Production Blog- YCN Dogs Trust Brief- Evaluation (Study Task 2)

Evaluation

Overall I am satisfied with how this project turned out in that I feel we churned out a quality response to the brief, I do feel poor time management may have had a hand in why we seemed to run out of time towards the end. We worked on this brief in the midst of our CoP3 hand in and thus time which normally could have been dedicated to developing a more fleshed out realisation of our idea was instead spent on other projects. I am happy with how I stepped out of my 2D comfort zone to try some 3D modelling, which is something I would like to incorporate more into my practice in future endeavours. I also look back positively on the collaborative process feeling every member of the group contributed something creatively in a constructive way which furthered their own practice.

Strengths

• Strong overall multidisciplinary aesthetic.
• Neatly put together final package that fits the brief.
• Chance to hone my modelling skills in Maya.
• Sleek, lo-fi 3D background.
• Strong Concept which effectively communicates desired message.

Weaknesses

• Poor coordination in regards to art direction in the beginning. (Something remedied in the realisation process)
• Pixel art could be more consistent. (Varying degrees of detail depending on who drew what)
• Would have liked to have had time to develop a video mockup to see the work in motion.
• Doesn't really provide any relevant material for my showreel.
• Poor time management/ rush for deadline.

Production Blog- YCN Dogs Trust Brief (Study Task 2)

Initial Moodboard

Brief

'To create a campaign that makes rescue dogs the most desirable breed of dog in Britain.'

For this YCN Student Awards competition brief I decided to collaborate with two of my fellow animators in an attempt to bring together our talents at our respective disciplines as well as an opportunity to try my hand again at some 3D modelling in Maya, something i have been hoping to revisit since second year. The result is a fair departure from work I am used to doing but something that I am overall happy with considering the amount of time we had to produce it.

The Idea

Me and Tess brainstormed the idea of creating a smartphone game to convince players to adopt a rescue dog through the mechanics of the game while Dan sought to use this as an opportunity to test his modelling skills in Maya.

Ideas for how we could achieve this ranged from...

• Dog dating sim (Too weird/ambitious)
• Japanese Anime Dog Dating Sim (Definitely too Weird)
• Tinder for dogs (Again...)
• Farmville but with dogs (Doesn't really fit with the brief specifications to convey a 'positive message...)

For the idea we ended up going with we were inspired by the idea implemented by flash games such as the infamous 'Can Your Pet', which lures the player into a false sense of security, making them think they're playing a standard pet game, before the developers throw an unexpected curveball in the form of having the pet shredded into mince and canned. It catches the player off guard and it's mechanics carry the intended message rather than the content, which is something we sought to replicate.

The message we were set to propagate in the brief was to encourage audiences to adopt rescue dogs over pedigrees, as pedigree dog overbreeding has become a notable problem and can lead to the dogs suffering physical disabilities. Our plan for the app was a dog breeding game with a twist; while the game incentivises breeding with other dogs of the same breed and pedigree, resulting offspring will suffer more and more physical ailments, shown by changes in the design and the animal's stats which we deliberately kept inconspicuous in the corner of the screen as to not draw too much attention.

The game reaches an end state when your dogs life expectancy is exceptionally depleted. Initially the plan was to kill the dog at the end in a similarly shocking way to how 'Can Your Pet' concludes, though the specifications outlined in the brief did state that content needed to convey a positive message and be on-brand. Instead when the player's life expectancy stats reach a determined state we cut to an information screen informing them of the dogs physical ailments, how overbreeding is the cause and how by adopting a rescue dog from Dogs Trust, you are in a way helping alleviate the problem somewhat, the idea being to then redirect to information as to where you can adopt a rescue dog from your nearest Dogs Trust Shelter.

Realisation

Initial Background Concept Art

Created in Photoshop with Maya in mind. I knew I would be modelling the 3D background for the game environment myself, so due to my limited Maya skill I opted to keep it simple with simple primitive shapes and geometric land-formations. 

Render of 3D Modelled Background for App-

I achieved the lo-fi, low-poly look by turning off gradient shaders in Maya and rendering the still image at 1920x 1080. The simple lo-fi look was inspired primarily by the works of David O'Reilly, specifically his game 'Everything'. My realisation of this style would prove a little more geometrical as my modelling skills are limited, but by taking inspiration from painter Ryan Browning I found a style that worked for me and fit the brief we had set ourselves quite nicely. 

UI Layout of App- 

We used a lo-fi pixel aesthetic for the UI elements of the app, inspired by trends in real smartphone games with similar audiences.  The pixel aesthetic is also effectively minimalist in design without feeling tacked-on or retro. 

Further details of the process are illustrated in the pitch boards I put together below...