A one week workshop where the first-year students were taught the basics of Blender and how to achieve a similar visual language to that of early era video game graphics.
Students were asked to create a looping animation or 'Story' from the perspective of a character in the city of Renens where ECAL is based. These were then packaged into a playable game displayed on a series of CRT monitors controlled using a PS1 controller.
The game itself was completely run in Blender using Geometry Nodes & Python.
Workshop (2024) with Jack McVeigh
The Story
The students were asked to create a looping animation or 'Story' from the perspective of a character in the city of Renens where ECAL is based. The stories were then packaged into a playable game displayed on a series of CRT monitors controlled using a PS1 controller.
Marché du Temple, 03h15, Rosalie Girard
Park, Jonathan Vögele
Avenue du 24-Janvier, Andreas Abbaszadeh
Epenex 4a, Laurine Gigandet
M1 lausanne-flon, Shana Meinecke
Migros, Teo Grajqevci
Asset Turntable
In addition to the sotry, the students reproduced an object ("asset") related to the scene they imagined.
Rosalie Girard
Teo Grajqevci
Jonathan Vögele
Nyria Graber
Dalia Spichtig
Brikeld Hoxa
BA MEDIA & INTERACTION DESIGN
with Mario Von Rickenbach
Using a mixed reality headset, the students used their surroundings as playground. Through creative gestures, each experiment proposes a way of interacting with the environment.
BA MEDIA & INTERACTION DESIGN
with Pauline Saglio, Christophe Guignard, Alain Bellet, Gaël Hugo, Laura Nieder, Lara Défayes
In this point-and-click game, players take on the role of a maid on her first day in a luxury hotel. Each level consists of a messy room left behind by guests. The player must remember the list of tasks and complete them in the correct order to restore the room. The gameplay relies on simple, repetitive actions, where order and memory are key, with no room for error in such meticulous surroundings. Through repetition, the actions become mechanical, but the slightest mistake forces the player to start over. Guided by the overbearing voice of a manager, the experience combines curiosity, frustration and a quiet sense of absurdity in a simple game loop.
BA MEDIA & INTERACTION DESIGN
with Pauline Saglio, Christophe Guignard, Alain Bellet, Gaël Hugo, Laura Nieder, Lara Défayes
Just a game? is an interactive project that explores how war video games contribute to the trivialization of violence through their game design. Why are weapons perceived as desirable objects? How do customization, visual and sound effects make the act of killing satisfying? What remains of a body after death in a video game? And what does this say about our relationship to violence? In these games, nothing is left to chance: pleasure, oblivion, hostility — it's all a question of design. Through a series of classic combat scenes, this immersive documentary invites viewers to observe, question and understand the systems that transform war into a playful experience.
BA MEDIA & INTERACTION DESIGN
by Alexandre Gambarini
Whether it's the legend of Joan of Arc, William Tell, Che Guevara or other emblematic figures, our societies and our daily lives are partly punctuated by these tales. Echoes from the Tales is an interactive sequence that traces the life of Vasil Levski, a Bulgarian icon. By listening to his story, punctuated by strong symbolism, the sequence enables us to grasp how these stories can shape individual and collective identity. The aim of this interactive sequence is to analyze how a story can be assimilated and transformed by the individual imagination and then passed on, as well as understanding how age-old narratives such as Vasil Levski's can be hijacked by modern storytelling.
BA MEDIA & INTERACTION DESIGN
by Emma Grosu
Video games allow players to escape into narrative worlds where they hold ‘all the power.’ In ESC, the game's character seeks to escape his own reality. This reversal examines the notions of freedom and constraint in video games, ironically highlighting the limits of our existence. What would happen if a character became aware of their situation, realizing that they are not in control of their movements but are, instead, imprisoned by them? ESC allowed me to explore concepts of immersion such as breaking the fourth wall and mise en abyme. Inspired by works like ‘The Truman Show’ and ‘Sword Art Online,’ I illustrated how the perception of freedom can be an illusion, both in video games and in the physical world.