Planning

Inspiration

As the brief was to create a 360 immersive experience influenced by Alice in Wonderland I started to look at various images on Pinterest and Google to get inspiration.

From Alice in Wonderland I took inspiration from the general fantasy look, making various coloured fungi and mushrooms (Figure 1). I also remembered the use of card suits, and incorporated them into multiple designs which can be seen in both worlds (Figure 2). I also ended up incorporating the iconic Mad Hatter’s hat (Figure 1), using it as a cover for a teapot and as a key element for the end of the animation.

For the lanterns seen in the second part of the video I took inspiration from a hand crafted shoji lamp which fitted in with the aesthetic I was going for (Figure 3).

For the architecture I decided to go with a gothic inspired look as I felt it fit the Alice in Wonderland aesthetic as seen in figures 4 – 6.

Concept art

Using Photoshop and a sketchpad I came up with multiple concept art sketches to play around with different ideas for the project.

With some sketches such as the teapot (Figure 7), gate (Figure 8) , mushrooms (Figure 9) and bottle (Figure 10) I put the images straight into Blender using it as a reference to model the object.

I showed the tiles in figure 11 to friends and family to see which design they liked best and everyone I asked came back saying they preferred the third frame design, which I then used in the final design (figure 12).

Storyboard

For this project I am working with University of Hull Music graduate Natalie Gall, conceptualising and planning sound together and then having Natalie produce the audio/music.

Creating a storyboard as early as possible gave both of us an idea of what the final product would look like and something to work towards. It also helped with planning sound as both the actions and SFX were written into the note section of the storyboard and have been extremely helpful as a reference when composing scenes (Figures 13-17).

Sound

To give Natalie my idea for the audio and video concept in general I gave her a basic initial brief which explained what I wanted from the overall feel of the sound and how I was going to use it.

“As there is our world and the Wonderland world the audio between them should be different in some distinct way to make the viewer believe they have been transported to some other world or dimension”.

Lastly I gave her these two points and gave her freedom with choosing what sounds she wanted to create and use:

The sounds in the Wonderland should be more fantastical and dream-esc.
Audio transition between the two worlds should mirror going between being awake and dreaming.

Sound asset list

A list of all the sounds to be used in the project.

Real world sounds

Ambient birdsong
Gate opening/shutting
Glass rolling
Cork popping
Liquid being poured
Glass bottle dropped on floor
Trippy synth

The other side sounds

Otherside ambience
Otherside music
Tile clinking (large area)
Tile slam and tile woosh
Vine growing
Light appearing/moving
Stone sliding on stone
Tile clinking (Rubik’s cube)
Rubik’s cube sides rotating
Teapot whizzing around
Hat slamming down

Teamwork

From the start of the project to the end, Natalie and I would have meetings online, discussing art concepts and talking about the sound production.

Later on I also gave screenshots of works in progress as well as basic renders so we could discuss and improve the project.

References

Fandom (2012) Card Soldiers. Available online: https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Card_Soldiers [Accessed 10/02/2021].

Iron Art (n.d.) A beautiful gothic gate…. Available online: http://ironart.co.uk/a-beautiful-gothic-gate/ [Accessed 10/02/2021].

Merritt G. (2018) HB Andon (Shoji) Lamp. Available online: https://hillbillydaiku.com/2018/04/07/hb-andon-shoji-lamp/ [Accessed 10/02/2021].

Nomad Epicureans (2021) 15 most beautiful examples of gothic architecture in Europe . Available online:https://www.nomadepicureans.com/architectural-guides/gothic-architecture-europe/ [Accessed 10/02/2021].

Wolfe J. (2015) New ‘Alice through the looking glass’ teaser returns to wonderland. Available online: https://www.awn.com/news/new-alice-through-looking-glass-teaser-returns-wonderland [Accessed 10/02/2021].