Research Proposal submission week

Friday the 13th of December was a Research Proposal document submission deadline.

This week was really stressful as I was still dealing with art aesthetics theories in my head and on paper. Overall I feel confident about some parts of the proposal and some not so much. Literature review part is probably ok as I have read a lot of books related to my topic however, the methodology section is probably on a weaker side. I think, I may have spent a bit too long on the literature review as I had to rethink and restructure quite a bit this part of the document which took longer than expected.  Therefore Methodology part did not get as much attention as I would have hoped for.

I had a lot of quotes that I have gathered from a number of books and just going through them and sorting out what is the most relevant and fits best was a really tedious part. I had moments when I felt a bit like I was drowning in quotes. But I got there in the end.

Also, my project aim has changed very slightly as I have added ' creative expression in' part in it.

So what are the idea, purpose and goal of my Honour year project? In short:

This project will attempt to bridge the gap between 2D game production as well as traditional arts and its practice domains and look at both of these topics through aesthetics theories lens by exploring how traditional art practice and traditional art media coupled with art fundamentals can inform and enhance creative expression in production of more aesthetically pleasing 2D game assets.

An expected outcome of this project is significant knowledge that could be of value to academic researchers and practitioners within fields of 2D video game production as well as artists working within digital media domain.

This project aim is to explore how traditional art practice and traditional art media coupled with art fundamentals can inform and enhance creative expression in production of more aesthetically pleasing 2D game assets.

Project objectives are:

• Examine and analyse traditional art practices such as use of media as well as drawing and painting fundamentals to draw conclusions on identifying aesthetics.

• Conduct iterative practical research by experimenting with implementation of gathered knowledge in to digital media production pipeline and evaluate this process.

•  Produce art assets for a game and discuss final results in relation to the project aim.

In general this research proposal experience was very informative. So much so, that at times I felt my head is about to explode from the amount of information that I was trying to cram in to it. However, the good thing was that, just by putting thoughts on paper seem to help with understanding some of the points in my project and how it all relates together.

Now it is just a long wait until after New Year to see what the result is. But I will not be bored as I have to prepare a Concept Development document as well as Pre-production portfolio for the 13th of January 2014.

So the pressure is not really off since I, just like the most of the students on my course, have not done much of practical work in the last few weeks.

A copy of my Research Proposal document can be found here.

Writing research proposal

During last three weeks I have been focusing on getting my research proposal in shape. It is a very daunting task since I felt I needed to understand my topic better therefore kept and keep reading a bunch of books related to a number of subjects that influences my project . My main problem was, up until a few days ago, the description of my research project in one sentence. Finally, Eureka! I got it now and it is:

'Explore how traditional art practice and traditional art media coupled with art fundamentals can inform and enhance production of more aesthetically pleasing 2D game assets'

I feel a great relieve now that finally I have managed to capture my idea in to words.

I think the parallel I could draw between the process of aim formation is the same of trying to capture a cloud: the project idea was hanging around in a sort of undefined cloud/mist shape until right conditions formed and finally it turned in to rain and I was able to capture it all in a bucket in a form of water. :)

However, by no means the work is over. I still have a good bit to go in addressing art aesthetics and art theories question. It is a really hard topic to get ones head around and I wish I could have avoided  it altogether but because the whole idea of my project is to create something meaningful by being aesthetically pleasing there is no way of getting away from it. I guess, in the long run it will be really beneficial to gain a better understanding in what art is, from a philosophical point of view. In my opinion, it will have a major impact of how and what art I will create in the future.

Robin Sloan meeting feedback

This Tuesday went to see Robin to have a chat about my project in general and clarify what I should be concentrating on in my research proposal document that is due in two and a half weeks. One of the main reasons to seeing him was the feeling of confusion on how exactly I should approach the document. During lectures and seminars I was getting a message that I should concentrate most of all on written materials (books, journals etc.) to help explain and back up my project. However, since what I am wanting to do is much more visual and really new. I still feel that there is not that much relevant information which could be used to directly back up my research proposal. A lot of the more recent information is online and in forms of interviews, blogs etc. I felt I was unable to produce a statement they in my opinion want. Something along the lines of ' here is a peace of evidence (such and such said it) therefore what I will be doing is logical, necessary etc.' Also, explaining in words what I want the actual art to look like is also not an easy task.

In 15 -20 min I've tried to get as much information as I can. Received good feedback on my idea and some advice on approach I should take in my research proposal document  He has also lent me a book Melissinos, C. and O’Rourke, P. book 'The Art of Video Games: From Pac-Man to Mass Effect' and recommended to have a look at it since it had information on previously released games and many interviews with their developers.

I did find our conversation really helpful. His advice meant that I would have to remove a lot of what I have already wrote but it would be for the better. Also, adding  screenshots and small analysis of some of the games would certainly help with explaining what I am trying to achieve with my project and how I want it to look.



Melissinos, C. and O’Rourke, P. 2012. The Art of Video Games: From Pac-Man to Mass Effect. New York: Welcome Enterprises, Inc

 Talks about videogames that are/can be considered as being important in some way or another to the whole videogame development process that has started 40 years ago. Interviews with actual game developers shed light not only on their game ideas but also processes involved while creating them.
Information I have found that is relevant to my project:

• backs up my opinion that players do use 'suspension of disbelieve' when playing video games. p.44
• games are serious medium of expression  and if can not be considered as being art just yet then it is surely on its way to becoming it. p.8, p107, p.127, p.157, and  p.211.
• games and gameplay influences people who play them therefore plays role within culture. p.137, p.194