Animated narratives - Week 8 New narrative forms

Animated narratives Week 8 

New narrative forms

This week we have discussed new narrative forms and discovered that animation can be based on data, processes, imagining the real world and many other options.

My premise for this week was: 

‘Glides close on windows when we close our eyes. When we jump all the things jump with us’

I want to explore and develop this premise.

The idea is to make a room interactive and interconnected with actions and emotions of the user. The environment (room) may reflect the users' actions. I see it as an AR augmented reality. The surrounding environment is ‘real’ but I’m adding layers of virtual objects.

What happens: 

Simple actions:

The user closes their eyes - The windows close 

The user jumps - All things around jump

The user itches - Deep scratches on the wall appear 

The user lies on the floor - All objects are shifted to the floor

The user cries - Wet stains appear on the ceiling 

Emotions:

*Notification - the user opens a sad message from their ex -and the room is becoming dark, the objects and walls are turning grey and run-down

*Notification - the user takes phone - winning a Nobel prize - the room is being filled with light, the objects are becoming extremely colorful and bright, the furniture is dancing, the wet stains (after crying) are disappearing

*Notification - the user takes phone - ‘someone crashed into your on car in the parking lot’ - the user is getting furious - the room is becoming red and black - objects are on fire - everything is shaking chaotically 

*Also the user can react to the TV, when we click on it, there is a program on. For example, a political programme with government propaganda can make the user furious too.

Concepts (options): 

1. Different perception of the room and objects according to the changing of emotions of the user reminds me one philosophical system - transcendental idealism found by German philosopher Kant. “Kant argues that the conscious subject cognise the object of experience not as they are in themselves, but only the way they appear to us under conditions of our sensibility.’ So I use exaggeration to show that objects in the room are not the same all the time, they look how we see them in particular moment.

2. Another concept might be showing the impact on the environment. All our actions directly influence on the environment (the action of the user to the room). We are interconnected. 

3. And a more surrealistic concept that is a room as a living organism, as the personification of us. Furniture is our internal organs, windows are eyes. Cutting of the wall - cutting a skin. My ‘simple actions’ more likely go with this concept.

Goal (what does the user needs to achieve):

The purpose of the game/interactivity is an exploration of the room and observing the relationship of our actions and the room

Consideration  What might be the bigger, thematic framing of your concept?

I Every person is a room, with its own perception of the world and its own impact on this world. Sometimes we need to leave our room and break walls to see the world from another perception. 

Maybe that can be the end of the game - escaping the room as an escape from yourself, or broad-minded exploration. 

As a reference for the theme of this week I want to introduce Abstract 3D Animation made by EQUILOUD. https://vimeo.com/11949589  This animation shows transformation of the space inside the cube. This is an interesting example of playing inside the closed space, which could be suitable for my room project, also this is an example of abstract narrative.