Okay - so in broad terms your concept is this: healthy body/tissue etc represented by high-spec, clean aesthetic and the malaria infestation presented as Giger-inspired biomechanical nastiness; so we're going to witness a smooth running system over-run by an alien/foreign invader. What's not entirely clear from your thumbnails is how 'organic', or truly representative of the body the 'healthy' zone is going to be; for example, you've got those drawings of realistic blood cells, but in some others, the tunnels are clearly 'not' representative of the human body, but of the metaphor of a 'healthy functioning system'. I wonder if you need to make a bolder decision here, because I can see it as confusing if your world is neither one thing or the other. There's a version of this project where you dispense entirely with literal representations, and instead depict the healthy system and blood cells as a sort of high-spec Syd Mead-meets-Jonny Ives utopia - white tunnels filled with pure globes - and you establish this aesthetic as 'healthy' - then, you introduce malaria as this foreign tissue - so a droplet of Giger meets Venom and we see one materiality infect/change/subdue the other. My point is leave the human body entirely, and move into your representational space completely - otherwise you're actually mixing your metaphors: see these examples for how stripped back and abstracted things could get while still conveying the life-cycle and its effects dynamically...
Yes, I'd like to keep with the former vision of a high-spec mechanical world. But regarding the Giger-esque parasites I have wondered to an extent how much "bio" would be in their biomechanics. I have considered keeping with the idea that the merozoites enter a red blood cell by tricking the cell (the same way viruses do) into letting it though the camera-shutter portal on the RBC's surface. The other option was the merozoite uses barbed prongs to tear it's way in and said prongs would close up the gap behind it. But as appealing to the sense of threat as barbed prongs are, getting inside by trickery is more in-line with what my research tells me the merozoite does. The latter also emphasizes the machine feel of the parasite.
Zhestkov's animations definitely channel the Jonathan Ives aesthetic with the environments. They appear very clinical but for my animation this might be a little too streamlined for my target market (it might appeal to people who favour smartphones and tablets however). I could definitely look at the Ives aesthetic, but I am leaning towards toning down the intense white of such an environment.
I will look into designing a more artificial-looking interior, most definitely.
OGR 04/03/2015
ReplyDeleteHi Mark,
Okay - so in broad terms your concept is this: healthy body/tissue etc represented by high-spec, clean aesthetic and the malaria infestation presented as Giger-inspired biomechanical nastiness; so we're going to witness a smooth running system over-run by an alien/foreign invader. What's not entirely clear from your thumbnails is how 'organic', or truly representative of the body the 'healthy' zone is going to be; for example, you've got those drawings of realistic blood cells, but in some others, the tunnels are clearly 'not' representative of the human body, but of the metaphor of a 'healthy functioning system'. I wonder if you need to make a bolder decision here, because I can see it as confusing if your world is neither one thing or the other. There's a version of this project where you dispense entirely with literal representations, and instead depict the healthy system and blood cells as a sort of high-spec Syd Mead-meets-Jonny Ives utopia - white tunnels filled with pure globes - and you establish this aesthetic as 'healthy' - then, you introduce malaria as this foreign tissue - so a droplet of Giger meets Venom and we see one materiality infect/change/subdue the other. My point is leave the human body entirely, and move into your representational space completely - otherwise you're actually mixing your metaphors: see these examples for how stripped back and abstracted things could get while still conveying the life-cycle and its effects dynamically...
http://ucarochester-cgartsandanimation.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/cgaa-one-day-maxim-zhestkov.html
Hi Phil
DeleteYes, I'd like to keep with the former vision of a high-spec mechanical world. But regarding the Giger-esque parasites I have wondered to an extent how much "bio" would be in their biomechanics. I have considered keeping with the idea that the merozoites enter a red blood cell by tricking the cell (the same way viruses do) into letting it though the camera-shutter portal on the RBC's surface. The other option was the merozoite uses barbed prongs to tear it's way in and said prongs would close up the gap behind it. But as appealing to the sense of threat as barbed prongs are, getting inside by trickery is more in-line with what my research tells me the merozoite does. The latter also emphasizes the machine feel of the parasite.
Zhestkov's animations definitely channel the Jonathan Ives aesthetic with the environments. They appear very clinical but for my animation this might be a little too streamlined for my target market (it might appeal to people who favour smartphones and tablets however). I could definitely look at the Ives aesthetic, but I am leaning towards toning down the intense white of such an environment.
I will look into designing a more artificial-looking interior, most definitely.