Dystopia

"The scars of the future are made in the present"

Our outlook on the future is tainted by the culture and imagery that we surround ourselves with. Images of violence and corruption shown on news media leave a sour taste in our mouths. These images skew our view of the world and by extension our view of the future.

The Brief

This project was purely self-directed and ran throughout the honours year. This project required extensive research and development before choosing a final concept and creating the final body of work for the end of year degree show, which was to be presented to VIPs and the general public.

Rationale

The chosen topic was the “Future” admittedly a very broad topic but part of the process was refining what the work should be about, as such it was advantageous to work on such a project. The final outcome “Dystopia” came about through a lot research into why certain societies in certain periods of time have more pessimistic outlooks compare to other periods in time. One major conclusion that was met during the project is that any image that discusses the future is really talking about the present. An example of culture mirroring society is Huxley’s “Brave New World” a book written during the peak of the great depression. The project conclusion came about as a means of doing what Huxley did for his period, for our own current period. As such the The Dystopian animation highlights the problems with society and shows a potential outcome for such behaviour in the future. The outcome of the project also included a small book that gave a bitesize insight into the research that had been done that year along with a carefully designed exhibition wall.

Backstory

“One of the largest challenges encountered with this project is the amount of time that the project spanned, it was discovered that an 8 month project can be very difficult to maintain. Narrowing down what the core message of the project should be about was the first priority. The next step was to find a way of presenting the work in a way that aligned with the serious nature of the message. Web design, infographics and illustration were all considered for the project but eventually a 3D motion graphic was selected as the output as it best matched up with the core message.”

Skills/Tools Used

Autodesk 3DS MAX

Adobe After Effects

Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Photoshop