CLICK. ONE PICTURE. MANY MEANINGS.

Friday, November 18, 2011

8:46 PM ● Final Assignment/ Group Project - Singapore Revisited

For our final group project, we have to create an interactive art using photo-collages and programmes such as Processing, Flash Catalyst and Java coding.

Initial brainstorming started with each member throwing out general ideas of how we would like our interactive art to be. We went to search on Google and Youtube for inspiration and references that we can relate to in the future.

After much discussion, our group decided to create a "storybook" like interactive art. In our art, we will incorporate both Singapore's history, as well as famous Singapore landmarks, and Fantasy-like themes to give a seemingly virtual feeling.

The interactivity

Our main idea for the interactivity is to allow the character to "walk" through a series of pictures that depicts Singapore. The idea is to bring audience through a "time capsule" where they will be transported from one dimension to another by walking through a portal

Collages and Character design

Why Singapore history and landmarks? This is so that we can personally go down to sites and take the relevant pictures that we want. Not only that, it is easier to relate to and hence we will not face the problem of becoming clueless and stuck of "ideas". Some of the things include: Sir Stamford Raffles, the Esplanade, Sentosa, Kampung life, Japanese Occupation, Samsui women, Marina Bay Sands and HDB high-rise.

The usage of fantasy-like themes is to strike coherence with our "storybook" like concept for the interactive art. We will incorporate things like fairies, mythical backgrounds and creatures to make it look like Singapore but then not yet Singapore idea. This is si that we can effective intrigue audience and pique their interest to want to think more.

In conjunction with this theme, our character is thus chosen to be "Alice" from "Alice in Wonderland".

This character is created by Kris, who is also in-charged of the interactivity.

The rest of us were in-charge of creating 2 to 3 photomontages each as the background in which Alice will be walking through.

My job scope

I was in-charge of creating 2 photo-collages - namely The Marina Bay Sands and Samsui Women.

Marina Bay Sands - first photomontage

This was the first photomontage that I had created.

However, after feedback from my peers, i re-edited a new photomontage. Problems were that the picture is too flat and hence it does not look nice when the character tries to "walk" into the picture. Not only that, the picture that i used for Marina Bay Sands was too "fantasy-like" and hence did not look like a juxtaposition of some real into a fantasy land.

Thus, i created another photomontage on Marina Bay Sands.

This is the finalised version of the Marina Bay Sands. I chose a more 3 dimensional background and chose a very "real" Marina Bay Sands. Fairies were created using a premade photoshop brush. They are added to create a mythical feel.

Interactivity in this collage includes the fairies lighting up when clicked, rain appearing when the cloud is clicked and the "growing" of a grass pasture with flowers.

Below is the photomontage that i did for Samsui Women.

I also chose 2 premade mythical backgrounds and overlap each other to create this background - namely the one with the wolf and the forest background. The buildings an sign boards appearing in this picture are all premade photoshop brushes.