Jay Birkin is considering ideas for his final major project (FMP) in school. He is interested in creating a video game with accompanying merchandise items like posters, key chains, and game art. He wants to improve his animation and visual art skills. He provides some initial thoughts on game genres he might explore, including adventure, horror, action, and shooter. He creates a mind map of additional ideas like a video game, short film, or magazine. For a video game, he sketches out potential storylines, colors, and other design elements. He includes mood boards exploring adventure and horror game aesthetics. The summaries focus on Jay's interests in video games, animation, and visual art and his exploration of potential project ideas

1. Initial Plans
Jay Birkin

2. Initial Reaction
Idea
Throughout this year I have produced quiet a few projects which vary in media base. The one idea that sticks in my mind that I
want to go for is a video game, my earlier video game project I got a good grade on and think that I can improve even more and
do really well in this subject. Plus I really want to improve my skills in animation and visual art. Because my video game idea is a
bit plain I think that I can maybe vary the project a little and maybe include some merchandise for the game.
Merchandise Ideas
• Posters
• Key Chains
• Game Cover
• Game Case
• Wall art (I could do some drawings of characters)
I do not want to try making a film although this project was okay I really want to put my time towards other types of media
projects. With research I can go into lots of detail about this rotation because it interests me and I can use my existing video game
already for inspiration. The game could be of any genre but the main ones I want to explore are adventure, horror action and
shooter.

3. Mind Map
FMP Ideas
A video Game with MerchandiseShort Film
Magazine
Adventure
video game
Because this topic is
wide and I can really
do a wide variety with
this genre idea
My magazine will go into great detail
about movies and video games. I might
even somehow merge them into the
same article by choosing a game which
is also a movie for example tomb
raider. The target audience will be for
teenagers because most teenage video
games are 15 which is the same with
movies so there's no point of younger
people reading it because they can not
actually watch the movies or play the
video game.
Critic rating about movies and
video games. Write about
graphics what's good about them
and the actors/actresses and
specific genres.
In the
magazine I
may include a
top 10 list of
the best of all
time.
Upcoming movies and
games of 2017 will be
included as something
too look forward too.
The front cover will
have a picture of
either a really
popular well known
movie or game
maybe I think I
might actually do
both so then you
can know exactly
what you are
buying.
Title
GAM
WHAM
Electronic
Edge
Play with
words
Mix of already
existing named
gaming magazines
Links with
Games
Merch
A person is locked in a room and
has too escape 100 levels, this is
almost like the idea of a video
game that I have previously
made.
Drawings
/skethes
Game
case
Phone CaseGame
trailer
Include effects and
varied
Video game storyline unknown but I
like the idea of creating something
similar to monkey island/ Zelda .
Because these
games are fun
and I can
relate to
them.
Between 3-4 min
Alongside this idea I will
probably create a trailer which
will show clips and reveal some
of the movie without spoiling.
Actors- people
from college
Location: unknown, just
probably somewhere
out of college to get the
correct feeling of
lighting and ambience
Make it dark /
dark colours
with
blackness.
A suitable length
would be about a
minute.

4. Mind Map
Important game aspects
Lighting
Emotions/e
xpressions
Sprites
Modern
Action/Adventure
Video
Game idea
Green
Orange
Purple
Blue
Colour of the sky I probably will
go with a lighter shade such as
baby blue
Will be the
colour of grass
and trees leaves
Grass and trees
are nature
which is
considered
adventurous
Dark
Green for
Leaves
Light for
grass
Colours
Genre
Because this topic is wide and I can really
do a wide variety with this genre idea, I can
go into more detail with visual art aspects
which is what I really want to do more than
animation.
Horror
Could be the sky or a
certain colour of the ground
Bright colours associated with joy,
happiness, intellect, and energy.
Strong colour
really stands
out
Include darker colours
Jump scares
Flashlight
1st person
Darker colours tend to
connote more towards
fear
Tends to
relate to the
audience
Horror/scary shows a
ray of hope for survival
Go brighter because
then I can focus more
on detail with terrain
and backgrounds
Used to engage
the audience
HUD
Include a mini map
and a health bar or
hearts. Make them
brighter.
These allow the character
to have more depth and
detail towards him
Important on
a characters
face
Show true characters emotions to
make them seem more realistic to
the audience.
Include more difficult
terrain with harder shapes.
Character
Potential Title
Adventure Island
Isle of Taking
Potential titles
Go in to detail I may even base
this off an actual person and
use them as a model and then
use my idea from there
making the clothes and rest. I
could also draw my ideas to
start.
Sprites
are
importan
t mainly
if I went
for a
shooter
Horror island
Mixes horror
and adventure
genre
Black
Death
Brighter
RaY

5. Mood Board - Adventure
I chose this game as one of my ideas because I really enjoy the colour schemes of the game, I
especially like how the avatar is purple, this stands out and represents the point that this dragon
is important and the main focus of the game. The style is 3D design, and I like this and want to
do this with my final project but maybe not include the almost cartoon effect that it has,
however I think that it looks great. One issue I have with this game is that there is no bars or
stats such as a HUD and I think that this just really adds that extra bit of detail and depth
towards a video game. This game is third person view, I think that I should stick with this
because 1st person Is really hard to convey across and I had previously done this on another
video games project, so I wanted to try something different for my FMP. The Terrain in this
game varies, making the game more interesting and different due to the parkour that you have
to do. The architecture included is very little but there is some their, architecture are blocks and
objects that can be destroyed, these enhance the players gameplay experience.
One part I like about this game is the displayed HUD which which is placed either side of the
screen. The bright colors make them stand out and show that they are an important part to the
game. HUDs are important to a game and I think that all games should one. These game is very
green, green is the color of life, renewal, and energy, it is associated with meanings of growth,
harmony, freshness, safety, fertility, and environment, this is good because green relates to
nature which in turn relates to adventure. I really like the detail of this game and all the terrain
because it is really breathtaking and I want something like this for my final video game. Finally I
enjoy the look of the character because it is in 3rd person and you can see, I like the extra detail
with the clothes and weapon, this game does this to relate to the audience and make it feel real.
This game includes a brighter colour palette, the blue colour
in game really represents fantasy because it is an unrealistic
colour for certain parts of terrain. I decided to explore two
different ideas with my mood board because I was unsure
about my final idea that I wanted to make but I had a vague
idea of it being a video game with some merchandise
This looks good but it is so realistic that it would be impossible
to make through Photoshop with the skill level that I am at.

6. Mood Board – cover art
All game cases are fairly similar but that is because of legal requirements stating that
they have to be, all cases include on them the console which the game is for. This tends
to be on the front in the top left, they also have an age rating this also tends to be on the
front. The age is important because it sieves out different audiences specifying certain
games for specific aged audiences. Then on to the back, this always has a fair amount of
information, all of which Is about the game. With these images I have got a different
game from each platform, this allowed me to see the similarities between them even
though they vary massively between platforms and genres. Each title of each game is on
its case and all of these are different from one another and are specific and unique in
one way or another. The horizon title is a very futuristic font style which relates to the
game so they always match or at least try too. I really like the boldness of the sky landers
font but think that the cover is just way too plain and think that it needs more of a main
cover image. If I were to use a font like this I would
probably place it on a poster if I were making one
because I think that it would suit really well. The main
colours that appear on all of these game cases are
brighter colours and similar to the game this is
consistent and always a wise choice. I will want to make
all my colours the same to make sure I get as high level
as I possibly can. All front covers are plain, this is just
the way that they are, they show off the game making
people buy it but they do it whilst revealing the most
minimal amount of information possible. One certain
task I might carry out which none of these cases do is
include special content on the front of the cover, this
will make the audience buy it because they are getting
more of a deal. All game cases include one image on
them and usually just one, this makes it easier for me
because I only need to obtain or make myself an image.
The back includes information such as how many
players can play the game, if it is multiplayer,
maybe a blurb about the story, all things about
copyright and depending which company it is
made by they always put their name on the
boxes this could be on the front, back or side.

7. Mood Board -Horror
The colour of most horror games are all darker colours, the colour Black is associated with
power, elegance, formality, death, evil, and mystery. Black is a mysterious color associated
with fear and the unknown which is really a key factor for the horror genre. If I were to
make a horror game then I will definitely want to do this. All horror games have a light effect
in the middle of the page and then it goes darker as it goes out and this adds ambience to
enhance the gamers experience. The flashlight is a real hotspot for horror games so if I am
going to make mine horror then I will want to do something different and include other
forms of lighting whilst still making the screen dark, such as a light on the ceiling. All horror
games tend to stick with first person, this is because it feels more real for the person playing
the game and turns the game up a few notches on the horror scale making it more scary. In
my opinion the top two images seem much more scarier horror games than the bottom
image. This is just due to all of these factors. I will include a weapon in my horror game such
as a crowbar or a baseball bat and this is really different from other games and gives a
chance for defense which is not really ever shown in any horror games.

8. Mood Board AdventureHorror

9. Mood Board Analysis
Is there any repetition in the images you have collected? Repeated colours/images
styles/fonts/tone/mood
• Yes there is a few bits of repetition in my mood board. The colours and mood of most of the pictures are the same; brighter colours
for adventure and darker for horror. These are brighter because they attract the eye more so people will buy and they are more
relaxing games. The images included are all third person for adventure but 1st person for horror games. Even though all adventure
games are different they are also pretty similar in many ways which Is why you want to combine other genres of games into them to
make them more interesting.
• The black colour is the absence of colour. Black is a mysterious colour that is typically associated with the unknown or the negative.
The colour black represents strength, seriousness, power, and authority. Black is a formal, elegant, and prestigious colour. Black is
required for all other colours to have depth and variation of hue.
How will your mood board influence your final product?
• From my mood board I have learned that my mood board will influence my product quite well considering it is where I am going to
be getting most of my ideas from. Because of the adventure game choice option I have decided to include this idea in my game.
Seeing all the merchandise such as phone cases makes me not really want to create one because it seems like a lot of effort and
time when I can create so much more on adventure game and trailer and game case. For the final video game product I am going to
have to include a title and logo and even a character although this time you can see him to give the game more meaning and
relatable to the audience. My mood board has such a variety of images on it such as choices, different adventures and colours that I
will have to do qualitive or quantitive research methods to narrow down the idea for my game and get an intended target audience.

10. Bibliography
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• Zelda Image, page 5:Dave Cook. (2015). Adventure Video Games Are Steadily Delivering Better Stories Than
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• Horizon Zero Dawn image, page 5:Gabe Gurwin. (2018). The 20 best PS4 games you can buy right now. Available:
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• Spyro Case Cover image, page 6:benteskonobi. (2011). Skylanders: spyros adventure. Available:
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• Legend of zelda game case image, page 6:Anon. (.). Legend Of Zelda Breath Of The Wild For Nintendo Switch,
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• Bottom left image, page 7:Lucy Hale. (2017). TOP 10 HORROR GAMES OF THE PAST 10 YEARS. Available:
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