We talked earlier about our process of developing the script, but this is only half of what makes the final VR experience, the rest is how it looks and feels.
When putting visuals to our work, the first place we start is with concept art. This is usually a mix of reference images, quick sketches, colour swatches and anything else we can get our hands on!
A plan of the Steel Works SIte
The things we come up with at this stage won’t all necessarily end up in the final experience, but it’s an important part of the process for us to have somewhere to start working from. As we are recreating a real location as part of this project, one of our most valuable assets is a plan of the old Corby steel works (something we already had thanks to all our hard work researching this project). As discussed in an earlier blog, we’ve got our rough three act structure in place and known WHAT we will be saying in each of them, we now need to know WHERE they will be taking place. As a digital organisation we create a lot of our concept art through digital tools, such as Affinity. This allows us to create art as if they have been created using different mediums (paint, pencils, etc) but also iterate and copy and adjust much easier than using physical mediums.
While we were writing the script we had a rough idea of the where the acts would take place:
ACT 1
The first act, telling the history of Corby, will be taking place in a real location in Old Corby (on the junction of Stock’s Lane and High Street) through the ages.
As people can move around the experience, we want a way to focus their attention on different areas. Our working idea is to place a firepit in the centre of the space and have it show a map of Corby as it changes. Towards the end of the scene we also want the steel works to loom large over the space.
A Screenshot of our Old Corby setting, with the looming blast furnaces on the horizon.
ACT 2
The second act will transition into the steel works at its prime. Throughout our interviews and research one thing that really stood out was people talking about how the steel works were almost exclusively lit by the light of molten steel. We want to reflect this through the use light and colour. Focussing on reds, oranges and sparks flying, we want people to almost feel the heat coming off the moving and clanking machinery.
Sparks fly from the molten steel.
ACT 3
The final scene will be set in the ruins of the steel works just after the demolition. Following the dark and oppressive environment of Act 2 in the steel works, we want to open up to the sky and have a much more muted palette. However, to match the hopeful tone of Act 3, we also want to have some bright bold colours. Our idea at the moment is to focus this around the Corby Candle.
We are imagining colour emanating from the candle and adding colour back to the world until finally everything is a vivid dreamscape. This will reflect the colour being brought back into Corby by the people who still live there.
Paint strokes in vivid colours radiate from the Corby Candle.
Now that we have the building blocks for what we want to create, the work begins of pulling the raw materials together, heating them up and forging them into one story; one experience.