T 730 Computer Art, 3D Modeling

Final Project: Childhood--Maya Models that represent a memory

Me, World, Memory

Tingting Wang

Spring2008

Statement

This project is a representation of my vague memory or dream in my childhood. When I was still an elementary school student, I need to walk from my school to home for about 15 minutes alone. I had a habit of thinking while walking. Once on my way home, I asked myself if I am the only person in this world, and people exist around me because I am thinking they are there; or if I am the only person who really thinks, and people around me are only walking bodies; or the whole world is only a dream, and one day I will wake up, the world will start over again…all these random thoughts as well as vague memories with the combination of traditional Chinese subjectivism will be embodied through the use of numerous symbols in this project.

Several tools in Maya software are used in this project. Polygon modeling is employed to create the female figure, house, furniture, room, etc. Particles are widely used to create the nature environment such as fog, water, raindrops, and sands. Flash is used to create animation of the whole scene. Adobe Premiere and Final Cut Pro are used to render the scenes into a movie clip.

The 3D animation movie clip will have several scenes: scene one showing the inner area of a bedroom as the beginning, a scene of room built by building blocks, my favorite toy when I was young, a scene of bottom of the sea with large number of cocolists where the creator of the world based on ancient Chinese mythology, NuWa, appears, a scene of NuWa flying from the water to the sky, and a final scene of NuWa flying in the sky. The whole animation will be rendered in a surrealistic style. The clock walking in anticlockwise direction symbolize the return of the time. Two-floor house symolize the childhood dream house. Bizzare room symbolize the house built by toy bricks, which was my favorite childhood activity. The female character, Nuwa, symbolize the influence of ancient Chinese culture and tradition. The music is fromCoccoliths composed by an IU music professor.