Category: Revised Concept

For my thesis, I want to create a Virtual Reality experience through Unity to show what being in an emotionally abusive relationship is like. I’ve been working on the script for roughly a year now, getting the facts I know together since it will be somewhat based on a true story. It will be an interactive story as well, with decisions for the user to do their best to get out of the relationship once it takes its turn. I have been researching abusive relationships to figure out the important details and points to keep in the storyline. I want to be thorough in my story, but I’m working on making sure it isn’t too long to get the point across before people may want to move on from the experience to other projects in the showcase. I will need to work on my coding skills for Unity and figure out the best way to create a forest for the environment, whether it be by using assets or 3D modeling and texturing it all myself if it isn’t too much work for one person until May. I’m even considering using a 360 camera to record a forest environment, but not sure how feasible it is for this purpose. Along with the text that will appear on-screen to tell the story, I may use my mic to record lines to read the story. At the very end, I will put more info on abusive relationships, such as facts and any hotline numbers to help anyone going through a similar situation or know someone who is.

Based on my research so far, using Virtual Reality to highlight social issues isn’t new, there is a Virtual Reality experience based on solitary confinement in prison. I’ve seen it be used to help prisoners understand social situations and what life would be like after life in prison when they transition back into society. I believe mine will be similar in that it will be educational and informative, but it would tell a story along with the visuals being more of a metaphor rather than showing what happened in the story. Someone described their experience with VR as a way to really be able to see life in someone else’s shoes and really understand.

Source on VR experiences: https://narratively.com/can-virtual-reality-change-minds-social-issues/

For my revised project idea, I decided I will combine my initial idea and my second idea together. My revised concept will be to create an interactive experience that details the stories of various characters from different types of mythology. In the exhibit, I will create 3D models of each character as well as providing motion graphics with a short animation and description of the character and their story. 

My vision is to have a room decorated with various 3D printed decorations and other little things with motion graphics animations on the projector detailing back stories while I preset the 3D figures in hand for the people to physically interact with.

I initially wanted to focus on one culture’s mythology but after some consideration I think it would be more interesting to incorporate characters from a great variety of cultures instead.

I know what I will have to research a lot about mythology to make sure my information is correct. I will also need to research more about motion graphics and video animation. I will also need to research more about 3D printing and modeling which is something I’m not too well versed in. However, it’s a project that involves a lot of things that I really love so I am excited to see this project progress.

My idea is to go with my first idea of making a fun video game for people to enjoy and eventually publish the game for people to buy. My video game idea is to base it off of gambling. From Black Jack to even Carnival style games would be turned into fun mini games in the style of mario party. Mario party will be the biggest inspiration for the video game and the style of it. I was thinking such as Mario party has a board to walk on the board would be a roulette table and you can bet on which mini game you think it will land on. I have ideas for models i can make and some mini games for the content of the game. I can make the animations and hit boxes and everything so i don’t need to borrow models or animations from anything. I have already started drawing designs for the game.

I have just picked up an interest in gambling and how everything is done and how people get so excited over it. It would be a fantastic idea to bring the fun of gambling without actually losing money from it.

some minigames i have already thought of is black and blue jack/ Slot Showdown/ Racetrack Rampage/ Dicey Dodging.

My revised concept is a blend of my initial ideas one and two – it will be a VR museum of cryptids, heavily inspired by the Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed DVD’s special features. There’s a short game you can play where you have to investigate the museum featured in the movie; while in the museum you can interact up close and personal with the different costumes it features. Something about that experience sunk into my brain and I can still hear the voice of the guy who reads off the monster description all these years later. Maybe because I could never beat it? Anyways, here’s the video if you don’t know what I’m talking about:

My project will be that one of the cryptids in the museum has come to life and you have to explore the exhibit to return it to its home. I’m thinking only one of the cryptids comes to life as opposed to multiple because animating on top of detailed and stylized 3D modeling AND learning VR for the first time is more than enough of a challenge to last me a full semester. However, I certainly don’t view this plan as a 100% final version and could change and tweak aspects of it if I got the right advice/feedback. I plan to include at least Bigfoot, Mothman, chupacabra, jersey devil, and maybe the thunderbird or pope lick monster. While there are a ton of cryptid museums out there, I didn’t find anything about a VR related cryptid museum. The only VR experience I did find related to cryptids was called Deadly Cryptids and it’s a horror shooter, so not the feel I’m going for with my game. Here’s that game if you wanna see what I mean:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/754310/Deadly_Cryptids/

This project will require the use of Maya, Photoshop, Sculptris, VR aspects (implementing code, Oculus Rift, etc), and Unity.

Myriad Media- myriadmedianj.com

Instagram-myriadmedianj

Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/MyriadMediaNJ/

Revised concept

Myriad Media. If you want to, check out my initial concept below to get an idea for what we do. For my actual project I have a few different ideas that I want to get some feedback on but my overall plan as of now is to document the stages we’ve already been through in starting the business and getting our first sales. Then, hopefully, if we’re getting consistent business in second semester I want to use that to grow the business in a few ways like hire our first employee that isn’t a freelancer, or get our first office space, just little goals like that. So I would want my final project to be a display of where Myriad Media is at the end of 2nd semester, the content we’ve created, and how we built it and grew.

Initial concept

Idea 1: Media Production company

Myriad Media is my LLC based out of New Jersey.http://myriadmedianj.com We create content for small businesses in hopes of driving more internet traffic to their sites/pages, bringing in more customers to their store, and developing their brand. Eventually we would like to be able to pursue creative projects such as short films, traveling documentaries, cinematic trailers or promos, and more. I would like to take what we have now and turn it into an established company that gets more consistent work and has a complete legal structure, hire our first employees that aren’t freelance workers, and produce creative content. I think there are a few ways to make this project interactive and sharable. My strongest idea is to document the exact steps and growth that I can capture and share the different physical and digital media that we are responsible for.

I’ve decided to settle on the concept of PUPPETS!!! Are you shocked?

Thank you to Professor Ault and everyone else who left feedback on my Initial Concepts post! I appreciated everyone’s supportive comments and I hope this post will clear up some of the questions I received.

I’ve been playing with this idea since around April of last semester, so I have definitely fleshed out the majority of the show before jumping into the technical skills I’m working on now (constructing sets, puppets, etc.) The script has been written and revised several times, and I do have a storyboard that has decided the direction for my set designs.

As for questions about how I’ve tackled pre-production, I made this schedule back in the summer:

Ideally, this semester I’d like to finish ALL of pre-production, and leave all filming, editing, post, etc. to next semester, along with the construction of my exhibit for the showcase. I’m on track for now! If I need to push a set or two to next semester, I’m prepared to adjust for that, too. I’m really focused on getting the puppets themselves finished.

• FINAL DELIVERABLES:
• an 11-minute pilot for a show featuring puppets
• thoughtful exhibit presentation showing behind the scenes and puppet display for people to play with (inspired by Jim Henson exhibition)

BONUS: as you can see from my schedule, I’m approaching my deadline for my practice puppet (which ideally will be a mini-me to have on my hand for the showcase). Here’s how that’s going so far!

As of right now, I still would really like to try to bring my first project idea to life. I had not originally planned to create a theme or message based on water but after taking some time to consider, I may have changed my mind. I think my project might be a great platform to promote The Thirst Project, a nonprofit organization centered around making sure all countries have access to healthy water. I have a vision where while a voiceover reads out these eye opening numbers about people who are dying from their lack of usable water, the water from my fountain begins to drop lower and lower until eventually stopping completely.

Another idea that was suggested in my feedback comments was changing the scenery and possibly trying to build a specific building or landscape that matched my storyline. Building a physical set (outside of my box of a fountain) is something I would love to do and definitely plan to try in the future. For this specific project, I believe my goals and expectations are challenging but both rewarding and realistic. If I were to try to go larger than my basic build, I fear I might overwhelm myself and end up jeopardizing myself more than anything else.

My current goal right now is to come up with a sketch of what exactly I want this fountain to look like so I can begin moving forward towards creating something tangible.

My confidence in the first idea is pretty high at this point. Though I still have some doubts, I believe that If I try hard enough, I will be able to accomplish this. After thinking over a few approaches as to how im going to accomplish this goal, I have set some priorities in mind so I can for formulate a smooth path towards creating this project.

Research and Development – thanks to the few who responded to my concepts, I have a certain vision for this project that I am willing to create. My first step is to search for examples of this type of work done and see how I can apply it to my own work. A leeway into what eventually will become a complete project. Then attempt to create a prototype of some sort, visualizing a pathway forward.

Unity testing – Thankfully I found a program that is used with the Unity Engine that will allow me to easily create the interactivity part if it is as bold as I imagine it to be. It is at a certain cost but it will be worth it to begin some test and see who it work.

Storyboarding and Writing – This will be done as a way of, ofcourse, writing the story out so that way the panels for each page will be constructed in an organized fashion. the goal here is to take the time and think about what type of story I would want to create for this novel and build a world centered around it, with an original thought in mind.

So far this is what I have prepared for what comes next on the pathway to completing this project, and if things don’t work out, then I’ll just have to reevaluate and start fresh.

Future Navigation

Hidden menus, like the hamburger menu, have shown to be counterproductive when it comes to the user experience. The reason for this is due to that the hamburger menu was a quick solution to better handle a navigation bar for the mobile version of websites. However, this has become such an industry standard that no one is changing this practice. Today, this standard practice is becoming out of date and needs to be replaced, but with what? What would it look like and how it will function? Can it be used only on mobile or can it be a holistic element? 

In order to answer these questions, I would do a deep dive to see how people are handling navigation, test to see what type of menu people like (header nav, hidden menu, footer nav, side nav, etc), use the collected data to come up with new designs and test those designs to see what the new navigation concept will be. 

This will be done by in-person interviews, finding sources and insight from people working on this problem, on and offline user testing, and applying cognitive psychology principles.

The final deliverable will be a small exposition and documenting my process, data, and the solutions that came out of this case study.

I am pretty sure I am going to go through my first idea. I think it will fulfill me creatively and will also be something I want to put on my resume.

I am going to write and record an album and do a full marketing campaign. The marketing campaign deliverables will consist of a Market Overview and Vendor Options Report as well as a Post Campaign Effectiveness Report. The majority of advertisements will be run through Facebook ads manager but I will also try to get other forms of media into the mix.

Research

I am currently working with Mark, my boss at the AIMM recording studio, to get feedback on my recordings and mixes to see how I can improve. Professional sounding recordings are essential to this project.

I am going to work this semester with Facebook ads manager to get a feel for it and figure out how to create effective digital advertisements. I can do more research online but the best way to get good at this is to get experience running campaigns.