Flying Machines and Wind Turbines

I've been looking into various flying technologies and possible energy sources that may power the flight of the island. While the design does not have to be necessarily possible in the real world, it is worth exploring in order to ensure a degree of believability to the design as a whole.

Initial thoughts include a combination of two systems running through the house and island, one providing lift (such as hot air balloon) and the other forward momentum (propellers). Ideally, the effect will not be something too sci-fi or necessarily steampunk, but rather to capture a whimsical element to the design as a whole.



It is worth noting that the flying island is meant to be designed and built by the protagonist, leading to a self assembled aesthetic.


A common theme for flight and renewable energy is with propellers and turbines to harness the power of the wind. As such, these could be present around the house/island as a means to collect energy or provide lift.

A typical turbine with a straightforward ring that more than doubles the output power.


Spiral turbine design


A helix type design


A turbine that floats in the air to maximise the air flow at higher altitudes. More details on this intriguing design can be found here and here.


Interesting shape of turbine that can turn in the wind


As well as a more lo-fi version


Integrating the flight system with the house and island as a whole will be a key factor in this project, and as such I will be making sure to dedicate time to this aspect to ensure that the design is right.

The Protagonist + Home

Here is my current line of thinking into the background and context of the protagonist and his home, which will help fuel the designs as a whole.

Protagonist
My initial thoughts for the protagonist is to be of a 'coming of age' male, reflective of a pioneering spirit. Originally a farmer, he had a variety of tools and equipment at his disposal to adapt to the flooded world. But now alone and isolated, he roams the skies in search for land and signs of any other survivors. Additional thoughts for details include props such as a telescope to pouches.



Home/Island
The home of the protagonist has been adapted to power and maintain the flight of the island. With limited space on the island, the modifications also serve to maximise the space of the house. As such, initial impressions of the house are of a quirky design with a variety of different materials the protagonist would have managed to collect in his travels.



Identifying the system which keeps the house and island in flight will be key to the logic and design of the home as a whole, which I'll dedicate and post to later with more research.

Cultural Perceptions of Wolves

A collection of research investigating some of the cultural perceptions and symbolisms surrounding wolves. This is key in influencing and informing our designs.

European
With European imagination, wolves long stood as a symbol of bane being uncontrollable nature. The Bible describes Jesus as the shepherd protecting his herd of sheep from the wolf, signifying the wolf as a symbol of sin and prurient influence (John 10:12). Wolves in literature also do not fair well, often being wicked villains as long fanged, terrible beasts, with examples in Grimms' Fairy Tales of the big bad wolf in Red Riding Hood or the Three Little Pigs.


Roman
In Roman mythology, the Wolf symbol appears with the founders of Rome with the twins Romulus and Remus. Being cast out by their great uncle Amulius, the two founding brothers were adopted by a she-wolf known as Lupa. Otherwise, they have become as symbols associated with the Gods of war, Ares and Mars.


Norse
In Norse mythology, the Wolf is a symbol for victory when ridden by Odin and the Valkyries upon the battlefield. It often includes the legend of three malevolent wolves Fenrir, Sköll and Hati, where the tale suggests that Fenrir will have grown so large that his upper jaw touches the sky while his lower touches the earth when he gapes. Otherwise, the wolves Geri and Freki were Odin's faithful pets, becoming a sign of good omen.

Celtic
As a Celtic symbol, the Wolf was a source of lunar power. Two wolves drive the time as they chase the sun and moon. Celtic lore states that the Wolf would hunt down the sun and devour it at each dusk so as to allow the power of the moon to come forth.

Asia
In Asia, the wolf guards the doors that allow entrance to heavenly, celestial realms. The Wolf is also said to be among the ancestry of Genghis Khan. Grain farmers once worshiped wolves at shrines and left food offerings near their dens, beseeching them to protect their crops from wild boars and deer; where talismans adorned with images of wolves were used as charms to ward against calamities such as fire and disease, as well as bringing fertility to crops and couples.

Native American Culture
Wolves held a special place in almost all Native American tribes, being admired for their strength, endurance and hunting skills. They taught the tribes about sharing, cooperating while hunting and looking after the young, caring and having pride in their tribes. They showed the Indians how to move in the forests - carefully and quietly. The hunters looked for signs of them, for when game was scarce, the wolves would be gone. And after killing the prey, a good hunter always left a piece of meat behind.

For the Cherokee tribe, they would never kill a wolf, believing the spirit of the slain wolf would revenge its death. The Cherokee also believed that if a hunter showed respect and prayed before and after killing an animal, the deer, wolf, fox, and opossum would guard his feet against frostbite.

The Native American symbol/carving of the Wolf:


Symbolising intelligence, leadership, a strong sense of family, guardianship, ritual and spirituality.

Revered because it was a good hunter, the wolf symbolizes cunning and was often associated with a special spirit a man had to acquire to become a successful hunter. As Wolves mate for life and live in close family units usually traveling in packs, they are regarded as a family-oriented symbol in West Coast Native culture. Wolf is the land manifestation of the Killer Whale as they mate for life, protect their young and do not separate from their families.

Upon looking at further symbols of Native American culture, I found an interesting example concerning The Twins.



Portrayed in most emergence or creation stories, they illustrate the concept of duality in life. In the natural world everything exists in balance: male & female, large & small, light & dark & good & evil. The twins are usually shown as boys or short men who overcame great odds to defend the people from all enemies, drought, attack from other beings, animals, or many other problems. Here they are depicted as Father Sky & Mother Earth from a Navajo sand painting.

Again, the idea of twins arises to reflect the duality of good and evil; they are part of the same and perhaps together form as one.

Sources:
Cry of Wolves: http://www.cryofwolves.com/wolves4.html
Totem Wolf Symbols: http://www.whats-your-sign.com/totem-wolf-symbols.html
Meaning Wolf: http://www.mnforsustain.org/wolf_meaning_wolf.htm
Wolves and Christianity: http://www.wolfsongalaska.org/wolves_and_Christianity.html
Symbols of West Coast Native Art: http://www.littlebearart.ca/mythology.html
Wolves Spirit Meanings: http://alltotems.com/wolf-totem-symbolism-and-meaning/

Research Masks

My main concept is that the dehumanised population dancing to a ritual have also returned to the fashion of masks, made from various scraps and materials. Not only does this provide some interesting designs, but can also help economise my efforts as several masks can be modelled/textured differently to give the illusion of several different characters. As such, I've been gathering some visual reference material in the form of tribal masks for inspiration.

Research Movements

I've been researching the type of movements for my character performance short. Mainly, I've been looking at tribe dances for inspiration as it resembles the original sound piece with ceremonial type movements. Here are some examples:





Props such as poles or instruments can be another interesting feature to consider when animating my piece.





Storyboarding and animatics will become integral for me in planning my character movements - which I hope to get up soon enough.

First Hand Research - Ling Zhi Mushrooms

With a bit of shopping yesterday, by chance I found some Ling Zhi mushrooms at a Chinese supermarket. So of course I picked them up for a chance at some first hand research. There are quite fascinating with a solid hard shiny top, and an array of tiny holes on the underside where the spores release. Not only will it be useful as direct reference when modelling, but hopefully I can get some nice textures out of them too.









After the projects over, perhaps I'll even try cooking some... although I have little idea as to how.

Ling Zhi Mushroom (Ganoderma Lucidum)

Looking at various species of mushrooms to base the life cycle from, I've eventually settled on the Ganoderma Lucidum (alternatively known as Ling Zhi or Reishi) species of fungi. In this way, not only does it sport a visual distinct look away from the typical generic image of a mushroom, it also has a vast history and reputation as the 'King of Herbs' or 'mushroom of immortality' with its amazing nutritional and remedial qualities.



The ling zhi mushroom tends to grow on trees or the base of the stumps, and releases it's spores on the underside pores with a smoke like effect.

The Life Cycle of a Mushroom

Some technical research into the life cycle of a mushroom. After learning so much about mushrooms of late, its actually quite exciting to delve into the finer points in how such a fascinating organism comes to life.

The life cycle of a mushroom can be summarised into 3 phases: Mycelium, Fruiting Body and Spores.

A couple of Haploid mycelia begin reproduction to produce dikaryotic mycelium. The mycelium biomass (roots) is able to extract nutrients from their environment while protecting themselves from other organisms. At this stage, many beneficial compounds, known as Extracellular compounds, are produced and released into the ground.



As the mushroom is ready to reproduce, most mushroom species will produce a fruiting body, which is most commonly referred as the actual mushroom being the most visible part of the fungi.


Here the fusion of two nuclei cells (process known as Karyogamy), will undergo meiosis to produce haploid nuclei, or basidiospores. The spores are then released by the fruiting body and dispersed by the wind, where they will find a new suitable place to germinate and start the reproductive cycle again.



Mushroom spore release


Once their spores are released, they may live up to a few days before they collapse and decay, providing nutrients to the surrounding plants and wildlife.
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To begin with, I will explore the early stages of myceluim as it grows and develops into a fruiting body. However, if things go well, I would be more than happy to try to do the whole cycle in its entirety.

Mushroom Research

I've been immersing myself into the world of mushrooms of late. Its fascinating stuff I think I've gained a new found respect for our fungi friends. Not only are mushrooms one of the oldest living organisms on earth existing before plants or trees, they possess great benefits to nature and man alike as a source of food and medicine properties.



They are able to grow and reproduce without light, as well as gain energy from radiation. Additionally, they are able to process waste deposits such as oil and thrive growing foods for other insects and plants to effectively create a new ecosystem of life. As such, mycologist Paul Stamets believe fungi possesses the key in saving our world.



A particular strain of fungi that is quite mind-blowing is the Cordycep Fungi. It infects its host, manipulating and confusing it to a state where it is able to sprout from its body, and thus reproduce more spores to infect others. There are thousands of types of Cordycep fungi, where amazingly each only specialises in targeting one species. There are benefits to its cause, in that it is able to maintain control of the population of each species - natures way of balance I guess. Watch the video of the process below, presented by David Attenborough.



Its astonishing as much as I find the concept quite frightening, being something like from a sci-fi thriller.

Richard Hammond's Invisible Worlds

Richard Hammond's BBC documentary 'Invisible Worlds' presents some great examples of scientific programmes zooming in at a microscopic level. Its truly fascinating to see what the world can be like at such a small scale, almost as if its from another time and space entirely.

Here, they are able to inscribe letters on the mere width of a strand of hair.



The world's fastest organism also provides intriguing spore like visuals that are quite captivating.



In this final video, the use of sound, although abstract, certainly sets the tone and mood alluding to the fascinating space and visuals which we cannot see.



While these examples are intended for an older audience with a documentary style and aesthetic with narrative voice over, there is certainly inspiration to be found in the visuals and use of audio providing a mature presentation that remains dynamic and creatively engaging.

Cantankerous Research

Here I've tried to find examples of the cantankerous for further research and reference.

Hugh Laurie's character, House, is a prime example of a cantankerous man. He saves lives - but most genuinely find him particularly difficult to work with.

Here's a clip of a typical dialogue exchange with his character, in the form of his auditioning.


Carl Fredricksen from Pixar's Up also begins as a cantankerous character in the early stages of the film.


Carl's first encounter with Russell is also a prime example (youtube won't let me embed).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzBbcp463hA

A random cantankerous puppet


Another cantankerous example, yet with some strong language so be warned!


A scene from Spongebob with a weird cantankerous character. Stop watching after 0:45 secs as it gets pretty random after that.

Short Animations With Refrigerators

Some visual research into existing animations containing refrigerators.


ふりっじす Fridges (Short Animation Movie)
A tale of abandoned fridges with some cute animations - though I think I'll avoid the hands and feet as it removes the challenge of bringing an object alive with character.



Mr Bean - Fly in the fridge
A classic clip from Mr Bean involving a scene with a fridge.



While these have great little stories, I intend to focus predominately on the object itself so as to not get bogged down with an overly complicated story arc and background elements. Although, the addition of a character or environment could be a good opportunity for the main object of the refrigerator to interact with.

Refrigerator/Fridge References

Looking at some visual imagery for the refrigerator/fridge object. With the arrangement of drawers and handles, I thought this could resemble a face in a subtle way, while flapping doors and opening drawers could further give character to the refrigerator.




While the above fridges being rather generic modern examples, I think a more iconic stylised aesthetic would work much better in terms of general appeal and character.

1950s Big Chill style fridge



The iconic Smeg fridges





However, with the fridge being a cantankerous fridge, perhaps a more rustic aesthetic would fit this more with old and retired tone that is inevitable stubborn.

Derek Thompson

Concept and Storyboard artist, Derek Thompson, is a great example of storyboarding techniques. Working at Pixar, here is an example of Thompson's work on the film Wall-E, capturing the first memorable scene between Wall-E and Eve in storyboarding clarity.





The particular use of colour really helps to emphasis key areas in each shot, while providing a pleasing aesthetic quality to the storyboard as a whole, where additional effects such as blurring helps convey the intended type of action within the particular shot.

Interestingly, in an interview Thompson notes that he has started to produce in digital with his storyboarding techniques, later turning the majority of the storyboard into a frame by frame process to form a story wheel programs such as After Effects and Photoshop. In this way, problems can be identified and ironed out quickly in an economical and focused manner for best results. You can read more of the interview here.

Derek Thompson has also produced a Gnomon Workshop dvd covering conceptual storyboarding with digital mediums. From what I've watched so far, he reveals his interesting process of using layer comps to capture a series of shots with a basic touch of animation. Its most insightful and inspiring, which will no doubt prove invaluable when creating my own storyboards.


More info here

You can find more of Derek Thompson's work on his blog, DerekMonster, here.