Biome:
The emotional target for this biome is one of "awe"; an emotion developed through the joining of the feelings of fear and surprise as proposed in Plutchik's wheel of emotions. This would be achieved through dark expanses of misty ambiguity, leading into mystical, dancing beams of lights and alien, yet familiar flora.
The main reference for this biome would be primarily in the moss covered landscape of Washington's Hoh rain forest. A climate in this proposed area, to create the moss and flora that would be seen about, would be very wet, and of lower elevation, more than likely in a valley allowing water to pool and collect. Using the temperate rainforest as a climate outline, the Hoh rain forest is located in the colder north of washington state so the basic climate is wet and cold. Averaging 50 degrees over the span of a year, temperate rainforest regions rarely reach extremely cold temperatures though they can reach below freezing temperatures in the winter and reach into the 90s during the hottest points in summer.
The dominant species in the Hoh rainforest are Sitka spruce and western hemlock, many growing to amazing sizes. Often these trees began life seeded in the tops of fallen tree trunks, causing the tree roots to expand out and into the soil, as the trunk below decays. This creates trees which seem to almost walk across the forest floor on spindly root legs.Mosses, spike mosses, ferns and lichens festoon tree trunks and branches, giving the forest a "jungle-like" feel. though few rocks are visible, those that can be found are often related to the glacier runoff which created the valley: graywacke, slate, argillite, volcanics, arkosic sandstone and deposited by the valley glaciers. It would also be common to find geology from the nearby olympic mountains; rocks like shale, schist, phyllite, and greenstone. Covering the ground are massive expanses of dead and decaying wood, blanketed under the leaves, ferns, mosses, and fungi, giving the whole landscape a spongy feel. The soil which does peek through is dark and damp, and full of nutrients as the trees which grow in these kinds of forests don't suck all of the nutrients from the ground.
As a disruption to the area, yet keeping with the magical theme, this seemingly enchanted forest is inhabited by fairies and elves. This results in bored out mushrooms with paths through the moss, cutting to the entrances.
Initially this project began with the breaking down of stylistic elements and the design of some very rough composition studies of how i could lay out some basic elements to build the compelling scene I was envisioning.
My next goal was to break the most major pieces down into more simple and understandable forms. I could recognize this project meant biting off a lot, but I wanted to pinpoint what were the areas of greatest importance.
Then came the long process of building this Biome.
getting the lighting right was going to clearly be a struggle. Tackling major elements i had never before addressed would also be a hassle. Making a complex material that blended two materials and kept the "moss" side up was going to test my understandings of materials, and moss itself, to create a fuzzy appearance was no easy task.
Using a blue print actor I made last year, I was able to rapidly set dress the area to my choosing.