Idea
For this project, I initially wanted to interpret a classical piece by Chopin, but quickly realised that I had a better idea for another song. It is called “No surprises” by Radiohead. It briefly tells us about a monotonous life that reflects most of society nowadays. A life of compliancy, where we wake up every day to do the same things and despite our unhappiness, we don’t want to disturb the “the peace”.
I want to interpret this through a music video that takes place in space. There will be an enormous moving sidewalk that is meant to take the viewer through a journey of reflection of their own or someone else’s life. Therefore, we are able to experience this project in the 1st person and/or in the 3rd person. This moving sidewalk will take the viewer upwards, from the earth to a “final door”. During this trip, the viewer will come upon various rooms that all contain the same character doing repetitive actions of everyday life, only in a much darker and depressing way, to emphasize the song’s message. These actions could include eating, working, taking a shower, just seating while staring into space, trying to sleep, watching tv alone, etc.
At the end of this sad path, the viewer will encounter a “final door” that could be seen as a metaphor for the end of life (either their own, society’s or the character). It could also be the door for a second chance or even a door that lets us go back to the actual reality (outside VR) that puts things in perspective and appeals for a change. But it could also just be the end of the song… I think this interpretation should be left to the viewer to decide according to their own feelings and experience.
The Scenery
This video will take place in space since it evokes a more peaceful and quiet scenario, perfect for introspection. It also represents the path to death (earth to the sky).
In it, the viewer will be placed on the moving sidewalk, where they can look around them and witness the beauty, and at the same time, emptiness of space. Again, the moving sidewalk will take us through the aforementioned path of reflection, finally leading us to the door where the video/song ends.
I wanted to explore the process for creating planet earth on Maya as well as incorporating the sky with it, so I followed a Youtube tutorial and was able to get very interesting results.
The Character
I want the character to embody these societal problems, therefore I want to make him look like an old male office worker that looks tired and apathetic. For this, I will use MakeHuman to create a plausible character that I can later animate without spending too much time modelling him.
Storyboard
I have been working on the storyboard and how the viewer will perceive the Video. The idea is to have the viewer static at all times, while still being able to look around and experience the various rooms.
Padlet
I created a padlet page for my project presentation. I think it was quite useful to get a visual summary of everything I had been doing up until now. Also, I added new elements such as my character’s design and the song’s sections divided by each room in the scene. I will post the link below.
https://padlet.com/mliragomesdealmeidabelo04202011/by3ywmcvna2402nu