Author Topic: Dream Splash VI -- Planning and Pre-Discussion  (Read 7816 times)

Boo the Gentleman Caller

  • Guru of Life Emeritus
  • Hero of Time (+5000)
  • *
  • Posts: 5262
    • View Profile
Dream Splash VI -- Planning and Pre-Discussion
« on: April 06, 2018, 09:20:58 am »
Hey all,

So I had originally thrown out a potential theme of "the Dream of Zeal" with a focus on not just the Zeal Kingdom itself (although it is iconic), as well as some Masa/Mune/Doreen dream creatures (to act as a sort of quasi-realization of those dreams).

Here was my logic:

The Theme
-The Dream of Zeal theme I've envisioned isn't about the Kingdom of Zeal, despite the name.
-The Dream of Zeal isn't bound to just the locational / literal Kingdom; it's ultimately about creating new life, eternal life, and ultimately that means legacy.
-This mirrors the Chrono Compendium in that we are still carrying the torch for a 22-year old game. And let's be honest, it's one largely ignored by its IP owner. The fact that there are still active Chrono fans meeting together here is worth celebrating in and of itself.
-So imagine and interpret that Dream of Zeal in anyway you'd like -- it may be in the Kindgom's fall (and a fictional revival), the creation of life by Melchior or the golems by Dalton, the manifestation of dreams in the forms of Masa, Mune, and Doreen (and their penultimate Masamune/Mastermune forms). The sky is the limit. You can interpret that dream however you see fit, in whatever medium you wish to pursue.

Pros:
-Zeal is arguably one of the most iconic and popular locations/plots in the entire game, so by choosing this idea, it may make for a small uptick in activity and participation.
-In addition, the underlying theme of "keeping the dream alive" is a wide open canvas for interpretation.
-Finally give the dream creatures some time to shine. I'd love to see some Masa/Mune/Doreen love!

Cons:
-The Kingdom of Zeal (as a location) was a theme for Dream Splash I eleven years ago. We don't need to repeat the past.
-The Kingdom of Zeal often gets overdone due to it's popularity.

That all being said, this was just an initial interpretation and not set in stone. I am open to new ideas and hearing other potential themes. Sound off here if you have an idea or feel this is a proper course. If necessary, once we gather a few concepts, I can create a poll for formal voting.

Thanks!

Edit: Spelling and formatting.
« Last Edit: April 27, 2018, 10:37:42 am by Boo the Gentleman Caller »

skylark

  • Poet of El Nido
  • Black Wind Agent (+600)
  • *
  • Posts: 640
    • View Profile
Re: Dream Splash VI -- The Theme
« Reply #1 on: April 06, 2018, 01:06:21 pm »
I think this is the perfect theme, exactly for the reasons you described.

And another thing to consider is that even if by some bad twist of fate that this might be the last Dream Splash for another long while, it makes sense to bring it all full-circle.

That's just my thoughts though.

Kodokami

  • Entity
  • Dimension Crosser (+1000)
  • *
  • Posts: 1110
  • Enjoy the moment!
    • View Profile
Re: Dream Splash VI -- The Theme
« Reply #2 on: April 06, 2018, 02:24:08 pm »
I agree. Keeping the theme more open-ended will be more helpful in recruiting artists and fans who want to support with something, anything, to one of their favorite series rather than being limited in how to lend their support. And "keeping the dream alive" is pretty symbolic itself.

PrincessNadia78

  • Chronicler of Time
  • Acacia Deva (+500)
  • *
  • Posts: 544
  • I didn’t “pick up” anything! It’s common sense!
    • View Profile
Re: Dream Splash VI -- The Theme
« Reply #3 on: April 06, 2018, 04:09:36 pm »
I also like this idea. Definitely gives areas to explore too, in my opinion.

Now to start brainstorming! :D

Mauron

  • Guru of Reason Emeritus
  • Errare Explorer (+1500)
  • *
  • Posts: 1763
  • Nu-chan
    • View Profile
    • Maurtopia
Re: Dream Splash VI -- The Theme
« Reply #4 on: April 06, 2018, 04:22:57 pm »
I can go with whatever theme is proposed, but the Dream of Zeal sounds nice.

Edit: If Boo makes good on his threat to include a Temporal Flux plugin submission category, I'll do that + a demo set in Zeal.

Otherwise I've got a simple hack idea I can make.
« Last Edit: April 06, 2018, 07:04:08 pm by Mauron »

Boo the Gentleman Caller

  • Guru of Life Emeritus
  • Hero of Time (+5000)
  • *
  • Posts: 5262
    • View Profile
Re: Dream Splash VI -- The Theme
« Reply #5 on: April 07, 2018, 05:15:40 pm »
Quote
Edit: If Boo makes good on his threat to include a Temporal Flux plugin submission category, I'll do that + a demo set in Zeal.

You *know* I can't pass up on that threat now. Consider a Temporal Flux category set in stone.
If you need any help, let me know. I can whip some sprites together or write something up. Just let me know.

As for the Dream Splash VI timing, I'm thinking starting it in June to coincide with the end of spring and into summer.

Mauron

  • Guru of Reason Emeritus
  • Errare Explorer (+1500)
  • *
  • Posts: 1763
  • Nu-chan
    • View Profile
    • Maurtopia
Re: Dream Splash VI -- The Theme
« Reply #6 on: April 07, 2018, 05:25:04 pm »
The bulk of what I need to do will be in the R&D category. Existing assets should cover the demo of the tool.

Boo the Gentleman Caller

  • Guru of Life Emeritus
  • Hero of Time (+5000)
  • *
  • Posts: 5262
    • View Profile
Re: Dream Splash VI -- The Theme
« Reply #7 on: April 08, 2018, 02:16:09 pm »
Well just don't over-exert yourself. Something really small is better than nothing at all.

:D
« Last Edit: April 08, 2018, 06:08:48 pm by Boo the Gentleman Caller »

Mauron

  • Guru of Reason Emeritus
  • Errare Explorer (+1500)
  • *
  • Posts: 1763
  • Nu-chan
    • View Profile
    • Maurtopia
Re: Dream Splash VI -- The Theme
« Reply #8 on: April 08, 2018, 03:43:56 pm »
I think my idea is doable. I'll reevaluate as necessary.

Lord J Esq

  • Moon Stone J
  • Hero of Time (+5000)
  • *
  • Posts: 5463
  • ^_^ "Ayla teach at college level!!"
    • View Profile
Re: Dream Splash VI -- The Theme
« Reply #9 on: April 09, 2018, 04:09:07 am »
Like I said in the other thread, count me in.

What's the timescale? Do we have a month? Till summer? All year? I don't think I've ever participated in a Dream Splash before. Is there an official rules somewhere? =P

Boo the Gentleman Caller

  • Guru of Life Emeritus
  • Hero of Time (+5000)
  • *
  • Posts: 5262
    • View Profile
Re: Dream Splash VI -- The Theme
« Reply #10 on: April 09, 2018, 09:04:20 am »
So I was thinking starting mid or late May so we can give people time to go ahead and start working on things. I should have it hammered out within a few days. It will last about a month or so and I plan on going to reddit to allow entries as well.

As for the rules, I tried to find them for previous Dream Splashes, but couldn't ever find any. I did find Spring's Gift, which was sort of like a Dream Splash, with rules from:

I'm open to hearing what others think...

First off, I was thinking about the following categories:

2D Art (digital or otherwise)
3D or Moving Art (ie, videos, etc.)
Musiccal Art
Hack/Coding/Technical Art
Writing Art

Something along those lines.

In the past, I thinks some Dream Splashes had judges while others had no voting at all. For this, I am wondering if popular vote would be acceptable. Even if we are allowing outside entries via Reddit or other channels, I am *hoping* we'd be above voting manipulation, especially without any sort of monetary award on the line. First and foremost this is a celebration moreso a competition.

Worst case, I can try to get like three judges and they can rate on scales of 1 to 10 for Creativity, Originality, Presentation, Uniqueness, Completion (yes, a completed piece carries extra weight -- we all know how bad we are about finishing fan projects, hacks or otherwise), blah blah blah... That sort of thing.

The awards would be:

1.) Bragging rights
2.) An optional custom tag for your profile here on the Compendium (speaking of, we gave our Guru statuses -- we may also want to choose new Gurus in the near future)
3.) A digital trophy (and I've already started working on this and leaving details slightly vague)

https://www.chronocompendium.com/Forums/index.php?topic=8476.0

Quote
Without knowing how the judges will be viewing the works, the artists are pretty much shooting in the dark at this point. It'd be better to release a few details about how each judge will be viewing the works (i.e. screen size, platform -- gamma on Mac and Windows are different -- and image viewing software or web browser), so that the artist can fully realize the context in which it will be experienced.

For example, if you're creating something for an art gallery exhibit in a narrow hall as part of a competition, you wouldn't make a painting that requires the viewer to step back 20 feet. Also, many artistic works are meant to be experienced in a certain environment, like a fountain statue in a garden. It's only fair to the artist if we let them know in advance that, regardless of how they make the image, it will be rated solely as it looks on the judge's screen.

We should also limit entries to digital images, so that a photo of a plush doll is a photo of a plush doll, and won't be judged by the quality of the plush doll (which would be unfair to the plush doll, since such a thing is meant to be held and felt). It's either that, or actually set up some way to send physical entries to the judges.

Furthermore, all entries should be kept completely anonymous from the judges. No entry should have any identifying marks or data on the image or in the meta-data. This makes it difficult to create to create a context based on who created the work, but it's necessary to prevent personal bias from interfering with the contest.

So some things every artist should consider when making their entry:

1.  It will be judged as seen on a computer screen.

The exact size and type of screens used will be released at a later time. Images that are too big to be viewed on the screen will not be resized.

2.  The work will be judged in isolation of the artist's identity, by judges of varying levels of familiarity with the Chrono series.

This means you can assume some common background knowledge of the Chrono series and use it in your works. I can't say the same for any subculture or slang references, since some of the judges may not be from the same country, or might not be familiar the online gaming culture. In other words, "O Rly?" or "pwned!" might not make sense to some of the judges. The same goes for SNL references.

3.  While technique is important, the perceived "difficulty" or "effort" of an angle, pose, or technique will not be a basis for judging any of the works.

This is an easy one to understand. If you try something challenging just because it's hard, but it doesn't make the work any more interesting or appealing (or you flat out failed with it), then all it shows is bad taste in entering it as an example of "your best" work. This isn't kindergarten, so we won't feel bad for you and give you points for trying harder. If you want to try something, find a feeling, theme, or story and try communicating it with your character's poses, the angle of the scene, the lighting, the colors, and the characteristics of the techniques you decide to use... That's much more important than trying a "hard to draw" pose.

After all, you wouldn't expect a master croissant chef, if given the opportunity to cook whatever he wants for a contest, to compete by making some new type of pie he's still trying to master.

While you should always push yourself as an artist, remember that you should also be mindful of what you show the world, and what you do for practice or experiment. A good photographer will often take thousands of photos only to end up showing people a few dozen.

So try a few things first (brainstorm -- draw lots of thumbnails and rough drafts, look at some references, experiment), use the techniques you've already mastered (even if they're still few in number) in place of the ones you're still learning to do your best work, hide it for a week, fix it, and then enter.

Anyway, good luck to the artists who want to enter. I'll try to find some good judges.

Kodokami

  • Entity
  • Dimension Crosser (+1000)
  • *
  • Posts: 1110
  • Enjoy the moment!
    • View Profile
Re: Dream Splash VI -- The Theme
« Reply #11 on: April 10, 2018, 03:49:25 pm »
Custom tags would be easy to implement. I'm sure we've done that in the past for previous contests too. Not much of an incentive for outside forums, sure, but it could encourage others to join here, eh?

I'm personally not imagining the Dream Splash as an actual contest, but heck, I'd be willing to toss down $20 or so for the winner if we do go that route.

Boo the Gentleman Caller

  • Guru of Life Emeritus
  • Hero of Time (+5000)
  • *
  • Posts: 5262
    • View Profile
Re: Dream Splash VI -- The Theme
« Reply #12 on: April 10, 2018, 08:10:07 pm »
I feel like any monetary award murkies the water a bit too much, although I would love to be able to offer a gift card or something to each category winner. Could create vote manipulation and/or other issues.

I wonder if there are any other prizes we can manage beyond a custom trophy? Maybe we could also try and leverage this for activity at the Compendium?

PrincessNadia78

  • Chronicler of Time
  • Acacia Deva (+500)
  • *
  • Posts: 544
  • I didn’t “pick up” anything! It’s common sense!
    • View Profile
Re: Dream Splash VI -- The Theme
« Reply #13 on: April 11, 2018, 01:49:08 pm »
What I'm wondering is, how would we enter our pieces without people knowing whose is whose? Just email them all to Boo perhaps? Also I'm not sure if I want to to digital or traditional medium as I'm just starting to really learn digital painting. I would like the option to do traditional medium if that is what I want to do. Thanks!

Boo the Gentleman Caller

  • Guru of Life Emeritus
  • Hero of Time (+5000)
  • *
  • Posts: 5262
    • View Profile
Re: Dream Splash VI -- The Theme
« Reply #14 on: April 11, 2018, 05:00:52 pm »
Quote
What I'm wondering is, how would we enter our pieces without people knowing whose is whose?

In the past you entered with a post. I am still thinking that is the best option. Even if I am going to Reddit or whatever to advertise, I'd like to drive the traffic back to the Compendium. Perhaps get a few registrations out of it. They create a new post in the Dream Splash VI are and that counts as their entry.

Quote
Also I'm not sure if I want to to digital or traditional medium as I'm just starting to really learn digital painting. I would like the option to do traditional medium if that is what I want to do. Thanks!

I could do traditional versus digital in separate categories. 2D and 3D for both.