Mark Stamp 8/10/2014Space and Evironemnt project 1 - Invisible Cities

Space And Environment Project 1Mark Stamp

Thumbnail Studies - Invisible Cities

It is always good to start a project by examining all angles and study well the available material to find the right world to explore and develop, for this I read and imagined the 19 cities described by Italo Calvino as Marco Polo in the informative and fantastical novel Invisible Cities.

I also wanted to imagine what these cities were like, and during development I wrote up what I imagined:http://mstamp176.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/invisible-cities-first-thumbnails.html

Mark Stamp 8/10/2014Space and Evironemnt project 1 - Invisible Cities

http://mstamp176.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/to-get-some-work-done-on-these.htmlhttp://mstamp176.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/invisible-cities-thumbnail-set-4.html

Mark Stamp 8/10/2014Space and Evironemnt project 1 - Invisible Cities

http://mstamp176.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/invisible-cities-set-5-to-8.html

Part 1

Mark Stamp 8/10/2014Space and Evironemnt project 1 - Invisible Cities

http://mstamp176.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/invisible-cities-set-5-to-8.html

Part 2

Mark Stamp 8/10/2014Space and Evironemnt project 1 - Invisible Cities

http://mstamp176.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/invisible-cities-sets-9-and-10.html

Mark Stamp 8/10/2014Space and Evironemnt project 1 - Invisible Cities

http://mstamp176.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/second-influence-map-and-thumnail-sets.html

Part 1

Mark Stamp 8/10/2014Space and Evironemnt project 1 - Invisible Cities

http://mstamp176.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/second-influence-map-and-thumnail-sets.htmlPart 2http://mstamp176.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/invisible-cities-set-14-and-15.htmlPart 1

Mark Stamp 8/10/2014Space and Evironemnt project 1 - Invisible Cities

http://mstamp176.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/invisible-cities-set-14-and-15.html

Part 2

Mission StatementMy aim for this project is a series of views of the coastal city of Despina, described as a city of two sides that reflect leaving a desert: Coming from land the city resembles as a ship buries in the sand, coming from the sea the city resembles a resting camel. The seabound image is one that I believe I could convey in this project as demonstrated by the provided thumbnails. Marco Polo imagined it as a commercial city, one of the commercial hubs of his day such as Venice, Cairo or Istanbul, a gateway to a distant and exotic land difficult to reach, so the city would have a blend of both occidental and oriental hints, its citizens cosmopolitan. Cities such as Istanbul, Venice, New York, Ashgabat and Dubai were major inspirations, Ashgabat, Istanbul, and Dubai especially as they reflect that modern city in the middle of an arid landscape and the latter two have both at one point been recognised as gateways to the East. All the cities I mentioned aside from Ashgabat also draw huge numbers of holidaygoers and turists looking for culture, sun or shopping.

For the period perhaps the city is of no set period, and includes elements of both the age of sail (such as sail ships and the odd period cloathing) and the modern era of globalisation. A strong image of glass towers ris-ing from the sand, gleaming from the desert sun. The general architecture being two high-density “humps” that rise up from the street level, marked out by expensive buildings removed from the dust and heat of the ground-level streets. The right colour palette is very important to indicate heat as whichever side you arrive in, the city is to be a welcome release from a difficult journey. The ideal pallete would be warm oranges and reds in the foreground met with inviting blues in the mid- and background to make the city enviting.

As well as a sea approach to the city, the two other scenes considered are a view down one of the city’s major avenues with the skyline of one of the humps at the back with the midground lined with older brick buildings. For the interior I envision a covered bazaar, with the foreground being inhabited by customers of a coffee house watching the day go by as tourists and shoppers go about their business. In a sense, the Despina I envision is a city that rewards a merchant’s or visitor’s journey with amenities galore that the locals perhaps take for granted or defer to foreigners. Like cities on the Spanish coast such as Barcelona, It is a city whose’ very image on the horizon bestows relief to all who see it and promises an escape from normality for a few days before you are sent back on your way. These reasons are why I have considered that the world it exists still uses steam or sail for water transport, as the longer journeys make finally reaching the city all the more worthwhile.

Mark Stamp 8/10/2014Space and Evironemnt project 1 - Invisible Cities

Source ExtractBefore sterting to go in-depth I analysed the text for passages that piqued my interest in this particular city. The core theme I found myself exploring was the image of a wealthy port city that served as a connection to the lands of the exotic Orient such as India, Saudi Arabia or Africa, locations in which the bridge between them and Europe was historically more-or-less controlled by the Ottoman Empire during the Age of Sail.

The golden age of this empire was roughly around the early-mid 16th century; at its height controlling the Balkans, Turkey, Hungary, much of the middle east, most of the African coast and the Red Sea and evidence of its former extent can still be seen today in Turkey and the Middle East. The owners of Despina are perhaps, also masters of this great connection, with the city itself serving as a point of passage into more exotic lands beyond the sandy desert it sits alongside.

Mark Stamp 8/10/2014Space and Evironemnt project 1 - Invisible Cities

Influence Map - Exterior

Mark Stamp 8/10/2014Space and Evironemnt project 1 - Invisible Cities

Influence Map - Interior

Mark Stamp 8/10/2014Space and Evironemnt project 1 - Invisible Cities

Thumbnail Study - DespinaA prevalent concept I had going though the design included skyscrapers (as Polo mentioned) and the skyline from a distance As such Images 2, 11, 15, 28 and 30 will be the foundation of establishing and low angle shots to emphasise the city’s characteristic profile and welcoming feel from a distance (the establishing shot) and the cosmopolitan mix of the city as well as showing the city is both prosperous and has history (the low-angle shot).

The establishing shot will be populated with sail ships such as 21, 22 and 29, one of which will be joining the camera in an approach of the city to convey that both the viewer is joining the ship as it arrives in the har-bour.

The interior shot will be of the city’s covered bazaar (explored in 10, 14 and 23). Originally I had considered a tavern scene but i ncontemplation I have considered merging it with the final idea, with its element existing in the foreground in the form of tables, chairs and patrons with the bazaar behind them.

Mark Stamp 8/10/2014Space and Evironemnt project 1 - Invisible Cities

Companion and Collaboration Work

Concept ArtWeek 1 - http://mstamp176.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/invisible-cities-first-thumbnails.html http://mstamp176.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/to-get-some-work-done-on-these.html http://mstamp176.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/invisible-cities-thumbnail-set-4.htmlWeek 2 - http://mstamp176.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/after-trying-to-rest-from-battling-this.htmlWeek 3 - http://mstamp176.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/invisible-cities-project-refinement.html

AnimationWeek 1 - http://mstamp176.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/this-was-end-result-of-work-that-half.html

Autodesk MayaBasics - http://mstamp176.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/tonight-was-feeling-bit-more-productive.htmlCharacters 1 - http://mstamp176.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/more-work-with-tutorials-this-time-i.html http://mstamp176.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/i-followed-second-character-design.html

Film ReviewsCabinet of Dr. Caligari - http://mstamp176.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/review-cabinet-of-dr-caligari.htmlMetropolis - http://mstamp176.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/review-metropolis.html

Creative Partner Discussions

Anderson Moshi: 29 September 2014 11:48Hey Mark,I think your 138, 156 & 160 (maybe combining these two together) have a very good composition, I think if you develop them, you could come up with some interesting concepts. In your 138, I can imagine a silhouetted figure (maybe a king or wizard, the style you used looks similar to fantasy) standing on top of that building, gazing at the rest of the city.Well done for having so many thumbnails done, I am sure you will have cool final products :)

Anderson Moshi: 4 October 2014 15:30Mark, this made for a very fascinating read, I can tell you really liked the film :) Great to see that you also managed to pick up on the numerous biblical references. I agree, this movie is packed with so much. If we watch it again, we would probably perceive even more of its elements. Additionally, the writing structure, and flow of this piece is solid. I especially liked how the conclusion finalised the entirety of the review.I think what would make this easier to read, is if you fully separated your paragraphs, and used maybe more line spacing (1.5 or 2.0, not sure what you are using). It is quite overwhelming seeing so much writing packed so tightly together.Keep up the hard work man! :D

AndromedaDragon5: October 2014 13:02It was an amazing film yeah, I definitely would watch it again. Interestingly Phil thought I’d like it as well although I think his indication was towards the transhuman elements, I did not realise at the time how much of a religious tone the film had prior to seeing it, but it was a good addition for me.In retrospect yeah, despite my attempts to break the start of each paragraph with spacing it does still look like one solid mass at

first glance. I’ll look into a way of perhaps adjusting to make it seem less overwhelmiong.

AndromedaDragon:1 October 2014 12:40I didn’t get much from generating ideas for Ersilla. But yeah, with a bigger canvas I might be able to better show the lines of string between all the buildings of 156.138...I like that idea for an establishing shot. Perhaps a figure of authority in Fedora or a citizen coming up with an idea for a

mini-Fedora of his own, looking out upon the city for inspiration?

Mark Stamp 8/10/2014Space and Evironemnt project 1 - Invisible Cities

AndromedaDragon: October 3, 2014 at 11:17 PMA good read. I didn’t quite notice the lighting effect given to the workers in the caves until you pointed it out so good on you for noticing, and my discovery is the film is indeed chock-full of religious symbolism (I found that the scene relating to Moloch played out verse 18:21 from Leviticus almost word-for-word).Consider looking background such as the times or the opinions of the director. Those can have an effect on the direction even for an escapist film. Your mention of laissez-fair is interesting as there is a hint of the prophetic, what with the Wall Street Crash hap-pening a couple of years later for that very reason.

AndromedaDragon: October 1, 2014 at 10:17 AMLooking decent so far (I’m lost on how to turn a polygon curve into a shape with volume). Its nice that you want to try your own style of the model by moving away from copying the polygon, but from my experience when it comes to designing stuff, image-ref-erencing is your best friend. If not the polygon cup made in the tutorial, perhaps a cup found in Google images?

Anderson Moshi: October 7, 2014 at 8:22 PMHey Mark,Thank you for the advice, I will try incorporate the context in which the movie was released in future reviews, it is quite im-portant.

Anderson Moshi: October 1, 2014 at 2:59 PMHey Mark,Thanks for the comment. I will re-do this NURBS Egg cup, and challenge myself to try model one found on the internet (maybe one with a unique design).Good advice, image-referencing is an excellent way to learn.Cheers :)

AndromedaDragon: October 4, 2014 at 1:39 AMGood luck on that. I’ve seen some really complicated egg cups about just to warn.And I’m glad I could help.