Trapped in the dark
“Trapped in the Dark” is an immersive visual experience showcasing the dangers and challenges of landslides. Inside a dark box, the viewer is subjected to a series of landslides and, lastly, a call to action.
Student works
BA3 DESIGN: Department of Design | Faculty of Fine Art, Music and Design, University of Bergen
Process
We first started with considering which topic to focus on, and decided within the group that we wanted to work with something about sea and water. In our research, we discovered that many of the Norwegian search results were about increased precipitation which in turn is causing increased cases of landslides, avalanches and rock slides.
Further process
Research on extreme weather, landslides, and their causes and effects.
Conceptualise efficient ways to communicate landslides across disciplines in a creative manner.
Establish approach, tone, atmosphere, and intention.
Utilise our different skills and knowledge to work in small groups and individually while coming together to adjust to each other’s progress.
Adapt to challenges encountered throughout the project and make creative sacrifices to reach a cohesive result.
Concept
We decided to divide our final concept into four parts:
Immersion – Invite into a small and dark box, playing on a claustrophobic feeling of being buried in a landslide.
Information – Inform why landslides occur and show the connection between landslides and climate change via a visual medium.
Experience – Surprise by letting the user experience losing their footing and being buried in the box.
Action – Use the moment of fear to inform about how to prevent and slow down climate change and inspire action.
Idea & Goal
Many people probably do not want to think about whether they can end up in such a crisis as a landslide is, or they think "it does not happen to me" or "it does not concern me". This is probably common when it comes to big scary things one would rather not think about.
With that in mind our goal became to create an exhibition object that, through sensory experiences, simulated the experience of being in a landslide, which in turn could inspire the participant to change and action without having to experiencing the real deal.
Visual expression
For our visual expression, we wanted a consistent watercolor style. For the video we used a technique where we painted several sets of backgrounds, and use After Effects to animated the effect of the background appearing to move organically. We also incorporated this style into the animations we made for the video, and to some extent to the typography on the outside of the box.
Filming & Assembling
