Los Angeles based studio MOCEAN held a design brief for developing a Concept Pitch for USA Network's critically acclaimed TV show Mr Robot's Final 4th season. TJK Design pitched this Design Concept, which was not selected. However, the design concepts and process felt appropriate to share as a case study for brief submissions and design concept pitches. The pitch must show research and exploration, present the concept in the form of key art, and show how the key art will function in situation in the real world as advertisement and marketing. We utilized data bending and data corruption on images combined with practical visual effects to create the following design concept.
Phase 1: Exploration + Concept Development
USA Network's design brief provided the following keywords as a diveboard: Subversive, Disruptive, Complex, and Foreboding. Immediately I wanted to go into the Glitch aesthetic, however I wanted to avoid the use of automated glitch image filters and applications that only change the images cosmetically.
We used the provided assets and created glitched images. Rather than using phone apps and filters to glitch the images for me, I went directly into the image raw data. This can be achieved in a number of different ways. The method I was familiar with was to open the images through a software that can read and edit raw data without breaking the data so far that the image would corrupt.
We used the provided assets and created glitched images. Rather than using phone apps and filters to glitch the images for me, I went directly into the image raw data. This can be achieved in a number of different ways. The method I was familiar with was to open the images through a software that can read and edit raw data without breaking the data so far that the image would corrupt.
We used a digital audio workstation called Audacity to open the asset images as a .tif file. The images were then edited by using the built-in audio effects within the software.
By using audio effects like Reverb, Echo, Low Pass Filters and EQ, we took the distorted images and compiled them together to create disrupted images such as these. We also wanted to introduce practical applications of corruption by using the created assets and scanning them while moving the images to produce warped and distorted images. The final products were used to then create the Key Art in Phase 2.
By using audio effects like Reverb, Echo, Low Pass Filters and EQ, we took the distorted images and compiled them together to create disrupted images such as these. We also wanted to introduce practical applications of corruption by using the created assets and scanning them while moving the images to produce warped and distorted images. The final products were used to then create the Key Art in Phase 2.
Using a Scanner to warp and distort image. Thematically, the idea is that we are using machines to translate and transmute analog elements into digital data.
Lens-Light Refractions
I knew I wanted to use glitch aesthetics, but I did not want to rely so heavily on the aesthetics of an artform that is pregnant with ideas of anti-aesthetic. Mr. Robot is a story about a hacker and hacktivism and a visual motif mentioned in the brief is "Technology as Light."
Technology becomes the window to communicating and bridging human relationships with other people. The light emanating from the screens become a strong visual motif used to emphasize both alienation and connection simultaneously.
The solution I came up with was to use refracted and distorted lights as a visual element in the key art. I used a Canon 5d Mk II to record video and used a glass prism container to refract and distort the light entering my camera lens. I also detached the lens from the camera body to dynamically change the amount of light hitting the camera sensor.
Technology becomes the window to communicating and bridging human relationships with other people. The light emanating from the screens become a strong visual motif used to emphasize both alienation and connection simultaneously.
The solution I came up with was to use refracted and distorted lights as a visual element in the key art. I used a Canon 5d Mk II to record video and used a glass prism container to refract and distort the light entering my camera lens. I also detached the lens from the camera body to dynamically change the amount of light hitting the camera sensor.
Phase 2: Building the deliverables
The second phase of this project was to produce the key art using the elements we glitched, contorted, and constructed from the previous steps. The idea was to retain the glitchy and distorted artifacts of the images while layering strong light blurs from the refracted camera footage to produce a softened image of the harsh visual distortions.
Creator Sam Esmail had stated he wanted Season 4 to be an optimistic arc for the show, showing an upward motion from the dark and despairing previous seasons. The light elements offer that optimistic "light at the end" for the show and the characters to visually represent.
Creator Sam Esmail had stated he wanted Season 4 to be an optimistic arc for the show, showing an upward motion from the dark and despairing previous seasons. The light elements offer that optimistic "light at the end" for the show and the characters to visually represent.
Phase 3: In Site Application
The final part of the brief was to show how the created key art would live in the real world as advertisement and marketing material.
