Virtual Environments Week Two

Mondays lecture was replaced with an initial briefing of and visit to the Young Mans Christian Association Chelmsford. The talk was hosted by Craig Gough who informed the group of his expectations regarding the advertisement as well as key groups and event nights held at the YMCA which he wishes to promote to a wide spectrum audience.

We could not view the premises as the group was too large and therefore Daniel and I emailed Mr. Gough (craig.gough@chelmsfordymca.co.uk) in order to arrange a meeting at a later stage to formally visit and observe the various functions of each room as well as which groups make use of the facilities.

As a starting point to meet the expectations of Mr. Gough and our brief we designed an idea cloud of various solutions to the problem. The favoured response would be to create an advert which appealed to a wide age range to incorporate the many amenities available at the YMCA. Mr. Gough mentioned he would like an animation which could be posted directly to schools to advertise the Charity and the variety of activities, groups and support they offer for all ages.

The idea cloud encouraged the idea of a first proposition to solve the problem. A grayscale home environment with two brothers; one young and energetic, the other older with the need of a creative outlet, bored at home and watching dull daytime television. The screen pans round to show the television screen which suddenly becomes colourful, bright and fun lighting the room and advertising the YMCA.
The advertisement asks its audience [the two brothers] if they are bored and invites them to join in the fun at the YMCA Chelmsford. The pair of boys are taken in by the advertisement and find themselves at the charity premises. The camera follows them as they dash excitedly from room to room [highlighting the nursery, after schools club, battle of the band, open mic night and youth sports club] before they go their separate ways to make new friends and participate in the sports club and open mic night.

The aim here is to reach a wide audience of various ages, interests and needs and therefore it is believed that two main characters with opposing interests and a fairly large age gap is the best solution. The first excited look around the YMCA allows insight into the large variety of activities, groups and support available as well as the services provided by the charity.