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The games cover:

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Xbox 360

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Manhunt:

Manhunt is a horror game created by Rockstar games. It is considered to be one of the scariest and the most violent game ever created with it being banned in numerous countries such as Germany, New Zealand and more. The game is focused on the main character, James Earl Cash, a death row prisoner who is forced to be cast by a film director to participate in ‘scenes’ for their movie. These would be based in certain areas like mazes where the player, who plays Cash has to sneak around whilst also trying to kill those who are looking for him, such as the ‘Hunters’ and the SWAT team trying to find Cash. The game is notoriously famous for its sickening ways the player can kill the police, leading to the main reasons why the game is banned in many countries.

The main reason I am looking into this is not dow to its disgusting approach to a game with the brutal killings that have rumoured to influenced people in real life to carry out these killings but for the font on the cover. I feel the simplicity of the font promotes the fact that it is a horror game to the viewers. Throughout the games I have played in the past, including Activision’s Call Of Duty, The font is very basic, yet iconic in the game industry. I want to include this effect on my very own game to emphasise that it is a horror game and is clearly obvious from the simple font.

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A tiny problem

The mutated left hand I had made instead of a regular hand had fallen off to the structure of it being unstable. Another thing that caused this is my lack of adding a strong build to the hand. For example I could have used thin wire to maintain the strength of the hand. 

However since this is a mutated hand, I am not too worried with this problem and can create a much more stronger and efficient hand for the model.

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Adding last minute details:

I am now at the stage where adding the form of the zombie is complete, however the details were barely visible. I begun to add in 

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Playstation:

All credit goes to https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC 2Y8dQb0S6DtpxNgAKoJKA

Playstation is a games company created and owned by Sony. It was created in 1994 with its very own console, The playstation one or the PS1. This console made history with Sony selling 100 million of them. This result also continued with its predecessor, The PS2 with 

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The Atari consoles:

Source of image:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Atari-2600-Wood-4Sw-Set.png

Atari is a video game company owned but its parent company, Nintendo. They were responsible for the games console named after them, The Atari had multiple models such as the 400, the 2600. the 5200, the 7800, the lynx, VCS and Jaguar. 

These consoles were very popular amongst all ages From 1984 to the early 1990′s with being able to emulate iconic games such as Pac-Man as well as Activision’s Pitfall. Although they are technically classed as vintage, the Atari consoles are still being played with as they are the only way to play the old fashioned games that haven't been altered modern consoles.

Since the 5600 came out in 1986, I thought it would make sense to look into the console and the many games that came with it, specifically the cover to help me define a cover for my very own game. Creating an Atari Game cover will not only relate to the era my project is based around in, but a minority of the younger generation today don't even know what an Atari is and showing my sculpture through a retro game cover, will boost its effectiveness overall. 

It will also make those who do know as well as even playing on the console when it was all the rage all them years ago a trip back down memory lane.

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Xbox:

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Batman: Arkham City

Batman: Arkham City is a game developed by RockSteady studios in 2011. The player who plays as Batman must find out what 'Protocol 10' is after being kidnapped and placed in Arkham City, a part of Gotham City where criminals are sent to rather than prison. Batman faces new and old threats, mainly from the villains he has thwarted in the past such as Joker, Riddler, Poison Ivy etc.

I decided to look into this game not for the game itself but for the design of the front cover. I really like how colour has been manipulated especially with how Batman and the city behind him is all Black and white, yet a dark red is introduced around Batman's hands, the red is showing Blood on Batman's hands, this also emphasises to the viewers from the cover that this game features strong and bloody violence.

It is the same with the Special edition version of the game, featuring Joker instead of Batman. A bright Green has been used instead of red to portray the blood spilling out of his teeth, this has been done to show the history behind the Joker where an accident has not only changed his psyche but also the colour of his blood.

The way colour has been used in this game cover really works, to not warn the potential buyers of the violence but to make the cover look more unique than any other games.

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Making the hands:

The next step after completing the bottom half of the body with the feet and the creases, I could now focus on including the three hands that feature across my piece.

I first started on making the hand on the left side as this one would be the most exposed out of the three hands. To help me create the structure of the hand strong as well as prevent the fingers from falling off so quickly, I cut off five small pieces of wire. These will be the skeletons of each finger. Once the wires were placed onto the small clump of clay which will be the palm and the main support for the wires to sit in comfortably and safely. Since the design shows that particular hand in a position of looking like its trying to grab onto something, I had to alter the angle each finger were sat in. Using my hands and a pair of pliers, I bent the fingers into the angles to create the hand’s positioning even more. From that point on, I was ready to create the main shape of the fingers using clay.

Although adding the clay was no problem slimming down the size of each finger to create the look of the actual human skeleton of the bones would be difficult as I had to worry about not only pressing too hard to an extent where the fingers would fall off but also consider the issue of how awkward it will be. the stability of each finger will also be compromised. I knew that this would be very awkward and time consuming to keep working on so I decided to improvise and scrap he idea of creating a bony hand.

I though that instead of having three hands that basically looked the same, I would boost the effects of radiation affecting the zombie by mutating one hand. Using same technique I had used for creating the whole right side of the model, I added some irradiated muscles that act more like vines than the other side, Add more of this behaviour would make it look more obvious that is a mutated hand and not a replacement of one. But I did add some areas the bones had enlarged and even sharpened to create more of the mutated hand’s structure. I think this was a sensible decision to change the look of the hand as it removes that feeling of the zombie’s hands looking too similar to each other. I think the new hand adds more character and even gives off more of a distressing look.

The next hand was on the right side slightly hidden by the irradiated muscles. I wanted to keep the original structure of the hand as keeping this makes the design of the zombie look as if the muscles are growing abnormally out of the zombies chest, whilst maintaining the original body structure. I did add include some of the muscles growing onto the hand to create the illusion of the hands beginning to mutate into one similar to the other hand. I avoided using wires to make the hand structure as this technique resulted in doing absolutely nothing in supporting the hand, which forced me to improvise and create a mutated one. I was very fortunate wit this hand as the fingers are all clenched together. The fingers were very easy to make as I only had to roll four mini rolls of clay and then stick them onto the palm. Although this took minutes to make, I think this hand suits really well with he rest of the model with it even suggesting that the whole right side of the conjoined zombie is screaming loudly, even with his hand clenched to promote this effect.

The last hand was the new one growing through the irradiated muscles. Since this was technically another mutated hand, I wasn’t too bothered about the overall look of the hand as long as it was obvious that it is a hand with five fingers. Once again I did not uses wires for this hand and just stuck each finger I had made from rolling out a piece of clay and then stuck them on. One thing I have done differently compared to the other tow was adding the illusion of the hand stretching out of the hand. I rolled out more longer strips of clay for the muscles and then connect them to both the hand and the other muscles. Overall I am really happy with how each hand turned it despite the complications with the first one as well as the disappointing turnout of suing wire to work the clay to. But with these compromises, I think I have managed to create 3 hands that are different from each other and keep them related to the model in their own way.

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Making the feet:

Due to how bad the posing of the old armature, the feet were near impossible to work with. But since I had to restart my whole model with a  stronger and easier armature to work with,  this would enable me to finally add more detail to the bottom parts of the model.

The first side I started was the left leg which has the foot that has been affected by the radiation in many ways such as the increased length of the whole foot, big blisters have begun to grow on the foot that has been caused by the burnt areas caused by the toxicity of the radiation. To make each toe I added tiny clumps of clay and then blended them to create the basic shapes of the foot. Using multiple tools with tiny tips of different angles, I dented into the top of the tops to create the toenails, I did this to not only add detail to the foot but to add more form to the fact it was a human foot. To create the effect of the foot being burnt, I used the same technique I used for the previous project’s final outcome of adding a rough skin texture to the goblin to add more character, However since this is a much smaller scale, especially with the fact I am making a model of the zombie’s WHOLE model and not just the head, I needed to decrease the size of each hole.

Once the form and the basic burnt effect was in place, I added in the last feature, the blisters growing on the foot and to make these, I rolled numerous lumps of clay into spheres and then joined them onto the foot.

Overall I am really happy with how this foot turned out with how realistic it looks, despite being made out of clay. I think adding burns to the foot makes it look so much better as well as giving more context to the theme of radiation with the effect being one of the main symptoms of been around ionising radiation. Using the HBO’s Tv adaptation of Chernobyl and with it showing the effects of it killing the body in a horrendous way, beginning with burning the victim. I feel I have captured this stage into my model and will emphasise how dangerous radiation can be to us.

The next side does not have the foot exposed but instead has a big boot. I have chosen to do this in order to show what the of boots people used whilst using hazmat suits to maximise their protection from the radiation or ay other hazardous materials. Since shoes are much bigger than the foot to promote comfort, I decided to do the same but go even bigger to create the effect as if the foot has enlarged whilst inside the boot, making the boot bigger than it is supposed to be. Once the basic shape of the shoe was now made, I could now begin to remove some of the clay to refine the shape even more to make the boot look more like a boot. Using a tool with a hook on the end, I began to take off parts of clay in the edges of the shoe to create a rounded effect that exists at the foot of every shoe . To create the collar of the shoe, I rolled out two long pieces of clay cut of any smooth corners to make a long rectangle. I then stuck both strips to the shoe and blended it to the shape of boot to add in the feature and make it look attached.

For the laces, I took a tiny piece of clay and then rolled them into very small strips to make the bases look believable. However I do think I could have used another material to make the laces in order to maximise the realism of the shoe. I have acknowledges this and will consider this solution to any similar issue that occurs in future projects. Overall I am really happy with the boot as it looks and fits in really well alongside the whole model, with the lower part of the hazmat suit creasing against the shoe, I think the effect works really well to an extent where it looks realistic, a feature I want to add in to relate the model to the real life disaster of Chernobyl even more.

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Making the other head:

Using the same technique I used for the making the first head, I added a small lump of clay to define the angle the head will sit at to help me adapt with how the head will look from the angle. Once I found the angle I though the head would be best at, I then begun to add more clay to create more of the shape for the head. Since I had made a gas mask for the soldier in last years final major project, I made it the exact way by rolling a thick piece of clay into a long cylinder and then cutting the shorter ends with a pair of scissors. Using a pair of scissors will allow me to have a clean cut from the shorter ends of the cylinder whereas using a knife will cut the shorter ends off but the cut will not be neatened, ruining the overall look the tube once applied to the rest of the mask. The lenses were made from me pressing the handle of a tool into the clay, creating the outline of the circular lenses, Then using scissors I cut the shape out, before then smoothing the sides to refine the circular lenses. 

To connect all the features to the face, I had to apply more clay to the upper half of the face whilst also removing a chunk with the same radius of the tube to strengthen its hold on the mask. The lenses were tricky as I had to blend them to the main face whilst also trying to make them look like they are sticking out from the mask, I was lucky with the right lenses as that is the one with the zombies’ eye exposed.

About the zombies’ eye being exposed, I had to make a signifiant change. I thought of how I was going to add this feature in, however I kept on running into these negatives, with one being that making the eye will be hard let alone making the glass within there damaged lens. I decided to spare me from all the bother which could waste essential time and remove the idea of adding the eye but instead connect the head to the mutated muscles with them growing inside the mask as well, adding more of a horrifying look to the zombie’s physique.

Overall this change has proved to be a good choice, especially with how much time it has spared me which could and will be used for updating coursework as well as give me plenty of time to make sure my model is finished. It is a shame that I couldn't add in part of the zombies face as originally planned but I think covering the right side of the face with the muscles shows the viewers that the mutated muscles is indeed alive with it possibly mutation to a certain extent that it mutates the whole zombie into something far more disgusting and dangerous.

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Making the armature(Again) and the wall:

With what happened to my old model compromising the whole armature and making it impossible to continue working on, I begun to make a brand new one that had a much stronger build and far more effective posture.

Firstly I created a wall as I want to make sure that even if the new armature cannot manage to withstand the clay, There is alternative support for the armature to sit back on, keeping the armature up and looking effective. To make the wall be as strong as it can be, I created a back support for the wall, made from four blocks of wood.

I managed to find a random scrap of wood that was perfect as it was not too big but not too small either whilst also being thick, making it the best type of used wood for the back. I managed to find a much longer bit of wood that had the exact thickness of the random scrap. I used this piece of wood but had to cut it down into sizes that matched the length of the scrap. I used a try square to draw in the lines where it needed to be cut from. I used a Tenon saw to cut each individual block of wood as this particular tool is the best to use for wood. 

Once each block was cut, I sanded down those that had some splints left from cutting each of them to keep them looking good whilst also preventing the risk of a viewer or even me cutting myself or themselves on the wall. 

I lined all four blocks up to make up the basic wall that will be used for the support of the wall that will be for the armature (complicated I know). I used wood glue to join all of these together to ensure a join that would be difficult to break. Since this was the back for the wall, I wasn't worried about the look of it, even though it is exposed as it wasn't interesting and will not impact the look of the armature at all. For the actual wall I found a piece of wood that was exactly the height of the armature as well as the width, which was lucky as it saved time having to cut it down to size, potentially wasting time.

I connected the support to the wall by using screws and a drill to tightly seal the gap between the blocks of wood. I used multiple screws as I wanted to make sure that it an also withstand the clay’s weight if the armature was overwhelmed by it. 

Happy with the join of the supports to the wall, Now was the time to connect the wall to the base, Once again I used screws to make sure that the join was tight and strong.  

For the armature I created a very similar one to the original one but I changed how it would connect to the base. This is down to how the technique of drilling a whole, placing the wiring into the hole and securing it with super glue and some glue from a hot glue gun turned out to be a terrible way of joining the armature to the base. Using the advice given to by a technician, I created these mini ‘feet’ that were basically bent pieces of wire that had been welded to the armature using a spot welder. These feet would act as the way to join the armature to base from the mini gap in the middle of the feet. The gap is big enough for a screw to be inserted into the middle, which would also overlap onto the feet’s wiring, tightening this join would also strengthen the armature pose of standing up. 

Once the armature was joined to the base, I continued remaking the sculpture as I had done previously with first coating the entire armature in foil to prevent the clay from falling off as it had done so in the first trial before then slowly and carefully adding clay.

I am really happy with the changes I have made to this version of the armature with one obvious change of the distance between the legs being decreased as well as the armature not looking like it has risen from the ground. Although this pose was looking good already, The stability of the model was too difficult to manage, as well as include major details due to the awkward angles these parts were. Making the armature look like its wondering around allows me to play with the pose more, as if the arms are lifelessly following the directions the zombie is moving on. I think changing the armature will allow me to add the details that will make it look just a little bit more interesting, especially with the back of the legs now visible, which will force me to add creasing which is not a bad thing as me adding more details will make a huge difference to the overall look of the model.

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A big big problem:

Today I got into my area of the studio only to find my sculpture had been moved without any notice. I was told that technicians were dealing with a water pipe underneath my table and had to ‘move’ my model.

I found my sculpture laying down due to their misinterpretation of treating it like it was nothing valuable. I understand that the sculpture was under multiple layers of bin bags but it is obvious that it is a heavy model. They could have at least left a message apologising about how they have sabotaged my model as the armature has been bent to an extent it is now impossible to work with. Due to this huge setback I had to salvage as much clay as I could from the damaged armature. The most frustrating thing from this issue is that I will have to completely restart my sculpture with even having to create a whole new armature.

I will also make a wall out of scraps of wood to give extra support for the armature in case the clay got too heavy for the new armature, causing it to fall over once again.