Getting ready for the first viewing

So, I have been in contact with Borglund Trykkeri regarding the printing of my brochure. The price was quite reasonable, but they wouldn’t have the time to do it before the first viewing this Thursday. Well, no worries, as I will get back to them again in good time before the final viewing on December 7th.

I have printed out three copies of the brochure on my friend’s ink printer. They look quite good, actually, despite being printed on just normal copy paper.

I haven’t yet decided if I will play a video clip on the session. Maybe I should just try it out on Thursday, and see which responses I get. I probably won’t bring any flowers to the session, as they are quite expensive, and I’ll save my money until the last viewing. I’ll try to buy/borrow a white sheet, though, so I can cover the table in front of the class room. I have gotten ahold of a orchestral version of Aeris’ theme. The music is kinda corny, and will probably affect the whole session. However, I think it will fit in quite well with the aesthetics of the brochure.

I’ll use this session to try out my ideas. Maybe I’ll get some useful suggestions that I can use to revise the brochure and the session in general.

Preliminary assignment delivery

[A link to my brochure in PDF-format can be found further down in the text]

As I wrote earlier, my Twilight Zone will be about the life and death of the virtual character Aeris Gainsborough from the video game Final Fantasy VII. My current plan is to arrange some kind of “funeral session”, where I will put up a table in front of the class room, covered with a white sheet. On the table, I will put funeral brochures and I was also thinking about putting up a laptop that loops the infamous deathscene. I will of course play some music during this session, but I haven’t decided exactly what yet.

The brochure will consist of pictures of Aeris’ life and death, accompanied by quotes taken from various blogs and sites dedicated to her. Taking inspiration from the Internet “aesthetics”, I won’t edit the quotes and use them as they were presented on the web. Also, I will use pictures and art that have been made by fans.

Using the aestethics and style of the Internet, I wanted to explore Aeris’ death further. I wanted to capture the feelings many gamers felt for her character, and maybe get closer to an answer to why this death made such an impact on the gaming community – the death of a virtual character made up of only a handful polygons and no beating heart. I have split the brochure in three parts: life, death and ressurection. The parts are accompanied by fitting imagery and quotes. “A Flowergirl’s Ressurection” deals with the fans’ obsession with Aeris, and their struggle to bring her back through fan fictions, game hacks and conspiracy theories.

I have worked in iterations, trying to come up with the best looking brochure. Here’s an earlier draft of the brochure, while here’s the latest version, the one I’m working on now. Before I’m finished, I’ll have to sort out a few things, like what to do with background color. Is there too much text on the pages? Is there anything I can do to make the project more understandable?

Looking forward to hearing your opinions and comments on this one. The brochure in itself will only be part of the project. My Twilight Zone will be the room and the atmosphere that is created by the interaction between brochure, music, and video. But also the connection between the actors that are gathered in this holy moment plays a part. The participating audience will act as mourners, as they approach the white table in front of the room, covered with brochures and flowers. My thought is that we will all stand around the table, reading the brochure and watching the video. I don’t know how long the whole session will endure, but I guess no longer than five minutes.