Pyschedelic Nightmare: Final Submission

Final Piece

Concept

Story

I knew from the start I wanted my work to have the overarching theme of how the world has evolved because of technology and its consequences. Taking more inspiration from the movie 2001: Space Odyssey which also tells of time travel and the evolution of humans from the creation ages to some retro-futuristic decorated future.

Movement

I also had the idea of painting a transient, and deliberately measured scene with a slow pace. I wanted it to seem as if all moving objects were purposefully drawn towards the center of the scene by some unknown and unseen force. Meanwhile, the background of my scenes would be moving ever slightly, echoing the movements of mundane nature.

Design

I have always imagined my visuals and motifs to look somewhat out of place in correlation to its background and setting. While searching for a style to follow, I was quite drawn to these two images, which then inspired the main visuals for both my scenes.

I realised the imagery that I was leaning towards seem to be heavily inspired by the Y2K aesthetic which is described to be ‘an aesthetic that was prevalent from roughly 1998 to 2003. Named after the Y2K Bug, it is characterized by a distinct aesthetic period, encapsulating fashion, hardware design, music and furnishings shining with tech optimism – sometimes literally.’

Full Ideation Process

Tutorials

I had tutorials for both Photoshop (to create the visuals that I wanted) and for After Effects to create the movements that I wanted.

Scene 1: The Dawn of Age

Effects:

Making clouds and water move to imitate life

Waterfalls

Pink clouds effect

[Motif] Sparkles behind floating brain

Visuals:

Photobashing Technique of using mountain and sky images to form this background

Some examples of images used for photobashing:

[Motif] Sheep in Bubble

[Motif] Blood on dead dove

Scene Transition

Scene 2: The Y2K Era