Research Experiment 1

The language and communication of narrative through the creation of immersive environments.

Environments are essential in building the world of a story, especially through a visual medium. This includes creating a setting or location for the events of a story and is important in communicating the ideas or culture of the people that live there. The more detailed and realised the design of these environments are, the more immersive the locations will be for someone experiencing the story or image.

Through the creation of my own environments, I want to communicate the history and culture of the species that are a part of my own narrative, as well as their technological advancements and the effects they have on nature. My narrative is from my Final Major Project - titled "The Invasion of the Cryp'lar Series" - which explores humanity and an alien race in futuristic science-fiction settings. I aim to make these environments immersive by adapting some of the techniques used in existing creations of immersive worlds into my own designs.

One example of an immersive environment can be found in Peter Jackson's film adaptations of The Lord of the Rings - written by J.R.R. Tolkien. (1) This is in the Elven kingdom of Rivendell, which is one of the most prominent and iconic locations in the series. I believe this environment to be one of the most immersive in all of cinematic history, and one that communicates a lot about the history of the Elves in Middle-Earth, as well as how their race is presented to others.

Frodo at Rivendell in The Fellowship of the Ring (New Line Cinema, 2001) (2)

Peter Jackson communicates the ancient but pure nature of the Elves through showing Rivendell as a series of light, intricately-detailed buildings that have been built into the side of a valley. It almost seems as if they are a part of their surroundings, showing the Elves' respect for nature and the plants and trees growing around and into Rivendell also showing how long the realm has been there. The valley is almost always shown covered in dense greenery and light which reinforces this, as well as portraying Rivendell as a safe and homely place - protected from all sides by any enemies the Elves may have had in a previous Age. The decorative ivory structures represent the purity and fairy-like qualities of the Elves, while also showing their skill for craftsmanship and a complex cultured past.

By reproducing the detail and setting of some of these structures, I have been able to understand how they fit together, as well as how the intricate, thin shapes represent the organic qualities of the nature surrounding Rivendell. This was particularly helpful in understanding the composition of the image taken from the film - which portrays depth, scale and detail to the viewer, while keeping an elegant simplicity to the Elven realm. These qualities help to make the environment feel real and immersive.


The first series of mini-experiments was looking into changing the location of Rivendell, and how the environment it is placed in changes how the kingdom is percieved. I began by illustrating Rivendell further down into the valley it has been depicted in. The continuous pen line works well to portray the flowing river surrounded by nature, and the spread layout of the buildings gives Rivendell an even stronger sense of being a part of its environment.

Next, I created a pencil drawing of Rivendell atop a high mountain, overlooking a great forest. Through using Adobe Illustrator, I was able to give the drawing a unique aestethic that defines the various elements. Placing the elven city on top of a mountain further emphasises how much Rivendell blends into any natural environment, as the structures and waterfall hold the same identity that they had before - turning a harsh terrain into a serene paradise.

The last in this series was a sketchy pen drawing of Rivendell underground. The freeform illustration style contrasts well with the refined and clean aestethic of the city, with the vast cavern giving depth and scale to an underground version of the kingdom. While not as conventional as the other experiments in this series, the pure city placed beneath the dirty earth does give a certain atmosphere that extends the range of locations that Rivendell would be compatible with.

I believe these were effective experiments as by changing the location, I recognised a change in what narrative was communicated. This helped me to understand which elements of the environment make Rivendell what it is in its fictional setting.


The next series of mini-experiments was based around changing the era that Rivendell was in, and how the environments of different eras change how it is percieved. The first era I experimented with was futuristic/science-fiction, where I designed how Rivendell buildings may look with advanced technology, as well as spaceships inspired by the design elements of the city. These designs are a blend of form and function, and could be ships these elves would use if they were a space-faring race.

The other era I experimented with was modern-day, where I combined the buildings of Rivendell with the blocky structures of a developed modern city. The sketchy pen is again used to show the bustling ambience of a city centre, with the Rivendell buildings appearing to be museums, galleries, or historical landmarks belonging to the city. Though the environment is not natural, the implementation of the Rivendell buildings do work to some extent at representing part of a modern-day city.

I believe these were effective experiments because changing the era helped to see whether the almost medieval aesthetic of Rivendell could effectively communicate a narrative in more advanced environments, as well as which elements of its design aid in achieving this.


The final series of mini-experiments focused on changing the architecture of Rivendell, and how a certain architectural style can change how it is percieved. It also looked at how the journey from Rivendell to Mordor - as seen in the The Lord of the Rings film series - depicts environments that communicate an underlying narrative of their own.

Brutalist architecture is striking, modern, and geometric, so I decided to apply that style to Rivendell with bold, black ink lines. The result was a collection of illustrated examples of Rivendell buildings and a flat skyline using Brutalist architecture. This experiment suitably transformed the environment into a dark and oppressive city that retains almost none of the original narrative.

The journey from Rivendell to Mordor is the main event that is presented in The Lord of the Rings, and each part of this journey showcases unique and diverse environments. I have illustrated a coloured sequence of the shortened journey, with the major locations included. The main narrative of these environments is the distinction between nature and industry; according to where each area is located; and how one gradually overshadows and destroys the other - a parallel to our own world.

This sequence begins with the realms of the elves in the West and the East, and is followed by statues from a past human civilisation. Noticeably, they present the narrative turning point, that going beyond will introduce the lands of Men in the South. Then it comes to the White City, standing as a beacon of the achievement of Men, and located just miles from Mordor. The final illustration shows the Great Eye atop its black tower, and Mount Doom where the ring must be destroyed. Mordor is dark and barren and devoid of all nature that hasn't been corrupted by the enemy, in favour of industry and forging armies for a war to cover all the lands in a second darkness.

The last mini-experiment focuses on the environments of Middle Earth by looking at part of the map, and the journey that is taken (in blue). In order to change the narrative, I have drawn a new path (in red) for what the journey may be if Rivendell was placed further South. The detail of the map serves to identify the difference in natural terrain the characters would encounter on these journeys - altering the narrative drastically.

I believe these were effective experiments because they made me understand how far I had to push Rivendell before it no longer communicated its intended narrative, as well as recognising how multiple environments can share a narrative and present it in various different ways.


From these experiments, I have managed to identify the characteristics of Rivendell which will help me create my own environments that effectively communicate a narrative. These characteristics are a grounded connection with nature, a strong sense of symmetry, and the implementation of timeless structural elements, such as columns and arches. With these aspects in mind, I created an experimental response that relates to one of the fictional worlds from my Final Major Project.

This response is in the form of a poster, advertising a city on one of the alien worlds from my FMP. I have used characteristics of Rivendell and adapted them to the history and culture of the fictional Cryp'lar species. This resulted in an alien environment that is grounded in my story and has a practicality to each of its structures. I also added writing from the Cryp'lar alphabet/language to the poster that translates to "Varos - Wish You Were Here." 


Overall, this experiment encouraged me to explore immersion through environments in different ways, and helped me to understand how these environments communicate a narrative through their visual language.


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(1) The Lord of the Rings. (2001-2003). [Film series] New Zealand, United States: Peter Jackson, New Line Cinema.

(2) New Line Cinema, (2001). Frodo at Rivendell, The Fellowship of the Ring. [image] Available at: http://imgur.com/nPRA6wT.jpg [Accessed 21 Nov. 2016].