After receiving our brief, we chose our groups to begin our initial ideation process. I wanted to be in a smaller group so it would be more manageable to compromise on ideas and hopefully have an easier time communicating with each other. Xi and I decided to pair up, and as we both started with blank slates and no particular preferences to start with. Any ideas each of us had, we could expand on together and explore each others branches of ideas. As a starting point, I knew that a few other people may be working on a concept that involved electronics and industrial bases, so I suggested we narrow down our idea by thinking about more organic and nature inspired things to steer us in a different direction.

Our first idea involved looking at two creatures that have a symbiotic relationship or a parasitic relationship. We looked at flowers, plants or other organisms feeding off a host. The visuals we found then steered us towards translucent animals, for example a tadpole, frog or an octopus. I found the parasitic organisms evoked the same invasive feeling as the transparent animals. In particular, I found looking at glass frogs and the “wrongness” of being able to see through an animal, exposed of their vulnerabilities, contrast parasites that feed from hosts, opaque flesh making them unseen, and able to feed, vulnerable in a different way. Furthermore, both the parasites and translucent animals made me think of how our perceptions of reality can be manipulated based on what is seen or unseen. Seeing through animals exposes how fragile we are, how much work our bodies do to keep us functioning the ways we do. The glass frog and tadpoles also made me think of reproduction and how the relationship how between a foetus and a gestational carrier can reflect different types of symbiosis. Xi and I considered exploring a creature with a parasite, one of us designing a transparent host for the other to make a creature within the host. However, we decided to explore more options, as this kind of design would require working completely in tandem, and learn how to fully manipulate textures and material behaviors.

Branching off our ideas of symbiosis we became interested in looking at other nuanced relationship dynamics. We looked briefly at the relationship between Hades and Cerberus, The god of the Underworld and his guard dog. There have been many different interpretations of their relationship, some seeing Cerberus as a protector, and others as a pawn. That made me think about the relationships between man and animals, particularly dog fighting or racing. We thought about how humans have often disrupted and manipulated natural order and the cycle of predators and prey. We thought back to Cerberus and how as a creature he became distorted by having three heads and considered what the dynamics between them could be. Additionally, how does having three mouths to feed impact the survival instincts of creatures like this. Would the dynamic change between predatory animals and prey? What would happen if they were combined? What would different features connote to, what characteristics would be assumed? These ideas helped us develop a second, more refined idea.

Xi was then reminded of this Japanese ritual called Kodoku, where insects are put into a jar until all but the strongest have died, a ritual that was seen as venomous magic. We began to expand on the concept that would inform our characters designs, looking at story elements such as gladiator battles. We ended up combining the idea of distorted animals with the Kodoku concept and decided on the world that would inform our concepts. We decided to base our creatures on animals whose physicality have been distorted, like Cerberus, or a two headed deer, with the idea they could fight to the death like the insects. We explored a world where different creatures were pitted against each other in a gladiator style battle to death. These creatures could take body parts of animals or other creatures to make themselves more powerful, to stand a chance against their opponents. Another option could be that the powerful figure orchestrating these battles waits to find the strongest contender and kills them to take their body parts and make themselves stronger. This concept would allow us to explore different types of creatures and the relationships between them. It could serve as a commentary on power, survival and the abuse of power. Contrastingly, we could explore characters that live on the outskirts of this system, trying to stay under the radar of the authority figures while also surviving a cutthroat environment.