Week 1- Developing ideas

After going through the images we liked and why, we decided to throw around some ideas and make a brainstorm of possible environments, objects and characters we could maybe design.

We agreed on a Gothic style and maybe having a ruined building. The Dans were really enthusiastic over the idea of having a gargoyle interact with the environment. The images we had looked at as a group had left me wanting to design a study and for some reason maybe a ballroom. Elisha wanted to include something to do with a princess. Strangely we had all become enthusiastic about designing a stain glass window each. We continued suggesting ideas until we decided on designing a house in a Gothic style, but not photo realistic.

Although we were making progress we were struggling to visualise the house as we didn’t have a backstory. A story was not necessary as we were making an environment project, but if we didn’t have one it would be much harder for us to design objects etc. With a back story we’d know WHY everything was designed and placed where it was etc.

We created a second brainstorm, this time for story ideas. Finally we came up with a suitable backstory we all liked (see group main page). I liked the idea of it being our house in some similar but different world and I found it amusing that we were including a princess, but that she was long dead.

It was about this point that we encountered a problem. Elisha was going on holiday the following week and myself and the Dans were going to Barcelona on a Uni trip the week after. As our ideas were still pretty basic, we worried that with the group split and us continuing our research, by the time we re-grouped our work flow would be off in two very different directions. We decided that while we were away we would record textures of the environments around us, through photos and sketches etc and combine them when we re-grouped in two weeks.

Yet another two brainstorms! I have a lot in my head so I like to write things down and see them all at the same time. Ah, I sound so sad! Basically, the above brainstorms show more areas I could research into and possible items to include in the rooms I was going to design.

Two random ideas that had been forming in my head, along the lines of including a balcony. I had been watching ‘Smallville’ at that time and for some reason really liked Lex Luthors balcony in his study (riiight). In the top drawing I was thinking that maybe I lived in my study. I felt that a balcony that big would mean the study below would have to be huge and I wanted a small compact study as I knew that’s what I would want in real life. Also, I was worried that the image I had drawn could be the room of any mansion, and that the design was pretty average.

The second design was just looking at a massive library, again pretty average.

I went to a few local churches/ graveyards to get some first hand images of large dramatic structures.

The entrance to the church particularly interested me and inspired me to create the top sketch as an entrance to the ballroom. This was the first design I liked that I had created so far, because the door tilted at an odd angle with the added tiled floor behind, made the audiences perspective seen off balance, making the building seem more surreal and interesting to look at. Dan R had mentioned wanting to build a long dining table, so I thought that maybe it could go in the ballroom?

From 'Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas- The Film, The Art, the Vision' book.

Combining the above pictures I had taken, and elements from Jack Skellington’s tower (‘Nightmare Before Christmas’), I drew a sketch of a house. It was far off the big castle ideas I was first thinking of, much more smaller and more homely. Behind it (badly and quickly sketched out) is supposed to be a cliff. I was thinking here of Dan C’s suggestion about having the house maybe built into a cliff.