Disclaimer: I spoke with Phil recently and he gave me more advice on giving my Scenario more of a meaning and since then I have been making some changes but for now this is my OGR before my talk with him.
Hey Meg - okay, disclaimer noted. So as discussed, your talents in terms of making things look punchy and enticing are much in evidence in your early concept here. One of the challenges I think re. the cardiac cycle is that there's this perfectly useful abstraction already out there in the world, which is to do with red and blue. We all know this isn't a true representation of what's going on, but it works and its easy to follow. Therefore, you need to be mindful of simply replicating this abstraction in some largely repetitive way - for example, you just swap out different colours for the red and blue, or you just recreate the diagram in some slightly more dynamic way. What you're looking is that bit of conceptual velcro that makes the information puncture someone's memory in a lasting way - that metaphor or simile that re-frames the information in such a way that audiences acquire the nuts and bolts of the info much more effectively.
As discussed then: I think there's something worth exploring about light and neon, so going beyond the idea of simply creating a neon version of the cardiac diagram, but perhaps thinking about how the 'energised blood vs the de-energised blood' might be represented via glow, the intensity of light - so newly oxygenated blood is like super bright and goes off to make other things light up, while the tired blood on its way back to the lungs is shown to be running out of illumination - until the lungs (batteries?) - re-ignite the glow and off we go. If you think about the lungs as batteries and the heart as a pump, then you have a more industrial metaphor there and you can move your production design into more stylised places.
The other big riff coming off your design work is an arcade/retro vibe - and I wonder if you could embrace that much more completely. One of the key things I remember from Claire's briefing re. the heart was the effort it takes to push the blood up and down the body - and how the blood is going around to 'light up' or 'activate' the major organs and keep the lights on - and how a malfunction in the heart's pumping can create problems really fast. When looking at your concept paintings (particularly the lung images) I was reminded of pinball tables - where you have to keep the flippers going at all times or you lose the game... It's also true of pin ball tables that the balls go off to light sections of the table up and create noise and energy, so if we took the balls to be oxygenated blood and the heart t be the flippers, then maybe there's a bigger, more bold visual concept for you right there?
and also this classic from Sesame Street : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOaZbaPzdsk
There's something about the above animation that might provide some clues as to how you could get some text/info content embedded into the pinball idea itself - so we follow the ball (blood) as it travels into different parts of the table, and then we get flashed-up info, sort of high-score stuff that actually relates to what's going on - so for example, when the ball ends up back in the heart, the various pumping and valve-closures etc can all be designed to resemble pinball style apparatus:
So yeah, there's a bigger, bolder concept simmering away beneath your Stranger Things influence, colour palette and retro-vibe and I think you should seize it accordingly!
OGR 15/03/2018
ReplyDeleteHey Meg - okay, disclaimer noted. So as discussed, your talents in terms of making things look punchy and enticing are much in evidence in your early concept here. One of the challenges I think re. the cardiac cycle is that there's this perfectly useful abstraction already out there in the world, which is to do with red and blue. We all know this isn't a true representation of what's going on, but it works and its easy to follow. Therefore, you need to be mindful of simply replicating this abstraction in some largely repetitive way - for example, you just swap out different colours for the red and blue, or you just recreate the diagram in some slightly more dynamic way. What you're looking is that bit of conceptual velcro that makes the information puncture someone's memory in a lasting way - that metaphor or simile that re-frames the information in such a way that audiences acquire the nuts and bolts of the info much more effectively.
As discussed then: I think there's something worth exploring about light and neon, so going beyond the idea of simply creating a neon version of the cardiac diagram, but perhaps thinking about how the 'energised blood vs the de-energised blood' might be represented via glow, the intensity of light - so newly oxygenated blood is like super bright and goes off to make other things light up, while the tired blood on its way back to the lungs is shown to be running out of illumination - until the lungs (batteries?) - re-ignite the glow and off we go. If you think about the lungs as batteries and the heart as a pump, then you have a more industrial metaphor there and you can move your production design into more stylised places.
The other big riff coming off your design work is an arcade/retro vibe - and I wonder if you could embrace that much more completely. One of the key things I remember from Claire's briefing re. the heart was the effort it takes to push the blood up and down the body - and how the blood is going around to 'light up' or 'activate' the major organs and keep the lights on - and how a malfunction in the heart's pumping can create problems really fast. When looking at your concept paintings (particularly the lung images) I was reminded of pinball tables - where you have to keep the flippers going at all times or you lose the game... It's also true of pin ball tables that the balls go off to light sections of the table up and create noise and energy, so if we took the balls to be oxygenated blood and the heart t be the flippers, then maybe there's a bigger, more bold visual concept for you right there?
http://gameroomblog.com/features/what-really-are-the-top-ten-modern-pinball-machines-of-all-time
http://www.waaf.com/events/pintastic-new-england
https://www.shutterstock.com/video/clip-20746954-stock-footage-interior-right-insert-static-tight-cu-low-pov-across-playfield-car-auto-themed-pinball-machine.html?src=rel/20747110:1
and also this classic from Sesame Street : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOaZbaPzdsk
There's something about the above animation that might provide some clues as to how you could get some text/info content embedded into the pinball idea itself - so we follow the ball (blood) as it travels into different parts of the table, and then we get flashed-up info, sort of high-score stuff that actually relates to what's going on - so for example, when the ball ends up back in the heart, the various pumping and valve-closures etc can all be designed to resemble pinball style apparatus:
https://pinballbayarea.com/2013/02/18/the-giant-pinball-machine-ride/
So yeah, there's a bigger, bolder concept simmering away beneath your Stranger Things influence, colour palette and retro-vibe and I think you should seize it accordingly!
Thanks phil for the resources and feedback! I find these very helpful!
ReplyDelete