Skit Development and Progress: Project T-1000

Today's update concerns an upcoming cosplay skit project that I've been developing for some time now! I usually post after the skit about my design concepts and inspirations, but I'm really excited to share my thought process, research, and goals towards this project!

Since I was inspired by a particular piece of media, our project is currently named the T-1000 (I'm sorry, James Cameron), and will ideally be completed later this year. 

While picking the series, I knew at once the kind of tone and atmosphere that we wanted, and it just so happened that a certain scene featuring the two characters we wanted to cosplay had the exact style based on our inspirations. Beyond the video background, our skit's themes are of teamwork, the dynamics of a student and mentor, and the courage it takes to become a hero in the face of the unknown. As storytellers, we want to create a skit that will put on a show, but also share our message, and invoke strong emotions to our audiences. 

So with that, I've been currently developing a skit with my best friend for some time, which utilizes a video background that combines my own academic and personal background in video game, graphic art, environmental art, and multimedia design, along with my background as a flash fiction and game scenario writer. 

I have worked on a few projects exploring different kinds of particle effects and video manipulation software, but this time I wanted to see if I could create a kinetic visual that could draw the viewer and invest themselves into the dream story we want to tell.

In the past, I've done some skits using a video background, and while I'm no professional on SFX, I am visual media enthusiast, and I'm constantly looking for ways to get innovative with how we tell stories. I personally think that having a video background available at a masquerade is a huge gem for anyone looking to take their story to the next level. 

There aren't too many just yet, but more and more cosplay contests and masquerades are utilizing the background video screen to enhance a skit's storytelling experience. Over the years, I've seen the evolution of screens used to add a background setting, to now world-class skits crafting unique backgrounds in a variety of different ways, from mock UI-interfaces in games, to battle and stylizing effects, and adding light, motion, and color to transformative scenes.

Project T-1000 began with a concept shortly after we worked on two skits with video backgrounds, one of which we haven't had the chance to do, but the work I'd done on it helped me to learn new techniques and to realize the potential of combining different skills and interests of mine to make something fresh from scratch.

So for this post, I wanted to discuss more in-depth about our thought and research process on various aspects of the skit, from the conceptualiztion to how we develop the story and characters, our fabrications, and my progress towards creating our video background.

The discussion might get long, but I'm mad about this project!

PROJECT T-1000 

By Pants Your Goonies Cosplay 

Projected Date: Summer 2019 

Click "Read More" for my skit discussion!

THE BEGINNING

Last spring, we began planning ideas for our next skits. We began toying with new options and looking into what ideas combined both our love of details and telling full-fledged stories. We often try a new genre every time, or at least to make the skit as unique as possible from what we've already done before. 

After using the video background for our Cardcaptor Sakura x Sorcerer's Apprentice skit, we realized that it'd be fun to try using the background for another skit of a totally different genre. 

There was one pair of characters we particularly liked from one of my favorite games, and it coincidentially happened that a critical scene in the game featured the two of them, and had a similar tone and style that we were looking for: gritty, dark, and teeming with tension and action. We wanted to find designs that would also suit the types of characters we also like to perform as on stage, and how much we love this series. 

THE INSPIRATION 

 

For the longest time, I've been a fan of theme parks, attractions, and any kind of visual media that tells an amazing story. Growing up, my father worked for Universal Studios Hollywood, so a fair part of my childhood was getting to be around the backlot and hearing stories about movie magic. We also visited the theme park almost every weekend, and since it's thematically structured to be about showing movie making magic, and being an art student, it was an unforgettable time in my life. 

It never really occurred to me that this has likely played a huge role on how we develop our skits, but as we continue to try to be innovative, it's been a large wealth of inspiration. I've also been inspired by the theming and storytelling in other attractions at theme parks such as Alton Towers, Efteling, and Disneyland, so over the years, I've been encouraged to tell stories in a variety of mediums.

I can't really call myself a Sci-fi expert, but I absolutely adore stories like Alien and Terminator. I love the moods, colors, and the way each film plays with space and time to stir tension and emotion. I like how we're drawn by the shapes of the rooms, the colors and textures of the walls, and how quickly each scene can transform within seconds. Both of them, long with lots of other fantasy and sci-fi stories, have played a huge role at inspiring this skit. 

While thinking of the genre and and characters we picked, we knew that we didn't just want to bank on solely elements from the series, which can make it difficult for everyone in the audience to understand. Two minutes for a skit isn't enough time to utilize all the character jargon from one series. 

Some of our biggest inspirations came from researching theme park attractions, which I'll discuss more in depth in a few sections. We had the pleasure of riding quite a few in person, and found footage (and drew from memories) of those no longer at the parks. 

By visiting these rides, we observed how once again, shapes, colors, and textures helped to elevate the storytelling for these rides, even when there's no clear protagonist or antagonist, or even a conflict.

For example, riding Space Mountain at Disneyland doesn't have a direct traditional story with characters and conflict (unlike Splash Mountain, for example), but the atmosphere creates an implicit conflict. We might not be able to pinpoint it, but we can feel it's there, from the transition of light to dark in the queue lines, to the sounds of spaceships embarking on the launching pad. It lets your imagination run wild, so that when you finally get on the ride, it's the ultimate payoff. 

Similarly with skits, there's elements here and there that we can utilize to shape how the audience receives a skit. We can use backdrops and the video background, and how we choose shapes, colors, textures, and sound may also affect where the audience is looking or how they receive our content. We also have to be mindful of how it enhances the costumes we've created, and how we become the focus of the story to help drive it to the climax. 

To sum up, we want this skit to be like a ride for the audience. We do want stir conflict, and share our character dyanmics so that we have a clear story to show, but we also want to utilize our materials to enhance the big question: Why is this a story worth telling?

CRAFTING THE CONFLICT

One of the most difficult parts about crafting a skit for us is having to figure out what is the "conflict" of the story. Sometimes this is way easier when one of us picks the antagonist character, but that isn't always the case, and we don't really force each other to pick characters solely to fill the quota. We try out best to make it worth the opportunity to be on stage in the cosplays we wanted to make and perform in. 

At the same time, if we don't have a villain, who is the villain? What's the concept?

In flash fiction and quick stories, time is an excellent source of conflict. A lack of time helps to generate tension and the draw the focus directly to the characters. 

We focus on the main questions: Will they make it out in time? Will they complete their goal by the deadline? Will they both beat the time? 

Suddenly it becomes important that if both of our characters are allies or enemies, time is the worst antagonist of the both of them.

In this case, since we both wanted to be allies, time makes it easier for us, and ideally for our audience, to keep the conflict as recognizable as possible. 

For this skit, the video background plays a vital role in establishing the conflict. The layout of the design of the background is heavily inspired by first person shooter games and interactive visuals where the viewer feels like they are walking into another environment.

Elements such as doors opening, elevators moving, and matter breaking doors open help to also add to the tension of the story. As they struggle to get to the core room for the climax of the story, we want the audience to feel the payoff of exploring the environment with us.

For this skit, there is an overlying antagonist, but we wanted to explore the possibilities of the video background by incorporating them into the screen visuals. More importantly, how much we reveal about this character affects the skit as a whole.

Sometimes mysteries in flash fiction are worth having, so in this case for the background and story's sake, the villain is recognizable, but we also don't want to directly plaster them onto the screen. We want to have a genuine buildup, both literal and figurative, to guide the audience into realizing the gravity of the antagonist's actions, and the real power they hold in the story and how they affect the "deadline" as well. 

CRAFTING THE DYNAMIC DUO

 

Creating a relatable conflict is also a benefit since not everyone in the audience is guaranteed to be familiar with the series, and we don't want to exclude them from the experience. 

We can still combine the elements unique to these characters, but we also want to manipulate the plot in a way that has recognizable elements found in other popular media.

For example: The Student-Mentor Dynamic of Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi from Star Wars 

The dynamic between them is recognizable, and it reaches a critical point for the story and the characters. The fate of these characters also uniquely affects one another, and in Luke's case, helped shaped him to reach his true potential. 

This is a highly relatable theme found in more than Star Wars. While we can't craft a whole hero's journey into a two-and-a-half minute skit, we can surely explore some of the pivotal moments within the cycle to drive the story, and to guide our audience towards the experience.

In our Cardcaptor Sakura x Sorcerer's Apprentice skit, we also utilized the student-mentor relationship to help establish the dynamics between our characters. We were drawn to the Sorcerer's Apprentice story exactly for that reason. It's translatable with minimal dialogue, and it's universally relatable in dozens of situations.

In the beginning of that skit, we used the scene of Clow instructing Sakura to organize the library to show how she was supposed to be acting on his authority, which later breaks by opening the Clow spellbook on her own. 

To make the ending more consistent to the characters, we changed the original Sorcerer's ending to have Sakura, with Clow Reed's guidance, solve her own conflict by using her magical potential to regain control of the Clow book and achieve the award of "catching" a new card.

In the T-1000 skit, we want to go back to re-exploring the Student-Mentor Dynamic again, but this time from a different perspective. While Sakura mirrored a more playful approach as a student, our new protagonist is far more unsure of her abilities, and the situation pits her against the possibility of having to solve the situation before she feels ready to do so.

The mentor in this story is technically capable of solving their problem entirely on her own, but what's most important to her is her pupil's growth, as she is the one who holds the higher potential to face the unknown. 

We drew other student-mentor/duo relationships and characters from other inspirations we really love:

• T-800 and Sarah Connor from Terminator
• T-800 John Connor from Terminator 2- 3D: Battle Across Time 
• Dr. Alan Grant from Jurassic Park 
• Ellen Ripley from Alien, and Ellen Ripley and Annalee Call in Alien: Resurrection
• David and Dr. Elizabeth Shaw from Prometheus
• Luke Skywalker and Rey from Star Wars: The Last Jedi
• Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 

FABRICATION AND CONSTRUCTION

 

Since I want to devote our construction progress in a separate post as construction continues without quite revealing yet our cosplays, this an overview of some of the techniques that we've been looking into.

T-1000 consistents of cosplays that will be a stretch for us to make, but we've been developing sketches on how to approach various elements of this project.

Both of our characters feature a combination of armored pieces and fabrication. We both are more partial to sewing, but we also liked the idea of working with armor if it unifies and enhances our sewn pieces. Our recent progress has consisted of breaking down various parts of the costume to best determine the order to work on items to best affect the next step.

I have a background in game development, and during that time, I'd worked with Cinema 4D for modeling and texturing 3D assets for games projects. With that, we've been looking into modeling and 3D printing various elements of these costumes to make them durable, lightweight, and suitable for stage.

My friend's design also uses a combination of EVA foam and 3d printed pieces, and her fabrication includes crafting a bodysuit to be worn underneath her armor. To give them a little more stage presence, she chose a few unique lycra options with sparkle and texture. 

Makeup Test!

To practice priming some of the 3D printed models, we used our most recent skit for Anime Los Angeles 2019 to get a full understanding of the process of finishing a printed model for stage.

CRAFTING THE "RIDE" EXPERIENCE 

 

We treat Project T-1000 as a ride. We call it a ride, because we don't want it to be something that invokes emotions from just our team, but the audience too. 

For that reason, we've been working on storyboards for the skit as a whole, and what our video background will consist of.

As I mentioned before, one of the biggest inspirations for this skit was the attraction, Terminator 2 3D: Battle Across Time, a sequel to Terminator 2: Judgement Day. The attraction was directed by James Cameron of the original series, along with John Bruno, and Stan Winston, and written by Gary Goddard of Landmark Entertainment in collaboration with Cameron's Lightstorm Entertainment. It debuted at Universal Studios Florida in 1996, and later had other versions in Hollywood and Osaka. 

This innovative attraction was part stunt-show set against 3D film. The preshow set the tone of the story, which is heavily inspired by the aftermath of the first two Terminator stories, and is roughly about a fifteen minute sit-down show with a total show of about twenty-five minutes when combined with the preshow (and depending on the line).

In 2000, I first got to experience the show when I was a small child. I was about eight years old, and my mind was utterfly blown, both from the fact that my parents were huge fans of the original films and had introduced them to me, and how utterly insane the special effects were. Fifteen minutes of this story left me feeling as if I'd seen a whole full-length installment, and to this day, I technically consider it the true sequel of the series instead of T3 and onward.

Seriously this show is amazing.

Breaking down a lot of this skit, I studied the storyboards from their own video background. The design and focus of their set is also very similar to ours: it has a central focus that the characters revolve their conflict upon. It uses doors and room changes to create a sense of space in what's really a stage and a small runway.

I highly reccommend for any masquerade enthusiasts to look into videos of this show online. The performers interact with both the screen and have to transition their storytelling between various mediums in the short amount of time. Altogether, it's quite effective. 

There's lots on YouTube, and if you're a huge fan of Terminator or movie magic, it's worth watching. If you're at Universal Osaka, it's still there! 

An amazing site featuring an interview with Gary Goddard provided lots of in-progress shots and schematics for how they developed the film and stage portions.

This ride made me scream like none other, but those VISUALS.

Other major inspirations include Disney attractions such as Star Tours and Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission: Breakout!, and the Universal attractions, The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman, and Transformers: The Ride. 

We got to ride Star Tours and Guardians of the Galaxy a few times these past weeks, and I've ridden Transformers a few times over the years.

Studying the walls and halls of Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: Breakout!

Studying these attractions, I looked into how they create angles to draw the viewer into the screen, and how proportion and dimension also play a role in emphasizing certain forms over others to tell the story.

The aesthetic of the universal genius.

RESEARCH MATERIALS AND DEVELOPMENT 

 

The Basics

In Terminator 3D, the actors work fluidly with the background. They combine their on-stage movement to suit the contents of the video screen.

During the climax of the story, they fight the T-meg (T-1000000), a colossal spider-like creature meant to guard the core of Cyberdyne Systems. On screen, the T-meg attacks the T-800 and John, with smoke and sound effects emitting to simulate its attacks. In this scene, the dialogue also prepares the audience with each attack. When John bellows, "Shoot him again!", the T-800 shoots at the screen, which is synchronized to take damage. 

For our skit, we have enemies that will similarly be synchronized with our movements. If one of us attacks at the screen, the enemy will take in damage, or deflect it, and beyond enemy movement, our skit uses the concept of doors. 

Doors allow for there to be a separation of acts, but there also needs to be some kind of "field" or level for this all to take place, which leads to the "level design" aspects. 

Level Design

Basic layout before additional textures and lighting. I first tried Unity, but I do like UE's node functions too.

The best way to think of this skit is to imagine it as a level with two sub-bosses or challenges, and a final boss, and a fate depending on whether the protagonist is able to meet all of these challenges.

With each floor, the characters venture to another room, where an enemy or obstacle awaits them. It's designed like a level, so that with each progression, the story also moves with it, and it's more worth becoming invested in the characters and their fates.

In the first door, they are met with the main conflict, clear as day. It's an invasion, a swarm they can no longer avoid. The opening door symbolizes the inability for them to do anything but accept the nature of their situation, much like the way the T-meg's manifestation in the Terminator show sets up the third and final act of the story.

In the second floor, we have another obstacle introduced. This allows for the protagonist to find a solution by combining their teamwork with their mentor. This establishes a sense of hope that they will soon control their environment.

In the third and final door, this takes a tailspin when the "final boss" is introduced, and his interaction with the mentor directly affects her fate, and the protagonist's decision to come to terms about solving the solution on their own.

Using Unreal Engine

 

To achieve this, I've bveen currently working with FPS prototypes I've designed on Unreal Engine 4. My idea is to manipulate the camera and the first-person shooter experience, so that the background itself is created using UE, with all assets and lighting built into each room.

That way, we are creating a scaled model version of the series' setting using all custom-made assets. This includes texturing the walls, doors, and floors. Since the setting for our series is a security organization, we have screenshots of clean, metallic colors and shapes, and office-like structures. 

The doors will slide open as we approach them to head to the next room.

By creating these models in UE, we can manipulate the camera by prerecording all of our movement, so we aren't relying on static images to designate each room. The camera will move with us, so we can unify our movements and make them relevant to our story.

We also have the control of crafting our assets to replicate the office without having to rely on in-game imagery that A. we can't use for reasons, and B. is mostly static anyway, so we've expanded the opportunity to do more with exploring the environment.

This is something that tends to be more implied in other skits, since our settings are usually reduced to whatever we can note using backdrops made of PVC pipes and fabric, and our props. Since we have the opportunity for the video background, we can explore the opportunity to transform our background without having to move props or stage sets. 

The assets take quite a bit of work, but I'm familiar with creating basic FPS games, both on UE and on Unity. I also have enough basic modeling knowledge for the assets, and with my background in environmental art and graphic design, I enjoy texturing assets. It's my favorite step, and the one that will also affect the visuals of the final version.

SFX using Adobe AfterEffects, Photoshop, and Sony Vegas Pro:

 

Using Adobe AfterEffects and Photoshop, I've been able to start working on a prototype design for the lightspeed warping effect found in Star Tours. For the T-1000, one particular scene involves a character heading into a lightspeed warp to escape. 

Our enemies are designed by combining various effects found in AfterEffects, and Sony Vega sPro, with the original forms created using Cinema 4D and Photoshop. A lot of my texturing and the visual design comes from hand drawn figures, which are later put into AE and Vegas for transitional and particle effects.

The speed of sliding doors and camera movement can be controled in UE, but in this case, it's very likely that our movements will be recorded much more slowly in-game to help smoothen out the camera's movement during the playthrough. It will then be placed in Vegas to speed it up to meet the timing of our own dialogue, movement, and storyline.

We have ice walls and other effects since one of our doors leads to a room of ice. To achieve this, I've created ice textures to decorate the room, and will then apply a particular effect to add a mist directed towards the characters. I'm currently playing with options to find ways to in-game transition the textures from one to another as well. 

Our characters use magic and special attacks, which can be rendered as particle effects. Both of our characters also use specificn attacks using assets that will also be created on UE, then manipulated for additional effects on AE and Vegas. Once again, we can create these assets and time them at a sower pace, then speed them up for a cleaner execution.

The final "boss" antagonist at the end combines the use of photography and prerecorded video. Like I said before, we aren't looking to hand-drawn an entire character and plaster them onto the screen. One part of the character is enough to show his presence, so we have prercorded footage that will be placed through AE and Vegas for additional particle effect.

In this case, his "movement" is meant to synchronize with a pivotal part of my character's movement. I need to control the speed and timing of this footage to properly align it with the audio and provide enough of a cue to solidify my own movement. 

Additional Stage Elements

Our video background plays a huge role in this skit, but we also have other on stage elements we'd like to incorporate so we have a foreground, middle ground (where we are), and a background. For the foreground, we have some smaller set pieces used to also drive the setting.

For example, with the door opening to ice, there's a "wall" of ice we'd like to have happen on-stage, so the background starts the reaction, but it finishes on the stage. This pattern continues with every level, so that the audience learns to take cues from the background to estabish setting, the performers to rive the narrative, and the foreground elements to be the clearest, visual obstacles.

The last set piece we have arrives at the end of the skit, which will utilize a PVC backdrop to compliment the background's lightspeed visuals. At this point, we want the audience to feel like they're ready to take the next journey with us, so this set piece is the vehicle to take them and the protagonist there.

Framing and Interface 

 

While studying Star Tours, T2-3D, and Guardians of the Galaxy, we paid attention to how various angles and textures draw us in further into the screen.

It's kind of difficult to explain, but I noticed how a lot of the angles don't ever truly feel straight on. We see things in a perspective for scaling and dimension, so I similarly feel like we see things in these screens directly, but the "frame" itself is angled at a tilt to drawn you in. 

The best example I can think of is T2-3D's interface. The main core is set into an even further synthetic background within the background, so the foreground has the enemy. From then, our middle ground is the performer, and the foreground is the space we move in or props deliberately meant to be placed in front of us. 

So when designing our own "core" room in the security facility, we also wanted to apply this in the level design.

The "core" exists in the background of the screen's visuals, so it seems further away but also a mighty presence in the room. Therefore, it never feels like it's in front of the character's face, which could ruin the illusion of the character's desire to approach it.

A runway or additional flooring in that room, which I feel an fps-like interface will achieve, will then give some sort of "pavement" and space to let the character's movement seem a bit more natural. 

In Guardians of the Galaxy Mission Breakout, the ride itself fills the "transition" in between of going from room to room. Since we don't have a kinetic ride for the audience, we're tasked to fill that gap.

We don't intend on creating large pauses during the short runtime, so in this case, we have to really focus on make sure that the transitions stay short, but effective, but the main focus is what's going to happen inside the rooms.

Storyboarding the video background

In Guardians, they also use a space or divider between you and the door to the scene. It's also for obvious technical reasons, but that divider makes us the spectator and the participant at the same time. It's an interesting balance between being able to absorb the experience, but also be actively participating in getting to that point. 

When applying this concept of the skit, we want the doors to directly reflect that sense of awe and anxiety you get when you open a door to the unknown, or unwrap a gift, and even if the spectator is not the participant on stage, there's still a sense of investment to find out how that atmosphere will change. 

Star Tours similarly does this by also making you feel like a spectator and participant at the same time. While you're on the ride and observing the scenario, you're also tasked in the role of being a part of the story as well, technically without doing anything. The ship, C3PO, and blasters do everything, but you still feel like you've walked out the ride as if you've done something. 

Camera angles also create a sense of space and dimension by moving not only forwards, but backwards, side to side, and tilting in various angles. It no longer feels like just a movie screen, but an actual vehicle, and you get the slight phenonmenon of even being able to manipulate it too.

This perspective helps to draw the viewer in. Once you add motion, it can help to create the illusion of a "chase" and escape on-stage. It also helps to set the proportion of the performers, especially when the screen is larger.

CURRENT STATE

As T-1000 is currently in progress, we're currently in the prototype stage for this background. This involves me working off from the current knowledge I have in game development, and looking for opportunities to expand on what I know as well. 

Thankfully for the effects we're looking to implement, we have resources to help us be able to achieve the things we can do, given that we're not professionals within the field.

Part of all this experience however has been getting to create something that we can look back and appreciate that we pulled our knowledge into. It's sort of a personal milestone of sorts, and a message of hope for the future of what I'd like to do in future skits and visual projects. 

As mentioned, we currently have swatches and have been working actively on now mocking up pieces and making models and prototypes for the armored ones.

T-1000 is a passion project more than anything for this team because of all it embodies. We are storytellers looking to elevate and innovate, so why not tell a story inspired by all the amazing sci-fi stories we'd grown up with about the future? 

One of my favorite elements of T2-3D is that it ends not on a "positive" note, but a hopeful one. I think it's interesting how our group has been drawn to fairy tales, oftentimes with happier endings, but this time, we wanted an ending that would resonate with the reality of the sacrifices others make to forge stronger futures for those they care for.

We appreciate all the support that we've gotten already for this project! Words can't express how much love and knowledge is going into this skit, so more than anything, I am beyond grateful that we are in a place to be working on a project this scale of size, both in costume and stage performance. 

I appreciate all the continued support as we all go on this journey together, to infinity and beyond. ✮