ericalander
Unit Projects:
This is a collection of work created over the span of this class. These pieces covered a wide range of topics, feelings, and mediums.
Unit 1: Sci-Fi World
A Burning Purpose
Erica Lander
Digital Art (Composite)
2025
Written Statement: A post-apocalyptic world in which society had to go underground due to solar flares and radiation upon the surface. Fearing another seismic activity fast approaching, the community had to abandon all previous ways of life, instead turning to new forms of scientific advancement in order to quickly make an escape. Having spent a century underground at this point, they had no choice but to seek out a new form of energy to power their city while delving deep into morally dubious forms of body modification in the hopes of humanity’s survival. The city is secretly being powered through a more organic form of fossil fuel…human bodies. Hoping to maintain a sense of peace and stability within the inner city limits, the bodies are cleansed, sacrificed, and burned within the poorly constructed mausoleums on the city limits. Our protagonist, an Umbra Delivery Driver, is forced to grapple with the reveal that they have been complicit in the actions of the ruling government, as they accidentally find themselves interrupting the sacrificial ceremony of a recently deceased friend. In terms of my inspiration, I have always been a really big fan of Sci-Fi. Whether it be TV Shows, films, or books, the concept of a society that has shifted away from our own due to some form of human/scientific advancement is really interesting. Having read a lot of science fiction when getting my previous degree, to see the way humanity’s hubris always plays into the genre is fascinating. A lot of my inspiration for this project stems from dystopian/science fiction novels from my past, such as City of Ember and Solaris.
Unit 2: Illustration
Buried Paranoia
Erica Lander
Digital Art (Composite)
2025
Written Statement: For this vector final project I wanted to explore the theme of Environmental Paranoia. To have the situation below the midline of the canvas be catastrophic and off-putting, the character hoping to find some form of salvation up top, only for the viewer to see that above the pit is another world of paranoia and fear. This one however being eyes watching you from afar rather than up close, feeling a hidden tension rather than a visible one. I wanted to relate this project to the energy and feeling some of my favorite horror podcasts portray, and in doing so made a piece that leaves the viewer concerned of what the potential outcome might be, showing that there is fear to be found in the calm, just as much as in the chaotic.
Unit 3: Sound Walk
Back Between the Stacks
Erica Lander
Audio
2025
Written Statement: For my walk I wanted it to be a calm trip through a place I haven’t been in a very long time: my local bookstore. I wanted the theme of this piece to be “Comfort”, going to sections of the store that always make me happy. The full walk starts first at the front entry, second I make my way back to boardgames and tabletop game modules, third to one portion of the manga section where I am unable to avoid spoilers, fourth to the other side of the manga section where I overhear a conversation about how to read manga for the first time, fifth to the front checkout hearing a couple discuss games themselves, sixth to the customer service checkout to make my purchase, and finally seventh back to the front and out the doors, finishing my walk. All in all, I am decently proud of the sound quality of this piece, the sounds ranging from page flipping, footsteps, books being taken on and off shelves, zipping open and shut a wallet, books being scanned, and voices communicating. The effect I decided to put on the 2nd audio track, my voiceover, was an audio modulation within flanger called hell’s chorus. I thought it was quite fun and a nice juxtaposition to the comfy quality of the 1st track’s audio of the walk.
Unit 4: Parody Trailer
To Reach the Peak: An Everest Parody Trailer
Erica Lander
Video
2025
Written Statement: For this project I decided to try my hand at emulating the trailer for the survival movie Everest. To best replicate the experience and danger depicted in this trailer, I decided to film my perspective within the medium of Peak, alongside my two friends David and Lauren who were climbing with me. Through use of Peak’s gameplay (all live and my own experience playing) I was able to get some really interesting shots as we ascended the mountains. Another great aspect of the game was that when you die not only do you get a great shot of a skeleton to use for the trailer, but I also got to be a ghost traveling around, zooming in and out adjusting shots of my friends climbing to best fit my shot list for the project. This was a creative way for me to work around not having access to my car and involving my friends in something I knew would be a lot of fun to make. Watching both trailers back side by side, though it would be fun to have the music and audio of the actual trailer, replicating it to the best of my ability with my own voice was incredibly silly and still made for a very entertaining watch!
Unit 5: Stop Motion Animation
The Fall Animation
Erica Lander
Digital Art
2025
Written Statement:
For this project I wanted to challenge myself to try my hand at hand-drawn animation. In working through this medium digitally I’ve come to learn not only how difficult it is to replicate similar frames in sequential order, but also to make sure you have enough frames to cover a certain period of time for audio. My animation is centered around a conceptual idea for the song The Fall by Half Alive. I wanted to illustrate a story about a character who woke up in a fantasy world, thrown into an environment they are entirely unused to due to having spent their whole life as an experiment. Hoping to find happiness and purpose in this new world, they are only faced time and time again with misplaced trust and painful ends. Given the opportunity I would love to expand upon this animation in the future, and fully flesh it out to cover the entire song, since it’s always meant a lot to me and I hope to share it with as many others as I can.