Environment project: Wild West research and drawings

We were given the task to design a 'Wild West' environment in 3D. I first set about this task by researching on the internet looking into primary sources, such as historic photographs and later looking at secondary sources such as films and film sets (For a Few Dollars More). When searching for things on the internet I didn't just type in the obvious 'Wild West town' but put in specific things such as actual locations and time periods. This made my research much broader as I was able to draw on specific things in more detail, such as sign posts and lettering on buildings. 

After creating a mood board I began sketching out a rough scene, encorporating features that I liked the most, such as curved doorways, balconies and porchs supported by large pillars. After getting a rough look of what my town was going to feature, I then started thinking about what angle would be best to shoot from. I did four sketches from different angles and came to the conclusion that the most successful one was looking down a row of buildings from the side on, rather than from the front. I chose this shot as it was the most interesting to look at, as it had a sense of depth, foreground and background. 

My next step was blocking out the building shapes on Maya, this was so far the most challenging thing I have done. I found this hard as I had to think about scale for the first time, and therefore make everything proportionate, using a figure as a scale to refer to. I am so far happy with how my project is coming along. In the next few weeks I hope to add in smaller detail e.g. A well and sign posts as my scene is lacking in detail. I also plan to reasearch and collect some textures that I want to use on my buildings.