Project 3: Design Statement

For this project I chose to focus on my childhood fixation of my virtual pet. Initially I had some issues deciding on which option to pursue but after realizing on-going themes throughout most of my fixations, I knew what I wanted to express. Childhood pets, my teddy bear and my virtual pet all had to do with a sense of partnership/friendship. I tend to personify things in my life I consider important and this has carried through into my adult life and applies to things ranging from jump drives (USB device) to my cellphone. This trend could have started back in the days of my virtual pet.

I thought the best way to display this complex friendship with technology would be from the digital pet’s side. Giving it a voice and personality so others could see it in the way I see it. It felt like a much more effective way to set up my video instead of just reminiscing about a childhood toy myself.

I am really happy with the visual aesthetic I have carried through. I tried to pay attention to everything that went into the video, including the primitive looping animation, the rotoscoped sequences, the still imagery and the text. I wanted to keep all the content in solid black as it would appear on the original device because it has always amazed me how a series of squares can represent virtually anything. To me it’s like a digital method of pointillism and the most amazing images are the ones that use the least amount of squares possible but still get their message across clearly.

With my content, both the visual and audio style, I wanted it to be a little foreign to the viewer, something they are not used to hearing/seeing but through watching and listening, the viewer needs to build a connection with the digital pet to absorb what it is saying and showing them. Sort of like a hybrid language between english and digital code. Upon screening my video to people to get their reactions, at first they thought they wouldn’t be able to follow along but quickly caught on and interacted with the content with no issues.
The voice I initially used was deep masculine voice, this had the virtual aesthetic I wanted but lacked the small/cuteness of the voice I had envisioned for the virtual pet. I had played with the pitch as well as added a digital beeping tone subtly in the background to give it more of a computer feel. I decided close to the end of production to put up the pitch slightly further because the voice I had been using still had a sense of what I can only describe as “alien mixed with boredom”.
I wanted everything that went into the video to work well together and express the virtual pet’s side of the story while taking previous virtual-pet owners through a nostalgic trip to their own childhood. Upon showing my video to people in my age group, I had a few people mention how it made them feel like digging out their old virtual pet and reconnecting with their old friend. I definitely wanted to get across the idea that there is a complex relationship between people and digital devices but without being too preachy or obvious about it. I just want people to look at their own relationship with technology and see what it means to them.

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