Mood Boards & Assignment Spec

I have, at last, created the mood boards for my assignment!

This Semester's Assignment is to create 3 sets of 3D images. They are for a calendar, and we must therefore pick 3 months, and create a 3D Masterpiece for each of them. Needless to say, the images must bear some relation to the month in question. Objects like lamp posts, doughtnuts and pet-wooden-lizards couldn't be put here and there without good reason (and adding a Christmas hat to said wooden lizard isn't viable either. Trust me, I tried). Nude calendars were also out of the question. Thus, I was all out of ideas. So a mood board/brainstorming board was a pretty good idea to summon some thoughts together...

Of course, the first challenge was "What on earth do I pick!?"

Well, straight away, December was scratched off the list. Apologies to those who have picked it, but I can see it is going to be done to death. To pull of December effectively would require thinking outside of ther box, in order to create something unique and truly special... and I quite like it here in my crummy cardboard box, so no dice!

February and October were also scribbled off in short time. Not only would Valentine's Day be overdone, but my inherent hatred of the holiday made me refuse that month (Even though it is my birthday month...) However, an image of cupid being mugged for his love bows did indeed cross my mind...

October and Halloween also seemed a bad idea. As much as I would have liked to rekindle my 'Dungeon Keeper' days (Best game on Windows95 and still awesome now) and make a few monsters and slimy things... I had to say no.

So I decided to go for some of the more 'unusual' months. Or at least ones that left a good deal of room to try out some unconventional ideas... So here they are!

September was the first one on my list. It personifies Autumn (One of my favourite seasons) greater than it's other 2 counterparts, which are just cold, dark and full of too many pumpkins. It's the colour and mood of Autumn that got me. It had a 'feeling' that I wanted to put across. The Magner's Irish Cider adverts do it best (Hence the cider in the picture. Not to mention the fact that it's pretty tasty too!). It's warm, at the same time cool. Low sun, basking the landscape in a stylish orange glow. Beautiful stuff. In essence, it's a "slow summer". And that's what I see as the 'mood' of Autumn: Refreshing and slow. Summer's a very 'powerful' season: Bright colours, scorching sunlight, barbeques and parties like no tomorrow! Autumn keeps this feeling... but lowers the gear. Bright light is now a warm glow. Cool rain starts to make an appearance again. Though this is when work generally starts again (and thus seems hectic), I feel that this is one of the more 'calmer' and laid back times of the year. And somehow I aim to convert all this babble of text into a fitting image. A maple leaf is an instant starting point to work from...

May captures Spring wonderfully. I wanted to pick a month in Spring, due to the flora and fauna available to work with, and March still seems too 'cold' for Spring, and April will be laden with too many easter eggs. Of course, thanks to Global Warming and the complete lack of humanity doing something about it... now means that May tends to be more tropical... nonetheless, May will hold the 'mood' and ideas from the way I remember it as a wee tyke. The choice of May was partly the feeling of 'freshness' that surrounds Spring. Everything's new and vibrant. Morning's are still cold and dew-ridden... but it's starting to get warm and colours are popping up left, right and centre. It's relaxing. I also like it for the bugs I can make (No, I'm not one of those kids who spend my time with a magnifying glass studying bug-life) The idea of creating Dragonflies and Bees in 3DS Max seems quite fun, if a bit of a challenge. Dew on a blade of grass/plant would also be particularly awesome. The key mood here is 'tranquil'. If the image isn't tranquil, it's not good enough.

June... I was a little bit stuck for my last choice. I was planning a Winter Month, but nothing seemed to work. Any ideas were unimaginative cliches. Luckily, my obsession with dolphins helped me out here. Whilst playing about with a few 3D objects, the idea of creating some marine life leapt out at me (I don't know why, but I love marine life. Much more interesting than land-based mumbo jumbo). Ideas of making dolphins, sunfish, manta rays and like all seemed like fun projects. Looking back at the seasons, they work beautifully for Summer. Water and swimming (especially with regards to the sea) goes hand in hand with Summer... so instead of focussing on summer on land... why not take it below the Ocean? June was a perfect candidate for this. It's the start of summer, but generally not the 'mayhem' that August seems to be (Kids and summer holiday... bleugh...) It's still reasonably cool, and even quite 'fun'. Pretty relaxing and laid back too. Summer holidays are near, so everyone starts to ease up and take it easy. Lovely jubbly. And what personifies this better than a dolphin?

Hmm... looking back at my 3 months, there's a theme... relaxation and taking it easy... hmm... yeah, I think I'm lethargic by nature...