Vignette Home

Vignette Home in progress

Placed figure in front more in the interior, using the holographic keys on the wall to open the window blinds, and the boy jumps on the sofa to watch the passing airbus.

The mystery door opens with sunlight beaming through the crack. They find themselves in a familiar place.

Father-Son

[They're walking, and suddenly a helmeted figure riding a motorcycle zooms past them.]

He looks behind to the sound of thunder, and as the rider passes them, the motorcycle transforms into the toy he's holding in his hand.

Main Character Thumbnails

I was looking into putting a prosthetic arm on the son to parallel the "prosthetic world" that his father placed him in. It could also be an artifact of an earlier event, like the accident that killed his mother who died saving his life (when he was an infant). I also like playing with the contrast and irony, of how this little boy has a prosthetic arm that seems more full of life than the virtual copies of people walking on the streets.

I decided to put a "backpack" or a bag on the father, instead of a "brief case," because I wanted him to seem more casual, less impersonal than the other adults walking in his son's world. I could imagine him pulling out a snack out of his bag for his son, or the toy that he keeps for him while out in public, etc.

To stand out from the rest of the world, none of the main characters have shades or face obstructing features.

City Commoners

I chose a box silhouette for the man and the woman because they are supposed to be the busy, featureless, pedestrians on the street. The street punk is more distinct from the crowd, and the kid remembers more of his features, especially his painted face.

Virtual man, virtual woman, virtual street punk^

Revised thumbs: looked at some screenshots from the Adjustment Bureau.

Character Thumbs and Props

I'm thinking of using the african references for pattern design on the clothes for next week and the face paint for the virtual people (to obscure their faces .)

Virtual City Scenes

Terminal Entrance

Terminal Windows

Unfamiliar Area

Scenes Inside the Terminal

In-class spaceship assignment below.

Virtual Environment Thumbs

L'ephant Station Finish & Variants

Original^

I changed the structures from my sketch because I thought it needed to have a more repetitive and simple quality to the buildings, which reflects on how memory works and how the kid is reconstructing the city from what he remembers. I also wanted the central building to be huge, because the comatose kid rode the airbus often with his dad, and he remembers it as this giant building.

L'ephant Airbus Terminal

The Airbuses dock between the giant bi-structure, where it picks up passengers and takes off traveling to other parts of the city. There are two other terminals in the city, but they are not as large and they do not accommodate as many commuters.

Located in Midtown, L'ephant Station services Airbuses from Downtown and Uptown. Passengers transfer Airbuses to travel further north or south.

L'ephant Station

[Feb6 Update] Uploaded new map drawings.

[Jan31 Update] Specified the location and boundaries of the map in the text below, also fleshed out some more plot and changed the "park" to the "bay area." There will be future updates on the map drawing.

Synopsis

Dr. Bell works for a private institution currently developing virtual reality technology. His son falls into a deep coma and has no hope of reawakening after a mysterious accident. Already saddened by the loss of his wife, he brings his son back to consciousness by inserting his mind into the virtual reality machine he had been helping to develop. He is able to see his son again in the virtual world, but the mystery behind the accident slowly reveals itself as his son takes him back to that day at the terminal.

It's noon and the streets are vibrant with men and women seeking lunch. Dr. Bell, a renowned brilliant scientist, takes his son by the hand and walks across the bridge and over to the terminal machines to buy tickets. His son liked riding the commuter airbus, but he also liked the cold treat his father always bought for him when they arrived at the bay area across the city. Dr. Bell let go of his son's hand for a moment and punched in some numbers on the machine, he grabbed their tickets and turned around only to discover his son had disappeared among the sea of bodies. He searched frantically, yelling his name and stretching his neck. He ran back to the bridge where he heard a commotion. Down below on the street he saw a pack of people gathering around the street. He rushed to the crowd, pushed himself to the center and saw his son lying on the ground next to a car.

Virtual World

The virtual environment is constructed by Dr. Bell's son, who is in a deep coma. The objects, people, and places in the space are based off his memories from the real world, therefore, the environment first appears to be missing details, like the blank faces of strangers, buildings without interiors, or doors that open to nothing. The edges of his constructed world are governed by the extent of what he can remember from the real world, for example a street he no longer knows may travel infinitely into the distance, or buildings begin to repeat until they all look the same, like the apartment sector. However, as the story progresses, his son begins to consciously shape the world around him, like substituting the motorcycle on the street with something more reminiscent of his toy motorcycle at home or plugging in other images from his memory into places he does not recognize. For example, when he opens the door to a building in the unexplored area, inside he sees the old house he used to live in. His childlike view on the real world is also depicted through the larger scaling of the buildings, the airbus, and the ships on the bay area.

At one point, Dr. Bell asks his son if he has any memories of his mother, but she passed away when he was very young and he can't remember her face.

The Real World

It is the year 2091 and Dr. Bell is leading the way in the field of neurology in New York City. Due to his advanced understanding of the mind, he was chosen to be part of developing the world's first virtual reality machine and moved across the country to Silicon City, CA, with his son.