iPhone game: Spectacular Circus Escape
Latest build of the iOS game I am working on, mainly working on art and a sprite system, and it working as a Universal App, running on old iPhones, Retina Displays and iPad.
Circus Escape Animations
I have begun replacing sprites in the game with some that are a little more finished, along with now using Prime 31′s UiToolkit for both animated sprites and GUI.
Loop De Loop Submission : Condoms
My submission with Sarah for Loop De Loop.
Spectacular Circus Escape Character Designs
Spectacular Circus Escape Typography Experiments
These type experiments help me get a flavour for how the game will look. I am aiming to give it an older vintage flavour, thinking of old film titles and flashing Vegas signs, these type ideas are the quickest and simplest way I can try to give the game an individual look.
The central story of this game is that the animals are trapped and caged, and forced to perform, then use the circus equipment to escape. The idea to portray in the art is a little complicated, as it has to show a the playful and colorful wonder of a Circus as something that the Characters would actually want to escape from. There is plenty of potent images and art in the Circus and Carnival style, but the design and look of the game also has to show this contrast.
iPhone game: Spectacular Circus Escape
The iPhone game I am working on is about imprisoned circus animals using the death defying cannon to fire themselves to freedom, Evel Knievel style, and you draw trampolines to bounce them across the screen.
The plan is to produce a single screen, single level, small scale, but polished game I am looking at games like Flight Control or Fruit Ninja, when they were first released, they were only single levels and simple to pick-up game-play, but after being successful they expanded out.
I am aiming to make a really fun and polished small scale project as something that I could actually achieve, but open to be expanded later, rather then making something overwhelming that would not get finished.
This project spawned from my Graphite Flash game, where the user could draw and place trampolines on the stage, which you could then jump across. These trampolines had no physics, simply an upward push, and the user was controlling both sides of the game, as both the character, and using a pencil to draw on the environment.
The aim is to make a really good five seconds of game-play that engages and produces feelings of confidence, panic then relief, then starts again.
We Are Police – Weekend People – Behind the Scenes
I wanted to work on a project that allowed me to spend my evenings and free time working and producing media, but not being stuck in front of a computer. This Zoetrope technique let me create something tactile, different and surprising, and allowed me to improvise and play spontaneously.
The technique started with filming a turntable spinning at various speeds and with a few framerates and shutter speeds. I had marked points on the platter with pieces of tape, and could count the frames it took to rotate. After a bit of trial and error, I figured out the technicalities. Filming a 33 frame sequence at 25 fps, with a fast shutter speed (to stop motion blur), and a lot of light would make the frames align and animate. The process works much like a classic Zoetrope, where slits in the paper would act as a shutter, except now I was using an actual camera shutter to freeze the movement.
From here, I created a project in After Effects, where a 33 frame composition would be rotated around inside another composition, then each frame of that would be overlapped, giving me a single frame long sequence to render. This let me use a computer to do the animation, and see how it looked immediately, and giving me files to print.
Once the turntables were printed, I then roughened them up, slowed down the turntable speeds, tore up the printouts, and tried to do whatever I could to make the process look real. The biggest issue I found with this technique was that it almost looked like it was digitally placed into the shots, and there is something lost when you watch the video of it working, instead of it coming to life as a tactile thing.
Turntable Animation Test 2
A test made by placing a print out of a 33 frame animation sequence on a turntable, then recording at 25 fps.
The sequence was created in after effects, then printed and placed onto the turntable. Filmed using a Canon 7D and a cheap extendable bellows to give the macro focus.
With a very fast shutter speed and the frames on the turntable positioned correctly, they can seem to freeze and produce animation live in-camera.
Turntable Animation Test 1
A test made by placing a print out of a 33 frame animation sequence on a turntable, then recording at 25 fps.
The sequence was created in after effects, then printed and placed onto the turntable. Filmed using a Canon 7D and a cheap extendable bellows to give the macro focus.
With a very fast shutter speed and the frames on the turntable positioned correctly, they can seem to freeze and produce animation live in-camera.
Lightpainting
Experiments with long exposure photography.
