500 words rational

Virtual Environments: "My Secret Lair"
My visual and conceptual influences for my piece where mainly based on 'Alice in Wonderland', both the 1950's Disney version and Tim Burtons 2010. This is very much in terms of the materials chosen and the design. The design of my four spaces is primarily influenced by the Walt Disney film. I created a long table with many chairs, teapots, cups, plates and cakes etc, just like the Hare who was celebrating his 'unbirthday'. This however was set in a garden. From doing thorough research, I realised most of the plot is based outside. This is why I decided to leave my lair without a ceiling/roof, so you could have a view of the outside world, almost bringing the outside in. Creating a garden almost within my lair was also based upon this reason. I feel this makes the lair look quirky, relating to the 'world of nonsense in wonderland'. Alice shrinks and grows numerous times within the film, therefore I designed various objects that are slightly oversized, such as a large chair and some flowers within the garden. This is also why I created a table with the key to unlock the small door, the drinking potion that makes her smaller, and a box of sweets that make her grow even larger. The other spaces created concentrated on the other main point in the story, the white rabbit. This is where the bedroom comes in. His house was quite small and content, with objects that symbolise its a rabbits home, such as rabbit shaped photo frames and clock. I added these features to my lair to symbolise the theme that revolves around Alice in Wonderland. In terms of semiotics, my work was designed to be contemporary. This is how I was influenced by Tim Burton's style. I applied textures and materials that felt very vibrant and modern, yet realistic at the same time. This was done by using bright colours, wall lighting, glassy objects and bumpy texturing. This definitely gave it more of a 3d look. I added other symbols such as hearts, playing cards and tart cakes. The brief states 'imagine yourself to be a super hero or super villain, what would your lair be?', therefore meaning I would be the one to live in this lair. As my prime influences have been Alice in Wonderland, she isn't the one my lair has been designed for. I was mainly influenced by her dream of wanting to live in a world of nonsense. I have designed in my own way of how her dream turned out, which seemed to me like a fascinating way to live.
When first receiving this brief I could instantly think of more villains than heros. My initial thoughts were designing a lair with the function of hiding out or displaying weapons, having a cell, fighting ring etc. However, my thought process had completely turned around once getting to know and familiarising myself with the software. Making things less violent was more me, so it was easier to adapt and interoperate my own style on things.