BA7 Research: Abandoned places

Speaking with a friend on my course; Jess asked if there any deserted places in and around Norwich. The only place that came to mind was the Norwich asylum hospital, however this place no longer exists and so isn't available to explore, so being curious I decided to search around to see if there are any other places of similar subject. This time I searched more broadly and found a Manor in Norfolk called 'Bessingham Manor'. Unfortunately I believe this place has also gone or rather it has been rebuilt as another manor. I found a forum topic on the manor over at www.28dayslater.co.uk. Here's the direct link for the topic: http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/forums/mansions-manors-country-houses/76452-bessingham-manor-norfolk-aug-2012-a.html.

Looking through the various images I couldn't but think that this is good research for my studio work because it inspires me to create something that is uneasy and quite creepy, although my scene won't be a 'horror' scene it will still possess assets and design elements that could be found in a horror video game. Below is some images taken by the user on the forum 'darbians'.

Each image I feel carries a story but is also quite creepy and eerie.

The next deserted place I found in Norwich this time is the Norfolk Lunatic Asylum. On the same forum and also by the same user 'darbians', this time though I feel the atmosphere of the photos are way more creepier and very eerie. Being a lunatic asylum I can't imagine myself being calm in the dark with nothing but a camera and a torch. Below are photos taken by 'darbian'.

The last bit of research I discovered is in fact in America, I stumbled upon through the fact that the article in which talk about 'John Gray's' book 'Abandoned Asylums of New England' has a photo from a 'Norwich State Hospital'. This is in America, not the UK, non the less it's still an interesting article on Gray's work. Below is a few that I find especially inspiring and creepy.

By the end of looking through these images it's easy to see why most horror video games take place in an abandoned hospital or and abandoned school, they have something so real about them and we find it easy to see that once it was busy in these places and people roamed around the halls. Visually these images are great, they are so raw and grungy, I love how everything is 'dirty', broken and decayed, this gives the place so much more character and history and this is I want to achieve with my scene. I took a look at my render and thought about what little things I could do to make it seem more I guess 'derelict', not so much that it has been deserted but I guess less perfect. I took the render from my latest build into Photoshop and drew up some sketches over the top to get an idea of the type of 'destruction' I could apply to the future project. Below is an early concept of this idea:

It's not much at the moment but the broken walkway on the left I feel will help to provide a visual hint and not feeling safe and walking over/near it.