The aim of my first artefact is to research which types of special effects people prefer and whether their artistic background and taste affects this decision. My initial theory was that generally people from a more creative background i.e. people who studied fine art or media at school, have an interest in fantasy/horror literature and film, underground music and hallucinogenic drugs may prefer traditional special effects such as puppetry, models and prosthetic make-up, where people involved in more mainstream culture would prefer CGI. To test this theory I therefore constructed a questionnaire and distributed it to people via Facebook. This questionnaire assessed the test audiences taste in films, music, literature and their general interests before asking them to compare a selection of film clips showing similar creatures created using both CGI and traditional techniques, and state which ones they liked best and their reasons. These clips involved comparisons between giant alligators, werewolves and ninja turtles.
The results proved that my theory was fairly accurate, the people who had never studied art or media, never taken hallucinogenic drugs and were less interested in the horror, fantasy and sci-fi genres of film and literature seemed to generally appreciate CGI over traditional special effects. The results also showed that some people favoured different effects for a variety of different reasons; some preferred the creature effects due to its realism, where others preferred an effect due to it being humorous or visually interesting.
Overall I found this to be an effective study. For my next artefact I shall be creating two creatures, one using prosthetic make-up and costume, and the other digitally using Adobe After Effects; I will then look at how using each technique affects the cost, time and design process.
The results proved that my theory was fairly accurate, the people who had never studied art or media, never taken hallucinogenic drugs and were less interested in the horror, fantasy and sci-fi genres of film and literature seemed to generally appreciate CGI over traditional special effects. The results also showed that some people favoured different effects for a variety of different reasons; some preferred the creature effects due to its realism, where others preferred an effect due to it being humorous or visually interesting.
Overall I found this to be an effective study. For my next artefact I shall be creating two creatures, one using prosthetic make-up and costume, and the other digitally using Adobe After Effects; I will then look at how using each technique affects the cost, time and design process.
Here the links to the questionnaire I produced:
Questionnaire Part 1 - http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=uXXN9HpiC49A7eeEvMz8ig_3d_3d
Questionnaire Part 2 - http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=sPXHVgSQffZnAy2VPU3Opg_3d_3d
Here is a spreadsheet I produced to show my results and the method in which I used to distribute the questionnaire:
Here are the clips that I used for comparison to determine which types of special effects my test audience preferred:
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