SPACE TROOPER by Mia Carnovale

SPACE TROOPER

MIA CARNOVALE, 2020

A short film comprising of 8 and 16-bit animation, aiming to look like a retro, pixelated video game. It features referencing to some of the most popular and well-known video game characters in the 16-bit format, while also exploring a new character in a journey through nostalgia, experimentation and the creation of unique visual aesthetics.

LINK: https://vimeo.com/426247288

 

SYNOPSIS

The path of how I ended up at this idea consists of many twists and turns, ideas, aesthetics, opportunities and distractions. I was initially going to employ some live footage into this screen project (by that I mean footage from a camera) as it looked like restrictions would be easing up in time. I wanted to stick to my goal which was to create a music video in this course, but from my (very extensive) endeavors in my previous screen project I learned a lot of skills in not only the visual software I was using (I basically know After Effects back to front now), but in perseverance and sticking to an idea until it was completed. With that I decided not to rely on any restrictions lifting and I wanted to get creative and experimental with a different kind of style; which could challenge me while also allowing me to feel passionate and connected to the film – and that was video games. The earliest Super Mario, Zelda and Sonic the Hedgehog games all contributed to my research and acted as primary references into creating this film.

This film relates to my initial research topic in a strange way. I was focusing on cinematography and animation as two key concepts I wanted to incorporate into my work, and my finished project offers a very unique take on both. I created a visually pleasing scene at its most simplistic and non-conventional, but I think I still took on some rules of cinematography in how I framed the scene as well as with the visual composition of the shot. Everything is positioned how a live shot would be, but obviously references typical 2D video game form. The entire film references animation, and a new way I was able to articulate a story-line without the use of cameras and actors. It was another aesthetic I was able to tackle in this course successfully which I am really proud of.

I came to choosing this aesthetic because I knew it would be the easiest form of video game appearances I could tackle. But I also realized that with the absence of traditional music and the fact that I wasn’t doing a video responding to music in such a literal way, I had to make up for it and provoke emotions in another way. Nostalgia seemed to be the easiest way I could do this, as not only the audio used but the visuals themselves would be able to do that perfectly in this particular style, being an older form that so many people are familiar with.

It was difficult to get started with creating the characters and the scenes in this film, but once I got the hang of Adobe Photoshop it was quite easy to build up different aspects that I could connect and move around in an amateurish fashion. I decided to use iconic characters such as Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog and Link from the Zelda series because these would all be characters a typical viewer would already know, and this tied in with music that replicates real 8-bit video game soundtracks would all contribute nicely to the nostalgia effect. The best part about this film for me is how seamless yet robotic the movements of my made up character are, and how nicely it replicates some of the games I take reference from. After this screen project I have definitely acquired new and useful Adobe skills.