The Research of Unit 4

1. Research
Your Name

2. Existing Product
This image includes a lone
warrior in a dangerous
environment surrounded by
also dangerous looking
beasts, this encapsulates Dark
Souls in one gif and this is
what I’d like to do but with
maybe some more substance
to it as this doesn’t have
much happening, there is
small lighting, which is being
emitted by the lantern that
the character is holding, this
lantern reveals the enemies
that are surrounding him, the
colours are dark and dull, I
believe fans of the Souls
series would like to see this
GIF.
As a Dark Souls fan I find anything like this
interesting to see as it’s nice to see what the
community of the game does in respect and
regard to the series.
The character seen at the
centre of the screen is
wearing a set of armour
with a blue and golden
tabard this outfit is worn
by a character at the very
start of the game named
‘Oscar’ and is a very
popular and recognizable
to the Dark Souls series as
it’s what most pictures will
have the character
wearing.
The monsters to the right and left side of the
screen seem to be skeletal beasts, no eyes and no
signs of life but they certainly are moving around
and look ever deadly and ready to attack the
character who has invaded their home.

3. Existing Product
This is a still pixel image
Dark Souls, it includes two
figures the main character
and a boss, it again is in a
dark location with a
threatening theme, the
boss seems to be
harnessing fire which
illuminates his face which
seems to be a skull, there’s
also a hole in the back of
the cave which also brings
light into the room, outside
of this hole seems to be
snow and also looks rather
grim and dull to fit with the
rest of the piece as whole
and it fits with dark souls as
well which is what I reckon
the maker of this will have
been going for when
making it.
Also on the screen are
health bars and other
bars this shows the
mechanics of the game
and makes it undeniably a
dark souls fan art and I
think its quite interesting
to see what Dark Souls
would look like if was a
pixelated game it looks
like it would work it
captures the bleak and
grim style which Fromsoft
brought us when they
released the game, as a
dark souls fan I love to
see things like this as it’s
just really interesting to
see what people make
and its extremely cool to
see that someone made
something this good and
accurate to the original
game.
The character on the left is the main character and there’s
no denying that as I said in the last slide he is wearing the
recognisable armour that is famous in Dark Souls and it
really stands out, he is standing with a long sword in a
stance that makes him look like he’s ready for an attack.
On the left we have ‘Grave Lord Nito’ one of the lords who
posses Lord Souls he is the lord of the dead and wears a
large black clock, he seems to be using some sort of fire
magic, he also has a giant bone cleaver as his main weapon
which looks extremely badass, he is extremely darkly lit
and this fits with his lore and backstory.

4. Existing Product
Here we have quite a nice
piece of fan art which to me
inspires hope and really
shows there is some light
left even though most of
the world of Dark Souls has
been consumed by the
darkness, it shows the far
distance of the world and
includes a mountain range
which is being shone in
sunlight, there is a knight
looking on into the sunlight
and to the bottom left there
is an undead cowering in
fear of the light which is
managing to shine through
the darkness, the lighting is
a mix between dark and
light, this is a rare moment
in dark souls when you find
a place which actually has
some sunlight as most
places do not have sunlight.
As a dark souls fan again this
is really interesting and
inspiring to see as I like
animating things and I like
dark souls so this is a
particularly good piece, it
also includes a very loved
character (Solaire) the
knight who is looking
towards the sun, it’s really
interesting to see how the
community makes this art
and is dedicated to a game
that is nearly five years old
now.
The knight solaire can be found in the right of this picture
looking towards the sun like it was a father he never had,
Solaire is a much loved character of the series as he’s one
of the only friendly people left in the world and he helps
you along the way against bosses and he seems to praise
the sun and is seemingly in love with it.
On the other hand we have the undead or the hollow
which is cowering in the corner in fear of the sunlight is
the undeads greatest enemy and so it is only natural that
he would be scared of such a thing, but he could also be
scared of Solaire who is a powerful warrior.

5. Research Analysis
• What common features do the researched
products have?
- Every one of my researched products are from the dark souls games as my product will focus on Dark Souls which is a
critically acclaimed game series and it is very popular.
- Most of the products include a bleak or grim background which gives no respite from the evil and darkness of the world that
is Dark Souls.
- Most of my researched products include the main character who is wearing the iconic armour of Dark Souls and this is really
important to be able to identify what game it is from.
• What aspects of the research will you include
within your on work?
– I think the one that will look most like my work is the second one as I will try add all the health bars and such to my
piece to try make the game in a pixel way as I think it will look interesting to me.
– The final product which I shall make will also include the bleakness and grimness of dark souls as I think this is key to
fully bring Dark Souls to life in an animation and it is a key feature of the series.
– I will bring the main character in the armour we have seen previously alive also in this animation along with a boss of
my choice.

6. Audience

7. Audience Profile
Category Demographic Content to appeal to this audience
Age Range
14-25 • Most people within this range like gaming
and at these ages you are mature enough to
be able to play Dark Souls without failing.
Gender
Male • Females may like this too but I believe males
will be predominant, but males usually like
violence and hacking/slashing.
Psychographic
A more mature,
violent, hardcore
group
• More mature people will like this as it has
bleak and violent scenes which take some
maturity to get through, also Dark Souls is
for the more hardcore fan as we all know by
now.
Social Status
Any social status • It doesn’t matter about your social status for
this game.