The title for the Animation I am designing Characters for is "The Steampunk Ninjas". This being said, I don't know a great deal about the world of Steampunk even though ive seen a bunch of films in that genre. I think its best to further investigate this term to get a better understanding of what it entails.
Steampunk fashion:
"In three short words, steampunk is Victorian science fiction. Here “Victorian” is not meant to indicate a specific culture, but rather references a time period and an aesthetic: the industrialized 19th century." GD Falksen . (2009). Steampunk 101. Available: http://www.tor.com/blogs/2009/10/steampunk-101. Last accessed 21/09/2011.
This brief description hits the nail on the head, it directly targets how the Steampunk fashion is relevant to a certain way of life associated with the past however merged with the technological extremes of today or the future. The Steampunk world creates a modern romantic movement in some senses, where the ideals of the past have moved forwards in a different way to modern reality.
Steampunk fashion: One of the only trends known to man where its alright to casually carry a mahoosive scary machine gun down the road.
PBS Arts. (2011). PBS takes on Steampunk. Available: http://www.steampunk.com/. Last accessed 21/09/2011.
Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=z6-AmXihFsU
My favourite part of this video is at the end where it gives clear, humorous examples of 7 things that would be better "Steampunk'd". I actually think in a post technological revolutionary era where where we was still relying on the power of steam to be visually quite interesting, therefore although it was a dirty time full of smog, bad health and hard labour there is an innocence that is captured within the overall simplicity.
Available: http://www.robotvsbadger.com/images/mens-steampunk-fashion-20-images/. Last accessed 21/09/2011.
As you can see, the Steampunks don't hold back. It is almost as if there is a longing for the world to have evolved in a different way, or an awareness that perhaps more natural resources of power could be better than that of, for example, nuclear fusion.
This subculture gives a whole range of open possibilities to what to expect. How would a telivision work? Would they exsist? How would we fly to other countries, what would the contraptions used look like? Would the weapons produce blasts of energy in a typical futuristic sense or would they be harmful steam throwers, projecting directed streams of overheated gasses? This gives me a whole range of concepts to play with and a platform of which originality is key.
I have created a small influence map in response to the visual peices of Steampunk work that I find most attractive.
Chris
No comments:
Post a Comment