'Night Security' Image Collection Research

A key part of this project, in order to properly establish the game's setting, requires me to use my architectural skills to design a Shopping Centre complex. To get a better idea as to how I should go about doing this, I have collected reference images of various abandoned Shopping Centres to get an idea as to how I can play with light and shadow as well as spatial composition. As I do not intend for the Shopping Centre in the game to be completely abandoned, these images are not entirely representative of the intended game environment, however they do give an idea as to it's intended atmosphere of mystery, paranoia and apprehensive dread.

Abandoned Shopping Centre Image Collection by Tim Shaw:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1I2BkYDLMDcfAYy-g5X1DAwogctHQ8z1k/view?usp=sharing

Further 'Night Security' Research

Of a similar theme of the familiar becoming uncanny is the deliberate editing of familiar pieces of music to make them more unsettling. Below are some perfect examples of this:

Original Music:

'Tonight You Belong To Me' - By Patience and Prudence, 1956.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOjVjc5vJ6I&ab_channel=StefanFlorescu)

Courtesy of Stefan Florescu on YouTube.

Edited Music :

'Tonight you belong to me but you're alone in an abandoned mall' - By L0user on YouTube, 2019.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGQzQrMQEo8&ab_channel=l0user)

Courtesy of L0user on YouTube.

Original Music:

'Mr Sandman' - By The Chordettes, 1954.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBSC8eQVpsU&ab_channel=TheChordettes-Topic) 

Courtesy of The Chordettes - Topic on YouTube.

Edited Music :

'Mr Sandman by the Chordettes but it gets creepier and creepier' - By L0user on YouTube, 2019.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oao_grQWeXY&ab_channel=l0user)

Courtesy of L0user on YouTube.

The static effect present in the audio is very reminiscent of a theme of distortion found in the 'Analogue Horror' motif, which could be something I could explore further in depth. This link has some valuable information regarding 'Analogue Horror': https://aesthetics.fandom.com/wiki/Analog_Horror

'Night Security' Research

In considering thematic motifs for this game idea, I recalled a term I learnt in my Undergraduate studies in Architecture: Liminal Space. In my understanding, this refers to a space of dynamism and communal gathering; a space of transition between several destinations or thresholds that is usually full of activity and conversation. A space that is very familiar in a specific context. American priest Richard Rohr described Liminal Space as follows: Liminal Space is "where we are betwixt and between the familiar and the completely unknown." (https://www.inaliminalspace.org/about-us/what-is-a-liminal-space and https://missionhr.org/care-and-wellbeing/spiritual-resilience/spiritual-formation/what-is-spiritual-formation/richard-rohr-all-transformation-takes-place-in-liminal-space/). Whereas he is using this as a metaphor for the changes a person goes through in life and how that relates to spirituality, in terms of Architectural Liminal Space, the same can also be said in a more literal understanding. It actually is on the border of the what is well-known and what in unnatural.

What defines a liminal space also characterises what makes them so deeply unsettling; familiarity and occupancy. When a space of transition is unoccupied, we are suddenly taken out of our comfort zones by the sheer alien quality of a place of life and sound being quiet and dead. The familiarity gives way to the uncanny. A perfect example of this is an empty theatre, an unoccupied school or a shopping centre that is either closed or abandoned. All the signs of life having been there exist but are not present at that moment, creating a sense of alertness and discomfort in the observer. The location feels frozen in time. Still and foreboding. This atmosphere is exactly what I hope to capture in this game's playable environment.

For an understanding of how the motif of 'Liminal Space' is used in current media, this source was very informative: https://aesthetics.fandom.com/wiki/Liminal_Space

Related but slightly different is the motif of 'After Hours', which differs from the use of liminality in that the motif of 'Liminal Space' deliberately tries to evoke a sense of discomfort and fearful apprehension, whereas 'After Hours' stresses the tranquility and familiarity in spite of the darkness and emptiness. See this source for more information: https://aesthetics.fandom.com/wiki/After_Hours

Game Idea 1

Game Idea 1. - 'Night Security' (Working Title)

Game Purpose: Entertainment.

Game Genre: Atmospheric Horror, Exploration, Psychological Horror.

Game Location: An empty but operational shopping centre.

Game Protagonist/Player Character: A newly hired Night Security Guard.

Elevator Pitch:

"As a newly hired Night Security Guard in a shopping centre steeped in history, you must spend your shift wandering the empty halls...but are you truly alone?"

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