Cornwall Trip Pictures

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Presentation Prep

So tomorrow I am to do a presentation explaining my initial ideas for my FMP. The tutors have quite cruelly named it ‘The Dragons Den’…. Here are the specifics:

The Dragon’s Den

You have to pitch your ideas to us. You have to convince us the idea is strong enough and interesting enough to invest several months of hard work into realising it.

To do that you must:

Use strong visuals to show the idea – random chattering won’t do

Explain how you will conduct the visual research – no, Google image search is not good enough

Convince us you can manage the project logistics and scope – is it too ambitious?

Get us (and you) excited – is it ambitious enough? Are you stretching yourself or playing safe?

All 1st and 2nd year students welcome to sit in and enjoy the spectacle

I thought it would be helpful to outline my presentation on here, I’m hoping it will help me prep for my talk tomorrow!

• The Minack theatre is an open air theatre in Cornwall, carved out of a the granite cliff side of Porthcurno bay.
• It was built in the 1930’s by one lady called Rowena Cade.
• Particularly loved the hand carved seating and stands, all covered in carvings by Rowena.

 

• There are really interesting assets to model. All of the granite has been weather worn and have great character. The seating and floors have all bee hand carved with patterns, pictures and writing which adds kookiness.

• One of the main reasons I chose this area to model was the contrast between man made solid structures, and the natural haphazardness of the cliffs. This is also helped by the incredible sub-tropical garden that covers the top of the cliff. I intend to model this area too as it creates a great are of interest and looks amazing juxtaposed with the large granite architecture below.

 

 

• I had originally planned to create a Victorian garden, but after hearing Chris’s opinion (basically a little bit boring) decided against it. In hindsight this was a great decision as (amongst many other reasons) the planting in such a garden is mostly lush over the Summer. Conveniently, the southerness of Minack means that subtropical plants thrive there, these sort of plants looks amazing all year round, so my reference pictures can be taken now. Here are some example of succulents that live there.

• Having the English Channel and the nearby beach and headlands as a backdrop just adds to the coolness of this area. It’s inspiring to be building something so magical and original.
• The fact the theatre is contained (by the sea, cliffs and garden) makes this project feel very do-able. It’s range of objects and themes make it constantly challenging and exciting.
• I have booked a B&B in Cornwall for this weekend, and am driving down on Saturday to take references of Minack, Trebah Gardens and Heligan Gardens. The other two gardens also have Sub tropical planting and will be inspiring places to visit and take reference from.

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Plus… I’ve booked a trip to Cornwall next weekend to get reference pictures of all three places. This means I get to go on a mini holiday and not feel guilty about not doing work, win win!

Meh, drizzle is no fun, but at least the clouds mean I’ll get great reference pictures. Every cloud has a silver lining *cough* cheesy…

Scrap That…

Ah, pants! After finalising my idea and starting to plan the ins and outs of my garden level I felt pretty confident about the way it would look and how to start going about building it. I recognise now I had gotten a little ahead of myself, I’d chosen the idea and built it up in my head, but had forgot the importance of getting a different opinion! So when I headed in to uni and produced my mood board, I was kind of disappointed when Chris started suggesting alternatives immediately. I think it was mostly pride that stopped me recognising how awesome the alternatives were that he was suggesting at first, so I went home kind of downhearted. When I decided to get over it and check out the places Chris suggested I looked at I was pretty flabbergasted that they actually existed! Check out these sites of interest in Cornwall, click on the picture for more info:

Trebah Gardens

The Lost Gardens of Heligan

Minack Theatre

I can see now why my Victorian garden was rejected to be honest. It seems so dull and predictable compared to these places! I think if I chose to stick to my original plan I would end up regretting it by Christmas… I can imagine getting bored of just making plants like roses and wisteria day after day! For this reason I particularly love the Minack theatre as it looks like a really interesting balance of nature and hand crafted architecture that looks really cool to build. As I said in a previous post I “wanted to combine solid man made structures with nature, the contrast of this always makes aesthetically pleasing setups”, instead of the walls and fences I had originally planned on making, a theatre carved out of stone certainly seems like an upgrade!

So… I guess I should thank Chris for the new game plan!

Plan, plan, plan

In previous years I have really struggled with the planning phases of my projects and tend to leave them to the last minute. Doing this pretty much screws up the project, even in its initial stages. One of the most important thing I learnt in the 2nd year team project was the ULTIMATE IMPORTANCE OF PLANNING!

This year, however, I have a plan. I have a rather good feeling about it, too! I have a little section of my room the I use for my office, and in this space I have made a physical timetable that sits right next to my desk. Every night before bed, I write down the tasks I need to get through the next day (in pencil) and cross off those I achieved already (in green, because green is a happy colour! Yes, rather childish..) In order to keep the long term goal in sight, I have also made a list of the tasks that need to be done in the long run, this list isn’t detailed, it’s just to help me keep in mind the stages I need to complete before Christmas.

Here it is!

This system will help me see the projects as bite size pieces and stop me feeling overwhelmed by the amount of work that needs juggling. It also helps me keep in check of deadlines and how well I am time managing. The fact that it is a physical entity (ha) on my wall rather than a digital schedule gives it solidarity for me. Every day I have to sit by it, so undone tasks are always there staring at me judgingly. Sadly, I also find the act of crossing something off in pen gives me a great feeling of satisfaction… it’s the little things!

I managed to get my mood board done and dusted today. On a similar theme to the ‘physical’ timetable, I decided to make this mood board with printouts, paint and scraps on an old canvas board. I felt like getting my glue out and getting mucky and the physical act of cutting and sticking helps me clear my mind and concentrate on the ideas floating around in my head. It also provides me with constant inspiration in my office, which will helpfully be useful as I continue planning. Anyhoo, here's a photograph of it, I’ll scan it in at a later date:

It Begins!

First post on my new FMP blog! Currently in the starting phase of my planning, just trying to outline the general idea for my level.. it’s quite hard to get a balance between the over ambitious ideas in my head and do-able plans for the level.

I really wanted to create something that will keep me inspired throughout the year. I instantly knew this would have to involve some type of nature and planting, as this is my main source of inspiration and a large passion in my spare time. This area is such a vast subject though and I’ve had trouble creating a solid idea from the vague word ‘nature’. I knew I wanted to have some sort of structure or theme, I also wanted to combine solid man made structures with nature, the contrast of this always makes aesthetically pleasing setups. So, after a Summer changing my mind over and over again, I have decided upon my initial idea… *drum roll* …a recreational Victorian walled garden :D 

The Victorian theme will allow for some playing around with solid objects. Having a theme in itself allows for the project to have some sort of structure, and will hopefully keep the level seem genuine. I also feel like the ‘wall’ element of this project will help create a boundary for my project. I originally wanted to do something like a woodland scene, or an arboretum but both of these ideas had no limit. They felt intimidating and quite bland, despite me being so passionate about both. The wall gives me both a mental and physical limit that in can work within, the Victorian theme adds interest and structure!

Anyhoo, here's a list of initial mind splats that keep bouncing off the wall of my brain. It feels so good to finally write them down!

- Greenhouse old Victorian style with iron wrought framework. Mossy glass, half buried in climbing plants. Inside, scattered used tools, half potted up seedlings, piles of peat.

- Old worn gate, peeling paint and splintered wood, rotten bottom.

- Old rusty iron chair over grown with plant life.

-  Summer house? Not too sure about this one.

- Player starts in damp dark courtyard. Ferns and spurge moss in the borders. Trickling wall mounted water feature based on something that looks quite disturbing like a gargoyle. I want this area to feel damp and cold and dark, which will contrast with the warm light and colours of the next area of garden.

… I have this image in my mind of the garden being split into three different sections simply done by the use of planting and light. Hence why the courtyard section and the main chunk of the garden being split apart.

- Big over grown hedge/ivy/rose/wisteria hiding the entrance dark where you begin, main area of garden provides a source of light peeping through the gaps. Inspires the player to go through the door, and helps the entrance to be spotted through the climber/hedge.

- Small pond with lily pads.

- Pergola from gate entrance.. dark tunnel with silhouettes or a climbing plant. Creates light contrast and mystery.

- Bird table?

So now that’s all ejected from my head I had better start doing some visual research… I think it’s mood board time!