Assessment

What is your reaction to the ride:

Its pretty cool, very immersive and has multiple ways of portraying effects. Unlike the Disney World in Orlando, which is mainly animatronics that portray a pirate lifestyle and general way of life, the Shanghai version was much more focused on encompassing the films. I really liked that they used animatronics as well as large projected animations, sound design, and water effects. I would love to experience this ride for you feel more as if you are experiencing the movies rather than any pirate's life. I loved the attention to detail and I really likes Davy Jones' animatronic for having the tentacle beard be made of a rubbery substance was really smart instead of animating the tentacles for you get so much free movement.

What connections did you make with this ride, discuss the elements:

Many of the scenes made me think of moments in the different films. The mermaids, Davy Jones, the giant squid, the raising of the ships from the sea for battle and Jack Sparrow evading Davy Jones and taking the treasure. I connected with the immersion of the riders, at the end many of them (especially one girl) were really into it. When Jack Sparrow blows up/sinks Davy Jones' ship, the entire room starts to crumble, fog blowing, red lights flashing, and then you fall backwards down the river. Overall this ride was true to the films and made sense in having an overall story to the ride making you feel as if you just went through the adventure too.

What changes would you make to adapt this into another medium, what medium would you use and what changes would you make:

I could easily see this as a Virtual Reality game ride. I recently witnessed a horror game recently with some of my friends where you are on a carnival ride coster of sorts and you shoot carnival themed targets, like moving ducks and barrels, but then are attacked by clown zombies and need to shoot them all to survive. The movement of the ride and the interaction was really cool, and when playing you really feel as if you are on a ride (especially if you have a friend point a fan at you). I could see you playing as a pirate and you need to do multiple tasks to help Jack Sparrow get the treasure as his 'first mate'. You would duck under rope, dodge cannon balls, steer the ship, shoot at other pirates and so much more. By interacting you feel even more immersed in the 'ride' and there could be multiple story modes, maybe one for each movie, with different endings depending on how well you do. 

Expanded Wakanda Theme Park + Emotional Feel

Market Place (The main shopping, food, and rest area): Similar to that of Disney
World’s Main Street, Wakanda’s Market place would be home to merchandise,
authentic african street foods, african art, and more. There would also be rest stops
and plenty of outdoor seating with straw hut umbrellas to provide some shade.
Guests can immerse themselves in the culture and there would be employees who
would come out at different times to teach children traditional african dancing, how
to play some african instruments, as well as performers. This is very reminiscent of
the area in animal kingdom near the Festival of the Lion King Show where there are
small market areas with african influence. This is the main place to get some
delicious food, a good bit of rest, as well as some awesome keepsakes.

Plane Ride (The Big $ Ride): Very similar to the new Pandora ride and Soarin’. You will have a
simulation of flying in one of the aviation aircrafts of Wakanda. You will soar above and around
the city of Wakanda and see all the different places there are around. This ride is a visual feast
for the senses that utilize large viewing screens and an overall story as to where you are going.
Each ride lasts about 6 minutes and holds up to 10 passengers. The seats will move and react
to that of what is happening on the screen giving the viewer the sense that they are really flying.
This would be an easily accessible ride, there being a handicap enabled seat where the wheel
chair would lock into the mechanism next to the rest of the family. This is a spectacle, but not
too thrilling making it a beautiful ride for all ages.


Tour of Wakanda Boat Ride - Similar to that of 'Its a small world' and the 'Jungle Cruise',
this would be a boat ride through the park on the river that goes through Wakanda. This would
be a great leisure ride to rest and see the entire park. You would ride by major landmarks on
a boat that is similar in design to the boats in Black Panther that took the people to the traditional
Waterfall battle ground. This waterfall would be the main attraction on this ride, where there
would be a recreation of this sight to see. You would also see the lab, the main throne building,
the Panther cave, the train system and more. Depending on budget these could be forces scale
versions of these landmarks, or make if like the Shanghai Pirates attraction where these are
projections with a story overall. I am leaning towards this for, like the Pirates ride, it could be
somewhat based on the film, showing a lot of the locations and having an overall adventure,
but if does not need to be a copy of the film.

Kimoyo Beads would act as Magic Bands do in Disney World. Guests can use this to use

fast passes, purchase food and merchandise, as well as their hotel key. 
  
Wakanda Hotel (Main Themed Hotel + The 'Weinie'): This hotel would be 
at the end of the park and represent the main "picture place" of the park, with the 
large panther cave statue behind it in the distance. The inside lobby would resemble 
the thrown room. the floor behind glass with projections to make you feel as if you 
are very high up. As you move further inside, much of the architecture would resemble 
the lab from the movie, using the same artistic style and a lot of blues and silver. 
There would be 'vibranium' sculptures all about the hotel and everything would feel
futuristic from the bedrooms to the toilets. Maybe even a large panther fountain in the 
middle ofThe hotel lobby. The workers would be wearing Wakandan themed cloths 
and you would really feel as if you are staying in Wakanda.


What is the Emotional Ride of your Theme Park in each area:

The Market - The market is a place to enjoy yourself and immerse yourself in the culture of Wakanda. You can eat traditional African food, shop for african themed souvenirs, and interact with performers to learn about african culture through dance and music. This is meant to be relaxing, fun, and educational area for all ages. There would be african art, clothing, accessories and more. The overall feel would be open stalls similar to that of the film. 

Plane Ride - This ride is meant to be the main attraction. It is like a mix between Soarin' and the new Pandora ride at Disney, except you would be placed in one of the Wakanda Ships and all of the windows would be projection screens and the entire ship would move along with the animation. This would give the audience a sense of immersion and awe. It would be beautiful, but with an adventurous tone, much like the Shanghai Pirates of the Caribbean ride. 

Boat Ride - This would be the more calm ride, but still adventurous. You are meant to feel as if you
went through an adventure with Back Panther through Wakanda. Unlike the plain ride which is much more thrilling and action packed, the boat ride is meant to be a visual story that is more like an immersive movie experience than a thrill ride.

Wakanda Hotel - This is similar in feel to the market, meant to make you feel as if you are in the world of Wakanda. Every detail is themed to Wakanda and the workers are meant to make you feel as if you are guests in Wakanda. The food may not be completely African, but everything would have an african flair. The entrance into the throne room being the lobby would make you reel as if you entered a grand palace, making the vacationer feel important and a guest of the kingdom. There could even be someone who announces the family as they enter the first time, much like they do on disney cruises. 

Wakanda Theme Park Proposal

Market Place: Similar to that of Disney World’s Main Street, Wakanda’s Market place would be
home to merchandise, authentic african street foods, african art, and more. There would also be
rest stops and plenty of outdoor seating with straw hut umbrellas to provide some shade. Guests
can immerse themselves in the culture and there would be employees who would come out at
different times to teach children traditional african dancing, how to play some african instruments,
as well as performers. This is the main place to get some delicious food, a good bit of rest,
as well as some awesome keepsakes.

Plane Ride: Very similar to the new Pandora ride and Soarin’. You will have a simulation of flying
in one of the aviation aircrafts of Wakanda. You will soar above and around the city of Wakanda
and see all the different places there are around. This ride is a visual feast for the senses that
utilize large viewing screens and an overall story as to where you are going. Each ride lasts
about 6 minutes and holds up to 10 passengers. The seats will move and react to that of what is
happening on the screen giving the viewer the sense that they are really flying.

Kimoyo beads would act as Magic Bands do in Disney World. Guest can use this to use fast passes, purchase food and merchandise, as well as a hotel key.

Theme Park Notes

Driven and constrained by:

• Target market research
• Guest Needs
• New IP Acquisition
• New Technology
• Budget
• Park Space
• Brand Strategies
• Design perspectives
• Industries trends and paradigms

Aspirational Design - plus an area that already exists

Popular Design - how can we add a popular movie to this area

Medium Design - what can theme parks do better than anywhere else

Collaborative Design:

• Charrette process - collective and interdisciplinary
• Hundred of people of different disciplines - design, construction, engineering, accounting…
• What’s the high concept, show bible (stuff you need to know about the world), backstories, story treatments, show script, storyboard, and physical models

Common source material:

• Fairy tales
• Cultural legends
• IPs like film, novels, or video games
• Science and technology
• Original Narratives

10 most commonly used narrative devices:

• Allusion
• Character
• Conflict
• Narrator
• Plot
• Scenes
• Setting
• Symbolism
• Theme
• Visual Storytelling

Storytelling Choices:

• Explicit Storytelling - verbal or written
• Implicit Storytelling
• Interpretive Storytelling

Overall Advise:

• Start with a good story
• Keep it simple
• Preserve harmony with text, visuals, senses, spaces
• Use medium affordances
• Avoid fatigue with variety in attraction mix, genre mix, effect mix

Challenges

• $$$
• Collaborative Tensions
• Technology overwhelming story
• Cultural Relevance
• Guests do not all want the same experiences

Wakanda Project Suggestions

• Start with the high concept including park, story, core themes, and values
• Consider underlying ethics of the park and how that should impact story
• Fill in details once you have some ideas about structure and space
• Determine member strengths
• When combining teams, merge good bits
• Keep size and space constraints in mind
• There should be multiple food and beverage locations
• Have a variety of merchandise offering (cost and style)
• Include interactive, participatory experiences and immersive elements
• If doing a hotel ensure it maintains the ethos and narrative of the park
• Hero's journey in rides - more of a non western narrative - community gets better

Accessibility! Keep Family Together

Make things specific

Location is important, most parks close in the fall and winter, but if it is domed then you can stay open all year



Improve Concepts and overall stuff for next class

Sociology Talk

Anomie - disjuncture within a cultural system between the Goals (values) which define our lives and the culturally determined, institutionalize, legitimate means (norms) for achieving them

Social Structure:
- Deviance results from the culture and structure of society itself
- all  members of society share the same values
- Due to class position - they do not have the same opportunity to share the same view

Cultural goals and institutionalized means:
- members of american society share the major values of american culture, particularly the goal of success, largely measured in terms of wealth and material possession
- Education, talent, hard work, drive, determination and ambition
- Balanced society - equal emphasis is placed upon both cultural goals and institutionalized meansand members are satisfied with
- "Reject the rules of the game" = rebel and get success by any means nessessary

Conformity:
- follow the majority

Innovation
- Emphasis success-goal = 'wealth and power'

World Building Day 4 HW

The name of this world is Nyami. It is 90% water and 10% ice. Algae and shrimp like creatures is a main source of food for much of the sea life. The larger creatures that live on the ice are mammals that are somewhat amphibian for how much they live in the water too. That is their main source of food, the fish of the sea. The fish eat the organisms, the land animals eat the fish and the organisms eat the animal waste and photosynthesize. Since the planet is mainly ocean, seaweed, plankton, and algae create most of the oxygen and keep the oceans clean. Due to the abundance of these creatures and plant life the ocean from a far look swirled with vibrant blues and greens. With out much other vegetation the entire planet is basically only blue, white, green and grey on the surface, but underneath there are creatures of all colors that match the coral and other species of life under the sea. Yet for this project we are going to focus on the above the sea life, where there are large mammals that live much of their life on the glacial ice. Because the ice is mainly white with hints of blues and grays and a hint of green all of the creatures above match this color scheme.

The humanoid creatures of this world resemble people, but much smaller. Their limbs are shorter, smaller hand and feet that have more thickness, much like blubber on a seal. They also have smaller eyes to help prevent snow blindness from the sun hitting the snow and overall do not have very good sight. Their sense of smell and hearing far exceed that on humans on earth and their ability to withstand the cold is greater. They are extremely pale, almost white like the snow for their veins are further down in their skin to help retain heat. They will also wear the fur and skin of their kills for camouflage for hunting and for protection. They are hairier, almost appearing to have fur, and their hair colors range from pure white to a dark grey. Since they live in a glacial environment they burn the oils of their kills to keep a large bonfire in the middle of their village. This gives them light, heat, a way to cook and dry meat and protection against predators.

World Building Day 4

How intelligent are animals?

Scientifically we have no idea how smart anything is. In science, can you prove something and can someone else run that test and get the same result. Science does not know if animals communicate. We can believe that they do, but there is no proven results. Energetics - do you consume more energy than you use. If you do than you are alive and if you don't you are dead. I've got to eat something that will give me more energy that it took to catch it. It needs to be small enough to not hurt me when catching it and be easily digestible. An alligator will eat a turtle once or twice a week because it is cold blooded, it gets its heat from the environment. Warm blooded animals have to eat a lot more to maintain their body heat.

There is no one at the top. Everyone can take down someone. How much energy will they spend to get their meal? Bears in the forest do not eat all of the salmon that they catch. They do not eat all of the salmon, they eat the middle of it and throw off the rest of the salmon into the forest which fertilizes the soil. Bears have few young where as salmon have thousands.

A polar bear's sense of smell is acute, its the most important sense for detecting prey on land. A polar bear can smell a seal from over a km away. Hag fish are eel shaped marine animas that release goo to catch their prey, hoping it will get stuck. The pistol shrimp can snap its claws to create a sound that will result in a bang that is louder than a jet engine and hotter than the sun. Vampire bats have an anti-coagulant in its saliva so that it can drink the prey's blood till full.

Predators hone in on a specific prey. Lions do not hunt a herd of Zebras, they pick a specific one. Until a lion knocks a zebra down, the Zebra has all of the advantages. Jellyfish just float, thats why they have tentacles to catch food. When categorizing toxicity, we measure based on if it is toxic to us. All spiders are poisonous to someone, just a few can effect us. Seals generally hunt on their back because the surface of the water is light, thus it is easy to see when a fish swims by. Great grey owls hunt in the snow and it must be able to hear a mouse walking under the snow. Its face is designed to amplify tiny sounds, enough to measure accurately where the mouse is. Their ears are also offset which allows them 3 dimensional hearing, thus being able to exactly pin point a sound.

Consider that creatures may have had to adapt. Whales evolved from land mammals, same with seals, where as frogs were water animals that evolved to be on land. For larger creatures, you need to know how fast you need to move and how much your bones can handle.

Humans in colder environments would have shorter appendages so as to not lose as much heat. Blood vessels would be deeper, thus paler with less color on the surface. Eskimos have additional fat on the palms of their hands and bottoms of their feet that keep them warmer when standing on the ice.





Stuff Due:

Planet Skin and Panorama - put in a google folder then share it with Howard. Have name on file gretchenlefflerskin.png / When you send him the email put 'World Building' in the subject line
Extra Credit: description with idea of life forms: record it and make it a wav file (no more than 90 sec) include in google doc folder

Panorama - Make the pixel hight higher, hight being 8 times the hight of the width and keep the sky transparent and see the lifeforms on the planet. A life form with some unique properties.

World Building Day 3 HW

My World: Nyami

Nyami is a world that is made up of 90% oceans and 10% glacial caps on the 2 polar ends of the world. Algae and shrimp like creatures is a main source of food for much of the sea life. The larger creatures that live on the ice are mammals that are somewhat amphibian for how much they live in the water too. That is their main source of food, the fish of the sea. The fish eat the organisms, the land animals eat the fish and the organisms eat the animal waste and photosynthesize. Since the planet is mainly ocean, seaweed, plankton, and algae create most of the oxygen and keep the oceans clean. Due to the abundance of these creatures and plant life the ocean from a far look swirled with vibrant blues and greens. With out much other vegetation the entire planet is basically only blue, white, green and grey on the surface, but underneath there are creatures of all colors that match the coral and other species of life under the sea. Yet for this project we are going to focus on the above the sea life, where there are large mammals that live much of their life on the glacial ice. Because the ice is mainly white with hints of blues and grays and maybe a hint of green all of the creatures above match this color scheme. I feel that the main inspiration for these creatures from our world would drive from polar bears, penguins, arctic foxes, and seals.

World Building Day 3

Creating Carbon Based Lifeforms

Everything in design has a function to serve. In terms of a coconut, it is grown up high in a tree and must survive a fall to the ground. It must also float or travel to get to other places. It is a primitive sailing craft to be able to get to other islands/areas. The salt and water will become acidic which will eventually crack open the coconut along the seam to open up and plant a seed. Once the shell opens up, it becomes compostable which gives nutrient to the seed as well as catch dirt which will allow for the sed to grow. In nature you need to be able to serve multiple functions in order to survive.

Cultures are place based. Think about this location, those are the resources that the culture will have. Who's going to be in my landscape that could become a motif? What are the colors, you cannot make colors that do not exist. Some one gets to eat, someone gets eaten. Overall ecosystems are corporative. Birds will eat fish from the top of the ocean, fish eat organisms at the top of the ocean, and organisms need nutrients that the birds defecate. Everything has to stay in balance.

Biotic which is the living source and the abiotic is the nonliving (water source). Deserts have little biology due to the harshness of the environment where as green forests tend to have abundant life due to the resources available in that environment. How is the predator and who is the prey? How fast do things adapt depends on their reproductive cycle. What kind of plant is the primary energy, who's going to eat it, who's going to eat them, who;s going to die and become food for the organisms?

You are going to design a nitch in your planet. You will zero in on one area of the eco-system. What is the primary creature in that ecosystem and what are the sub species that help that organism? Think about this area being in balance.

World Building Day 2

What kind of world I would like to build

World 1: Aquarious

Similar to earth, but with the planet being 95% water

Resulting species are all marine or amphibian, maybe with one race being land dwelling

They would resemble humanoid-marine life

Not really mermaids, but they could build a similar society to that of legends of Atlantis if they are not primative

Perhaps there are different tribes that resemble different marine life, they live in different climates

For the land dwellers they could resemble Polar Bears or Penguins in the arctic areas, since they would rely on marine life for food

In warmer climates, I feel that they would likely be amphibian, similar to a frog or possibly Bird like to fish

diversity of eco systems - not a lot of - yet 5% is interesting - di-conomy of 2 different worlds

Life could be created undersea, there is a whole range of lifeforms there, but there needs to be challenges in environments
       - Arctic zones - Could have a land race, penguin, seal, polar bear like creatures
       - Swamp, marsh - part of the kind of land, lots of mud and plant life, but still mainly water/ this could contain amphibian like creatures and aquatic creatures
       - Ocean zones - main, average aquatic zones
       - Deep ocean zone - pitch black and deep - resulting in blind creatures who will most likely be primitive and use light as

Tilt = Seasons = angle equals the extremeness of seasons

Swamps and wetlands - needs water and a way to drain, some sort of drying

Large moon = interesting tides

My World Texture - Description

Offset in Photoshop - filter, other, offset (mess with the pixels - 8,952 > 4,096) (1:8) (480)

Planet that is 90% water with the only land being the frozen icecaps on the polar ends. The creatures that live in this world are mostly aquatic, but on the Arctic caps there are mammals that thrive in cold weather and fishing. The animals that live on the ice caps would resemble polar bears, seals, walrus, foxes and penguins. The primary plant life would be seaweed and plants that grow within the ocean. There would likely be a large fish population that feeds on the micro organisms that photosynthesize near the top of the water, the land animals would then feed mostly on fish and the smaller land creatures, and when the creatures defecate or die they would become a nutrient for the micro organisms. The land creatures would be more evolved to be able to have cultures of their own that would likely resemble northern eskimo tribes, but they would have thick fur and blubber to be able to survive the freezing climates.

Water life and larger animals on the land. Krill live on the under side of the ice, there are organisms that live within the ice. Krill and plankton will be the main oxygen and organism life source. The blooms of this will show the population of the shrimp - red or green - can see from space. Birds and penguins are south pole and polar bears at the top. Core can = heat with volcanic vents. There needs to be energy captures, krill and plankton taking sunlight for photosynthesis. Society can take place underwater, but for the panorama must be on the ice.

World Building Day 1 HW

Fragile Orchid's Home:

The small pond that Orchid lives in located just on the outskirts of Emerald City, bordering Gillikin country. In this mountainous area, the land is quite barren at the base of the mountains near the border, with little grass, a lot of dirt, and very little color. Yet about 1/2 a mile from the yellow brick road you will find a tiny oasis. A small pond that has some lively grass and cat tails, but the main attraction is the sole flower, Orchid. Brightly colored with blues, purples, and whites, she really brings the light to the oasis. Due to this, she was never allowed to really do anything but be an attraction that would bring travelers far and wide to gaze upon her beauty. She basically kept the place running. Yet as time passed, fewer and fewer people would visit the oasis and more and more of the species that lived there left too. Soon it was just Orchid living there, but she only ever posed for others and did not even think of leaving. So she waited and waited, days went by, weeks, years... Until some travelers happened upon her and give her the chance to live a life worth living.

Of the other characters from Oz, I would love for Jack Pumpkinhead to visit orchid's pond. He reminds me a lot of a hybrid between the tin man and the scarecrow. He is seen as not very bright, but will often have wisdom to share and has a lot of common sense. I feel that he would be a good influence on Orchid and would probably be encouraging of her. I also like that they are both plant based so I feel that that could play in a story well, possibly one getting injured and the other knowing what to do.

World Building Day 1

Creating an interesting character:

Three main points one should hit when creating a character:

- Dominant trait

- Emerging trait that should be hinted by their appearance and through actions through the narrative that undermines their dominant trait

- Extra trait that makes them unique

In the Wizard of Oz, every character fits into this formula

The Scarecrow:

- Dominant Trait: He states that he does not have a brain, his head is full of straw

- Emerging Trait: He is really intelligent, every idea he has is helpful

- Extra Trait: Very modest in his intelligence, to the point where he believes he is not

Not the roles they play (hero, villian, support, mentor), the character is separate from that

Cast the character in the role

There are 4 cardinal directions

_______________________________________________________________________________

My Oz Character:

• Something the character says that demonstrates their dominant trait
• Brief description of the character
• Opposite trait
• Complementary trait
• Something that character wears that suggests the complementary trait
• What do they see to the East that inspires them
• To the south what do they gather
• West - Judgement day
• North - action 

Character: Fragile Orchid

Says: "I am the most beautiful, yet fragile flower in the land. Thus I am to stay in this spot so
people can stare at me all day. Whoop-dee-do"

Dominant Trait: She is fragile and beautiful and must be protected

Opposite Trait: She is very brave and headstrong. Throughout the story she is given the opportunity to travel

Complementary Trait: Very Passive Aggressive and a bit sarcastic. She is bitter about herself, not wanting to be
stared at all day, thus has a bit of a bite when she speaks

Something she wears that hints at this trait: when she is not posing she wears a permanent "bitch face"/scowl. Not until the end does she
really smile out of joy.

Where does she live: She lives near an oasis of sorts. A small pond that is quite barren except for
some grass and earth, but she is the only pop of color, thus making her the most beautiful thing in
the area

What inspires the character to leave when she looks East: She sees a road leading away from her home, far off a hint of another world with more color
that her ever held. Emerald City was just in her sights and she needed to go. Though frightening to
leave all you know, she leaves in hope of finding freedom and happiness

What does the character collect/gather for her journey: She would gather a weapon for herself, originally believing it would make her feel safer.
She finds a small sword that she holds close to her by using a sheath and belt.

Day of Judgement: Seeing that she is not able to find happiness in her role at the pond
she can imagine the possibilities out there is she were to take the journey. She sees herself in
her sword and can see herself becoming someone she is proud of and happy living as.

Day of Action: This day she realizes that she has no idea how to protect her self nor use
the fancy sword she had procured. She is attacked by a beast and is stepped on in the process.
She ends up loosing one of her petals and tearing another. She believes that everything was a
mistake and wishes she had never left her safe and quiet pond.
Yet when she sees one of her companions being attacked she springs into action without thinking
and throws her sword at the beast head, which ends up frightening the beast away.
This gives her the confidence she needs to stay on this journey and drive to learn how to properly
use her sword not only to protect herself, but her friends too.

Make a map of this place in Oz where she lives and a travel log of this place (a short paragraph about this place)