Politics & Superheroes: Practical response ideas

In response to my research on various post 9/11 political superhero narratives, I have began writing down ideas for a narrative on my own. I began with possible political themes, and a few key character ideas that I plan to develop further:

Possible Themes: 

Surveillance culture,
Disaster capitalism/ war profiting,
Fascism,
Neoliberalism/ globalisation,
Ambiguity of the superhero (conflicting views and ideologies),
The origin story,
What is right and wrong?
Vigilantism vs. government (outlawed heroes and heroes that work with the law),

Initial character ideas:

Wealthy CEO of major enterprise. His superhero Identity helps endorse his business, as his true identity is known to all. Has the city covered with advanced surveillance equipment meaning he is omniscient. Capitalises on the fear of terror, by investing in surveillance technology (microphones in lampposts, UAVs in the sky). Convinces citizens that these measures are necessary in keeping the city safe. Enforces idea that he is watching over the people through billboard adds and television commercials (using the media to create sympathy toward his capital). Ruthless, handsome, self-centred ‘Yuppie’ type. Seen in the media as a patriot, yet is selfish and greedy in his actions.

Wealthy hero has a nemesis, a left wing ‘Che Guavara’ style revolutionary who opposes surveillance culture. Whereas CEO flaunts his business man/ masked avenger persona, Left-Wing activist must remain anonymous. Constant power struggle between government control and revolution among streets. Perhaps activist could obstruct rich hero’s surveillance network, but in doing so making the city more vulnerable to terrorist attacks. In brief window system is down, a large bombing takes place and the media instantly suggests the attack was pre meditated and orchestrated by left-wing hero and religious extremists. Possible twist: the catastrophe was actually orchestrated by rich CEO in order to both create witch hunt for left-wing hero and scare public into believing that had the surveillance equipment been operating, the attack would have been prevented, creating a demand for even more surveillance technology (disaster capitalism at work).

Other thoughts: 

Could be set in the aftermath of a terrorist attack similar to 9/11, in a paranoid and frightened culture. The world could have contained an array of masked crusaders previously, but their failure to prevent the catastrophe made their street level crime fighting seem redundant, when the much bigger threat became relevant. Left Wing activist could have always been slightly out of place within the superhero community, focusing on bringing down the wealthy, existing at the source of street level angst and acts of desperation, whereas other heroes were simply seeking adventure and their motives were more transparent. Most other heroes have retired after the arrival of rich CEO and his surveillance agenda, making them feel powerless and obsolete. 

I am initially focusing on a hopefully rich narrative, along with developed character concepts. It was also discussed in my first tutorial that there is transmedia potential with this direction. I raised a theory of synopticism, which is the idea of the many watching the few. Through various forms of media, we (the observers) become the many observing the protagonists within the narrative. This sometimes creates balance with the theory of panopticism, particularly with the television series ‘24’, where we watch and scrutinise Jack Bauer's every move until we reach the conclusion that he can be trusted with this power of omnipotence. The optimistic conclusions within the show act as reassurance for the government’s drastic surveillance measures in preventing terrorism. Perhaps this could be applied to a video game, where a third person perspective gives us the feeling that we are surveying the character’s every move, giving the sense that they can hide nothing from us.

My main aim at this stage is to produce some conceptual artwork, and a well developed narrative.

Visual Effects Module: Initial Ideas

After being given the brief for our next module, I began by sketching some initial ideas. I picked up my sketchbook before launching into research as I didn't want to define a particular approach immediately. instead I felt I would warm up and simply get the creative juices flowing. Possibly as a result of my approach in the previous model, the first ship sketch came out looking like some synthetic marine mammal-like vessel:

I immediately steered away from repeating my previous approach, although I was interested by the possibility of merging a very organic looking creature with synthetic mechanical elements. I was reminded of the theme of 'Synthesis' communicated in one of the optional 'Mass Effect 3' endings, which is the idea that the final stage of evolution is the fusion of organic and synthetic life. In a sinister approach, this is reflected in the 'Husks.' and enemy which is the result of humans being mutated into synthetic savages in the Mass Effect series:

My idea involved an insect like ship, sending out a swarm of smaller insects to harvest people before wrapping them in a metallic cocoon, slowly morphing the victim into a Husk-like being:

I was immediately enticed with this particular approach. I thought it could offer an interesting spin with the insect swarm extraction and the cringeworthy transformation of the photographer character in the sequence. With this in mind, I drafted a final frame shot ready to present for our initial class critique:

For the final shot, I am contemplating a wide angle dramatic shot of the character suspended within the ships organic/synthetic interior. The style I am trying to put across with this sketch is a mix of electrical wiring and jagged metallic debris, mixed in with slimy eggs and atmospheric gasses filling the virtual set. Perhaps a slow zoom would add to the suspense, as if the spectator is attempting to catch a better glimpse of the tortured character without being detected by the ships inhabitants. The aliens who inhabit the ship will also be incorporated in the shot, likely just assessing the stage of transformation that the character has reached. After deciding on this idea, I produced a moodboard to collect references and establish the desired theme and style of my direction:

Seeking Inspiration

We have established a three person team to develop a piece of Machinima. During our first discussion, we found that our main areas of interest lie in producing concept art. Because of this, we have agreed to stretch out of our comfort zones and generalise to cover the maya, unity, and sound elements required. Where this background of concept art will work for is, is that we should have a very thorough and vivid idea by the end of the art process.

From our initial brainstorm, we accumulated a large number of themes for a location. We felt it would be a good idea to first consider the space, which will inform our character ideas and story. Working very loose and freely, we said that instead of tying down one of the ideas, we would each go away over the weekend and produce some rough initial concept art for possible scenarios and locations. Instead of producing a focused mood board right away, I thought at this stage to just seek inspiration to spark ideas.

I decided to use deviantArt to search for user produced conceptual works.

This first piece I came across by 'Raphael-Lacoste' is titled 'Mining on Gliese':

What I like about this stunning piece is it's implications. It is easy to fascinate over a brighter future where everything is more refined and efficient. However here, it is suggested that we are still spoiling planets by scaring the land with industrial scale mining equipment and the extraction of possible fossil fuels. The colours are very rustic and earthy, contradicting the clean polished look we find in some science fiction concepts. I am engaged by this dirty future theme, which we find also in the 'Alien' films.

The next piece I found is a colaboration between 'JoeDiepstraten' and 'DanilLovesFood' titled 'Kradortharr Tower':

I like this idea of a fallen colossal structure, which likely once stood strong and tall. The tower seems almost personified, like a sleeping giant due to it's enormous scale. I love the combination of ancient ruins occupying vast cave systems, a theme adopted in 'Gears of War' when uncovering the Locust's underground civilisation. It really feeds off a sense of discovery and exploration, the idea that an almost parallel world exists hidden beneath the surface. It also invites a sense of isolation and secludedness. A setting of this kind would also allow for some great use of sound. There would have to be a huge focus on achieving the cave's open acoustic environment. I can almost hear the thin streams of water trickleing through the caves, combined with the sound of water droplets dripping from stalactites on the celing, all echoing to create a symphony of high pitch frequencies, balanced by the deep eerie sound of wind moving through the environment. Perhaps this eerie secluded cave idea could be combined with the 'dirty future' concept, occupied by abandoned industrial mining equipment as oppose to the ancient ruins in this image.

Another great piece concept I came across was this piece by 'wildcory1' titled 'Dome concept':

I am really starting to sway towards this idea of futuristic manmade structures being embodied by the environment around them. As you can see from this piece here, there is almost a juxtaposition created between the wild vines and foliage compared to the smooth chrome-looking platform assembled in the centre of the painting. Colour wise, the man made structure and the surrounding environment do not differ greatly in colour values. In this sense, the image merges quite well, whilst still keeping the platform the focal point without loosing it to the greenery.

What I notice about all the pieces is the attention to textures and detail, and the great feel of depth and value control. They almost already feel as if they could exist as a 3D space, as if there is some existing awareness of the game industry pipeline and how the environment could be modelled and textured. I hope that in my work I can also really capture the mood of the environment and ultimately consider how the setting would feel as a virtual gamespace.