Teaser/Trailer for a game (Pt.3)

I have been using various tools in Maya to create the 3D scene which I will be using to animate my characters into. The image above is a work in progress of the scene without many of the textures applied. The wall painting in particular, I have painted in my own time and then scanned it into the scene. I also have hand drawn the pattern on the wall and made it tile-able in Photoshop.

Creating this scene so far, has given me experience in creating appropriate models and through trial and error, I have found actions that I should be avoiding such as extruding a face (or faces) twice by accident. I've been making use of layers, UV mapping and i'm beginning to feel confident in using Maya.

Teaser/Trailer for a game (Pt.2)

Okay

After creating mind maps and searching for inspiration, I have an idea of what i'll be creating.

Game synopsis:

Okay is a story of a girl called Kay who lives in a carnival halloween-esque world of the dead that has been thrown into a dystopian scrapyard state where the residents fear for their safety and are under strict watch by the government. Kay reaches a certain age and has to take on responsibilities of killing evil spirits that exist like pests outside of the city, but slowly one by one the city is being overcome by darkness and the creatures of the city are being consumed by an unknown evil and Kay takes it upon herself to find out the source of the real evil and put an end to it. The somewhat harmless pests were tampered with genetically and they begin to work like parasites finding hosts and using bodies as a shell to exist in, turning the city on eachother. Kay is the last hope for the city as a quarantine takes hold. She escapes and sets out to destroy the source of the evil with her companion, a broken robot created to patrol the city that she had fixed from a pile of rubble.

Initial Idea:

My trailer and game idea is aimed at children to early teens (10-16) but with design and themes that are nostalgic to older gamers and include witty dialogue that older audiences will fully understand much like many point and click games such as Sam & Max, Grim Fandango, Monkey Island and Simon the Sorcerer. I will be giving the teaser a Halloween, day of the dead and carnival-esque feel that is suitable for teens without making it too horrific but I also would ideally make the viewer feel uneasy through the use of disorientating camera angles. I won't be using any dialogue as I want the teaser to be minimal, leave the viewer asking questions.

I had originally intended for the protagonist to be a young pumpkin headed boy but decided on a female protagonist as there seems to be only a few of them within the video games, and even then most of those are over sexualized and essentially game companies tend to only think of their target audience as men. I'd like for a younger audience to be inspired by the character as she is very self-aware, independent and adventurous without having a hugely tormented past. Her companion doesn't work as a necessary strength to save her but instead provides insightful assistance as Kay may be too head on and want to run into trouble. I decided on the final idea of a scruffy looking girl. 

Concepts for the scene below:

Teaser/Trailer for a game (Pt.1)

I'm going to be creating a game teaser or trailer using maya and animating scenes. So far, I've been heavily inspired by dio de los muertos (day of the dead) and colourful type media including the films Beetlejuice, The Zero Theorem, The Fifth Element. And point and click games like Grim Fandango. I want to create an interesting and very visual trailer that ideally shows both witty, basic point and click type gameplay and surrealism.

The above image is concept art for the carnival world of Monkeybone.
This post is a first draft of my idea. I want to create a carnival like setting similar to the above image and combine that idea with a run-down dystopian feel. and introduce a few original characters somehow. The brief of this project asks for atleast 20 seconds of animation per person. I would ideally like to make the trailer/teaser last longer than 20 seconds if possible.

nDynamics

recently, I started a new 3D scene and looked at working with ndynamics (ncloth). Below are the results.

Working on a 3D scene Part 2 - Hand trees

Narrative Theory - Propp & Todorov - The Queen Bee

To analyse a fairytale, we have been looking at the narrative theories of Tzvetan Todorov & Vladimer Yalovlevich Propp. I have chosen to look at Grimm's story "The Queen Bee" and apply this to Todorov's theory.
This theory consists of five parts in which there is an initial Equilibrium, a disruption of said equilibrium, the recognition and plan to resolve, attempt to repair the damage and finally the creation of a new equilibrium before the cycle starts again. These theories will help me change and develop the original fairytales as I change them accordingly to suit a modern audience.

The Queen Bee

1. Equilibrium - Two of the king's sons want to leave and find a fortune.
2. Disruption - The third brother sets out to find the other siblings as they cannot return because they have started living foolishly. The third brother ventures out to find them, stops them from killing ants, bees and ducks and then they find an old man who asks indirectly for the three sons to find pearls and break the spell of people turning into marble. 
3. Resolve - The brothers plan to find the pearl. Two of them fail and turn into marble but the third brother attempts to find the pearls himself
4. Attempt to repair damage - The third brother, with the help of the animals he refused to kill, finds all the pearls and breaks the spell
5. New Equilibrium - Peace is restored and the brother becomes the new king.

The Propp Theory is a more concise, specific and linear theory. They share similar ideas. This theory is the idea that there is an original order including a family or community (Preparation), An event that compromises the safety of this community or family and introduces a hero to plan action (Complication). There is then a gift given to the hero. Regarding games this could be upgrades, a weapon or simply something that is necessary for the hero to progress within the story/game (Transference). Next, there is a conflict or battle that the hero must endure (Struggle). The hero can either succeed or fail, but restores balance and escapes or finishes the fight and returns from the battle (Return). Finally the hero is rewarded after accomplishing the task they have set out to do (Recognition).

1. Preparation - There exists a king with three sons. Two want to leave and find great fortune.
2. Complication - The third brother sets out to find his siblings as they cannot return because of their foolish life choices
3. Transference - The third brother gains the help of the animals because he didn't want to kill them like his brothers and this gives him the advantage of finding the pearls
4. Struggle - He looks for the pearls and uses the help of the ducks to retrieve a key from the river aswell as the ants helping him round up the pearls
5. Return - After finding all of the pearls, the third brother can break the spell and his siblings return back to normal along with everyone else who had been turned into marble
6. The hero is rewarded with the title of the new king

Working on 3D scene Part 1

Making a texture for a scene is one thing but actually applying the texture to a plain and seeing what it looks like in 3D is something else. After making different layers and adding bridges, trees, towers.. I've decided it's probably best to start over and try making a different texture from the map AFTER I've created the 3D model. Here's what it looked like with the texture I made in Photoshop: