MONDAY:
Introductions – Adam Proctor
For our first class, we were introduced to our final task: to create a videogame. No rules, no restraints. We were finally being let loose to do whatever we want.
But first we need to have an idea for our game – a good one. Because of this, our Semester this year will be broken down into 4 phases, which will help organise and direct us. The first phase we begin now: the Research Phase.
| PHASE 1 | PHASE 2 | PHASE 3 | PHASE 4 |
| – Brainstorm – Research – Present | – Grouping – Prototyping | – Creating – Playing – Testing | – Polishing |
What are you good at?
- What are you good at?
- What do you enjoy?
- How can you turn that into value for others?
What makes a good working environment?
- No crunch
- Supportive people
- Sunlight
- Productive people
- No judgement
- Mutual interest
- No inappropriate behaviour
- Don’t bother people who are trying to work
- Have the correct equipment
- Decorate!
What Makes us Happy?
- Relationships
- Experiences
- Sense of making a difference
I am also going to create an action plan, as 4 research topics in 2 weeks is not a lot of time if you want any kind of in-depth analysis. So I began at once:
INDY’S RESEARCH ACTION PLAN:
- CRITEREA PER TOPIC:
- 1 inspiration board (to get me excited!!)
- 1 page of research
- 1 practical action to write about
WEEK 1:
- Decide my 4 topics
- Topic research x2 (circuses and 1930’s)
WEEK 2:
- Topic research x2 (alchemy and fantasy creatures)
- Create presentation
From there, I just needed to figure out… what to research. I had my lotus spread from Monday’s class, but to be honest, none of those ideas really enticed me too much. I decided to rethink on what really got me excited, and came up with 4 ideas:
MY 4 RESEARCH TOPICS:
- Alchemy
- Brief alchemy overview
- How alchemy lead to modern science
- The difference between Eastern and Western alchemy
- Greco-Roman Egyptian alchemy
- Arabic alchemy
- Medieval alchemy
- The difference between Eastern and Western alchemy
- 1930s recipes
- How the Great Depression impacted cooking
- How the prohibition era impacted alcohol consumption
- Food brands and marketing
- Food trends
- Monsters, Myths, and Cryptids
- Why do people come up with folklore?
- How does folklore reflect culture?
- How did cryptids evolve from folklore
- How do we engage with folklore in the age of science and technology over theology and superstition?
- Some examples of cryptids:
- Mongolian death worm
- The rake
- Dobhar Chu
- The not deer
- Circuses
- History of the circus
- Modern day circuses
- Different acts and how they work
- Trapeze, jester/clown types
TUESDAY
As well as our tech session, I also spent the day researching one of my chosen topics; the 1930’s. In the end, I found so many interesting aspects that I decided to base the topic around the entire culture – the economic climate, the food, the fashion, the technology… As much as I could find!
In particular, this day I researched the technological advancements, the rising film and entertainment culture, and fashion. It was very interesting to see how many modern-day conventions come from this period. Nuclear energy, which would go on to shape the rest of the century, was discovered, and every modern evening gown stems from Hollywood Glam!
THURSDAY
We had no guest lecturers yet, however we did have someone from the University Careers team come in to give us a talk! Unfortunately I forgot to save all my notes…
I also dedicated today to finishing off my research for the 1930’s, so I could get started on my circus page. I rounded off the 30’s by going through food and recipes, and giving a brief overview at the beginning of the main overreaching economic culture of the 30’s, particularly as it’s famous for the Depression.
Next I got started on my Circus research page. Wanting to begin with the origins of the circus, I began in Ancient Rome and worked my way up to the modern day. It’s fascinating how the purposes and connotations of the word “circus” changed throughout the years!
FRIDAY
By Friday, I wanted to round off my initial two topics altogether. I’d already gone through the history of the circus, so now I began to look into specific circus specialisations – particularly freakshows, funfairs, and amusement parks, which are all arguably derivative of the circus.
I also looked into particular acts you might be able to find. Clowns, aerialists, contortionists, strongmen, and fire performers have all become expected acts in a typical show.
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