Statement of Intention - Studio 2

By Mohan

Shifting focus away from music to the concept itself
(Posted in Team channel)

(Text in pdf)

How to visualize and recreate the loss of senses and realities from people who experience brain fog/memory loss/(c)PTSD through animation?

Project Title:

Lost in Mind

Rationale

Lost in mind is a visual recreation of experience from people with conditions such as memory loss, brain fog or flashback, where their realities are often broken into pieces and fragments.

The animation aims to reflect their experience in a desolate, abstract world where the boundary between memories and reality becomes blurry and surreal.

CONTEXT

The project aims to explore different aspects of expressing complex ideas in the scientific and psychological fields as well as the motion graphics and animation industry.  Some of the related work include Killbite Studio's Mosaic, a dark, ominous and atmospheric game about urban isolation through repeating the daily life cycle. The abstract sceneries and surreal landscapes blurred the boundaries between reality and daily life and brilliantly portrayed the mundane and absurdity of modern society. Another work example is from the scenery collective by Josh Brockett, who uses scale and light to reflect the powerless, dark and atmospheric experience through imaginary landscapes. When it comes to abstraction, Nate Hill is the first artist that comes to mind. He focuses on creating artwork that includes minimal colour by using strong contract and, colour exposure and line art to enhance the surreal feeling throughout the scenes.

Method

To better visualize people's abstract experiences through conceptual animation, I have divided the project into different major stages. The first 5 weeks would be used to focus on Research, storyboard production and various testing in Blender. (light, shade, modelling) From Week 6-9, I would focus on creating the sceneries according to the storyboard finished by week 5, while adjusting and changing any scenes due to technical limitations and time scale. For weeks 9-12, I would focus on the refinery and the details of the animation for the final project submission.

Outcomes

The outcome of this project would be a 2-3 min motion graphic animation with both 2D and 3D elements. The project would help the general public to gain a deeper understanding of these medical and psychological conditions, as people who experience them often find it hard to measure and express their experience and how it impacted their lives. It would also connect different industries such as science and design, to better visualise and iterate complicated concepts that are not easily accessible and not well explained to the general public or students. Depending on the final form of the animation (2D focused or 3D dominated), the animation could be used as an entry to different festivals and awards to reach a broader audience. It may also function as a bridge, connecting designers and animators with people who have a diverse background in marginalised communities, to better tell their story to the world.

Downloads:

Download File: statement-of-intention-mohan-lei-s3499934.pdf