The Mascot

We were given the task this week to design a mascot for the Betty Smithers Design Collection but it had to be based on a object in the collection. There were 3 objects which stand out in the selection we were given which stand out which was a, dark green plastic box with a roman, greek style on it, a ash tray which looked like it had a smiley face on it which screamed anthropomorphism and finally a case for some scotch malt whiskey.

I first did some ideas based on each of the items

1.-The Box, This item I thought of making him into a roman emperor by giving him a toga and a olive leaf crown which to a degree capture his sprite from the design it had on it also the plastic had a marble look to it so it could relate to riches or high power.

2.-The ash tray- I thought since this ash tray had a giant smile on it, then the mascot should be smiling and this gave me a idea of those old cigarettes adverts in the 50's which is why I gave it a vintages cartoon look, influenced from the first Mickey Mouse cartoon, 'Steam Boat Mickey' also I based it on those old drive through adverts. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYrzdVISuUY&feature=related.

3 and 4 are just more simpler versions of 2

4- I based after the whiskey which is why I made it into stereotypical Texas land lord but this would not do since it the whiskey was Scottish but if it was a bottle of Jack Daniels, then that would be a different story.

5-I based it on a sheep herder which was more fitting then the Texas land lord also the case has pictures of a farm, hay and other farmer objects so for him to be a farmer or sheep header was seen as a must also pubs are very common in small country side villages and to see a farmer go in for a pint after a long day would seem fitting since this a case of whiskey after all.

6- I thought I would make the case seem older since this is a malt whiskey and it needs time for it to mature so making him old would capture that vintage spirit of whiskey but also to a degree you can relate that to most of the objects in the whole collection since lots of them are antic.

I then expanded on this whiskey idea by exploring the different versions of this whiskey man I could do but to things which I thought that was important was that he must be Scottish and he must be old.

1- I decided to give him an more serious look to him and expressive. I gave him a bent hunch back to show his age and I gave him a German Shepherd since that's one of the dog's mainly used for sheep herding but I made it a shot glass since his master is a whiskys case. I really like this one since I feel to it's heart captures the case the best since since whiskey is meant to be enjoyed slowly and savored not like vodka or rum which can mixed with other drinks or drank in quick shots but this is not the same for whiskey since if you mix whiskey with another alcohol it can leave you with a hangover like no other, I learned that after mixing god know's how

much whiskey with a cookie and cream lacquer... Lets just say I had stomach pains the next day. But after that I try to avoid mixing whiskey and try to have it by it self which is why by making my mascot old, he is more likely going to be a traditionalist so he would not be as open to new ideas like how you should mix whiskey with a milky lacquer.

2-The second one I based it after a picture I found on Google of a old Scottish man which I thought would be interesting for a idea.

3- I based this on Sean Connery since I found him to have strong features which reminds me of whiskey also besides him being Scottish but he actually done adverts for whiskey http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDG2V4veQLU&feature=related.

4. I did a more simpler version of 1 but put on the clothing of 2.

5. I did a stereotypical Scottish worrier which I based after 'Braveheart' and the 'Demoman' from Team Fortress 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWBeqNYihjQ which I find hilarious bu

t this idea is to chaotic which does not match the malt whiskey since it needs to slow and mature.

I then experimented on Photoshop and got these results.

This is what I got so far but being packed with my other projects I will comeback and up date on this in due time. Also I thought of naming him 'Malt' or 'Scot'

Introduction draft

For my introduction draft I will look into the question of ''what makes a thing into a person?''. To answer this question I will look into 3 points which I consider to be signification to bring something to life. The physical form which will be how the character moves, shows emotion and speak. Interaction which will be how the character interact with other characters, objects, the general environment and awareness of there universe. But the most important point is there level of independent thought because that's what truly makes a thing into a person were they can act on there own and choose there own actions then it leads to the idea of them being able to think and in turn, become more human like. You can relate this to anthropomorphic character of Golems which are statues given life to preform task with out no free will. With out free will the character will seem lifeless and be only a moving puppet but if they have free with then it adds a whole new perspective on the character and helps us to understand them and how they think . I will look into a character called Weathly from portal 2 because I find he cover's all these points and he was actually one of the most entertaining and likable characters I have seen in resent video games which is quite ironic since he is only a robotic eye but he is more human then most video game characters how are actually human. So he is a perfect example of how a thing can become a person.

my blog task of the week

well there are two notable things I did on the subject of anthropomorphism. well this one I did before but I will mention it now since it was interesting. I looked into book called ''Theory of visual perception'' which is a psychology book on how we see things and how are mind registers and process the information we see.

I found this book from a talk I had with a relative of mine about anthropomorphism which he suggested I should look into the ''Theory visual perception'' and the ''Gestalt theory''. I asked him about anthropomorphism since he is studying his Psychology Masters degree so I thought he would now something or point me in the right direction which he did.

shortly after I was with my group '' we got games'' in the library looking for information which we found a copy of theory of visual perception which I then took home.

after looking into the book I found a really useful chapter which covered the Gestalt theory. In this chapter I found an interest passage which covered a topic called ''Cross-Cultural similarites'' which described how are minds start ruffly the same however is shaped throw what we see and experience. It also covers how primarily we are all the same and that why you can sometimes understand a person how speaks a different languages by there tone of voice, like if you hear some one speaking really quick, load and aggressively then you can presume the person is angry or how they express there emotions throw facial expressions and body language since that what humans used before they adapted with voices. so to use basic human emotions or behavior you can apply that to any thing and it would make it easier to relate to like ''Lumiere'' from Disney's ''Beauty and the Beast'' which he is only a candle on a metal frame but by making him speak, have facial emotions and organic movement then it make it easier to relate to him as a human then a object since we use are primal precipitation to understand him like if we took away his voice you can still understand him throw his movement.

The book I looked into was written by a man called Ian E. Gordon ''1989''. after looking after this book I found a Other book by him which had the same title but was published in ''2004'' which after looking at this book I found a extract which talked about how are minds can register something even it was change slightly for example he talks about how you can recognize a song even if it is ''played in a different key'' so with this theory applied to anthropomorphism if you change something like a person into animal or a object like a table or a robot but keeping quality like a face or body shape it makes it easier to recognize it as a person.

However for what I actually done this week, well I have been playing the new elder scrolls title, Skyrim on the ps3. This may seem like a lazy way out of the assignment however in this game there is vast number of anthropomorphic characters and creatures in the game which have there own interesting aspects which I will list below.

There is a summon in the game called a ''Flame Atronach'' which is a humanoid fire elemental ''daedra''. The interesting aspect behind this ''daedra'' is her feminine body shape and how elegant she movies in the air, similar to how fire is. fragile and elegant but wild and dangerous as seen by how see spins in the air like a ballerina how ever is ready to burn down anyone how threatens you however for me I use her a meat shield to distract the enemy while I charge at them. A example of her can be seen from the video I found below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GgsCMTnaBs

A other interesting creature is the Spriggan which is a very similar to the flame atronach but is made of wood and uses powers of nature rather then flames. The spriggan is usually found in the woods or any were there plant life as they serve as guardians of nature and kill anyone how goes by as human and other humanoid races since they are a threat to nature so there's a sense of responsibility which this reminds of the Titan ''Gaia'' from the God of war series since she is mother of the earth and that sense of responsibility is there. That and they live animals of the forest like one quest I had to go to area were it was full of spriggan and grizzly bears but I made short work of them with my good friend... FIRE!

A other notable creatures are the dragons in skyrim. Besides they have no human like quality since there very sharp and evil looking however one point which makes dragons stand out from other creatures in the game is that they can speak in human and there tong which is one of the main plot points in the game since you can there learn there language which is how they use there power and use it for your self, earthier from basic breathing fire, becoming invincible, sprinting unnaturally fast or my favorite '' Ice Form'' which freezes the enemy in ice and they fall on the floor like a statue, unable to move. All ways a good laugh. These dragons remind me allot of the dragons from the table top board game '' Dungeons and Dragons'' since in D&D, dragons are actually intelligent creatures how can speak, take human form and take have alliances ether Good (Metallic), Neutral (Gem) and evil (Chromatic) like the 'Red Dragon' which loves gold and killing people, very evil.

A good example of this is with the video below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMy3OmRbfzk

However in skyrim there are two actual anthropomorphic races aside with the humans, elves and orcs which you can pick from and exist throw out the game which are Khajit and Argonians.

The Khajit are a race of humanoid cat people and the Argonians are a race of lizard people which they both shear similar attributes like they can wear clothing, Armour, use weapons and tools like blacksmith or making potions. They can talk and live with human society as proper proper people since they can talk and express emotion quite easily however they differ to in Skyrim rather then previous titles like Oblivion were Khajit and Argonians would be seen as equals to most in this one they are treated differently by people now. In Skyrim there is a huge emphasis on race in the political world of the game were Skyrim is divide by civil war between the ''Imperial'' empire which consist of all the races in the elder scroll world vs the ''stormcloaks'' which are rebal army how are fighting ageist the empire because of there alliance with the ''Thalmor'' or High elves which now the stormcloaks fight for the freedom of skyrim and to let it be run by ''Nords''. This effects the Argonians and Khajit since because of this they are seen as second class citizens, especially by the ''Thalmor'' which see everyone as lesser. All ways good kicking there butts, high class snobs.

The other presentation

I found the monitory of the presentations to be informant and interesting however some were stronger then others.

Noname- I found it an interesting but unorthodox since they choose how adult themes are portrayed with anthropomorphism which does make it stand out. I found the the example of oolong for crude humor since as Jordan described it, he is a pig so he is meant to have these qualitys. however I did find a bit of the presentation to be unbalanced but they did look into great depth in the characters chosen especially Ash.

Gameholics- I found there presentation to be interesting and like how each person described a character each which showed there was input from everyone, however I found the presentation to a degree unbalanced.

StopMotion group- I found most of stopmotion groups presentation to balanced and very clear with it's points by showing contrast's between different characters and keeping to there question however I found the puppet's were not effective as the diagrams but still enjoyably.

Diskids- I thought there main speaker was quite effective with how clearly he put his point across, good structure and how the group referenced secondary sources which made the presentation stronger however I did find there presentation to be unbalanced by the delivery to a degree but mostly strong.

The advertising group- I thought the cardboard cut outs were cleverly thought of since that what these characters are primarily used on and it out of all the visual materials, there's standout the most and the overall presentation was strong but but dip at times.

The Cgi group I found there presentation to be very informant and had a lot of depth but I thought there presntation was a bit hard to follow.

The animation group- I found it very intresting in how they explored how influence from actors can affect character complicity like how Phil from Heracles how is almost a direct clone of Danny Devito.

Besides of what happen with are presentation and what I learned from it, l had seen a number of strengths and weaknesses from the other groups presentations.

I found some the things which should be done is that all source material like pictures and diagrams should all follow a similar theme. Like with the advertising or stop motion group how had clear and simple diagrams of there charters which made it easier for the whole lecture to see and understand but to expand on points on the diagram with verbal information rather then text also makes the presentation seem more professional and interesting because by mixing media resources it helped to brake up the presentation and still keep the viewers attention. I found a other thing they should do is to have confident speakers how kepted in control like the main speaker of the Diskid's or Noname. A other point which I found good was that giving hand outs was useful since it made it easier to understand an point made like I should have made copy's of my Bowser diagram so people could see what I am pointing to.

However One thing which should not be done to talk about one point for most of the presentations and end up cutting and huge amount of what was there like what happened to are group.

One thing which I found interesting about anthropomorphism is that Cgi or cartoon people can be seen as anthropomorphic since down to there basic form they are just basic lines and polys but used by the creator these thing are given life like how anthropomorphism was originally described to bring life to the elementals like the sea, wind, fire and earth or how they descrbed as deity's or gods, like how the sea was seen as the greek god poseidon.

We Got Games

For are group presentation we were assigned to talk about Anthropomorphism in an genre which we got games, Hence the name the name we chooses for are group we got games. At first we tryed to think of some questions, for example....

How do anthropomorphic characters show emotion in video games?

How have anthropomorphic game characters evolved over the years?

Why are anthropomorphic characters used in video games?

but we decided the best one was ''How has Improvement Technology effected anthropomorphic in video games?'' since it the this topic can cover all of the questions above an stand out and why not base the question on the thing which started video games from the beginning.

we first tried to discuss ideas on Facebook with an group we made We Got Games, however this proved unsuccessful since we blearily used it out of organisation difficulty's the link is bellow if you want to see it. http://www.facebook.com/pages/WE-GOT-Games/139660579468779

we then simply tried to get in an group all together at the Ember Lounge and then in the VFX room which proved to be more successful as we thought out the plan and how we were going to play it out with first

Introduction- Talk about how anthropomorphic characters have been effected

positive-

More complicated structure's, more organic body movement and facial emotions, no need for box art to show and explain character's, finer sound, voice and allowed developers to explore the charters more with this depth and expand the chartares the life span throw improvements.

negative-

more competition with more anthropomorphic characters, realist games becoming an bigger part of the market and creating the divide in customers of 'realist' or 'cartoony', and some people are interested in change of a character and this has caused divides in popularity in the fan base like sonic.

anthropomorphic characters in modern day now example angry birds, Glados from Protal, The appliances in the sink from fallout new vegas and that anthropomorphic now belong in stylsed and realistic so they expanded.

then we would give example of how this happen with examples which we all went to do a character each,

1-Donkey Kong

2-Bowser

3-pikachu

4-fox mccloud

5-Sonic

6-Glados

conclusion-

same as introduction.

however dew to failures in organisation, other tasks,time, stress and tardiness to the presentation had an major negative effective on the presentation which had not played well with the thing over all since we had to improvise and due to stress this created had caused me to talk to much and consume most of the time.

However this serves as an lesson for me and the rest of are group of the importance of organisation and time keeping which I think we will all learn from this and this will be a wake up call.