ARCH30005: Design Visualisation M.02 Journal

ARCH30005 DESIGN VISUALIZATION

JOURNAL: M.02 Module 2: The Lived-in Room Chandavinel Ath 900333

NARRATIVE In continuation from the first module, I have decided to stick with the progression I have made. Out of all the potential “clients” we had to choose from, I have decided to choose ‘single, white-collar business person’. The reasoning for this pick is due to the still life image from the first module.

The interior render depicts the life of a white-collar, business man who works for a fictional firm in New York. The room depicted in the render is his “secret” room where he commits heinous crimes ranging from murders to cannibalism. Aside from being a stereotypical rich person who enjoys drugs and other substances, he also enjoys collecting human body parts. These irrational actions stem from his constant substance abuse, the divorce of his parents at a young age, and neglect from his father prior to the divorce.

Due to his childhood trauma, he frequently doubts his sanity and expresses extreme hatred for his colleagues, especially men, within his social circle.

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The inspiration behind the narrative is inspired by mystery-drama horror movies. A lot of the character developments of the chosen ‘client’ are inspired by 2001 American Psycho’s antagonist Patrick Batemen. Visually, inspirations for the scene are derived from David Lynch’s, who is well known for recurring themes regarding surrealism in his works. I find his use of repetition, unexpected juxtaposition and illogical graphics to explain the unconscious in a conscious reality intriguing. However, due to time constraint and limitations (using a 2D image to provide a narrative), I was not able to explore the depth of Lynch’s surrealism and represent it graphically as I intended to. Instead, my intention is to tell this narrative through details; I want the audience to analyse the image based on details scattered around in the scene and come to a narrative based on their own understanding and interpretation.

“In Hollywood, more often than not, they’re making more kind of traditional films, stories that are understood by people. And the entire story is understood. And they become worried if even for one small moment something happens that is not understood by everyone. But what’s so fantastic is to get down into areas where things are abstract and where things are felt, or understood in an intuitive way that, you can’t, you know, put a microphone to somebody at the theatre and say ‘Did you understand that?’ but they come out with a strange, fantastic feeling and they can carry that, and it opens some little door or something that’s magical and that’s the power that film has.” - David Lynch

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Christian Bale as Patrick Batemen in ‘American Psycho’ (2000).

A scene taken from David Lynch’s ‘Mulholland Drive’ (2001) using a dwarf actor with prosthetics to give an impression of a normal-sized person.

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SCENE & COMPOSITION The scene is curated from an eye level. The composition is mainly based on the rule of symmetry, patterns and colors. This is prevalent in the checkered floor tiles that leads to the art deco window frame, providing a sense of scale. The three main colors used within the interior render are black, white and red. Black and white are contrasting colors, but also complementary to red. As the interior rendering progresses, the reds in the scene become the backdrop even though red is the most eye catching color out of the three colors. The idea is to use a bright color like red to draw attention to the details within the background, primarily placed on another black or white-based object. As Lynch has mentioned in one of his quotes earlier, I decided not to have an obvious focal point to the image, but rather have the eyes wander across the scene on its own. Although with this being said, the eyes are expected to bounce around the image in a asymmetrical heptagonal (7-sided polygon) pattern.

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Composition: Dots representing detail points with dotted lines representing the framing of the composition

Checkered tiles provide patterns that leads to perpendicular lines, giving a sense of space and depth.

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A lot of things have to be considered prior to setting up the composition. The angle of the camera was placed from a peripheral view near the floor at first, but changed to an eye level view later on as it shows more details that would help explain the scene and narrative better. Secondly, objects were chosen specifically to provide a back-story/personality trait to the character. For example, to provide a sense of wealth, the architectural style of the interior is Art Deco, which then informs the style of furnitures, objects and settings. Other important, small details were later added to the scene after lightings are properly set up.

The theme of surrealism and contradiction that I have tried to achieve in Module 1 continues within this render. For instance, the statue of Venus De Milo is an ancient Greek statue that depicts Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love and Reproduction, an act of giving birth to a new life. However, his “secret play room� is designed to be a place mainly for killing, an act of ending a life, a contradiction to what Venus De Milo stands for. Xanax and wine are known to be deadly if consumed together. However, both objects are placed close to each other.

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Jars of human organs suggest his cannibalistic tendencies while the books suggest his interest in business

Suit represents his occupation, presumably a businessman

His addiction to cannibalism, drugs and substances are shown through his choice of food.

The axe and blood refer to his impulsive tendencies to murder others/a murder might have happened

Art Deco ornaments and furnitures represent his wealth

Portrait of him and his mother, hinting his back-story of being raised by a single parent/conflict with father

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MATERIALS & LIGHTING In terms of lighting, I was inspired by neo-noir films, where lighting can be used to create contrast between well-lit and dark spaces, or overly saturated lighting to attract viewers’ attention or creating dramatic suspense. In the interior render, I decided to stick with the use of ambient light and spot lights. The ambient light is used to provide a clichÊ, horror-movie atmosphere while a few of the spot lights are strategically placed to lead the viewer towards certain important details that are vital in understanding the narrative of the character and scene.

For materials, I decided to use materials with a bit of reflectivity or glossiness to them as the overly saturated ambient light may cause the image to look flat. Furthermore, the glossiness in materials also contribute to the architectural design of an Art Deco room, where objects, furnitures and ornaments are overly exaggerated. This creates a vintage look to the overall composition while also brings certain depth to the scene itself.

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Spot lights dictate where details that are important to understanding the scenes and narrative, while ambient lights provide the atmosphere of the scene.

Materials with high reflectivity/glossiness like Chrome coffee table’s legs and varnished woods are placed in parts where overly saturated lights may cause the image to lose it depth

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Neo-noir lighting inspiration. Scene from Out of The Past (1947)

Set design inspiration. Set design of the lounge area, taken from American Horror Story: Hotel (2015).

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OBJECTS REFERENCE LIST • Art deco long sofa - https://www.turbosquid.com/FullPreview/Index.cfm/ID/1075983 • Art deco phonograph side table - https://www.turbosquid.com/FullPreview/Index.cfm/ID/1057378 • Art deco red velvet small couch - https://www.turbosquid.com/FullPreview/Index.cfm/ID/408629 • Ashtray- https://www.turbosquid.com/FullPreview/Index.cfm/ID/636491 • Axe - https://www.turbosquid.com/FullPreview/Index.cfm/ID/954837 • Books - https://www.turbosquid.com/FullPreview/Index.cfm/ID/1344050 • Bookshelf - https://www.turbosquid.com/FullPreview/Index.cfm/ID/554801 • Book shelf knobs - https://www.turbosquid.com/FullPreview/Index.cfm/ID/901452 • Breakfast set on coffee table - https://www.designconnected.com/Objects-and-decoration/Tableware/Break fast-Set_p3034 • Carpet - https://www.turbosquid.com/FullPreview/Index.cfm/ID/1360399 • Cigarettes - https://www.turbosquid.com/FullPreview/Index.cfm/ID/1161847 • Coffee Table - https://www.turbosquid.com/FullPreview/Index.cfm/ID/1150136 • Desk lamp - https://www.designconnected.com/Lighting/Table-lights/Yasmin-Table-Lamp_p8940 • Desk phone - https://www.turbosquid.com/FullPreview/Index.cfm/ID/879684 • Fork and spoon - https://www.turbosquid.com/FullPreview/Index.cfm/ID/503085 • Glass Jar - https://www.cgtrader.com/free-3d-models/household/other/head-in-a-jar • Hanger and coat hooks - http://www.cadnav.com/3d-models/model-33117.html • Heart - https://www.turbosquid.com/FullPreview/Index.cfm/ID/445413 12

• Laptop - https://www.turbosquid.com/FullPreview/Index.cfm/ID/1128913 • Lighter - https://www.turbosquid.com/FullPreview/Index.cfm/ID/422243 • Liver - https://www.turbosquid.com/3d-models/liver-3d-model-1383602 • Office Chair - https://www.turbosquid.com/FullPreview/Index.cfm/ID/975612 • Office Desk - https://www.turbosquid.com/FullPreview/Index.cfm/ID/759230 • Opened books - https://www.turbosquid.com/FullPreview/Index.cfm/ID/239051 • Opened curtain sets - https://www.turbosquid.com/FullPreview/Index.cfm/ID/1028962 • Picture frame - https://www.turbosquid.com/FullPreview/Index.cfm/ID/422316 • Phonograph record player - http://www.cadnav.com/3d-models/model-48314.html • Shoes - https://www.turbosquid.com/FullPreview/Index.cfm/ID/1268518 • Suit - http://www.cadnav.com/3d-models/model-21743.html • Venus De Milo statue- https://www.turbosquid.com/FullPreview/Index.cfm/ID/1093053

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