Game level Brainstorm

Radical typography

In traditional typography, text is composed to create a readable, coherent, and visually satisfying whole that works invisibly, without the awareness of the reader.
Until the Digital Age, typography was a specialized occupation. Digitization opened up typography to new generations of visual designers and lay users.
Type can be used to evoke emotion and aid an image, branding of feel.
For example 'Punk' uses a cut and paste, rough and ready process to capture a D_I_Y aesthetic.
In the late 70's this was an entirely new method of selling a product. It transformed not only the punk movement into pop, but society as a whole, the media and pop culture that succeeded it as well.



"The typographical principle, that is the creation of a complete text by reusing identical characters."

"In typography color is the overall density of the ink on the page, determined mainly by the type face and size, the leading, but also by the word spacing and depth of the margins.[14] Text layout, tone or color of set matter, and the interplay of text with white space of the page and other graphic elements combine to impart a "feel" or "resonance" to the subject matter. With printed media typographers are also concerned with binding margins, paper selection and printing methods."

Blade Runner - A quick thought

Ideology as Dystopia: An Interpretation of Blade Runner

Film and other forms of popular culture place enormously powerful tools at the disposal of students of politics and society. This text analyzes an aesthetically complex Blade Runner. Unlike the vast majority of films in the science fiction genre, Blade Runner refuses to neutralize the most abhorrent tendencies of our age and casts serious doubt on a host of the clichés about where we should locate their causes.
Among the most significant questions it challenges us to confront are: In what does the "truly human" consist? Does the concept of imitating "truly human" beings retain any coherence once the feasibility of designing "more human than human" robots becomes an increasingly imaginable technological possibility? What might relations between the sexes and family life become if the twin eventuality of an uninhabitable earth and the perfection of robotic technologies should come about? While theorists are asking themselves, "What and where should theory be now?", this text contends that at least part of their time should be spent at the cinema, deep in thought and imagination.

Blade Runner - Annotated text/summary

Terminal Identity: The virtual subject in postmodern science fiction.
Scott Bukinon
1993 Duke University Press

"There is absolutely no overstating the importance of science fiction to the present cultural moment, a moment that sees itself as science fiction. "The Cyber Punks (science fiction writers) are perhaps the first SF generation to grow up not only within the literary tradition of SF, but in a truly science fictional world.""We live in science fiction,""We have annexed the future into our own present.""We are already living out the existences predicted by the previous generation of SF writers.""

This text helped me contextualize not only the position of the Philip K. Dick, the author of 'Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep,' but furthermore the position and motives of Ridley Scott, director of Blade Runner. Examining their relationship to culture, the position within their respective fields and discover the implications that had on the production of Blade Runner. (Ridley's projection of what a dystopia might be)
It served as part of the foundation for the the essay. Almost as a reference for generalized motives narratives within science fiction.
It also furthered the opinion that science fiction helps to identify and narrate the ambiguities that the tech in contemporary culture holds. Its flaws and positive aspects left open for discussion.

Walk Cycles

Kinematics

Time Management

Briefing Date
2nd November
Research into characters and game archetypes.
Moodboards
Draw some characters and begin forming ideas
Select colour for character
Do a character sheet (back story, meaning) giving the archetype context.
Concept art

Intrim Crit(s)
23rd November
Decide on character and back story.
Finalise concept
Create orthographics and import into maya
Begin Modelling, - 3 days
Uv Mapping - 7days
Rigging - 3 days
Rigging 2, - 3 days
Rigging 3 - 3 days
Prototype

Final Crit
14th December

Binding skin / cleaning up
Animating jump walk and idol cycles

Deadline
Friday 14th JANUARY 9-9.30AM.

This has not been kept to.
Due to exterior issues and unforeseen circumstances i have had to take time out and this has set me back.
I am only just beginning modelling and started on my maya work.
This has been a disaster for both confidence in my ability and workloads.
Either way a character will be made, and made t the best of my ability.

.....

There's a conflict between interactivity and storytelling: Most people imagine there's a spectrum between conventional written stories on one side and total interactivity on the other. But I believe that what you really have are two safe havens separated by a pit of hell that can absorb endless amounts of time, skill, and resources. -Walter Freitag, game designer. (Platt 1995)

More Interesting Game concepts...http://underthemask.wikidot.com/crawfordandgosling

Introduction

This paper offers a consideration of the location of gaming within patterns of everyday life. Building upon earlier work (such as Crawford 2006, and Crawford and Rutter 2007) we continue the argument for considering gamers as a media ‘audience’, as this allows useful parallels to be drawn with literatures on (other) media audiences. Specifically here, this paper argues that the concept of ‘scene’, borrowed most notably from music fan studies, provides a useful mechanism for understanding digital gaming culture. In particular, we suggest that the concept of scene is useful as this highlights how ‘elective belongings’ are located within our identities and ordinary lives, but can take on extraordinary meaning in certain (physical) spaces.

Though this paper is largely theoretical in its arguments, and endeavors to provide a basis for further and more detailed empirical work, the paper does draw on some illustrative examples in the last section to support our arguments. This data is gathered from ongoing ethnographic research into the everyday lives of digital gamers. To date, this research includes interviews with 82 gamers (66 male, 16 female) in the UK, media use diaries, and observations of gamers at play in their own homes, at several LAN events and in games arcades.

Audiences and Narratology

Crawford and Rutter (2007) argue that rather than being understood as an ‘audience’ much of the literature on gaming continues to situate gamers as individual players.
In particular, the case has often been made that gamers are simply not an ‘audience’. Eskelinen and Tronstad (2003) suggest that like many other games, such as soccer, having an audience present is not a requirement of play. However, Eskelinen and Tronstad present a very limited understanding of what an audience is; assuming that any one individual cannot occupy the positions of participant and audience at the same time, and what they do not recognize, is that through their gaming performances, gamers create spectacles, to which they are also a viewer of, and audience to (Rehak 2003).

Gamers can also be understood as an audience in a much more traditional sense. As Newman (2004: 95) writes: ‘it is essential to note that videogame experiences are frequently shared by groups, perhaps crowded around a television set in a domestic setting, or as Saxe (1994) has observed, around coin-op machines in arcades’. And recent research is increasingly highlighting the limitations of a focus merely on the individual gamer and game (Crawford and Rutter 2007).

However, there continues to be a reluctance by many (though notably not all) writers on games studies to align discussions of digital gamers with those of other media users. The basis of this rejection of the idea of gamers as a media audience needs to be understood as a wider rejection of the idea that games and gamers can be understood using theoretical and methodological tools borrowed from literary and/or film studies, such as narrative analysis.

In particular, in recent years there has been mounting and enthusiastic (and not wholly unconvincing) argument against the use of literary and film theory, and in particular narrative, in understanding digital games. For instance, several authors point out that not all games tell stories, and even those that do, tend to have very limited narratives or do this in different ways to other media forms (for instance, see Juul 2001).
This leads onto a further key criticism of a narratological approach; that unlike traditional narrative-based media forms (such as literature, television or cinema), which are ‘representational’, digital gamer are ‘interactive’ and ‘simulation’ based.

There is little doubt that the activity of playing a digital game is quantifiably different to watching a film or reading a book, and that it is an oversimplification of media forms to suggest that these can be studied in the same ways. However, while we do not wish to advocate the wholesale application of ‘second-hand’ theories borrowed from other disciplines, we would similarly warn against, not adopting (and if necessary adapting) still applicable ideas and tools and also making connections with other disciplines and areas of study.

pleh.....

Maya has already been causing me issues due to my lack of creative ambition to create a game character. In being particularly bad at drawing and then having no interest in games development my motivation is thin. However i am trying to perceiver with it as i know the skills learned as a byproduct of this project wil be incredibly useful in the future.
I have managed to get hold of a copy of a maya guide so i have been working through a few tutorials on that and experimenting. Bt over christmas i found myself unable to really get into my work properly.
I have really struggled to see how i am not wasting my time doing things as a means to an end.
Hopefully things will pull together in the end. Just need to pass this module. ]
Already had a number of redesigns of my character due to my lack of understanding of maya that has been pointed out on numerous occasions.
But i feel the one i have managed to settle on is as refined as i feel i need to take it. It ad hears to the brief and full fills my conceptual desires more fully so thats the design that will stay. It also enables me to simplify the techniques needed for maya.
In Beginning modelling it has taken hours to re learn what we were taught last year. And the logic sometimes defeats my brain. My first 24 hours modelling has all been wasted time. Blind leading Blind.
Now having that book hopefully practice and time will enable something good to come out of my attempts at this module.

On Garden State

Garden State has its quota of tender moments, but it's its offbeat, darker elements that make it fresh and endearing. The film is the first-born baby of the 29-year-old Zach Braff who makes his writing and directing debut and also takes the central role. On this evidence, Braff, who until now is best known for his ongoing job as star of the American TV medical comedy Scrubs, is the next Ed Burns. Braff's future looks brighter though, as he appears stronger in all departments than Burns, who has failed to recapture the magic of his 1995 Sundance darling The Brothers McMullen.

One distinct advantage Braff has is his wonderful cast. Natalie Portman is delightfully efficacious as the bubbly screwball Sam. Her spirited performance is the perfect contrast to Braff's doleful Andrew Largeman. Almost inevitably for a young first time director, the temptation to indulge himself is rarely spurned and if any slight criticism were to be leveled at Braff, it's that at times his directing and writing is unnecessarily cute and clever. But it's a minor quibble at what is otherwise an impressive and promising introduction.

Andrew is a moderately successful actor in Los Angeles when, after nine years away, he returns to his New Jersey hometown to attend his mother's funeral. The trip forces him to confront his austere psychiatrist father (Ian Holm) who is responsible for Andrew's lithium dependency following a childhood incident involving his mother. Andrew also bumps into old high school friends including the abrasive Mark (Peter Sarsgaard). Andrew's medicated state has rendered him impervious to deep feelings, but having left his pills at home, his encounter with the warm and vibrant Sam has a liberating effect.

Their relationship imbues the film with its emotional core. Like two lost souls, Sam and "Large" connect immediately, their conditions (she's an epileptic) providing a unifying bond. Much of Garden State's appeal lies in the unconventional ways their romance evolves. The masturbating dog being but one example. This quirky sensibility extends to all areas, particularly the assorted oddballs that continually crop up. Garden State is inhabited almost entirely by eccentrics and nutters, with nary a normal person in sight. It's a mad world, but one that provides a touching and amusing getaway.

How do we understand the importance of narrative within games: Interesting Article

How do we understand the importance of narrative within games.

Let's begin by exploring what I mean when I refer to “narrative within video games” by looking at the
“Dictionary.com” definition of 'narrative';
nar·ra·tive [nar-uh-tiv]
–noun
1. a story or account of events, experiences, or the like, whether true or fictitious.
2. a book, literary work, etc., containing such a story.
3. the art, technique, or process of narrating: Somerset Maugham was a master of narrative.
It is with the second definition that I refer to here. “a book, literary work, etc., containing such a story” if this is the case then video games can be referred to as narrative. Simple, right? Wrong! Although this basic conclusion can be used to state that games are narratives it doesn't go anyway to to demonstrate the importance of such a theory within video games.
Games academics is still a very much infantile area of study so lets refer back to the silver screen,
cinema. Craig Lindley surmises in his paper that
“. . the central notion of narrative in modern commercial cinema is that of a form having a beginning (the first act), in which a conflict is established, followed by the playing out of the implications of the conflict (the second act), and completed by the resolution of the conflict (the third act).” (Lindley, C. 2002).
I will suggest that this is a handy way of dealing with narrative form within video games. We already
know that many video games tell a story, in fact I will suggest that most gamers buy a video game based on its narrative story content and not necessarily the genre or gameplay dynamic, such as; if it's an FPS or a strategy game. The results show that games tend to be bought based on the story it tells.

By understanding the above quote we can apply the idea of linear narrative to interactivity. For examplelets look at the movie Avatar (20th Century Fox, 2009). Avatar shares many similarities to modern video games, the aesthetics and the production for example, in that large portions of the movie are computer generated much like a video game. But, the movie Avatar isn't interactive. If you leave the movie half way through the story still progresses regardless of if you're there to see it or not. A video game is different, the player has to be involved in the progression of the narrative in order to get to the proverbial 'third act' and complete the game and therefore the story. Let's consider that games don't
simply contain narrative but are actually constructed as narrative, would it be correct to assume that a game such as Tetris (Alexey, P. 1984) was created as a story, I would suggest not. Espen Aarseth states in his book “Cybertext. .”;
"To claim that there is no difference between games and narrative is to ignore essential qualities of both categories.
And yet, as this study tries to show, the difference is not clear-cut, and there is significant overlap between the two."
(Arseth, E. 1997)
With that in mind lets consider another game, Space Invaders (Midway 1978). Although Space Invaders
isn't a 'next gen' title in which you have the ability to deliver a media rich narrative experience the fundamental plot is there. Juul in his paper “The Clash Between Game and Narrative” (Juul, J 1998) points out that;
“The concept of the invasion presupposes a time before the invasion, and from the 1950's science fiction it draws upon, we just know that these aliens are evil and should be disposed off ” (Juul, J 1998)
Many gamers these days probably wouldn't agree that Space Invaders tells the great story of a war
being fought against a fierce alien race looking to enslave humankind. In actual fact this is exactly what it does. I would suggest that because modern games are so technologically advanced that plot devices and core narrative, have been swept up amidst massive explosions and flying bullets. For example, from
an interview with John Carmack from ID software 1998;
ID head John Carmack says of the upcoming Quake III that it will have "The best graphics, the best
networking, the best gameplay - but no plot." (Juul, J 1998)
So is narrative really that important after all? I think that we need consider the question differently, we need to concern ourselves simply with “how do we understand narrative”. So I have done just that. I asked the public to explain narrative in the 1988 movie Beetlejuice. I gave no more explanation to question than that. First I needed to see if people actually understood the question. I was looking for technical
answers, but the vast majority simply went onto explain the plot and some humorous pieces from the
movie. The very form within Beetlejuice is incredibly important. Alison McMahan explains in her book
“The films of Tim Burton: animating live action in contemporary Hollywood” (McMahan, A 2005)
“After Hollywood hammering me with the concept of story structure. . . the script for Beetlejuice was completely anti all that: it had no real story, it didn't make any sense, it was more like a stream of consciousness. .” (McMahan,A 2005)

Beetlejuice was based on an idea and a series of characters, the plot and story were then created around them, as opposed to creating a story and populating it with characters. If you refer back to my opening definition of 'Narrative' you will see that the point above is concerned with definition three. “. . the art, technique, or process of narrating: Somerset Maugham was a master of narrative.” We as academics in the study of video games need to consider and understand narrative as a whole, not just referring to a story.
With that mindset we can understand and analyse narrative in games by appreciating gameplay and
storytelling. By looking at the 'art, technique and process. .' behind the interactivity we can see how narrative is important in games. Using the term “Narrative” to encompass story and gameplay we can
see that the two go hand in hand and need to be treated equally to achieve a rich interactive experience.

References:
Aarseth, Espen (1997). Cybertext: Perspectives on Ergodic Literature, John Hopkins University Press.. 216.
%20Espen%20Aarseth&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false
Juul, J. (1998). A Clash between Game and Narrative. Available:
http://www.jesperjuul.net/text/clash_between_game_and_narrative.html. Last accessed 26 April
2010
Lindley, C. (2002). The Gameplay Gestalt, Narrative, and Interactive Storytelling. Available:
http://www.tii.se/zerogame/pdfs/CGDClindley.pdf. Last accessed 22 April 201
McMahan, A (2005). The films of Tim Burton: animating live action in contemporary Hollywood. London:
Continuum. 262
Pazhitnov, A. (1989). Tetris wikipedia entry. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetris. Last
accessed 24 April 2010
Shaw, P. (2010). Contextual Studies Survey. Available:
http://phillshaw.questionform.com/public/Contextual_Studies. Last accessed 26 April 2010
20th Cenury Fox. (2009). Official Avatar Website. Available: http://www.avatarmovie.com/. Last
accessed 25 April 2010

Game Development processes

Game developers may produce the game design document in the pre-production stage of game development—prior to or after a pitch. Before a pitch, the document may be conceptual and incomplete. Once the project has been approved, the document is expanded to a level where it can successfully guide the development team.

Because of the dynamic environment of game development, the document is often changed, revised and expanded as development progresses and changes in scope and direction are explored. As such, a game design document is often referred to as a living document, that is, a piece of work which is continuously improved upon throughout the implementation of the project, sometimes as often as daily.A document may start of with only the basic concept outlines and become a complete, detailed list of every game aspect by the end of the project.

A game design document may be made of text, images, diagrams, concept art, or any applicable media to better illustrate design decisions. Some design documents may include functional prototypes or a chosen game engine for some sections of the game.
Although, considered a requirement by many companies, a GDD has no set industry standard form. For example, developers may choose to keep the document as a word processed document, or as an on-line collaboration tool.

The purpose of a game design document is to unambiguously describe the game's selling points, target audience, gameplay, art, level design, story, characters, UI, assets, etc. In short, every game part requiring development should be included in detail enough for the respective developers to implement the said part. The document is purposely sectioned and divided in a way that game developers can refer to and maintain the relevant parts.
The majority of video games should require an inclusion or variation of the following sections:

Story
Characters
Level/environment design
Gameplay
Art
Sound and Music
User Interface, Game Controls

This list is by no means exhaustive or applicable to every game.

Inception - review/about

Christopher Nolan’s Inception, is a film set in a world where technology exists that can gain access to the mind through dreams. Nolan builds a construct and then plays within that construct. The set up allos him to play with narrative, semiotics, and the rules and limitations of physical laws. The dreams used in the film are recreations of recognisable urban landscapes to car chases and gunfights: these could be read as documentary elements inserted into a genre (science fiction) film. The people invading the subconscious of the target mind keep up the appearance of reality, to keep the dreamer unaware of the dream. This echoes the concept of ‘suspension of disbelief’ which is a mechanism for justifying the use of the 'fantastic' in literature. The film also references the craft of film making itself. Ariadne the architect is set design, Arthur functions as a producer, Eames is their star (taking on other identities beyond his own) and Yusuf the projectionist, providing the venue for the dream movie to occur.
Cinema has often been compared to dreams. It is interesting to compare Inception with Hitchcock’s 'Spellbound' which has a dream sequence designed by Salvador Dalí.
The area of theory that could be used of course is psychoanalysis. Read: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2001/jun/17/features.review this review picks out the importance of Freud’s ideas on how we can read cinema. “The birth of cinema offered a collective sense of what Freud called the uncanny: the images on screen were both familiar and somehow strange, alive and yet lifeless, real but illusory.”

Image Analysis - 1st edition Blade Runner Poster

Beginning, the female character, Rachel, (middle to top right) has prim hair and classic demeanor and is an instantly recognizable character archetype. A 40’s / 50’s film noir ‘femme fetal’, in particular the silent French movies of the late 30’s and 40’s. Traits of this styling can also be seen in the classic 1950’s Dior “New Look” which emphasized the feminine figure. A more modernistic depiction of this style can also be see in the 2008 series “Mad Men”.

Yet more noir ‘femme fatale’ traits within Racheals character are demonstrated in this image by the use of a cigarette.  This shows a potential dangerous side to her personality, which is further highlighted by the harsh black background surrounding the woman’s face.  However, the juxtaposition of soft lighting and delicate curls of the cigarette smoke create a stark contrast with this feel of danger, heightening the creative lighting and providing the evidence for the ‘airy subservient female character.’ 

Another interesting use of lighting upon the face is the angle in which it falls across the image. Her face, illuminated from below demonstrates her esteem in the eyes of Deckard, the main male character. This in turn provides evidence of the more abstract concept of the male gaze. Racheal, in the eyes of Deckard is the ‘ideal woman.’ The tragedy lies in Blade Runners more subjective message of memory and meaning.

The selection of Harrison Ford to play the main character within the film “Deckard” instantly affects the audiences’ reaction to the production.  As a popular actor at the time of the films release, starring in films such as the  “Indiana Jones” and  “Star Wars” trilogies, the public as an audience are drawn to view the film because of his preconceived reputation.   Within this poster, Deckard is demonstrated as the archetypal noir-esque cop.   Throughout the film the audience is unsure as to whether or not this character is a replicant (aka “bad guy”) or he hero within the tale.  This creates a mysterious persona and adds to the attraction and affection already held for the character because of the actors status.  Deckard can be seen as an anti-hero in the film due to this uncertainty  of his true alliances.  A demonstration of this seen in this image is the gold glowing light surrounding the characters face.  The colour of the surrounding suggests, at first glance, heroic qualities however the fact that the pattern in which the lines fall downwards away from him suggest a darker more negative side to his personality.  

More over, this depiction of Blade Runner highlights Ridley Scotts vision of what the future may look like. A amalgamation of social and cultural imagery, blended into one catastrophic, gothic, dark environment. This decadence could be seen as a failure of the recognition of emotion and human spirit, in turn leading to the meaningless objectification of people and objects.  Within the image, the viewer is forced to look down on buildings, providing evidence for the argument of the cities lack of prowess, despite the technological advances made and the implied sophistication and progression of mankind . This amalgamation of cultural imagery, to my mind implies a fragmentation within society and a loss of individualization.

The imagination and creative skill that’s required to capture the illusion of a large-scale environment within the confines of a small studio is also illustrated in the diagram. Creative camera and film techniques being employed as the option for using digital mediums just wasn’t available. A comparison could be drawn to the likes of ‘classic’ Spielberg esq films such as (starwars…) visualization in as much that big set designs, scale models and levels of craftsmanship required to create the world of Blade Runner. The image, being  hand drawn and painted  itself, communicates this as you can feel the meaning and purpose within the strokes and marks constructed to create an overall feel.

More Uncanny

Blade Runner - NIETZSCHE / HYPERREAL

NIETZSCHE’S ÜBERMENSCH IN THE HYPERREAL FLUX:

SHORT ANALYSIS OF INTERESTING THEORY IN BLADE RUNNER, FIGHT CLUB, AND MIAMI VICE


This analysis applies Nietzsche’s philosophy of the Übermensch and Baudrillard’s ideas about simulation and hyper-reality to the films BladeRunner, Fight Club, and Miami Vice. In doing so, these films can be understood thematically in terms of their respective narrative progressions. In each, the protagonist under takes a journey in which he is subjected to numerous challenges and obstacles that test his strength, toughness, and resolve. Through processes identified by Nietzsche as the overcoming and the becoming, these challenges and obstacles are surmounted and the protagonists learn to master themselves and their reality. In each film, reality is a complex and mercurial concept, as there are powerful and ever-present elements ofsimulation that threaten to overwhelm and consume the protagonists.
This omnipresent simulacra (described as a state of hyper-reality by Baudrillard) represents a critical obstacle in all three films, and is the most formidable factor that the protagonists must contend with and overcome.
When Blade Runner, Fight Club, and Miami Vice are examined through the critical lenses of Nietzsche and Baudrillard, they can be understood as lessons of self reliance and self-improvement through the overcoming of hardships. In narratives in which reality has become a fluid and indefinable concept, this loss of stability and the confusion that results from it are the key dynamics that must be overcome by the protagonists. When this is achieved, the protagonists reach a higher plane of self-awareness and self-mastery, and are thus able to master their demanding hyper-realities.

The Uncanny

The Uncanny in nature is an odd and strangely stimulating point of investigation. The uncanny is a contradictory statement in essence as 'un' (prefix) negates the root of the word. Therefore Uncanny means un-knowing.
It deals with the nature of incertitude and is approached with a sense of distrust and fascination. In the state of uncanny, 'it' always emerges one step ahead, and often a person would disregard the state as it is easier than to rationalize it out.
To my mind the uncanny is a foreign set of lenses through which we do not have a reference point to or from - objects that have a unique yet authentic quality(s). Attractive yet illusive.
It can be used across all arts as a the artist can call upon fiction and fantasy, embellishing the truth to suit their objectives. For it to be a state of uncanny however, it must be in relation to something familiar to our existence.
In Freud's essay "The Uncanny" he references Jentsch to confirm a point made about observations, opinion and perceived matching qualities. In Jentsch's essay "On the psychology of the uncanny," he outlines one of the possible definitions of the uncanny as....
"Doubts whether an apparently animate being is really alive; or conversely, whether a lifeless object might not be in fact animate".
This becomes relevant to Science fiction pieces such as Blade Runner, and is directly related to Masahiro Mori's concept of the "Uncanny Valley." The Japanese Roboticist holds the hypothesis that when robots and other human-like figures look and act almost like real humans, it causes a rejection as a response amongst human observers. However before and after this revulsion, the feeling towards this being is empathy.
It reaches a point where it becomes to real and the emotional response switches from empathy to revulsion.

"Phenomena labeled as being in the uncanny valley can be diverse, involve different sense modalities, and have multiple, possibly overlapping causes, which can range from evolved or learned circuits for early face perception to culturally-shared psychological constructs. People's cultural backgrounds may have a considerable influence on how androids are perceived with respect to the uncanny valley."

Freud also references the tale of the SandMan,

"A wicked man who comes when children won't go to bed, and throws handfuls of sand in their eyes so that they jump out of their heads all bleeding"

and talks about the childhood anxieties and how these manifest themselves in adult life. Potentially as projections. He talks about the fear of loosing ones eyes and uses images of castration. Basically the uncanny is what unconsciously reminds us of our ID. Forbidden, repressed impulses perceived as a threatening entity by our ego as it fears metaphoric castration as a punishment for deviating from social norms.

The most uncanny threat to us is the projection of our own repression, monsters and fairy tale fantasy evils, archetypes etc.
Often when your negative, these can become excuses for blame and mal-practice.

"A study of dreams, phantasies and myths has taught us that anxiety about one's eyes, the fear of going blind [as used as a central theme in The Sandmann], is often enough a substitute for the dread of being castrated. The self-blinding of the mythical criminal, Oedipus, was simply a mitigated form of the punishment of castration — the only punishment that was adequate for him by the lex talionis. [...] All further doubts are removed when we learn the details of their 'castration complex' from the analysis of neurotic patients, and realize its immense importance in their mental life"

(This idea of projections of manifestations etc, is one argument for describing extraterrestrial phenomenon such as UFO sightings and abduction.) Links to dream states and unconscious flow symbolizing a relationship to the infinite and cosmic energy.
They are uncanny as within some realm of the mind, they are very real)

"The owls are not what they seem"