WChestnutt
11-06-2009, 03:16 PM
Hello everyone.
For my final degree show i'm creating an original film based around an 'idea' by author Ian Watson.
This film based 100 years from now tells the story of a virtual world 'we' created in order to extend life slipping into our 'real world' and ultimately destroying it. Yes i know very similar to hundreds of other sci - fi concepts out there but hopefully it can become an emotional gripping story.
I have completed a narrative and have Ian Watson's approval and backing as it is loosly based on his idea. So far im up to story boarding part two of four parts of the film and am concept designing one of the main scenes as a tester for animation - approve the style and process etc.
I will upload the story and some of my initial sketches for you to see. early stages yet but i might as well start at the beginning. Looking to use 3d camera projection mapping for teh scenes mixed with 2d chacaters, similarly to the animatrix "beyond" episode, but might be looking for some advice along the way with regards to achieving the perfect balance aesthetically.
Any feedback on the story and work would be very much appreciated!!
kind regards, Will
Story is going to be used as an ongoing narration to guide the imagery, and split into 4 chapters.
Part One.
In the beginning there was Man. This creature of mediocre intelligence and the insatiable yearning to learn and develop, expanding its existence into the corners of the inhabitable world, determined to render himself the most important and substantial being on the planet.
On top of his game, Man took upon an almost godly status. Taking control of his environments and planet by the neck, melding it into an idealistic utopia where he might flourish as one might a prize plant; Cultivating the soil, monitoring the water, feed, temperature, promoting strong growth and vigour. Freeing it from disease and disorder, watching it flourish and bloom in brilliant glory, and then hastily spreading it the world over in a manner only the human condition could ignorantly muster.
But what happens when this nurtured plant turns out to be a vigorous weed? And these Blooms once seen as Ruby are in fact bitter shades of Dread? Covering our once optimistic and prosperous land would then be an unstoppable cancer, to a tone that isn’t as harmonious as we once thought…
Part Two.
The 22nd century saw birth to this exact fate. With populations expanding at an exponential rate and no more land mass left to develop we reached for the last place vaguely achievable within our atmosphere. Life was no longer a light struggle for harmonious living, but a vicious war for survival, raging Man Vs Earth, Engineering Vs Nature, as we built into the skies.
Finally we were proven wrong and Suits at the top had to bite the bullet succumbing to our planets jurisdiction; although some more literally then others. Among those lives lost democracy also fell victim, giving rise to a strangely welcoming dictatorship.
A nation of sheep was insisted and rudimentary culling enforced. One family, One child. Imagine being 5 years old again in the finest of sweet shops, but only being allowed one of the thousands to choose from. As soon as your fingers slipped inside another Jar the owner would be surely having strong words with your parents. Only now instead of words it was a knife, and no parents were ever consulted, only your reproductive organs.
This became the start of a new era for man - The virtual world generations. Blend your DNA on a supercomputer and have your extended family spread to your hearts content in a virtual civilisation. Even parade them around in the real world thanks to the boffins engineering holography and touch simulation. These were depressingly optimistic times, once again.
Part Three.
As time past the virtual environments gained worldwide recognition and eventually a political status, its inhabitants now regarded as living soles with human rights, displaying every human ailment – DNA, thinking learning minds, even physical bodies to some extent. Deletion was considered Genocide, of course devastating to their Real world families and friends.
The problem became once again Human ignorance. The deep truth of this originally programmed environment was much darker than the flourishing screensaver of virtual life we saw whenever our extended families weren’t parading around the real world.
Due to the processing power required for this virtual world corners had to be cut. Similarly to putting your TV onto standby, whenever your ‘Virtual other’ wasn’t walking amongst us here or having prying eyes cast across them into the virtual world they would be induced into a comatose state, a background task on a high capacity storage server. How power saving and Green!
Sometimes a virtual inhabitant would have spent its whole life forgotten in this silicone prison, growing older until it reached its shelf life. The tradition of giving last rites for all the virtual inhabitants in the real world meant that the only time these few unfortunate soles spent truly alive would be attending their own funeral. Motionless, six feet under, waiting imminent deletion, all part of the Virtuals’ lifespan.
Part Four.
No one really knows whether this was all just some right wing environmental activist stunt from the start, planned to the finest detail to rid the world of this cancerous human plague, or whether it was co-ordinated from the inside out by a small group of virtual extremist. Either way, it was a movement we were all too unaware of to stop before it all went horribly wrong.
By the time the mass immigration took hold they had already established powers in all the right places, half the government was probably virtual, shutting down the virtual world was impossible due to the number of backup servers most of which now all run by virtual inhabitants themselves.
Seeing as our population had reached a comfortable number once again and the one child policy was imminently ending this was really just the virtual inhabitant’s fight for survival, exactly as we had done since the beginning of time. Ironic really, we programmed our demise, and its likeness? Humanity itself.
I write this as a testament to humanities self destruction, so future generations (if there are any) may not take the same misguided paths. Our colony is small but we have become self sufficient, our lives are humble and non wasteful, while we stay out of sight from the virus that walks among us………
For my final degree show i'm creating an original film based around an 'idea' by author Ian Watson.
This film based 100 years from now tells the story of a virtual world 'we' created in order to extend life slipping into our 'real world' and ultimately destroying it. Yes i know very similar to hundreds of other sci - fi concepts out there but hopefully it can become an emotional gripping story.
I have completed a narrative and have Ian Watson's approval and backing as it is loosly based on his idea. So far im up to story boarding part two of four parts of the film and am concept designing one of the main scenes as a tester for animation - approve the style and process etc.
I will upload the story and some of my initial sketches for you to see. early stages yet but i might as well start at the beginning. Looking to use 3d camera projection mapping for teh scenes mixed with 2d chacaters, similarly to the animatrix "beyond" episode, but might be looking for some advice along the way with regards to achieving the perfect balance aesthetically.
Any feedback on the story and work would be very much appreciated!!
kind regards, Will
Story is going to be used as an ongoing narration to guide the imagery, and split into 4 chapters.
Part One.
In the beginning there was Man. This creature of mediocre intelligence and the insatiable yearning to learn and develop, expanding its existence into the corners of the inhabitable world, determined to render himself the most important and substantial being on the planet.
On top of his game, Man took upon an almost godly status. Taking control of his environments and planet by the neck, melding it into an idealistic utopia where he might flourish as one might a prize plant; Cultivating the soil, monitoring the water, feed, temperature, promoting strong growth and vigour. Freeing it from disease and disorder, watching it flourish and bloom in brilliant glory, and then hastily spreading it the world over in a manner only the human condition could ignorantly muster.
But what happens when this nurtured plant turns out to be a vigorous weed? And these Blooms once seen as Ruby are in fact bitter shades of Dread? Covering our once optimistic and prosperous land would then be an unstoppable cancer, to a tone that isn’t as harmonious as we once thought…
Part Two.
The 22nd century saw birth to this exact fate. With populations expanding at an exponential rate and no more land mass left to develop we reached for the last place vaguely achievable within our atmosphere. Life was no longer a light struggle for harmonious living, but a vicious war for survival, raging Man Vs Earth, Engineering Vs Nature, as we built into the skies.
Finally we were proven wrong and Suits at the top had to bite the bullet succumbing to our planets jurisdiction; although some more literally then others. Among those lives lost democracy also fell victim, giving rise to a strangely welcoming dictatorship.
A nation of sheep was insisted and rudimentary culling enforced. One family, One child. Imagine being 5 years old again in the finest of sweet shops, but only being allowed one of the thousands to choose from. As soon as your fingers slipped inside another Jar the owner would be surely having strong words with your parents. Only now instead of words it was a knife, and no parents were ever consulted, only your reproductive organs.
This became the start of a new era for man - The virtual world generations. Blend your DNA on a supercomputer and have your extended family spread to your hearts content in a virtual civilisation. Even parade them around in the real world thanks to the boffins engineering holography and touch simulation. These were depressingly optimistic times, once again.
Part Three.
As time past the virtual environments gained worldwide recognition and eventually a political status, its inhabitants now regarded as living soles with human rights, displaying every human ailment – DNA, thinking learning minds, even physical bodies to some extent. Deletion was considered Genocide, of course devastating to their Real world families and friends.
The problem became once again Human ignorance. The deep truth of this originally programmed environment was much darker than the flourishing screensaver of virtual life we saw whenever our extended families weren’t parading around the real world.
Due to the processing power required for this virtual world corners had to be cut. Similarly to putting your TV onto standby, whenever your ‘Virtual other’ wasn’t walking amongst us here or having prying eyes cast across them into the virtual world they would be induced into a comatose state, a background task on a high capacity storage server. How power saving and Green!
Sometimes a virtual inhabitant would have spent its whole life forgotten in this silicone prison, growing older until it reached its shelf life. The tradition of giving last rites for all the virtual inhabitants in the real world meant that the only time these few unfortunate soles spent truly alive would be attending their own funeral. Motionless, six feet under, waiting imminent deletion, all part of the Virtuals’ lifespan.
Part Four.
No one really knows whether this was all just some right wing environmental activist stunt from the start, planned to the finest detail to rid the world of this cancerous human plague, or whether it was co-ordinated from the inside out by a small group of virtual extremist. Either way, it was a movement we were all too unaware of to stop before it all went horribly wrong.
By the time the mass immigration took hold they had already established powers in all the right places, half the government was probably virtual, shutting down the virtual world was impossible due to the number of backup servers most of which now all run by virtual inhabitants themselves.
Seeing as our population had reached a comfortable number once again and the one child policy was imminently ending this was really just the virtual inhabitant’s fight for survival, exactly as we had done since the beginning of time. Ironic really, we programmed our demise, and its likeness? Humanity itself.
I write this as a testament to humanities self destruction, so future generations (if there are any) may not take the same misguided paths. Our colony is small but we have become self sufficient, our lives are humble and non wasteful, while we stay out of sight from the virus that walks among us………