Bibliography

   It feels nice looking at how much research I had actually gathered over the past months, and seeing them all properly (At least I think so) referenced here... why am I posting this? I don't know, I just saw someone else do this and figured I would do the same.

BIBLIOGRAPHIES

Films

Alice in Wonderland. (1951) Film. Directed by Clyde Geronimi. [DVD] US: RKO Radio Pictures.

Carrie. (2013) Film. Directed by Kimberly Pierce. [DVD] US: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

The Dot and the Line. (1965) Film. Directed by Chuck Jones. [DVD] US: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Goodfellas. (1990) Film. Directed by Martin Scorsese. [DVD] US: Warner Bros.

The Little Mermaid. (1989) Film. Directed by Ron Clements. [DVD] US: Buena Vista Distribution.

One Hundred and One Dalmatians. (1961) Directed by Clyde Geronimi. [DVD] US: Buena Vista Distribution.

Peter Pan. (1953) Directed by Clyde Geronimi. [DVD] US: RKO Radio Pictures.

The Princess and the Frog. (2009) Directed by Ron Clements. [DVD] US: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

Red vs. Blue. (2003) Directed by Burnie Burns. [Machinima Online Series] US: Rooster Teeth.

Sleeping Beauty. (1959) Film. Directed by Clyde Geronimi. [DVD] US: Buena Vista Distribution.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. (1937) Film. Directed by David Hand. [DVD] US: RKO Radio Pictures.

Books

Beiman, N. (2010). Animated Performance, Switzerland: AVA Publishing SA.

Cristiano, G. (2008). The Storyboard Design Course, UK: Thames & Hudson.

Hayes, D., and Webster, C. (2013). Acting and Performance for Animation, New York and London: Focal Press.

Hooks, E. (2011). Acting for Animators, London: Oxford.

Ingledew, J. (2011). The A-Z of Visual Ideas, London: Laurence King Publishing.

Isbister, K. (2006). Better Game Characters By Design: A Psychological Approach, Amsterdam: Elsevier Inc.

Jong, S. J. (2008). Human Motion Based on Actor Physique Using Motion Capture, Germany: VDM Publishing.

King G., and Krzywinska, T. (2002). ScreenPlay Cinema/Videogames/Interfaces, London: Wallflower Press.

Kitagawa, M., and WINDSOR. B. (2008). MoCap for Artists, Oxford: Focal Press.

Kirkpatrick, G. (2011). Aesthetic Theory and the Video Game, UK, Manchester: Manchester University Press

Maclean, F. (2011). Setting The Scene: The Art and Evolution of Animation Layout, San Francisco, California: Chronicle Books LLC.

Menache. A. (2011). Understanding Motion Capture for Computer Animation, Burlington, MA: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers.

Murray, J. H. (1997). Hamlet on the Holodeck, NY: The Free Press.

Thomas, F., and Johnston. O. (1981). The Illusion of Life Disney Animation, Italy: Abbeville Press.

Ward, A. (2008). Game Character Development, : Cengage Learning.

Wells, P. (2006). The Fundamentals of Animation, Switzerland: AVA Publishing SA.

Wells, P. (2007). Scripwriting, Switzerland: AVA Publishing SA.

Williams, R. (2009). The Animator’s Survival Kit, London: Faber and Faber Limited.

Magazine Articles

games™ Contributor, (2012). Beyond: Two Souls. games™, 130, Page numbers: 66 (December 2012).

games™ Contributor,  (2013) A Spirited Success: Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch,  games™, 131 (January 2013), Page numbers: 86-89.

games™ Contributor, (2013) Preview: The Last Of Us,  games™, 131 (January 2013), Page numbers: 30, 31.

EDGE Contributor, (2013). Play: The Walking Dead. EDGE, 250 (February 2013), Page numbers: 102-104.

EDGE Contributor, (2013). Play: Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch. EDGE, 250 (February 2013), Page numbers: 106, 108.

EDGE Contributor, (2013). Play: The Last of Us. EDGE, 255 (July 2013), Page numbers: 104-107.

EDGE Contributor, (2013). Play: Remember Me. EDGE, 255 (July 2013), Page numbers: 112.

EDGE Contributor, (2013). Play: Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons. EDGE, 255 (July 2013), Page numbers: 122-123.

EDGE Contributor, (2013). Create Debrief: The Making of Thomas Was Alone. EDGE, 255 (July 2013), Page numbers: 138-141.

EDGE Contributor, (2013). Play: Grand Theft Auto V. EDGE, 259 (November 2013), Page numbers: 86-89.

EDGE Contributor, (2013). Play: Beyond: Two Souls. EDGE, 260 (December 2013), Page numbers: 90-93.

EDGE Contributor, (2015). Play: Life Is Strange: Episode One. EDGE, 277 (March 2015), Page numbers: 102-104.

EDGE Contributor, (2015). Play: Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture. EDGE, 284 (October 2015), Page numbers: 108-110.

EDGE Contributor, (2015). Play: Until Dawn. EDGE, 284 (October 2015), Page numbers: 114, 115.

Online Articles

Alexander, L. (2014) Conveying Character Personality Through Animation, Gamasutra [Online]. Available at: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/218215/Conveying_character_personality_through_animation.php [Accessed: 10^th November 2015]

Andrews, M. (2013) Reel to Real: The Art of Realism in ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’, Pop Optiq [Online]. Available at: http://www.popoptiq.com/reel-to-real-the-art-of-realism-in-snow-white-and-the-seven-dwarfs/ [Accessed: 30^th December 2015]

Beschizza, R. (2014) How Prince of Persia’s famous jump animation was made, Boingboing [Online]. Available at: http://boingboing.net/2014/10/30/how-prince-of-persias-famous.html [Accessed: 18^th December 2015]

Brodkin, J. (2014) Game Developers Crossing the Ucanny Valley, Dice Insights [Online] Available from: http://insights.dice.com/2014/02/14/game-developers-crossing-uncanny-valley/ [Accessed: 10^th November 2015]

Cellania, M. (2013) The World’s First Video Game, Neatorama [Online] Available from: http://www.neatorama.com/neatogeek/2013/10/21/The-Worlds-First-Video-Game/ [Accessed: 15^th December 2015]

Clayton, R. B. and Leshner, G. (2015) The Uncanny Valley: The Effects

of Rotoscope Animation on Motivational Processing of Depression Drug Messages, Taylor & Francis Online  [Online]. Available: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08838151.2014.998227 [Accessed: 19^th December 2015]

Cohen, D. S. (2009) OXO aka Noughts and Crosses - The First Video Game, About Tech [Online] Available from: http://classicgames.about.com/od/computergames/p/OXOProfile.htm [Accessed: 16^th December 2015]

Heuristic. (n.d). The First Video Game?, Brookhaven National Laboratory [Online]. Available at: https://www.bnl.gov/about/history/firstvideo.php [Accessed: 15^th November 2015]

Good, O. (2011) Why Uncharted 3 Isn’t Using Facial Motion Capture, Kotaku [Online]. Available at: http://kotaku.com/5824078/why-uncharted-3-isnt-using-facial-motion-capture [Accessed: 4^th December 2015]

Kudler, A. (n.d). Timeline: Video Games, Infoplease [Online]. Available at: http://www.infoplease.com/spot/gamestimeline1.html [Accessed: 15^th December 2015]

Laverde, J. (2015) Boxsets for gamers: After Life is Strange, where next for episodic narrative-driven games?, [Online]. Available at: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/boxsets-gamers-after-life-strange-where-next-episodic-narrative-driven-games-1525188 [Accessed: 7^th December 2015]

Madigan, J. (2013) The Uncanny Valley and Character Design, The Psychology of Video Games [Online] Available from: http://www.psychologyofgames.com/2013/05/the-uncanny-valley-and-character-design/ [Accessed: 10^th November 2015]

Michaelenger. (2013) Game Engines: How do they work?, Giant Bomb [Online] Available from: http://www.giantbomb.com/profile/michaelenger/blog/game-engines-how-do-they-work/101529/ [Accessed: 19^th December 2015]

Molina, B. (2013) Interview: Crime pays for ‘Grand Theft Auto V’, USA TODAY [Online] Available from: http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/gaming/2013/10/09/grand-theft-auto-v-actors/2938165/ [Accessed: 19^th December 2015]

Mulrooney, M. (2012) INTERVIEW - In Conversation With Dave Fennoy (Lee Everett, The Walking Dead: The Game), Alternative Magazine Online [Online] Available from: http://alternativemagazineonline.co.uk/2012/05/14/interview-in-conversation-with-dave-fennoy-lee-everett-the-walking-dead-the-game. [Accessed: 19^th December 2015]

Nutt, C. (2012) Beyond Heavy Rain: David Cage on Interactive Narrative, Gamasutra [Online] Available from: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/171004/beyond_heavy_rain_david_cage_on_.php [Accessed 5^th December 2015]

Parkin, S. (2010) L.A. Noire’s Pioneering Motion Capture Draws ‘Line in the Sand’ For Animation, Gamasutra [Online]. Available at: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/122183/LA_Noires_Pioneering_Motion_Capture_Draws_Line_In_The_Sand_For_Animation.php [Accessed: 10^th November 2015]

Phillips, W. (2015) Virtual Reality in the Uncanny Aural Valley, Gamasutra [Online]. Available at: http://gamasutra.com/blogs/WinifredPhillips/20150804/250439/Virtual_Reality_in_the_Uncanny_Aural_Valley.php [Accessed: 10^th November 2015]

Price, J. (2006) Opinion: Is Photorealism In Games The Right Direction?, Gamasutra [Online]. Available: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/102441/Opinion_Is_Photorealism_In_Games_The_Right_Direction.php [Accessed: 10^th November 2015]

Ruygrok, S. (2013) Retirement isn’t so satisfying: Talking ‘GTA V’ with voice of Michael, Ned Luke, Examiner [Online]. Available from: http://www.examiner.com/article/retirement-isn-t-so-satisfying-talking-gta-v-with-voice-of-michael-ned-luke [Accessed: 10^th November 2015]

Schubert, D. (2013) Do we always have to strive for ‘realism’?, Gamasutra [Online]. Available at: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/196663/Do_we_always_have_to_strive_for_realism.php [Accessed: 10^th November 2015]

Stuart, K. (2010) What do we mean when we call a game ‘immersive’?, The Guardian [Online]. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/gamesblog/2010/aug/10/games-science-of-immersion [Accessed: 28^th December 2015]

Swaim, M. (2009) 10 Video Games That Should Be Considered Modern Art, Cracked [Online]. Available at: http://www.cracked.com/blog/defending-the-habit-10-video-games-as-modern-art/ [Accessed: 19^th December 2015]

Tach, D. (2013) How video games could be flattening the uncanny valley, Polygon [Online]. Available at: http://www.polygon.com/2013/9/4/4695108/video-games- flattening-the-uncanny-valley [Accessed: 10^th November 2015]

Tanenbaum, K., and Tanenbaum, J. (2009). Commitment to Meaning: A Reframing of Agency in Games, The Geek Movement [Online]. Available at: http://thegeekmovement.com/ktanenbaum/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/tanenbaum__tanenbaum_2009_commitment_to_meaning_dac.pdf [Accessed: 11^th December 2015]

Ward, J. (2008) What is a Game Engine?, Game Career Guide [Online]. Available: http://www.gamecareerguide.com/features/529/what_is_a_game_.php [Accessed: 19^th December 2015]

Wawro, A. (2015) Writing Presence: How Good Storytelling Helps a VR Game Feel Real, Gamasutra [Online]. Available: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/237932/Writing_presence_How_good_storytelling_helps_a_VR_game_feel_real.php [Accessed: 10^th November 2015]

Online Videos

Cowen, T, W. (2015) Magnum Opus Games: How Telltale Games Reinvented the Art of Story Mode [Online Video]. 12^th November. Available from: http://uk.complex.com/pop-culture/2015/11/watch-complex-original-magnum-opus-telltale-games-documentary?utm_campaign=popculturetw&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&sr_share=twitter. [Accessed: 3^rd January 2016].

Fungo. (2011) Making of Silent Hill 3 - HQ [Online Video]. 17^th July. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiH4wOkSzGs. [Accessed: 3^rd January 2016].

GameNewsOfficial. (2015) LIFE IS STRANGE Making-of #2 [Online Video]. 31^st January. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VZ9RQNlMHY. [Accessed: 3^rd January 2016].

Neon Feon. (2015) DONT NOD - Life is Strange [Online Video]. 18^th June. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zHOE27v8pw. [Accessed: 3^rd January 2016].

PlayStation Access. (2013) The Last Of Us: Behind The Scenes with Ashley Johnson and Neil Druckmann [Online Video]. 24^th May. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deuVinwv1os. [Accessed: 3^rd January 2016].

Video Games

2K Czech. (2011) Mafia II. Playstation 3. US: 2K Games, Inc.

Bioware. (2007) Mass Effect. Playstation 3. US: Microsoft Studios.

Bithell, M. (2012) Thomas Was Alone. Playstation 3. London: In-House.

Brøderbund. (1989) Prince of Persia. Apple II. US: Brøderbund.

Clover Studio. (2006) Okami. Playstation 2. Osaka: Capcom.

Creative Assembly. (2014) Alien: Isolation. Japan: Sega.

Cyan. (1993) Myst. Macintosh. US: Brøderbund.

Delphine Software. (1991) Another World. Amifa & Atari ST. Paris: Dephine Software.

Dontnod Entertainment. (2015) Life is Strange. Playstation 4. Japan, Tokyo: Square Enix.

Douglas, A. S. (1952) OXO. EDSAC. UK: University of Cambridge.

Frictional Games. (2015) SOMA. Playstation 4. Helsingborg: Frictional Games.

Higinbotham, W. (1958) Tennis for Two. Analog Computer. US: Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Konami Computer. (2003) Silent Hill 3. Playstation 2. Tokyo: Konami.

Naughty Dog. (2011) Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. Playstation 3. London: Sony Computer Entertainment.

Naughty Dog. (2013) The Last of Us. Playstation 3. London: Sony Computer Entertainment.

Nintendo EAD. (2003) The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. Gamecube. Japan: Nintendo.

Playdead. (2010) Limbo. Xbox Live Arcade. US: Microsoft Studios.

Quantic Dream. (2005) Fahrenheit. Playstation 2. London: Sony Computer Entertainment.

Quantic Dream. (2010) Heavy Rain. Playstation 3. London: Sony Computer Entertainment.

Quantic Dream. (2013) Beyond: Two Souls. Playstation 3. London: Sony Computer Entertainment.

Remedy Entertainment. (2010) Alan Wake. Xbox 360. US: Microsoft Studios.

Rockstar San Diego. (2010) Red Dead Redemption. Playstation 3. US: Take-Two Interactive.

Rockstar North. (2008) Grand Theft Auto IV. Playstation 3. US: Rockstar Games.

Rockstar North. (2013) Grand Theft Auto V. Playstation 3. US: Rockstar Games.

Russell, S. (1962). Spacewar!. PDP-1.US: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

SEGA AM2. (2000) Shenmue. Dreamcast. Tokyo: Sega.

Smoking Car Productions. (1997) The Last Express. Microsoft Windows. US: Brøderbund.

Supermassive Games. (2015) Until Dawn. PlayStation 4. Surrey: Sony Computer Entertainment.

Team Bondi. (2011) L.A Noire. Playstation 3. NY: Rockstar Games.

Team Ico. (2011) Ico. Playstation 2. Tokyo: Sony Computer Entertainment.

Telltale Games. (2012) The Walking Dead. Playstation 3. California: Telltale Games.

Thatgamecompany. (2012) Journey. Playstation 3. Tokyo: Sony Computer Entertainment.

Valve Corporation, (2007). Team Fortress 2. Windows. Washington: Valve Corporation.

Warp, (1996). Enemy Zero. Saturn. Tokyo: Sega.

Live Events

Blue Zoo: Keeping an Animation Studio Animated. Event Space: HOME. 18^th November 2015.

Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture: Game Changers. Sullivan Room, Leeds Town Hall. 13^th November 2015. 29^th Leeds International Film Festival.

Her Story: Game Changers. Sullivan Room, Leeds Town Hall. 13^th November 2015. 29^th Leeds International Film Festival.

Carlos Grangel. Waterside Arts Centre. 7^th November 2015. Meet the Puppet Masters.

Visiting Lecturer: Barry Purves. Room 117, Leeds College of Art. 2^nd December 2015.

Appendice

Hooks, E. (2015) Interviewed by Rebecca Wong

Pae, Shanen (2015) Interviewed by Rebecca Wong

Inspirations

   It has become apparent that I will not be able to make a fully animated piece for my practical, and so aside from my collection of concept art, I will be going to plan B (Plan C is where I just drop the entire animation altogether) where I will get a simpler and shorter (It should be less than 1 minute now) cinematic done with the use of After Effects. One or two scenes have already been cut out from the script or heavily simplified. with Rosy Turner helping me with the logo (I will show what she has done so far in another post later on) and title sequence, and Luke Tingle helping me with the sound and music, I will definitely have to pick up the pace on this.

  Below are a few of my main inspirations in terms of the art direction for Lurk's cinematic:

Silent Hill 4 Trailer

    Several settings are first shown at the beginning before previews of gameplay and a few cutscenes are shown. The scary atmosphere is very nicely established with the sound effects, music, and distorted camera effect. What I particularly enjoyed are the first person view shots of the enemies, especially when once they notice you. Some of these shots are practically something out of a David Lynch movie.

   Some of the stronger points of the trailer are its abrupt cuts to scenes such as Cynthia (The long haired ghost that drags herself across the ground) before yet another cut to a close up for the antagonist's face, the song is suddenly cut off and only her heavy breathing could be heard as she approaches the screen. It overall has a considerably nightmarish if not chaotic feel to it where it creates a necessary sense of dread to the player (And will make you hope from then on that something like this will never ever happen in real life).

Cat Lady Trailer

   Numerous voice clips are played throughout this trailer in contrast (Which makes sense seeing that the game is after all a very heavily voice acted narrative). The trailer also has a lot of shock value to it with the montage of images that are shown throughout. Aside from the simplistic (Its stiff and puppet-like movements for the characters however do suit the atmosphere of this point and click game) animation shown for its gameplay many otherwise still, flat images are cleverly shot (Something that can be obtained through the use of After Effects) and shown throughout.

Silent Hill 4 - Teaser trailer 2

   Going back to Silent Hill 4, the series was always good in conveying its creepy atmosphere through imagery and sound alone. There is once again the usage of fuzzy camera effects (Which also hints to the effect they have on the playable character if they go too near) as the teaser presents the ghost enemy to the viewers.

Silent Hill 4 - Teaser Trailer 1

   Once again, there is no talking, but only a clever preview of what would be one of the game's creepiest and most annoying enemies. There are also some very disturbing sound effects to match her movements and... a little startling close-up of her face at the very end (Still not enough to be regarded as a jump scare but still effective enough to be scary).

Alice: Madness Returns - 2D Cinematics 

   Numerous times I was referred to this by others for inspiration (This is a little off topic but I went into such a rant about how half ass Soul Calibur V's own cinematics were as compared to Alice: Madness Returns, and Soul Calibur V came out later), and I can understand why. The paper cut-out styled cutscenes were always one of my absolutely favorite aspects in the game, aside from being incredibly appealing to look at, it just contributes so well to the overall atmosphere that such a game is trying to establish.

   Aside from making reference to the illustrations seen in the books, I find it amazing how much emotion and performance can still be conveyed from such a style of animation. Which goes to show that photorealistic and incredibly detailed animation isn't always the way to convey a strong performance.

And finally: The Walking Dead (unofficial) (2010) — Art of the Title (Sorry, couldn't figure out a way to embed the videos here like the others)

   As mentioned in another blog post (I think, totally lost track by this point), Rosy had referred me to this for inspiration when we had started discussing on which direction I will be taking my animation in. While I myself am not a fan of the television series, I found the usage of the art from the comic book series to be incredibly clever. Very much like the cinematics from Alice: Madness Returns, the strong poses from the artwork selected by the designer is able to effectively convey the story and the characters featured in the series.

Changes to Dissertation

   Possibly the shortest post I will actually post on here, I have made a lot of changes to my dissertation within a very short space of time. Thanks to my friend, I was able to realise that I was attempting to cover too much and needed to restructure the entirety of my essay, seeing as it was practically all over the place without any sort of flow. And while I cannot necessarily say that the present version is perfect, I think I have made a huge improvement with my 5000 newly written words. I decided to remove several examples and replace them with ones that I was more enthusiastic about writing from the very beginning, some titles will be mentioned, but only for a few paragraphs if they are not the particular examples that I want to focus heavily upon.

   Hopefully I can get the finished draft done by this afternoon as I hope to get my lecturer and friend to reread through it before I go off to get it printed on Friday (Speaking of which, isn't there class on that day? Ah well, I'm sure they will still let us go). As for my practical piece... I will write about it in another post.

Moodboards

   So not much has changed in terms of my inspiration for Lurk, but just for comparison sake, I decided to place the old moodboard that I had made during the end of PPP1 (That I can still make full use of) alongside the new ones that I have quickly put together. I am still aiming for the monochromatic look with an unsettling atmosphere and ambience than a full out gore fest, but have decided to include examples from both. More stylistic games (That also happen to be indie games) are also included here as they have inspired me in terms of their more unique approaches and even more unique storytelling.

First mood board from nearly 2 years back, I am still remaining pretty faithful
to the selection of styles I have shown here.

A new mood board featuring an array of horror games that have gone for the more realistic if not
photorealistic look. While "Silent Hill" remains one of my main inspirations for my project,
games that tend to feature the 'little kid companion/partner' trope have also become a huge part
of my reference, not many of these however were able to succeed in creating that empathy
much like "The Last of Us", "Telltale's The Walking Dead" and even "Resident Evil: Revelations 2"
has done.

More stylistic games that are not particularly of the traditional horror genre. Most
of these games however have succeeded in breaking away from the norms and cliches
of many large company produced horror games (Sorry, guys!), and so are great examples
for when I am working on Lurk's storyline and narrative.

Roleplaying and an brief analyses on Silent Hill 3's Heather Mason

   I thought it was an interesting factor that one should imagine if not visualise themselves in the role of the character that they are writing for. When roleplaying was mentioned during the storytelling and scriptwriting workshop that was held the other week, I immediately thought back to my 'secret' little bit of research that I was a little too embarrassed to mention about here... which, I am finally about to do so, right this very minute.

   As part of my research (In a way), I decided to create an RP blog (That has been active since summer break) for one of my most favourite survival horror protagonists (And no, I will not be posting the link here). While there has been a huge increase in strong female leads (Especially in the horror genre) in recent years, at the time, characters such as Heather Mason were still somewhat of a rarity. 

   While there were indeed other strong female leads (Such as Jill Valentine and Claire Redfield from the Resident Evil series), I still find Silent Hill 3's Heather Mason to be one of the most realistic and believable protagonists ever featured in a horror game (I would also like to mention that she out of all the Silent Hill protagonists, and being the only female protagonist from that series thus far, is also given extra bonus points for being thrown into the most terrifying instalment out of all of them. Though, that is a discussion for another time... But seriously, Silent Hill 3 remains the scariest title out of them all). 

   Fatal Frame has noticeably more fragile but still nonetheless competent enough female protagonists when compared to the Silent Hill and Resident Evil series (And while it might seem that their femininity might be a little exaggerated, I have indeed seen many young Japanese girls that behave in the timid if not delicate fashion the protagonists of Fatal Frame do. Whether this is done merely to appear to cute to others is yet another question that will have to be answered another time...). 

   But, I once again find Heather to be a far more well balanced character when compared to them, as a female character, she is neither too experienced nor too fragile. She is just... your everyday teenager that you will almost always see at the shopping mall. While she doesn't necessarily know how to handle a knife or gun as well as our famous Ex-STARS, beret-wearing member, she is still able to hold her own pretty darn well. The designers have clearly put a lot of thought into their first major female protagonist, from her appearance, down to her amusingly sarcastic mannerisms (Just take a look at her idle animation if you ever get the chance to, her poses alone are able to express just how done she actually is with everything, especially when compared to James Sunderland and Henry Townshend).

   Heather also eventually begins to numb out most of her fear towards this nightmarish world that she is so abruptly thrown in as the game progresses, a believable defence mechanism for anyone that still has a goal that needs to be reached. The girl has not yet given up despite the fact that she has practically lost something (Or someone) dear to her and that her entire life has gone straight to hell. She does not give into her supposed fate , with anger as her weapon and love as her shield, she bravely enters the town of Silent Hill to avenge her father...

   Needless to say, after all these years, I find myself empathising with Heather far more than I really do any other female game character (Claire Redfield might be a close second, however, seeing how emotional she can still get despite her many attempts to remain brave in the face of danger). To this day, I still find her to be one of the most relatable characters out there and while I have seen quite a few characters that are most probably modelled after her in recent horror game titles, none of them have truly reached the same level of empathy or relatability as this blonde heroine here.

Rough Gantt Chart

   With my literature research underway (At the present moment, I still do have quite a few books to read through and take notes from as well as require a bit more time in figuring out whether I still need to email a few practitioners) and the fact that I already have a pretty good idea on what I will be doing for the practical side of this project, I spent this morning putting together a rough gantt chart for myself to which I can refer to until the very end of this module. 
   
   I should try to keep my research gathering (Or methodology) to at least a month so that I will actually have more time to properly work on my dissertation and practical piece (I especially need quite a bit of time in putting together my practical piece, seeing as I hope to work with collaborator, who should most definitely be given enough time for his own contribution). Various events that I will be attending (Such as Manchester Animation Festival and Thought Bubble) have also been taken into account, as well as all the sessions that we need to attend for CoP3, PPP3 and Extended Practice.

Dissertation - First Set of Mindmaps

As always, to get the ball rolling, this is my first set of mindmaps that I worked on after burying myself in books over the summer. 

Aside from making sure that most of the module's important details have been embedded in my brain (Such as what we need to submit and when the deadline is exactly), I also began thinking about what topics link and are of relation to "Acting in Animation". And from there, I started listing down a number of examples that I could possible write about for my essay (Which was most definitely the easiest part out of all of this).

... So yes, stay tuned for more mindmaps! Especially once I actually decide on my title and what chapters to put in my essay.

Mindmap based on the briefs.

A simpler mindmap based on submission protocol.

Mindmap based on feedback received over the summer.

Contents that I can possibly focus on for my essay, as well
as references to look at while working on practical.