This project interested me for 2 reasons, not only is it VR, but it is VR highlighting an issue of great sensitivity. I can relate to this project because of my Applied Animation last year where I highlighted the Syrian refugee crisis also, and had to consider and evaluate how to remain sympathetic within a cartoon, unrealistic style. I am very interested in VR as a medium of animation that can be used to manipulate the spectators emotions through the immersion, so obviously 'We Wait' caught my interests immediately.
I am very intrigued with the style direction they have taken. In the talk David Sproxton detailed they had gone for a stylised approach but I didn't expect it to be so much removed from reality. This intense stylisation has been employed to purposely put the user at a certain disconnection with the virtual environment to avoid crossing that line of uncanny disturbance. They want the spectator to be immersed and believe the experience is real, but at the same time they don't because of them being disturbed. I don't know how to feel about this aspect myself. I would want the user to be as immersed as possible, I would want them to feel exactly what these people are feeling on the boat, I would want them to think that it is all real, THEY ARE a refugee fleeing for their lives. But I would love to take a stylised approach for a different meaning than to create a disconnection, I would love to play with the style conveying a certain meaning.
Even if Aardman didn't intend to convey narrative through their style choice, I feel they have achieved it greatly. The low-poly, simple, blocky character design is becoming a common sight within VR animations for ease of rendering, but It also creates this handcrafted wooden style, further complemented by the texture usage which have a paint brush aesthetic. This traditional almost childish aesthetic particularly contrasting with the situation it is portraying, I love contrasts like this I feel it heightens the seriousness of the narrative in a contrasting manner. Because it is so innocent in looks, the greater emotional meaning is emphasised more because our minds notice the contrast and bring it to the surface more. Its child-like manner also makes it universal for all audiences, even children, to experience empathy and open their eyes to the real world around them in a sympathetic manner. This childish nature could also be used to heighten emotion, like the characters are childrens toys and a child re-inacts what they had to suffer, it exposes how children are affected in this too. The aesthetic reflecting our immature and insensitive views towards the refugee crisis...
The animation itself is very simple and not very realistic, very simple 3D animation, almost inorganic in nature, reflective of the inhumane lifestyle these refugees have to endure?
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