Author: Grant Jackson Rebecca

My second main idea comes from my 5th concept idea; ‘A cosplay ‘hub’ where people can see outlines and designs of characters; follow friends ideas and see tutorials on making costumes.’

Cosplay is a large industry, with people taking part in it in various different ways. My plan is to create a way for the cosplay community to come together in order to help each other and enhance the hobby for everyone involved.

The idea initiated from my personal experiences with cosplay. When making a costume of a character; it can be hard to find the images you need in order to see the clear parts you are trying to create. It can also be difficult to work out a way to create a certain part of a costume, or find new techniques in order to create the best costume possible; whilst keeping it ‘legal’ for the event. Once the costume is created, you want to share it with people in photos and meet up with people in similar costumes, or for similar interests.

The platform I want to create is a way of combining all the different parts of the experience into one place. Its main point will be the creation of cosplays, but also link into modelling, photography and meet-ups.

In terms of creation; it will have a platform for showing the best angles and close-ups of a character via a search; allowing for a quicker way for reference points to be established. This could be teamed up with official channels; such as character creators, in order to create officials profiles and patterns for people to use when making a costume. Other people’s versions of the costume can be shown for inspiration; and many tutorials and techniques can be linked in per character/costume type for people to use in order to create the best possible costume.

A planning and costing element can also be included for the user, in order for them to keep track of there costume development, and how much they have spent on each costume. However, it can also connect pieces in order to save money across multiple costumes, i.e, a gun made for one character can also be used by another character the cosplayer has planned.

 

Outside of the costume making area, the platform would contain a social and contact method. This will allow people to advertise if they want to model they’re cosplay, and connect them with photographers. This works both ways, as photographers can advertise for shoots and people can apply to model for the photographer. This will connect people together, and allow them to enhance they’re experience.

My first idea is ‘A methord of sharing TV/film easter eggs from the comics with viewers who may not be familiar with them.’ This would enhance the viewing experience for the audience, as they would be able to understand points and jokes that they have previously missed.

This idea came around from watch the Season 1 finale of ‘The Flash’ with my family. The episode shows a helmet with wings on it (pictured below). It belongs to ‘Jay Garrick’, who is the Flash from another world. To me, this easter egg was an opening into what was coming in the second season, and the future of the show as a whole. However, to my parents, it meant nothing. They did not recognise the prop or its significance, leaving them out of the loop.

 

 

As this is a fairly well known easter egg, there are methods online explaining it and talking about it. However, with all of the other information in the programme, a viewer may have to go to multiple places to find all the information. In the age of streaming and catch-up, it may also be hard for the information to be found if a viewer is watching the programme a few weeks or moths after it’s realises; or they may have missed something on the first viewing. My plan is to make a place where all this information can be easily accessible and explained to even the most casual viewer.

This will be beneficial as it can be tailored towards the individual viewer. It can make it easier for a person to find thew information on the shows they watch, whilst hiding the ones from those they don’t. It would be trackable and constant to fit when the viewer watches each episode, as not to ruin the viewing experience. The programme would be able to hide spoilers, but also link in to future/past episodes that the viewer has seen; or make connections between episodes to paint a clear picture.

The programme to be orientated to work in-conjuction with the first viewing; or to be used entirely retroactively, to not taint the initial viewing. This would allow the viewer to choose when and if they receive the information; allowing them to choose when they receive the information.

After completion of both the Convergence Task and the R&D task, a new brief has been issued=

Frequency ran from October 23rd to November 1st in the city of Lincoln. It showed many different uses of digital media applications in different art installations. These range from virtual reality, movement controlled by social media, films and projection mapping.

VR used the Oculas Rift to put someone in a dream world, which used a boat journey and imaginary scales to show a dream. Another one was a flying tour of Lincoln castle. Both of these would only be possible through VR, as we cannot enter dreams or fly; showing that digital media can enhance the everyday.

The projection mapping showed different windows on a surface, creating a snapshot into the otherwise unseen. By projecting the videos, more were visible at once, allowing for a greater insight to the world that the project was showing. This turned a series of films into a piece of art.

My favourite piece was an art installation at the Lincoln Drill Hall. This was a wall made up of different panels, and they changed configuration whenever the wall was tweeted on Twitter. This made the exhibit interactive, allowing for the audience to connect with the artwork itself.

The art festival had multiple exhibits which have worked as inspiration for my own projects. It was great to see the different ways that digital media can be used to enhance a project, and the festival has shown me new ways to use my ideas practically.

In the workshop we looked at projection mapping and simple ways that it can be done, such as using Heavy M. It was shown how the projections can be complex dance routines, or simple light blocks jumping to sound. By projecting onto a surface, it can be seen by a wider audience, and can convey subtle messages depending on where you are projecting.

A model example was shown, using the below building model.

This model was illuminated by a projector, and blocks of light were projected onto the 5 tall buildings. These blocks were quickly made and manipulated on Heavy M, and shows it projection mapping can be effectively done on a small scale. This small scale example also shows how it could be done on full-sized buildings quickly and effeciently.