Maya Tutorial: Motion Path Retro Rocket

Unit 2: Initial Influence Maps

The first influence maps for my theme: Pagan Colossus. I'm still unsure what direction to take my project, but so far I'm leaning more towards the Paganism view of nature and the Earth and incorporating a sense of enormity into that. 

This image stood out to me because of the way the space has been portrayed, it gives off a real sense of height and wide space.

Unit 2: Research into 'Colossus' (Media)

Related searches: 

1. Shadow of the Colossus
2. Colossus (Comics) 
3. Starcraft (Enemy - Colossus) 
4. The Amazing Colossal Man (Film)
5. Princess Monoke (Film) 
6. Troll Hunter (Film) 

Shadow of the Colossus
Shadow of the Colossus, is an action-adventure game published by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCEI) for the PlayStation 2.
The game's storyline focuses on a young man named Wander who enters a forbidden land. Wander must travel across a vast expanse on horseback and defeat sixteen massive beings, known simply as colossi, in order to restore the life of a girl named Mono. The game is unusual within the action-adventure genre in that there are no towns or dungeons to explore, no characters with which to interact, and no enemies to defeat other than the colossi. Shadow of the Colossus has been described as a puzzle game, as each colossus' weakness must be identified and exploited before it can be defeated.
(Despite this being a game, I've included it into my research due to the large amount of artwork surrounding it.)

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

The image below is concept art from a possible film adaptation of the game

Figure 4

Colossus (Comics)

Colossus (Piotr Nikolaievitch Rasputin) is a fictional character, a superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by writer Len Wein and illustrator Dave Cockrum, he first appeared in Giant-Size X-Men #1 (May 1975). A Russian mutant, the character is a member of the X-Men, and is by far the physically strongest member of the team, being able to transform into a strong metallic form. Even without his powers he holds a physically imposing figure standing at 6' 7"

Figure 5

Starcraft (Game)
An enemy featured in the game 'Starcraft', called a Colossus: 

Figure 6

The Amazing Colossal Man (Film)
The Amazing Colossal Man is a 1957 black-and-white science fiction film, directed by Bert I. Gordon and starring Glenn Langan. The film revolves around a 60 foot mutant man produced as the result of an atomic accident.

Figure 7

Princess Mononoke (Film)

The story concentrates on involvement of the outsider Ashitaka in the struggle between the supernatural guardians of a forest and the humans of the Iron Town who consume its resources. There can be no clear victory, and the hope is that relationship between humans and nature can be cyclical.

Figure 8

Figure 9

Figure 10

Troll Hunter (Film) 
A group of students investigates a series of mysterious bear killings, but learns that there are much more dangerous things going on. They start to follow a mysterious hunter, learning that he is actually a troll hunter.

Figure 11

Figure 12

Bibliography 
Shadow of the Colossus information taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_of_the_Colossus
Colossus (Comics) information taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossus_(comics)
The Amazing Colossal Man information taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Amazing_Colossal_Man 
Princess Mononoke information taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Mononoke 
Troll Hunter information taken from: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1740707/



Images
Figure 1 - http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs8/i/2005/291/5/c/sketch_of_the_colossus_by_arcipello.jpg 
Figure 2 - http://static.gamesradar.com/images/mb/GamesRadar/us/Daily/2010/05-May/27/HD%20ico%20shadow%20of%20the%20colossus/HD_colossus_1--article_image.jpg 
Figure 3 - http://media.officialplaystationmagazine.co.uk/files/2012/05/18__Shadow_of_the_Colossus_playstation.jpeg 
Figure 4 - http://www.nerdsraging.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Shadow-of-the-Colossus1.png
Figure 5  - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:AstonColossus.png
Figure 6 - http://www.starcraft2strategymasters.com/wp-content/uploads/ColossusBen.jpg 
Figure 7 - http://exclamationmark.files.wordpress.com/2006/08/colossal.jpg
Figure 8 - http://data.whicdn.com/images/35550292/Forest_spirit__s_grove_by_Artimis07_large.jpg
Figure 9 - http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5hq84G5sw1qmnajvo2_500.jpg 
Figure 10 - http://malazaninvasion.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/mono1.png  
Figure 11 - http://www.horrorphilia.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/cdn.extracine.com_.files_.2011.02.the-troll-hunter11.jpg
Figure 12 - http://cghub.com/files/BlogPost/350/754_large.jpg 

Unit 2: Research into 'Colossus' (Real World)

Related real world searches for Colossus:

1. The colossus (Painting)
2. Colossus - The Forbin Project 
3. Colossus (Computer) 
4. Colossus of Rhodes 

The colossus (Painting)

The Colossus (1812 ), also called giant , Panic and Storm ,is a painting traditionally attributed to Francisco de Goya in which a colossal giant stands behind some hills that hide your legs-thigh -, occupying the centre of the image, surrounded by clouds and fists. The lower third of the canvas is occupied by a dark valley where a multitude of people and livestock are scattering chaotically in different directions. 

Figure 1 

Colossus - The Forbin Project

Colossus: The Forbin Project is a 1970 American science fiction thriller film. It is based upon the 1966 novel Colossus, by Dennis Feltham Jones, about a massive American defence computer, named Colossus, becoming sentient and deciding to assume control of the world. 

Colossus (Computer)

As mentioned above; Colossus was the world's first electronic, digital, computer that was at all programmable. The Colossus computers were used by British codebreakers during World War II to help in the Cryptanalysis of the Lorenz cipher. Without them, the Allies would have been deprived of the very valuable intelligence that was obtained from reading the vast quantity of encrypted high-level German Army messages. Colossus used thermionic valves (vacuum tubes) to perform Boolean operations and calculations.

Figure 2

Colossus of Rhodes

The Colossus of Rhodes was a statue of the Greek Titan Helios, erected in the city of Rhodes on the Greek island of Rhodes by Chares of Lindos between 292 and 280 BC. It is considered one of theSeven Wonders of the Ancient World. It was constructed to celebrate Rhodes' victory over the ruler of Cyprus, Antigonus I Monophthalmus, whose son unsuccessfully besieged Rhodes in 305 BC. Before its destruction in 226 BC—due to an earthquake—the Colossus of Rhodes stood over 30 meters (107 ft) high, making it one of the tallest statues of the ancient world.

Figure 3

Bibliography
The colossus Information taken from: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_coloso  
Forbin Project information taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossus:_The_Forbin_Project 
Colossus (Compter) information taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossus_computer
Colossus of Rhodes information taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossus_of_Rhodes

Images
Figure 1 - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:El_coloso.jpg
Figure 2 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Colossus.jpg
Figure 3 - http://www.personal.psu.edu/jgh5040/colossus1.jpg

Unit 2: Research into 'Pagan' (Pagan Kingdom)

Various searches that derive from the word 'Pagan' include:

1. Pagan Island
2. Paganism
3. Pagan Kingdom  

Pagan Kingdom 

Also known as the Pagan Dynasty or Pagan Empire 

The first kingdom to unify the regions that would later constitute modern-day Burma (Myanmar). Pagan's 250-year rule over the Irrawaddy valley and its periphery laid the foundation for the ascent of Burmese language and culture, the spread of Burman ethnicity in Upper Burma, and the growth of Theravada Buddhism in Burma and in mainland Southeast Asia.

The kingdom grew out of a small 9th century settlement at Pagan (Bagan) by the Mranma (Burmans), who had recently entered the Irrawaddy valley from the Kingdom of Nanzhao. Over the next two hundred years, the small principality gradually grew to absorb its surrounding regions until the 1050s and 1060s when King Anawrahta founded the Pagan Empire, the first ever unification of the Irrawaddy valley and its periphery. Anawrahta's successors by the late 12th century had extended their influence farther south into the upper Malay peninsula, at least to the Salween river in the east, below the current China border in the farther north, and to the west, northern Arakan and the Chin Hills. In the 12th and 13th centuries, Pagan, alongside the Khmer Empire, was one of two main empires in mainland Southeast Asia.

Myanmar

Burma, also known as Myanmar, is a sovereign state in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by India, Bangladesh,China, Laos and Thailand

Figure 1

By the 9th century AD several city-states had sprouted across the land: the Pyu states in the central dry zone, Mon states along the southern coastline and Arakanese states along the western littoral. The balance was upset when the Pyu states came under repeated attacks from the Kingdom of Nanzhao between the 750s and the 830s. In the mid-to-late 9th century the Mranma (Burmans/Bamar) of Nanzhao founded a small settlement at Pagan (Bagan). It was one of several competing city-states until the late 10th century when it grew in authority and grandeur.

Figure 2

Irrawaddy Valley

A river that flows from north to south through Burma (Myanmar). It is the country's largest river and most important commercial waterway. Originating from the confluence of the N'mai and Mali rivers, it flows relatively straight North-South before emptying through the Irrawaddy Delta into the Andaman Sea.

Figure 3

Kingdom of Nanzhao

Nanzhao, alternate spellings Nanchao and Nan Chao (Traditional Chinese: 南詔; Simplified Chinese: 南诏; pinyin: Nánzhào; Standard Tibetan: Jang^]) was a polity that flourished in what is now southern China and Southeast Asia during the 8th and 9th centuries. It was centred around present-day Yunnan in China

Bibliography

Pagan Kingdom information taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pagan_Kingdom#Pagan_Empire 

Burma information taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burma

Irrawaddy River information taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irrawaddy_river

Kingdom of Nanzhao information taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Nanzhao

Images

Figure 1 - http://www.burmastar.org.uk/images/Myanmar-map.gif 

Figure 2 - http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/Bagan%2C_Burma.jpg/800px-Bagan%2C_Burma.jpg 

Figure 3 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Irrawaddy-River-Myanmar-Burma-2005.jpg 

Unit 2: Research into 'Pagan' (Paganism)

Various searches that derive from the word 'Pagan' include:

1. Pagan Island
2. Paganism
3. Pagan Kingdom 

Paganism 

Paganism describes a group of contemporary religions based on a reverence for nature. These faiths draw on the traditional religions of indigenous peoples throughout the world.

Indigenous 

Indigenous means: belonging to a certain place. With the rise of Christianity, Islam and Buddhism, ethnic religions came to be marginalized as "leftover" traditions in rural areas, referred to as paganism or shirk (idolatry).

• Paganism encompasses a diverse community.
• Wiccans, Druids, Shamans, Sacred Ecologists, Odinists and Heathens all make up parts of the Pagan community.
• Some groups concentrate on specific traditions or practices such as ecology, witchcraft, Celtic traditions or certain gods.
• Most Pagans share an ecological vision that comes from the Pagan belief in the organic vitality and spirituality of the natural world.
• Due to persecution and misrepresentation it is necessary to define what Pagans are not as well as what they are. Pagans are not sexual deviants, do not worship the devil, are not evil, do not practice 'black magic' and their practices do not involve harming people or animals.

Wiccans

Wicca is a Pagan Witchcraft tradition. Today, the name Wicca is frequently applied to the entire system of beliefs and practices that make up the spectrum of contemporary Pagan Witchcraft. However, although Wicca and Witchcraft are often used interchangeably, it is important to note that there are also Pagan Witchcraft traditions that are not Wiccan.

Wicca honours the Divine in the forms of the Triple Goddess, whose aspects of Virgin, Mother, and Wise Woman or Crone are associated with the waxing, full and waning phases of the Moon, and as the Horned God.

(More information on Wiccans: http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/paganism/subdivisions/wicca.shtml) 

Figure 1

Figure 2

List of Wiccan Gods:  http://www.wicca-spirituality.com/wiccan-gods.html 

Odinists and Heathens

Heathenry is a term used to describe the religious practices of two main groups of people, one historical and one modern.

The original Heathens were the pre-Christian North European peoples who lived a thousand and more years ago in the lands around what is now called the North Sea. These included the peoples of Anglo-Saxon England, Scandinavia, Germany and Frisia (Friesland).

Heathens work to build healthy relationships with gods and goddesses, ancestors, spirits of the land, and others in their communities, both through holy rites and through their day to day actions.Modern Heathen groups around the world are reviving these old practices and call their religion by various names including Asatru, The Northern Tradition, Odinism, Forn Sed, Germanic Pagan Reconstructionism or, simply, Heathenry. In Iceland, which did not convert to Christianity until the 11th Century, Heathenry has once again become an official (nationally recognised) religion.

(More information on Odinists and Heathens: http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/paganism/subdivisions/heathenry_1.shtml) 

Practices 

As Paganism is a very diverse religion with many distinct though related traditions, the forms of Pagan worship vary widely. It may be collective or solitary. It may consist of informal prayer or meditation, or of formal, structured rituals through which the participants affirm their deep spiritual connection with nature, honour their Gods and Goddesses, and celebrate the seasonal festivals of the turning year and the rites of passage of human life.

Beliefs 

• Nature

The recognition of the divine in nature is at the heart of Pagan belief. Pagans are deeply aware of the natural world and see the power of the divine in the ongoing cycle of life and death. Most Pagans are eco-friendly, seeking to live in a way that minimises harm to the natural environment.

• Concepts of the divine

Pagans worship the divine in many different forms, through feminine as well as masculine imagery and also as without gender. The most important and widely recognised of these are the God and Goddess (or pantheons of God and Goddesses) whose annual cycle of procreation, giving birth and dying defines the Pagan year. Paganism strongly emphasises equality of the sexes. Women play a prominent role in the modern Pagan movement, and Goddess worship features in most Pagan ceremonies.

• Pagan theology

Paganism is not based on doctrine or liturgy. Many pagans believe 'if it harms none, do what you will'. Following this code, Pagan theology is based primarily on experience, with the aim of Pagan ritual being to make contact with the divine in the world that surrounds them.

bibliography

Paganism at a glance, information taken from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/paganism/ataglance/glance.shtml

Indigenous information taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_religion 

Pagan practices information taken from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/paganism/rites/worship.shtml

Pagan beliefs taken from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/paganism/beliefs/beliefs.shtml 

Images

Figure 1 - http://cdn.gaelsong.com/images/uploads/148042_1878_large.jpg

Figure 2 - http://members.shaw.ca/bbogdan/blog_images/wicca/pentacle.JPG 

Unit 2: Research into 'Pagan' (Pagan Island)

Various searches that derive from the word 'Pagan' include:

1. Pagan Island
2. Paganism
3. Pagan Kingdom 

Pagan Island

 ‘Pagan is part of the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, an island chain of volcanoes that form the margin between the Pacific Ocean (to the East) and the Philippine Sea (to the West). Pagan is made up of two stratovolcanoes separated by an isthmus; it is one of the more volcanically active islands in the Marianas. The island was completely evacuated in 1981 when a large eruption forced the small Micronesian community to flee. Before the early month of 2012, the most eruption occurred in 2010.’ 

Figure 1

Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas 

The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands(CNMI), is one of the two insular area Commonwealths of the United States of America, the other being Puerto Rico. Both can also be classified as unincorporated, organisedterritories of the United States.

Occupying a strategic region of the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of 15 islands about three-quarters of the way fromHawaii to the Philippines. The United States Census Bureaureports the total land area of all islands as 179.01 square miles (463.63 km²).

Figure 2

Stratovolcanoes 

'Stratovolcanoes, also known as composite cones, are the most picturesque and the most deadly of the volcano types. Their lower slopes are gentle, but they rise steeply near the summit to produce an overall morphology that is concave in an upward direction. The summit area typically contains a surprisingly small summit crater. This classic stratovolcano shape is exemplified by many well-known stratovolcanoes, such as Mt. Fuji in Japan, Mt. Mayon in the Philippines, and Mt. Agua in Guatemala.'

Figure 3

Isthmus
An isthmus is a narrow strip of land connecting two larger land areas, usually with water on either side.



Bibliography

Pagan Island information taken from: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=77503

Stratovolcanoes information taken from: http://www.geology.sdsu.edu/how_volcanoes_work/stratovolc_page.html

Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas information taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Mariana_Islands

Isthmus information taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_isthmuses

Images

Figure 1 - http://eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/77000/77503/ISS030_E_122047.jpg

Figure 2 - http://static.ddmcdn.com/gif/willow/geography-of-northern-marianas0.gif 

Figure 3 - http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/FujiSunriseKawaguchiko2025WP.jpg/280px-FujiSunriseKawaguchiko2025WP.jpg