initial ideas

1. Initial Ideas & Context
Megan Bannister

2. Initial Reaction
• I would like to make an animation project because I have enjoyed that the most throughout
the year, our video game project has been extremely influential in my decision as from the
start of the year I was set on working with film. Despite the fact I think film would be the
most sensible option, I only received a pass in production on my music video production
which does not sway me to believe I will perform any better with film than animation.
• I will be pursuing film in the years to follow however, reflecting on my evaluations of each
project, the most important aspect of this project is that I should be able to work on it alone
– I believe having to try and organise schedules around each other slows down the
production process. Another issue with film I found is usually in post production rather than
production I notice a shot is shaky or out of focus or just not that good, which makes it
incredibly hard to fix, with animation I can adjust as I go along.
• Initially, I think an excerpt from a video game or a video game trailer would be the best thing
to do. I am leaning more towards a trailer as with the amount of different content it will
helpfully push me towards a higher grade if completed to the level I am hoping I can
achieve.
• My worry with this project is that I will not be able to work fast enough for the amount that I
will plan to create, or that I will not be able to create something as intricate as I hope. This
would be due to my lack of artistic history. However, I think that as I am passionate about
this project and am aiming to get as high a mark as possible, I will do well.

3. Mind Maps

7. Mood Board:
General Theme

8. Mood Board:
Main Character

9. Mood Board:
NPC 1

10. Mood Board:
NPC 2

11. Mood Board:
Creatures

12. Mood Board
For this slide I used an AI art generator
‘Dream by Wombo’ to create art based on
what I would like my game trailer to look like
in terms of bare aesthetics. For this I used
words that related to my game idea such as
‘market’ ‘cozy’ ‘dragon’ and ‘witch’. The
common theme throughout the AI generated
images is that there is warm toned colours
and references to nature.

13. Colour Palettes

14. Mood Board Analysis
Is there any repetition in the images you have collected?
Repeated colours/images styles/fonts/tone/mood
There are a lot of warm tones and colours, there is a peaceful and
relaxed mood throughout the mood board. There is also a sense of
surrealism and fantasy in most of the existing products.
How will your mood board influence your final product?
My mood board has influenced my opinions on how I could go
about the final product. I am now thinking about adding a
fantasy element to the game.
I have also used mood boards to help with with the look of the
characters I want to include. This will assist me in production as I
will be able to reference back to these and work faster on them.

15. Influence/Inspiration
• Ralph H. Baer
– March 8, 1922 – December 6, 2014
– German-American Jewish inventor, game
developer, and engineer
– He invented the first video game console
– His family moved from Pirmasens,
Germany to New York City in 1938 to
escape persecution – two months prior
to Kristallnacht (Nazi pogrom carried out
against Jewish people all over Germany,
significantly to Baer the synagogue in
Pirmasens was destroyed)
– Baer developed a number of games that
became part of his 'Brown Box', a multi-
game console, including ping-pong,
handball, soccer, volleyball, target
shooting, checkers, and golf

16. Influence/Inspiration
• Roberta Williams
– born February 16, 1953
– American video game designer and writer
– Created the first game with graphics instead of just text
“Mystery House’ – inspired by Colossal Cave and its
predecessors – which started as a hobby with the help of
her husband who was a programmer at IBM
– She began with storyboarding the narrative and sketching
each scene
– With her husband they opened Sierra On-line, and due to
their location they hired anybody they could but actively
employed female designers. This is especially important
as in other companies they would simply be overlooked
as the industry became more and more male-dominated
– They created ‘King’s Quest IV: Perils of Rosella’ which was
the first game to ever have a female protagonist – it sold
100,000 copies in two weeks and they received tons of
fan mail – mainly from women
– ‘Phantasmagoria’ (1995) was the first live action video
game. 550 page horror story, 25 actors, 200 person crew,
2 years, $1.5 million studio, $4.5 million to produce
against original $800,000 budget – In the first week it
made $12 million dollars which was due in part to the
condemnation of the game by religious groups, retailers
and some countries

17. Dear Sierra,
This is a love letter, pure and simple…
I do not fit the typical profile for
adventure gamers. I am a 45-year-old
woman, who works for L.L. Bean as a
telephone order representative part of
the year and travels with her husband
the rest of the time… I write (freelance)
when I travel, using my home
computer primarily for word
processing. I love adventure games.
Like Roberta Williams, I have always
been an ardent reader. I enjoy
Shakespeare and Agatha Christie
equally well… I am addicted. There
seems to be no known cure. I hope no
one ever finds one. Please continue to
create forever… Thanks for
everything, especially giving me an
opportunity to say how much I love
you.
A fan letter to Sierra On-line after
the release of King’s Quest IV:
Perils of Rosella

18. Influence/Inspiration
• Will Wright
– born January 20, 1960
– He received an architect degree and
a mechanical engineering degree at
Louisiana State University and
Louisiana Tech University
respectively
– American video game designer and
co-founder of the former game
development company Maxis
– Designed The Sims and Spore
(which released 406,000 copies in
three weeks) and has an unreleased
game ‘Proxi’ that ‘is a simulation of
an Artificial Intelligence based on
your memories and interaction with
the game’
– He believes the computer extends
the imagination

19. Influence/Inspiration
• Eric Barone
– Born December 3, 1987 in Los
Angeles and moved to Seattle at a
young age – he has lived there
ever since
– He works under the pseudonym
‘ConcernedApe’
– He attended the University of
Washington Tacoma and
graduated with a degree in
computer science
– American video game developer,
video game designer, artist,
composer, and musician
– He created Stardew Valley
singlehandedly, which sold a
million copies in two months and
is currently working on ‘Haunted
Chocolatier’ which will be set in
the same universe
I know that to make a great game
you can't just create 'art'... the game
needs to be fun.
- Eric Barone

20. Skills Audit

21. Why are you making this project?
• I am making this project so I can explore my creative side further
and push myself to create something I truly like. I enjoyed the
video game production element of this course and I have worked
with Photoshop on and off for years which will hopefully allow me
to work faster where the artistic side slows me down.
• I want to create a ‘slice of life’ project that gives a sense of comfort
to the viewer, I have massively enjoyed ‘cosy games’ in the past
and they are evidently a growing market. They were sought after
during lockdown as people craved a sense of calm and stability,
and I think that push has given ‘cosy games’ a shoe-in to the video
game industry. It allows a route for new video game players who
may find the violence and speed of a lot of the ‘top’ games
daunting. I know especially for me and my peers they have been a
source of comfort and the communities that surround these
games are wholly less toxic and kinder to new players.

22. Hopes for the FMP
• I hope the FMP will be a challenging project that allows me to create
something more detailed that my previous video game animation work this
year, I think choosing this form of media is something that will push me out
of my comfort zone and move me to work harder as this project and its
grade holds a lot of importance to me. I would like this project to expand
my understanding on creating art digitally and also on using Photoshop
efficiently, over the course of the year I have already progressed my
Photoshop proficiency in learning shortcuts and new skills but I could
definitely be more confident in using it.
• I want to push myself to create a full-length game trailer that seems
authentic. This means I will have to put plenty of focus and time into this
project. I will have to do a lot of research into other trailers to notice
common themes and how similar products to mine advertise themselves.
• I am also planning to create the music for my trailer as it is something I have
always had a passion for and will help my motivation for the game, I hope
this will round out the entire project as I will be able to dictate exactly what
the music connotes.

23. Strengths and Limitations
• A strength of this product will be that I am able to work alone and won’t need to
ask for assistance for filming or audio aspects which means I can work faster. I will
also not have to book equipment to take out or settle for using a phone camera as I
had to with the music video project earlier in the year when I realised I did not
have enough footage which means I am able to work at any given time. Also, I am
able to access Photoshop in college and at home so there is less pressure on
making sure everything is finished by the end of each day at college as I will have
time at home. All of these strengths allow me to work as efficiently as possible and
use as much of my time as possible for this project.
• A limitation is that I do not have a lot of experience with art or animation so I am
working from what I have learnt during college, this may make the final product
less detailed than planned but hopefully referring to the strengths of this plan I will
be able to work efficiently and create good detail. Also I will have to put a lot of
time into this project to achieve what I want to in the weeks allotted which means I
will have to work around burnout and manage my time well between college, work
and my individual A-level I am studying. Another limitation is the health and safety
aspects of using screens a lot, in the previous project I would start to get
headaches when I was working with screens all day at college and continue the
work on at home. This could possibly hinder my pace if I do not take breaks and
stay hydrated.

24. Potential Research Activities
• I will research pixel art and animation through ’AdamCYounis’ and ‘Pixel
Architect’ on YouTube. Adam is a game developer and he explains how
to animate and create art from a very simple level which is helpful when
I’m trying to create something new. Pixel Architect creates extremely
detailed buildings as he has a degree in architecture which means I can
reference his videos for help with more intricate aspects of the game. It
will take me longer than him to create a similar level of work but will still
be useful.
• I plan to conduct a questionnaire that I will post onto social media to
receive as many answers as possible from people within my age range,
which will be the target audience and interview 3 people of varying
profiles that stay within my primary or secondary audience.
• I would also like to look into in-depth research done on video games to
assist in the theory behind what I’m creating, alongside researching
similar existing products or existing products that I would like the tone
of my game trailer to emulate.