For our first lesson, we were sorted into groups so we could create a mind map of 100 ideas for a world to create. I was sorted into Group 6 where we immediately began compiling ideas. As seen below, we definitely came up with a lot - some of my contributions including "zombie virus that only effects c h i l d r e n", "God/Satan swap roles for a while", "cannibal mermaid-cats" and "mad scientist vampire who wants rid of the sun/is in an eclipse world". My ideas tended to derive from media I enjoy already. I'm attracted to cartoons in particular that take usually cliche concepts, (The Owl House with witchcraft, and Steven Universe with aliens/gems) and add a unique twist to them. I have a real love for rich yet not overly complicated cartoon stuff - which is why I find myself being uninterested in media that feels like you have to get a degree to understand its lore, (eg: Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, Star Wars).
Once we reconvened into the main class, we were instructed to take our mind map and choose the ideas that will inspire the world we create. Following this, we were to refine whatever ideas we chose - making sure to discuss possible characters, creatures, weather, environments, themes, and the backstory.
Initially, it was decided we were going to try to include as many of our initial ideas as we could. In hindsight, this lead to too many cooks in the kitchen - but in idea form! We chose to go with the main ideas of space, clashes between traditional and futuristic scene, technology being taken too far, and the consequences of this along with damaging the environment. We also wanted to heavily focus on bioluminescence caused by radiation, and how that would affect the flora and fauna - along with any human survivors. There was debate on whether this story would be set on Earth or an alien planet, whether humans would even survive whatever damage they'd cause, and whether or not aliens would visit Earth and take over, or mimic the human cuture left behind, or even have their planet be invaded and subsequently ruined by humans. We tended to focus on the creatures and environment for the most part - which was good to have ironed out early on, as personally, I tend to focus too heavily on characters and forget to establish world rules and such early on. As seen below, we also discussed possible mutations caused by humans due to their own destruction:
Next, we were instructed to talk amongst ourselves in order to brainstorm creature designs for the world we're creating. My group hopped on a collaborative drawing site and doodled some concepts, as seen below!
As one could observe, we created some intensely colourful creatures! I personally appreciate the contrast between the beautful, majestic sea creatures and then my contributions, (as seen below!) which could basically be summed up as bootleg, neon Pokemon! For my concepts, I tried to focus on the neon/bioluminescent concept - but in more unconventional ways. For example, the bunny was themed after magma with cute lil' ash paws, the poison dart frog was themed after neon/radioactive elements, (as I figured radioactivity and poison went well together... at least for art) and the fox was themed after highways and how they light up at night - with said lights zipping around when looking at them from a car. I had a blast coming up with the rough ideas and joking around with the others in my group!
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