Starting off with absolutely no limits besides what we believed that we would be able to produce, I found the freedom a welcome turn, and generated a host of ideas and conceptual sketches.We found that the two most striking ideas were that of a world of diamonds (and nothing else) and a world of endless staircases, not unlike the famous piece by Escher with infinitely looping staircases.
The staircases were inspired by a set of concrete steps that pass through a narrow alleyway, steps that are lit by dim orange streetlights. I was particularly interested in how they seemed to glow orange after it had rained, due to the reflection of the streetlights.
Given that the area is very quiet (people only use the steps for access to the back of the station, as so there is a stream of people every twenty minutes or so) and the high walls of the buildings either side completely enclose the light, I felt that the staircase became entirely muted, and a bubble of a world. However, we decided that because of the warm orange glow, we would make the staircase world a loud, exciting place, full of movement and life.
The diamond idea I particularly liked because again, it held a sense of isolation - diamond structures suspended in an endless void, like stars in space without any planets or debris. It also seemed to be particularly elegant, and had the potential to be oppressive (some force that may have destroyed the surroundings) or hopeful (the last, repopulating ships in the galaxy) depending on whatever sound we applied to the video footage. We felt that the cool blue tones and severe shape of the diamonds would lend itself more readily to being perceived as 'cold' 'hard' and therefore, oppressive.By combining the two we would create a city of staircases, living and dying underneath the cold eye of the diamonds, which would float alone in the night sky.
To accompany the initial design of the world, I created some characters.
This is because I felt that a story world is inseparable from the characters that inhabit it, the world should reflect the character, and thus the character should reflect the world.
As a result, I created two young girls - to be innocent and ignorant of any social corruptions in the worlds they represent, that were just reflections.
The diamond girl has sharp eyes, straight hair, neat and plain clothing, and bone structure that suggests she may be from East Asia. However her colour scheme is kept at a silvery blue, alike the diamond ships.
The city girl has larger, rounder eyes (to take in more light) and wider, softer features. By giving her darker skin and a chaotic curl to her hair, I made her resemble someone of African descent. She has a hand-me-down coat, and a long floppy scarf that I imagined to trail behind her as she ran clumsily up and down the steps.
I found that this exercise really helped me gain an in depth understanding of the world we had begun to create, and as I continued to develop a 3D realisation of how this world would work, I used the characters as a measure against which to judge creative decisions.
At the end of the first week I had created a model building that represented the average architecture that could be found in the city; corrugated iron ceilings and panels much alike Dharavi in Mumbai, Asia's largest shanty town. Then, with the added element of the staircases to give a height to the city, the shanty town built up and up towards the stars.
To the right, the cardboard model was spray painted rusty brown, black, and a metallic silver to suggest age and weathering. I then placed several candles inside to show that it was inhabited.
This practise provided a further reference when considering the final model.
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