Proposal Document for my second year Creative Media FMP

1. Working Title:
Audience:
I will be targeting my animation towards the 25-40 age range as supported by my online Metroidvania
survey results,from which 66% were within said range.Furthermore, my Metroidvania survey results
suggest that the Metroidvania videogame audienceis dominated by males,with 94% of people who
answered my survey being of the gender.
In order to have my projectappeal to the 25-40 age demographic, I will ensurethat the gameplay of the
game my trailer is aboutreflects previous titles in the genre that this audiencewill havenostalgia about.My
survey suggests that titles likeCastlevania: Symphony of the Night and Super Metroid are extremely popular
amongst my audience, and so I should usethese as inspiration for my animation.Buildingon this,I will
utilisemore recent games that my surveys showto be popular amongstmy audienceas inspiration for the
gameplay and art-styleof my idea,as these existinggames are essentially successful examples of what I am
hopingto convey in my work.
The primary psychographic thatI will beadheringmy projecttowards is fans of the Metroidvania genre.
Sending one of my surveys out to the r/Metroidvania forum on Reddit ensures that I will get insightful and
accurateinformation aboutthis focus group. Additionally,peoplewithin the 25-40 age demographic will
likely be workingfull-timejobs,and so I should demonstrate the game’s allowancefor the player to jump
straightinto the action to make the most of my audience’s limited time.
Rationale (approx. 100 words)
Duringmy firstyear at college, I developed three animations,each of which was set to a different brief. As I
continued to animate, the quality of what I created as well as my efficiency at developing them greatly
improved. Going into my second year, I continued to create 2D animations beginningwith my Client Project,
for which I developed a shortpromotion of wildlifeconservationsin the York area. This provided me with
experience in animatinganimals as opposed to justpeople, thus expanding my skill rangeand allowingfor
more creature-likedesigns for my characters in this video-gameanimation.This will help to keep each
design feeling unique.
An important aspectof this FMP is its increased length compared to our previous projects.This will allowfor
more ambitious work, and so I plan to reflect this by including notonly more appealingvisuals,butalso a
larger number of animations occurringin a shotatthe same time. With this in mind, I will need to develop
an extended scheduleto accommodate the longer work period, keeping the feedback I received on previous
projects in mind.
Over the courseof this collegeyear, I have been developinga fantasy-esqueworld through my profileon
the website World Anvil. This has including creativewritingin which I have developed species/races,
geographical locations,nations,diseases, equipmentand more. Whilstthis was initially justa hobby that I
did in my sparetime, this projectwill allowme to take some of this written work and transfer itover to the
medium of animation,thus providingme with a baselinefor the context of my videogame idea.
As seen in my previous projects,I have been ableto gain further experience with software like Adobe
Photoshop, Adobe Premiere and Toon Boom Harmony. Duringmy ClientProject, I unfortunately discovered
that my graphics tablet(a Parblo Coast10) thatI use for digital artwork isn’tsupported by Toon Boom
Harmony, thus making me unableto useit. I have instead decided to once again use Photoshop, as my
extended experience in animatingwith it will allowme to startcreatinganimations straightaway as

2. opposed to havingto learn the software. A new programme that I was ableto usethanks to my projectwith
York Art Gallery was Adobe After Effects. I discovered that this software works really well for creating simple
but smooth animations, such as slidingeffects or rotations.This would be ideal for the style of animation
that I plan to create, as I will be ableto move the backgrounds whilstkeepingthe animated player character
in the centre of the frame, which will createthe illusion of movement.
Project Concept (approx. 200 words)
With a want to expand my animations into a different medium from TV shows,I have decided that I will be
creatinga 2D animated trailer for a Metroidvania style videogame of my own concept. The setting of the
gameplay will be a fantasy world of my own creation withy a heavy emphasis on havinga variety of areas
unique to one another in their aesthetic. The gameplay itself will beinfluenced by games in the
Metroidvania genre, focusingon combat, platforming and ability/equipment upgrades.
One area that I want to put a lot of focus on is the designs of the different enemies and areas,as I want the
hypothetical player/viewer to feel a connection to them all,whilstalso justsimply beingaesthetically
pleasing.One thingthat I will haveto ensure is thateverything I create fits the same art-style.For the
various characters and enemies, I plan to give them all bulgingbug-esqueeyes in order to make them
immediately associablewith each other. Furthermore, the enemies in each area need to feel likethey fit
with their respective environment. For example, enemies in a volcanic area shouldn’tlook likethey belong
in a grassy field.
Additionally,I will becreatingsound effects to incorporateinto the animation.This will help to emphasise
the various actionson the screen whilstalso addingmore personality to the different characters and areas.
For the backingtrack,I plan to commission someone from a website likeFiver to develop a unique song to
accompany the visualsof my animation.
As mentioned in my Audience section of this proposal,I plan to target this projecttowards men in the 25-40
age range. It is importantthat my character designs reflectthis,and so I will takeinfluencefrom existing
products that my research shows is popular with this demographic.
Evaluation (approx. 50 words)
Throughout the project, I will becreatingweekly reflections in which I record my progress in different areas
of the project. I will createa new entry at the end of every week in order to ensure I can evaluate my
strengths and weaknesses and thus improve on them in further aspects of the project. To build on this,I will
request peer feedback so that I can get an outsideopinion of my work, which I can then intertwine with my
own thoughts and thus decide how I want to proceed with my work.
This reflection will become a daily event duringthe production period so I can more accurately recount
what I worked on each day, whilstevaluatingeach bitof progress I make in the various animationsinvolved
in the video. For the production reflection section,I could use video footage of the creation of different
animations alongsideaccompanyingvoice-overs detailingthecreative process.
After I have completed my production,I will createan overall evaluation of the project in which I will
compare my final productto my planningand research.Depending on how much time I have, I may develop
this in a video format instead of as a piece of written work.

3. Bibliography
Bijl, J. (2018). Ludonarrative dissonance: the developer’s paradox. Available:
https://mancunion.com/2018/02/15/ludonarrative-dissonance-developers-paradox/. Last accessed 28th
Jan 2020.
Electronic Arts/DICE. (2010). Level Design Challenges & Solutions - Mirror's Edge. Available:
https://www.slideshare.net/DICEStudio/e-silli-taome. Last accessed 28th Jan 2020.
Fares Kayali & Josef Schuh. (2011). Retro Evolved: Level Design Practice exemplified by the Contemporary
Retro Game. Retro Evolved: Level Design Practice exemplified by the Contemporary Retro Game. 1 (1), p1-
11.
Flamenco, R. (2017). Interview with Ari Gibson: Co-Founder of Team Cherry & Hollow Knight. Available:
https://www.framefreakstudio.com/ari-gibson-hollow-knight/. Last accessed 30th Jan 2020.
Frame Freak Studio. (2017). INTERVIEW W/ ARI GIBSON: Hollow Knight & Team Cherry - The Creative
Hustlers Show #45. Available:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=671&v=BlrtpDqDJbI&feature=emb_title. Last accessed
30th Jan 2020.
Frédéric Seraphine. (2016). Coping with Ludonarrative Issues in Game
Design. Ludonarrative Dissonance: Is Storytelling About Reaching Harmony?. 1 (1), p5-6.
Gibson, A & Pamment, J. (Date Unknown). About us. Available: http://www.mechanicalapple.com/services-
6/. Last accessed 30th Jan 2020.
Hocking, C. (2007). Ludonarrative Dissonance in Bioshock. Available:
https://clicknothing.typepad.com/click_nothing/2007/10/ludonarrative-d.html. Last accessed 28th Jan
2020.
Hullett, K. (2010). The Science of Level Design. 1 (1), p1-2.
IMDb. (Date Unknown). Ari Gibson. Available: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2309876/. Last accessed
3rd Dec 2019.

4. Seraphine, F. (2016). September 2016. Ludonarrative Dissonance: Is Storytelling About Reaching Harmony. 1
(1), p1-8.
Wolfe, T. (2018). The Kojima Code. Unknown: Tellwell Talent. p1-442.
Totten, C (2016). Level Design: Processes and Experiences. Unknown: Routledge. p1-124.
Schedule
Week Period What I intend to do
1 Pre-Production In this first week I will develop a narrative that I will base my
video game idea around.This will give me context for when I
need to develop characters and areas. This will include
incorporating what I learned from my research into the various
species and settings,which will in turn mould the story of the
game as well as the worldbuilding. Additionally, I will be
researching theories and individuals related to my concept in
order to gain a greater understanding ofthe medium as a whole.
By the end of the week, I will have finished my proposal in
which I will detail my idea for the FMP as well as a rationale
discussing why I have chosen to do it. Building on this, I will
give a brief mention of who I plan to adhere my project towards
whilst also discussing howI plan to evaluate my work
throughout the FMP.
2 Pre-Production This week will focus more on primary and secondary research.
The first thing that I plan on looking into in my target audience,
as it is important that I understand who I should be adhering my
project towards before I beginning further planning. In order to
do this, I will create and send out online surveys,conduct
interviews and hold focus group meetings so I can discuss my
concept and the medium it is in with a range of people.
In regards to my surveys,I plan on creating multiple, each
covering different topics. This will allow me to gain more
insight into the various aspects ofmy project, and thus I will be
able to ensure that I have identified my target audience as
accurately as possible.

5. 3 Pre Production Continuing with my research, this week will entailing looking
into existing products so that I can gain an understanding of how
actual games from within my intended genre are like. This will
include looking into the art-styles, character designs,level/area
designs,gameplay and sprite sheets.Furthermore, I plan to cover
a broad range of games from different eras of the genre, such as
1994’s Super Metroid and 2017’s Hollow Knight.This will give
me a greater insight into how the games have changed over
time, as well as what specific instalments have had the greatest
effect on the industry and the genre’s audience throughout the
genre’s existence. For part of this section of my research, I plan
on creating a short video in which I provide a voice-over
discussing important animation/art-style details.
4 Pre-Production Throughout week 4, I will lay out my plans for how I will be
creating my production work whilst also developing lists
detailing the equipment I plan to use as well as the potential
risks I could face (both technological and health & safety-wise).
5 Pre-Production This week will mark the beginning of my production
experiments, a process which will begin with me researching
different techniques which I can then try to learn myself.
Such techniques could include jumping animations, weapon
swinging, or trying out new features of a software that I use.
6 Pre-Production For the first half of this week, I will continue on experimenting
with new techniques and software to ensure that I start
production with the skills and knowledge necessary to complete
the taskto the best of my abilities. The latter half of the week
will entail developing storyboards as well as mood boards and
mind maps for both my characters and environments.
7 Pre-Production This week will have a heavy focus on concept art for both
characters/enemies and areas. It is important that I have set
themes for the different areas, and that the enemies present in
each fit with the visual style of their respective locations. I will
make sure to look back at my research and utilise my mood
boards and mind maps when creating my designs.
8 Production In the beginning of this week, I will prioritise creating the
various animations of the player character, as these will likely be
used repeatedly throughout the animation and so it is vital that
they are of high quality. Additionally, these animations will
need to have an emphasis on the squash and pull of the character
in order to make it obvious what action they are performing (e.g.
a jump animation will need to make it clear that the character is
crouching down before springing off the ground). Once I have
finished the player character animations, I will begin to develop
the different backgrounds of the game in chronological order
based on my storyboard.With this in mind, I will be starting this
process by creating the large tree background of the Bubble
Jungle area. Once each background has had its basic look drawn,
I will add animations to the environments to make them feel
more alive and less stagnant.Using the Bubble Jungle
background previously mentioned as an example, I will add
movement to the foliage to imitate a slight breeze whilst also
using a faded brush to create lights in the background to
represent illuminous insects.
9 Production This week, I will be continuing to develop the many background
areas of my animation. I want to prioritise getting these done

6. after the player character animations as this will ensure that my
video presents a variety of different areas, something which my
research has shown to be a very important (as well as popular)
aspect of Metroidvania games. This process will involve drawing
the various layers involved in my areas before adding fitting
animations that help the backgrounds come to life. It is important
that I save the different layers of the areas as separate files.
Doing so will allow me to import them into Adobe After Effects
separately, and thus I can have them move across the screen at
different rates to one another – creating sense ofperspective and
depth.
10 Production With my backgrounds done,I will be dedicating this week
towards creating the animations for the boss enemies and
prominent friendly NPCs of my game. I need to ensure that I
include a variety of movements and attacks for the different
bosses which reflect the stature and nature of the enemies. For
example, a big enemy with a club could have an animation
where they slam their club into the ground and the room shakes.
Additionally, I will create a title-card for my game which will
feature at the end of the video.
11 Production In this week, I will be animating the less-important enemies
found throughout the different areas of my game. It is important
that the animations for these enemies reflect the actions of my
player character, as she may end up killing some during the
video. With all my animations complete, I will import them all
into Adobe After Effects, where I will ensure that they all fit with
one another(e.g. a boss enemy flashing to represent taking
damage as they get hit by the player character). I will also
import the music that I commissioned into the software so that I
can ensure the visuals sync up with it.
This week, I will be requesting peer feedback as I believe I will
be at a point where my work as been sufficiently edited together
so that the general structure is understandable.
12 Production For the last week of my animation production, I will continue to
edit my animations togetherin After Effects. When this process is
completed, I will render and export the animation as an MP4.
13 Production This final week will entail the creation of my additional
production work, namely my concept art/lore book.I will need
to develop multiple pages featuring the concept art created
during pre-production as well as accompanying text providing
information about the characters and locations.
14 Evaluation Beginning this week, I will be looking back over my work,
beginning with my Theory, and evaluating the positive and
negatives of what I did as well as how I could potentially
improve on what I have done in future works.
15 Evaluation/Presentation For the first half of this week, I will focus on ensuring my
evaluation is completed to a high standard.Additionally, I will
make sure that my reflective diary is up to date.
16 Presentation This week I will be creating and editing togethera video which
shows the creative process behind the development of my
products whilst also showing off the final pieces.
17 MODERATION ----------

7. 18 Show Preparation For this week I will be focusing my efforts on preparing my
production work for showing to an audience. This will involve
ensuring that I have all the necessary equipment for displaying
my work.
19 Show During the showevent, I plan to screen my animation whilst also
presenting copies of my concept art/lore book at a stall. I will
also attempt to gather feedback from people at the event to
utilise in a further evaluation.