First Week of DareToBeDigital

First Week of DareToBeDigital


We have moved to the Northern town called Dundee and started our competition for building the best computer game of Scotland.

Our team has been expanded by an overseas student form Peking University, China. His name is Jason. And as shown by the next drawings we have started with drawing... our team members:



Jason



Mark



Nic



Willem

These drawings have all been done by one of our Art mentors, Frasier Maclean. He has worked for Walt Disney and is a great inspiration for designing our game characters and environments.

A few things I have learnt from him already are:

• 
  Don't draw for realism, draw for believability (even if you lie about physics, measurability, or the human anatomy)

• 
  Don't be detailed about your drawings, draw blunt. Try to capture the 'spirit' of the environment or character, not its belly-button. Big lines, make mistakes along the way. If you want to make an omelet, you have to break eggs.

• 
  Do use the same scale when drawing a storyboard. Size does matter when comparing one image to another.

• 
  Do contrast your characters from their background. Dark figures against light, light figures against dark. Dark and red is often bad, with light coming from below (hell). Light and blue is often good, with light coming from above (heaven).

• 
  Do put the eye of the audience in the place where the events are going to happen, use light and dark areas effectively; stage your scene.

• 
  Do keep the (gray) scale values close to another in parts of the image that do not matter. Use more saturation and contrast in places that do matter; it should look like an empty stage, but you expect the actors to be acting in that place upfront.

• 
  Don't try to explain the whole backstory of the character in a scene, instead imply. Use geometry, tonal values, staging, and power relationships (e.g. looking from above down on someone) to suggest the characters / environments 'feel'.

• 
  Do use shadows and contours to show what the geometry is.

Finally, before drawing any art work for the game, think about the function of that particular piece of art. What is it trying to say? What decision will be made because of it? Is it the game's architecture, the sense of suspense, the mood, or the use of colour, etc.

All in all a useful set of instructions. And almost one week gone by already ;o)

Next, I have started a concept drawing of one of our game characters. What is she to wear? Gloves, boots, ... ?



Concept drawing by Willem van Heemstra

We've started Dare

We've started Dare!

Read all about it on the University of Abertay News page ()

A summary of the first day is following next.

Dare 2006 gets underway without skipping a beat



Photo courtesy DareToBeDigital

(left to right: Jason, Dave, Peter, Mark, Willem (hidden), Nic, Chief Suleman Chebe, Animation Mentor Frasier Maclean, Sound Mentor ...)

 
NEWS RELEASE

Dare 2006 gets underway without skipping a beat
12 June 2006

Dare to be Digital 2006 got off to a rousing start today 
when the participants found themselves ‘drumming up business’ 
before they had even switched on their computers.

The UK’s premier computer games design competition, 
run by the University of Abertay Dundee, 
was launched with a session of African drumming 
for the 42 students from all over the world 
who have qualified this year.

The Scottish-based Ghanaian percussion ensemble 
“Drumming Up Business”, led by Chief Suleman Chebe, 
was on hand to make sure the contenders get into 
a creative groove for the 10-week tussle.

The seven teams of students will be working night 
and day to develop a prototype video game, 
receiving daily support and weekly training sessions 
from industry specialists, with accommodation 
and a weekly allowance of £170 thrown in. 

At the end of the competition, a panel of experts 
will judge the prototypes and award prizes 
at a special awards ceremony 
and talent showcase in August.

Family Beach

Family Beach

After two days of shooting photo's on Portobello Beach, a 20 minute bus ride away from Edinburgh, and two more days of film processing in the darkroom at the Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) I proudly present the series themed 'Family Beach'.



Welcome to Portobello



Seaside



Dog!



Castle



Seek bone, doggy.



Broken glass



Mum



Break



Fancy



Love Story



Mailing



For the close viewer (with the sharp eyes) it will be clear that most of the pictures have an element of one of my famous family members in it. Guess who? Think film actress...