make something similar but unrelated to your chosen idea.
Do not make it a version of your final product; it is an experiment
Provide a reflection of the processes you used and how it has been useful.
Don’t do something that you already know how to do.
Undertaking practical research is another great way to improve your project. Experimenting with techniques, equipment and processes you might want to use in you project will help you plan for the future.
Think about what you will research. It could be studio photography, or sound recording, or post-production techniques for video or animation techniques for a video game. Tutorials are useful here.
Make something similar but unrelated to your chosen idea.
Do not make it a version of your final product; it is an experiment
Provide a reflection of the processes you used and how it has been useful.
Don’t do something that you already know how to do.
Undertaking practical research is another great way to improve your project. Experimenting with techniques, equipment and processes you might want to use in you project will help you plan for the future.
Think about what you will research. It could be studio photography, or sound recording, or post-production techniques for video or animation techniques for a video game. Tutorials are useful here.
Make something similar but unrelated to your chosen idea.
Do not make it a version of your final product; it is an experiment
Provide a reflection of the processes you used and how it has been useful.
Don’t do something that you already know how to do.
Undertaking practical research is another great way to improve your project. Experimenting with techniques, equipment and processes you might want to use in you project will help you plan for the future.
Think about what you will research. It could be studio photography, or sound recording, or post-production techniques for video or animation techniques for a video game. Tutorials are useful here.
Make something similar but unrelated to your chosen idea.
Do not make it a version of your final product; it is an experiment
Provide a reflection of the processes you used and how it has been useful.
Don’t do something that you already know how to do.
Undertaking practical research is another great way to improve your project. Experimenting with techniques, equipment and processes you might want to use in you project will help you plan for the future.
Think about what you will research. It could be studio photography, or sound recording, or post-production techniques for video or animation techniques for a video game. Tutorials are useful here.
Make something similar but unrelated to your chosen idea.
Do not make it a version of your final product; it is an experiment
Provide a reflection of the processes you used and how it has been useful.
Don’t do something that you already know how to do.
Undertaking practical research is another great way to improve your project. Experimenting with techniques, equipment and processes you might want to use in you project will help you plan for the future.
Think about what you will research. It could be studio photography, or sound recording, or post-production techniques for video or animation techniques for a video game. Tutorials are useful here.
Make something similar but unrelated to your chosen idea.
Do not make it a version of your final product; it is an experiment
Provide a reflection of the processes you used and how it has been useful.
Don’t do something that you already know how to do.
Undertaking practical research is another great way to improve your project. Experimenting with techniques, equipment and processes you might want to use in you project will help you plan for the future.
Think about what you will research. It could be studio photography, or sound recording, or post-production techniques for video or animation techniques for a video game. Tutorials are useful here.
Make something similar but unrelated to your chosen idea.
Do not make it a version of your final product; it is an experiment
Provide a reflection of the processes you used and how it has been useful.
Don’t do something that you already know how to do.
Undertaking practical research is another great way to improve your project. Experimenting with techniques, equipment and processes you might want to use in you project will help you plan for the future.
Think about what you will research. It could be studio photography, or sound recording, or post-production techniques for video or animation techniques for a video game. Tutorials are useful here.
Make something similar but unrelated to your chosen idea.
Do not make it a version of your final product; it is an experiment
Provide a reflection of the processes you used and how it has been useful.
Don’t do something that you already know how to do.
List all products researched in previous sections. Include anything additional you have watched/read in preparation for production. Alphabetise your list.
