A VR experience developed for the Imagine Fantastic Film Festival, presented at LAB111 during the 2024 edition. Created in a multidisciplinary team, the project explored the contrast between utopia and dystopia through an accessible and immersive interactive world.
The experience was designed for a broad festival audience, including visitors with little to no experience with VR, and aimed to spark reflection on different visions of society within a stylized, sci-fi inspired environment.
Check out the slides below for the concept process.
ROLE
– 3D Environment Art
– Creative Direction
– Promotional Content
Within the team, I worked as a Game Artist, focusing on the dystopian side of the world. I was responsible for the visual direction, including concept art, 3D environment design, and overall atmosphere. My goal was to create a distinct, oppressive setting that clearly contrasted with the utopian counterpart, enhancing the narrative and player experience.
While I led the creative direction for the dystopian world, the production phase was a close collaboration with the technical artist. Together, we translated the visual vision into the final in-game result, combining artistic direction with technical implementation such as shaders and lighting.
Team brainstorming and reference research around dystopia vs utopia, inspired by themes like control, surveillance, and living in a false reality (e.g. The Matrix, Star Wars, The Hunger Games). Further inspiration from games and films such as We Happy Few and Don’t Worry Darling to define tone and direction.
After defining the concept, I took ownership of designing the dystopian world. Exploration of visual style and shape language through reference and iteration.
Development of the idea to fold the world around the player, creating a claustrophobic city experience. Introduction of a scratched, chalk-like visual style to enhance noise and tension. (Reference images to communicate the concept to the team)
Building the environment using Sketchfab assets, modified into modular clusters for use in Unity. Shader development by the team’s tech artist, guided by my visual direction and collaboration. Use of emission and 2D elements to bring life into the scene and reinforce a digital dystopian atmosphere.