Looking at bright neo aesthetics and retro themed images on Pinterest. Many of whom were from, created or influenced by the 80s.
The 80s
In my Four Topics Presentation I explained how my idea followed the 80s movies and how they inflict nostalgia to the viewer. The rise of MTV and Memphis Design, the rising use of LED lights and the cameras at the time all played a role in making the vibrant 80s. Looking more specifically at the films 80s and modern influences like the production company A24, and how the colour grading, film camera and synth music all impacted and created the unique and noticeable.
Why 80s & 90s Movies Look and Feel Different
The synthesisers, colours and Analog audio and fashion of the 80s drawn me more, the rise of arcade machines, bomber jackets gave the 80s a unique feel to them.
Scarface Soundtrack (1983) – Intro Theme – Giorgio Moroder
Miami Vice (1984) –
Movie cinema later synth soundtracks later replaced by more orchestral themes, like Jurassic Park (1993)
80s movies were shot on film with colour grading done primarily in-camera. This gave them a more neutral and realistic look, even in stylized films like the Blade Runner (1982).
Looking at all the remarks 80s movies made, led me down a path of asking why the cameras are so different in today’s cinema, 80s film cameras heavily contributed to the the overall nostalgic and bright theme of the 80s which is hard to mimic with a digital camera. Looking at film cameras led me down a path of researching what is a camera in the first place. That question led to the ‘camera obscura’, essentially the emission of light through a small hole in a concealed room that light passes through and projects an upside image of the outside.
The camera Obscura:
The research led me to wonder how to all started which the first recorded image is seen on the right which uses the camera obscure method. A substance was made that takes in that light and the below shows the first ever recorded photograph.
In ~1826 Nicéphore Niépce “View from the window at Le Gras”, from a process that required hours of exposure done by camera obscura method.
Cameras even today are still influenced from this idea and film paper is essential that but many times over, coloured film was introduced later which I found out is a very complex and unclear topic which after watching countless of videos and talking about it with my fellow student in the course Ryan still could not get a better understanding and just one question led to another.
However the subject of making my own camera was possible and not too difficult.
How to create a home camera:
Shopping list:
- Paint bucket / can
- Duct tape
- Photographic paper
- Processing chemicals
Processing chemicals and photographic paper are essential in using a non electrical camera, the photographic paper creates the image and the chemicals produce it, no light is allowed in the processing of the paper as once the image is taken (through light absorbing) without a dark room it can interfere with the image itself. Asking the photography technicians of whereabout of using a dark room. Led me to go into Winchester college however due to holidays and not being a student there I was unable to use it.
What I already have:
- Black paint & Brush, to place instead the pinhole camera as no light is to be reflected inside it.
Different types of photographic papers I could use:
With my keen interest with cameras I decided to attempt to create a camera. I watched videos on how to make one but they each one said something slightly different some said the exposure time should be days others said a couple of minutes, going to ‘London Camera Exchange’ a photography shop in Winchester asking a staff member how I should go about what why some techniques differ to another which he explained two different pinhole camera techniques which require different photo paper and exposure time.
Advantages and disadvantages:
| Feature | Solargraphy | Simple Pinhole |
|---|
| Exposure time | Weeks–months | Seconds–minutes |
| Needs darkroom? | No | Yes |
| Maintenance | Minimal | Moderate |
| Control over image | Low | High |
On paper the Solargraphy seems like the easier choice however the images below show the process done to get from the underdeveloped image (the far left) to the complete image (far right)
As explained in the Weather Network article “Solargraphy: The art, science, and chaos of capturing the Sun’s path in the sky”. Scott Sutherland explains in his article “The first image indicated it while the rest have been processed digitally and inverted to make them stand out. As for how the final image is processed, a solargraph cannot be developed using normal photographic methods. ‘Because it’s such an extreme overexposure, you don’t develop it. Otherwise the image would go completely black,’ Culp said. Instead, the light-sensitive photo paper is removed from the cylinder and immediately scanned into a computer using a high-quality flatbed scanner. ‘As you’re scanning it, you’re destroying it,’ Culp explained, as the bright light of the scanner will completely overexpose the entire surface of the photo paper. ‘So, you get one shot at this.’”
This led me to the more simple Pinhole camera method where I’ll to additionally buy the chemicals and create a dark room like environment to allow me to process the image.
Pinhole camera inverted photographic paper results:
Planning to make my camera, I believed I needed to learn more how I should process the image and if there’s a simpler way of doing it I decided on going to the West side camera studious on campus and ask the WSA staff for advice.
He gave me advice on finding a dark room and mentioned there is one in the Peter Symonds College, however after talking they mentioned only students would be able to use it.
Future note (08/12/ 2025) Even-though I ended-up never making the camera the knowledge and understanding in cinema itself and helped come-up with all my ideas for the later stages as would be seen.
Growing-up in the mid 2010s, MTV, Vevo
The nostalgia of my childhood watching idols like Rihanna, Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez all had similar party neo style music videos (sometimes) which that Retro theme from 80s clearly influenced it.
The colours, the synth soundtrack and plot from Let me Love you by DJ Snake is influenced from Blade Runner’s (1982) which that was influenced from the Cyberpunk comic style and ‘We found Love’ by Rihanna shot on 35mm film draw a large influence from 1980s media, especially films as well.
The 80s in general have influenced a lot of modern artist and filmmakers today who draw inspirations from that time period with constantly changing media combining old with modern to create something unique.
Gamification Ideas
Looking at movies with the worst production occurring, even though highly famous and successful movie Apocalypse Now shooting disaster, maybe could influence my gamification of my idea.
Disasters that occurred meanwhile shooting the film:
The Apocalypse Now disastrous shoot:
- A week before production the lead with the filmmaker which led to him reaping up the four year contract and leaving.
- During the start of the production a typhoon destroyed most of the movie set leading to many of the crew flying back to the states and the new lead actor having not even red the script and not in shape for the role the crew had to change the script as the days went, shooting in darkness to hide his figure and letting him talk instead him ramble on on camera not even saying the lines.
- A real life civil war happening at the time Philippines needing to give away the helicopters mid shoot for the government. In the tropical weather disease, drugs and alcohol were used commonly on set which security guards even had to be deployed after the salary was stolen. Actors had to be filmed separately due to disputes.
- They even used real dead bodies when filming the temple scenes and the main actor having a heart attack needing to crawl to the nearest village for help.
A game concept could be needing to shoot a movie while both natural and human catastrophe occur and having to manage your crew. In a retro settings.
Presentation feedback
The comments for my presentation included a couple of interesting game ideas which I would be interested with expanding further:
Summary of feedback,
Retro Films + Surviving extreme conditions,
Camping trip where you have to hunt, set up a tent and complete a fire. Could have certain horror elements when night comes.
Maybe A mountain climbing simulator where you collect resources while climbing like Peak
Maybe Mountain climbing game with a night and day cycle. There are camps that represent checkpoints and where you can re-stock your supplies, in addition to the idea maybe you are a journalist that takes pictures of bodies on these mountains. All of these variation of ideas are interesting.
Indiana’s comment on a game idea, a game as a werewolf trying to live a normal life while in the course of the game people forge him as a monster. This idea is interesting and clicked reminds me of Shrek or Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon movie series, how people’s arrogance and one sided beliefs lead to creating a fictional “evil” being.
Videogames that take on the Retro aesthetics
The slasher genre and games
Thinking of monsters and Retro themed survival games, the first one that pops-up is Friday the 13th: The Game (2017). Looking at similar games in my possible genre.
A game that combines the retro aesthetics and survival aspect. You and six other unlucky souls will do everything possible to escape and survive while the most well-known killer Jason Voorhees in the world tracks you down and brutally slaughters you. In the map you can find gadgets which are randomly generated in places to escape and fight off the killer. The killer is from the Friday the 13th Franchise who has super natural abilities like noise tracking which if the other players are making noise the killer can see the general area which it’s coming from and can teleport around the map.
Games Inspired by the Retro aesthetics
Killer Frequency (2023)
The Wolf Among Us (2013)
Everything written down on this page helped me developed the Three Games Ideas and continued to be useful throughout my production.
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