Munch Invaders

The final game has been completed, after much tweaking and altering of the sprites in our discussions of how 'retro' they should look. However the game itself has come off really well and I really pleased with the outcome of Ricky's efforts. It's turned out better than I thought it would. To see/play the game and view the trailer follow this link: http://www.munchinvaders.blogspot.com/


Evaluation.

So far the project has been really fun to explore, not only from an animation point of view but from a marketing and also a video gaming perspective. My area was the pre-production aspect of things but sadly our brief, that required us to use the existing Monster Munch characters, really didnt give me much room to exlpore via character designs. Having said that, however, I do feel I learned alot more about how the production pipe-line dictates the process of video gaming, for example the same thought process needs to be applied when creating the Monsters in their sprite form to imitate the 'retro' pixilated look. At first I thought it was a simple matter of making them and then lowering the resolution, but as we found out it required a much more complex approach. In my earlier brainstorming sheet I explored how 2D and 3D often mingle in their design processes, now I can add what I have learned via the video gaming process.

Animatic

Due to time contraints, and also for a more focused and relevant approach, we both agreed on the second idea as it related directly to the Atari video gaming in it's intirety, as the previous only revealed that theme towards the end. This was an Animatic that I put together which intends to realise how the advert might flow. Due to Ricky's progress in making the 'Munch Invaders' game it wasnt necessary for me to animate the game footage shown, as we plan to film it for ourselves as a non-scripted sequence. Instead the only real emphasis is the change from game footage to a scripted event that is strictly for the purposes of the trailer. In this case it was the product shot, that is absolutely key in all advertisements, that appears towards the end. The Pickled Onion flavour crisp packet lands ontop of the the Monsters in the last scene, with the potential to either hold that frame with a tag-line over the top or to cut away to the tag-line. My only concern is that the trailer might just look like prolonged video game footage and when the sight gag happens at the end the audience may have lost interest.

Storyboard ideas

These are some of the sketches I made of the initial Ideas we discussed, above and below are the rough storyboarded sequence of the 'space invader' trailer. Ricky has now finished his test and has crafted the game to an almost complete status, in this way we can send both that finished game and use it for footage for the trailer in the coming deadline.

In the closing shot the packet of Monster Munch, in pixilated form, crashes down on the monster before morphing into a clear image of the package design, this is the product shot at the end.

Another concept was a much more 'theatrical' trailer, very much in a tongue and cheek manner. In the vein of 'v.s' movies the trailer features various 'hero' shots of each of the monsters.

After each brief close up of the new monsters we cut to close ups of their predecessors, each followed by 'dramatic' text, each scene shortened one after the other until the climax is reached.

As a theme for the potential 'confrontations' in the future game ideas my story incorperated the notion of the previous monsters with the new monsters, who are ironically the original monsters, come to take back their rightful place. This allows for more room to breathe in a creative sense, now we have six monsters instead of three, and they all represent the same three flavours ( or there abouts) which leads to a nice dynamic and potential for the game designs to revolve around.

For the next frames I considered the composition of the 'close ups', using the iconic panning shots used in countless films that depict similar confrontations. In the last scene I imagined the camera rotating to a birdseye view and then morphing into the pixilated overhead view of the space invaders but with the monsters in place of the 'barracks' and 'invaders'.

Monster Character Sheets

Although the monsters have already been designed I decided to do some draft character sheets of the monsters so I could get a feel for them. Above is the 'Pickled Onion' flavour monster, however the 'tail' behind him is never fully explained, is it a leg or a tail? I chose the latter for the sake of design.

The 'Flamin' hot' flavour monster carries unusual traits, four arms and a strange hat. However his form is easy to draw for he is mostly a rotund shape with 'added extras' stuck on after.

This is the 'Roast beef' flavour monster is my particular favourite for his aesthetic design adheres to the principles of animation wonderfully. His body form at the bottom is simple and does not require much movement, however the long and exaggerated neck and the elongated tongue adds to the humour of the character and are great focal points for animation.

Above is a sample of Rik's attempt to re-design the monsters into the 'atari' console limitations of graphics. I think it's come off really well, however he has found that when you shrink them to scale within the game screen the intentional pixilated finish ironically makes them look very detailed and 'modern', precisely the opposite of what we wanted.

Moodboards

These moodboards were put together to merely get a 'feel' for some of the themes we may use, in not only our initial project but for our prolonged project to come as well. Each image relates to a particular flavour, whilst Ricky has already created some himself on his blog, his lean more towards the 'retro' themes we are aiming for, whereas mine more reflect the visual style of the flavours.

The above is the 'Smokin' hot' flavour, and the key elements to this are the theme of flames or burning, something which can be adapted into our game designs. The colours then naturally lean towards hues of red or orange.

This one is the 'Roast Beef' flavour and after some discussion we played on the idea of using the Cow as the central theme, a game that is set in a farm and relates to interacting in a humorous way. So in exploring these ideas I went for a rural countryside theme, with the prominent yellows that are linked with the Roast Beef flavour. For some reference and an example of the type of humour we are aiming for this Yazoo milkshake is a great example for its tone and its setting.







The most classic of the Monster Mucnh falvours in the 'Pickled Onion' line. With this flavour alone comes some measure of nostalgia that is seperate from the others, and so the same thought has to go into the designing. I think the key for this marketing to work the emphasis needs to be placed on this flavour as it is considered the 'original' Monster Munch packet that almost everyone has been exposed to. In this way our target audience can be drawn in by this and then later exposed to the other, slightly less known, flavours.

Concepts

After discussing with Ricky about various ideas we decided that three games could be created, each on the three Monster munch flavours. However the competition deadline requires a piece of work handed in earlier so we have made a compromise to create a short advert based on the three games, a teaser trailer as It were. Above are a few ideas taken from  classic games 'Space Invaders' but various Monster Munch themes are put in place to make it humorous. The closing scene is the product shot and possibly a tag-line. This idea has also been developed by Ricky into one of the Three games, tests of which are looking good. 

Above are some of the notes I made about potential level designs, themes and flavour links. Various 'Easter eggs' could be intergrated into the games, for example a food technician named Sharan Watford was responsible for the 'pickled onion' flavour and so perhaps her name could appear, somewhere in the game, as a nod to the brand's history.

The New Monsters

After browsing their website, follow the link: http://www.megamonstermunch.com/ , I managed to find their newest monsters, ironically reverting back to the orignal Monster Munch designs. The blue Monster is linked with the Flamin' hot flavour.





Below is the pink monster, linked with the 'Roast Beef' flavour. His character trait seems to be his abnormally large tongue.

The yellow monster is attributed to the most iconic and regular flavour in the Monster Munch range since its inception, 'Pickled Onion'. Of note is the one eyed element to him, relating to the original idea of the crisp shape. At first it was explained as a monster's paw but later was claimed to represent a monsters aye, with the 'claw's representing eye lashes.

Monster Munch advertisements.

After much thorough research I have only been able to come across a few facts as to the origins of this Brand. In the beginning the brand was named 'The Prime Monster' , apparently in reference to the brand producer, and was launched in Britain in 1977 with Smith's being the company behind its brand. For some reason the brand was renamed 'Monster Munch' at some point 1978 with various tag-lines such as 'The Biggest Snack Pennies Can Buy' and originally had four monsters illustrated on the packaging, each relating to a particular flavour. Some of these flavours were: Roast beef, Pickled Onion, Saucy Tomato, Bacon, Cheese & Onion, King Prawn and Salt & Vinegar. Again there seems to be a lack of evidence as to what some of these monsters looked like as I was unable to find any existing images of them from an sources, even their current website ( aimed strangely at only 18+) has little of its past in the site and seems more orientated to launching their new campaign. However, thankfully, there are existing commercials of the Monster Munch brand ranging from the 70's to the mid 90's and various articles from the tabloids about the new re-launch of the brand.



http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/oct/02/advertising.television

This article is a rather humorous yet genuine plea to recover the lost Monster Munch outfits used in the original advertisments during the 70's and 80's, in a new call out to the general public they have enlisted Timmy Mallet to spearhead the search via a video ( follow the link to view on the article page) where a £5000 reward for their recovery is in place.
This is a clear example of how Walkers are desperate to use the 'nostalgia' of the brand to it's full effect to the point of refusing to remake the outfits and pursuing the originals.

http://www.talkingretail.com/products/product-news/10590-walkers-brings-back-original-monster-munch.html


"...The re-launch sees the reintroduction of a bigger, crunchier Monster Munch corn snack, a bigger pack format and retro pack design featuring the loveable and iconic Monster characters ..."

A quote from the article itself which illustrates the objective of Walker's new re-launch. It notes that part of it's campaign is designed to boost the sales of single packet crisps based on impulse buying as apposed to purchacing the multi-packs. It also goes onto say "...it's the number one snack for fun and hunger fill amongst men aged 18-24..." Clearly they are enforcing the new idea of their target audience being maturer, however ironically still being aimed at those children who grew up eating them who now fit into the new target audience.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/3110135/Monster-Munch-crisps-relaunched.html


This article covers the same issue as the first, being the campaign to find the missing outfits, and mostly repeats what was mentioned earlier. However there was an interesting quote from Dominic South '...he believed that eighties products were popular again "because consumers appreciate things that remind them of old times, especially of their childhoods"...

These are things to keep in mind for our project and how and what we use from the past to symbolise the 'retro' and nostalgic influence in our campaign. I think our choosing, specifically, of the Atari games fits this perfectly as on their own terms they are highly revered games and consoles that stir exactly the same emotions the Monster Munch re-launch are after.



As is made clear there are the three main monsters who each represent a certain flavour. As mentioned in the above advert they are: ' Pickled Onion' 'Saucy' and 'Roast beef' flavour. Also the use of the tag-line at the end indicates the size of the crisps themselves.








Another example of Smith's commercials for Monster Munch, note also the tag-line remains the same however it is worded differently.



Here the advert remains essentially the same, although the yellow monster featured with one eye seems to have been replaced with an orange monster with two eyes, though the change is not highlighted or explained anywhere.




Like the previous advert the colours are bold, simple and mostly adhere to the primary ones. These are of course aimed at children up to 12+, a stark contrast to the newly re-launched campaign which is aimed at students/adverts of 18+. Also the tag-line is altered, perhaps only for the special giveaways that the commercial displays or perhaps it was indeed the new one.


Below is a similar advert, this time promoting a new giveaway with the crisps and also, interestingly, features yet another unnamed monster. A small child like green monster with antennas.

Initial Ideas

This was my brainstorm sheet based on what the production of this may be, considering that our chosen area of gaming could relate to a whole range of pre-production methods, such as 2D, hand drawn, digital animation, 3D, mayer etc. I tried to make a list of all the appropriate milestones through out the design process and also link how some areas blend into another, according to the context. Also I have applied some of the principles of animation into my theories, namely being economy of line, simplicity of design and emphasis on exaggeration. With these set of guidelines I can use this as a template for the way our project develops.

Monster Munch

The Brief:


"Get creative and raise Monster Munch’s profile among students!
Background
The iconic Monster Munch snack was first launched in 1977, during the heady days of long hot summers, Raleigh Grifters, Choppers and BMXing, when wrestling was still cool and Atari was the ultimate gaming experience.
In 2007 the brand was modernized; the pieces themselves became smaller and the look and feel of the Monster Munch characters was changed.
It was quickly realized that some of the nostalgia and charm of the brand had been lost, and so 2008 saw the reintroduction of bigger pieces as originally launched in 1977, and a retro pack design featuring the ever-popular Monster characters.
People harbour fond memories of eating Monster Munch throughout the 70s, 80s and 90s.
Monster Munch is available in three distinct flavours; Roast Beef, Pickled Onion and Flamin’ Hot, all sold in 40g packs.
The Creative Challenge
We’d now like to turn our attention to a younger student audience, and put Monster Munch firmly on their radar.
We are looking for ideas that:
• Encourage students to make Monster Munch their number one snacking choice.
• Rekindle their memories of eating Monster Munch as a child in order to enhance the sense of nostalgia surrounding the brand.
• Draw upon the success of the iconic existing Monster Munch packaging.
• Present Monster Munch as an antidote to ‘gourmet chips’ and ‘boring’ crisps with its uncompromising flavours and satisfyingly jumbo-sized snack pieces.
Media
Your ideas and creative concepts may take any form you like. As well as creative ideas and campaign concepts we’re equally as interested in the environments in which you think the target audience will be responsive to your communication. Traditional, or futuristic - how you approach this challenge is entirely up for grabs.
Take into consideration the scope university and college campuses have to offer; you may want to propose an on-campus event or a site-specific campaign.
Think big, but not big budgets! We’re looking for entrepreneurial ideas that can work hard and make the most of resources. How can we engage people in ways that are creatively and financially effective?
Target Audience
Students aged 18-24 for whom food is not a major priority; it has to fit in around a lifestyle of college and working part time, sport, drinking, clubbing, sleeping. They tend to snack rather than eat regular meals.
Mandatories
Where appropriate you may wish to include the Monster Munch logo in your work. This is available in the project pack at the YCN website. Additionally you may wish to include the Monsters too, but this is entirely up to you."

This is the brief Ricky and I have chosen to work towards. After initial discussions we both agreed to focus on a small part of its description of nostalgic influences, namely being 'Atari was the ultimate gaming experience.' It is from this we shall draw various ideas based upon the old video gaming nostalgia and link the history of the Monster Munch brand with it, ensuring that the target audience of students and younger people are aimed at successfully via the form of retro-style gaming, which in turn shall make the marketing campaign.