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IN SPACE NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU SCREAM: AN EMAIL TRIBUTE TO ALIEN

Hello!

This is a rough write-up (apologies for grammar and spelling, it’s really not my strength in case you hadn’t figured that out already. As usual I am rushing through it). If anything doesn’t make any sense get in touch, and any code you can grab from the builder link at the bottom of the blog.

So I made this

Before I go on – please be aware if you do look at the link do so in Chrome or Safari, as I’ve focussed on webkit – and although it’s largely fine in Firefox there are some CSS transitions that Firefox doesn’t like, such as the background sprite switching mid-animation keyframe. And I have not focussed on any targeting or fallbacks.

As a follow on from doing the Sonic The Hedgehog concepts, I wanted to have a play around with some other features. I wanted to do something a little more disruptive. I wanted to create something with a first person view, but also to have a desktop size and mobile size, still staying with the sprite animations. (For what it’s worth I did have a play around with a 100% fluid version, and will probably do that next-time around. But some of the assets didn’t really work well enough for it, so I’ll save that for another time). And I wanted to throw a few different techniques in there, and show some other little CSS tricks I quite like.

I initially wanted to try and ‘bring a movie poster to life’. I really like the Netflix emails where they animate, so I wanted to see where I could push that a little more. What’s great about the Netflix emails (this one) is they go against the norm, and are really fit for purpose. They do a great job of grabbing attention.
I wanted to do something scary, to see how that would translate, especially without sound.

I chose ALIEN mainly because it’s a great movie franchise (first 3), it terrified me as a kid when I saw it, It’s tense, and unsettling and I like that.
There are some great posters and fan posters out there, but also because of the ALIEN Isolation game, there were some good quality static assets already out there. So I could try and bring the two together. So it’s all a bit of a mash-up. Using whatever I could get my hands on to try and make something work.

I started with some sketches and started to roughly plan what I was going to do, but largely I just got stuck in.

PART 1 – Start and Finish

At this point I’m really just working on the desktop version. The reason for that is I initially started working on both, both on mobile the space is very different. When I started by making it fluid the sprite of the setting would be small, so I decided it would be better to crop of the images and swap out the sprite with media queries. (I’ll mention the mobile version more shortly)

I started out concepting the setting, and the Xenomorph attack. And cutting out elements of it so I could “mess with the lighting” before I put the sprites together.
(initially I spent quite a while messing with these, but below this is some I created later at a bigger-size)

I was initially going for this setting, with messages falling down, and the lighting getting increasing more frantic, until eventually it goes to black, and the strapline message comes down, and then the Xenomorph comes along and gets you.
Once I made that I changed my mind and wanted more interaction, so I start again and focussed on the start and end and figured I could fill the the middle out afterwards. So Like Sonic I made 3 stages and then pieced everything together afterwards.

I probably remade or adjusted all the sprites about 3 or 4 times. Just to get something like what I wanted, and I probably could spend a lot more time on it, if I had it.

The Xenomorph is a lot more like the Sonic sprites, where It’s runs through each frame step-by-step. This is a s really reliable way of doing these, as I’m letting the image do the work. CSS is great but I can be a real pain, and I’ve already mentioned the problem with Firefox earlier swapping images mid-way through, and for accuracy i find it just works better, and with less code. (Each to their own though)

The setting at the start is a little like this too, but just built slightly differently, where the keyframe is more laid out with percentages of the timeline, and position changes are used a lot more, as this allowed me to move back and forth between sections, which I didn’t do too much, but would do more of later on in the build (I began to use this method more as I got frustrated editing the sprites). The benefit of this method is you can reduce the weight of your image. 

For example if you look at the image below, there are quite a few duplicates. I could have had one of each and used CSS to control the background position at each stage.

 

PART 2 – The Bit in the Middle

The part in the middle is a again more sprite work…. It’s no different to the other sections. But this time I switch images mid keyframe, and use CSS to move positions a lot more.

On mobile you’ll notice that this section is a little jumpy – and not as smooth as the desktop. It’s bit annoying to look at, but I’ve left it as it is as I think it’s a good demonstration as why your sprites need to be bang on, and taking the time to get these right wil save you time and headaches in the long run. I raced through the mobile sprite a lot more to get it done, and then started trying to see if I could fix it all with CSS (deliberate experiment). But it would have been quicker to spend more time getting it right. PART 3 – The other bits

Once all my assets were sorted (to some extent) I began to bring it all together and think about animations etc.

The Title…
I have tried to copy the original poster, with wide spacing between each letter. I used letter spacing at set pixels, and then changed it at the break point. for a more fluid approach you could look to use ’em’.
I also have the text fading in an out. I initially had the text flickering, like a fluorescent lightbulb. But it was all a bit much. I actually think it’s better without the fading on the text, and it’s just solid, but I’ve left it in for now.

Buttons…
Obviously these are checkboxes which trigger the next step. I’ve used some CSS to do different things. I wanted them to seem like messages from someone, and use that to help the user through the email.

The Shakes…
When the attack happens, you make notice that the whole thing shakes. Initially I had this happen all the way through, to give the impression of breathing, and/or the setting juddering a little… but it was a little jarring, so it’s barely even there now. And just on the Alien attack.

What else was I planning for this…
1. I wanted to have a chase/panic scene. So just before the Xenomorph gets you. So you run through some corridors a little, and you see a little more of the  Xenomorph, and “your hands” appear on the screen, before the attack scene. This would be time consuming, and add more image weight. But the main problem I had was I didn’t want to just keep adding sections and it becoming more and more of a game.

2.  I was thinking about having a little checkbox pop-up on the “monitor screen”, or a light switch or something like that, like an extra transition. Initially one of my idea was to just have a dark email, a light switch, and when you turn the light on the Alien is there.

3. I wanted to make the mobile section a little better than I have. But overall there are lot’s of things I could have done a lot better, and time allowed I could.

So that’s about it… It’s not the norm or best-practice or gaming or even a good email. But it’s different. That’s what these have been about.
Not a gimmick. They are just exploring different ideas without conforming the rules. And if we don’t do that and see where it takes us, it all just becomes monolithic cardboard. Digital Cardboard obviously.

Is it scary enough to have an impact on the question “What’s the best time to send an email?”