Exploring Thematic Scene Design for Children's Play Spaces

How to create scenes that immerse visitors?

Movies are the ultimate textbooks, and good stories can evoke empathy in visitors. Captivating scenes serve as vessels for storytelling, engaging visitors in immersive experiences.

Exceptional movies and stories have the power to captivate audiences' souls, a phenomenon commonly referred to as "getting lost in the story." In cinemas, you often hear laughter and tears, all indicative of the audience's immersion. Such reactions stem from the genuine portrayal of emotions in the film, leading to a sense of empathy.

How do editors grasp the emotions of the audience?

Through comparison, we find that there are significant similarities between the creation of gaming environments and the control of pacing in movies:

Directors play a decisive role in determining the pacing of a film, just as designers play a leading role in creating amusement parks. They both control various elements of their work to deliver a satisfactory experience to the audience (investors) and visitors (clients).

Transitions between scenes often stir up emotions in the audience. A well-designed gaming space is not merely superficial; it can also evoke emotional fluctuations like a movie, with its narrative storytelling. This allows visitors to experience emotional ups and downs as they explore different areas and scenes.

How does form and composition enhance the sense of scene?

Form and composition should align with the scene's narrative, enhancing its dynamism, tension, and evocativeness. The focus of the scene lies in carrying the story rather than merely showcasing. Our gaming equipment isn't just for display; they are performers in the narrative. For instance, take our commonly used theme - the ocean-themed whale design.

_{(This is a fish that won't move, even if it's smiling with its mouth open.)}

Our traditional whale design approach, without the aid of signage, besides being cute, it's difficult to discern the scene and story. The conveyance of the story shouldn't just remain in text; it should be integrated into the expression of the scene.

_{This is a playful whale,}

_{The waves it stirs up are about to capsize the boat, and the story begins here.}

_{A whale leaps out of the sea of clouds, spraying a huge jet of water,}

_{Playing and frolicking with children in the sea of clouds.}

The whale design above, with its composition, brings alive the scene of the story, making the equipment an integral part of the storytelling environment rather than just a decoration.

Storyboard design should be closely associated with the equipment and scene to ensure seamless integration of the narrative.

The storytelling technique of film storyboarding emphasizes the rhythm of the narrative. A captivating story naturally possesses rhythm, akin to an invisible hand guiding the audience's emotions. Similarly, an immersive theme park experience must have its ups and downs, mirroring the narrative arc of exposition, rising action, climax, and resolution. It's essential not to keep visitors in a constant state of excitement, but to provide moments of suspense, discovery, and reflection.

Typical Story Structure - Freytag's Pyramid

"The Five-Act Structure" of "Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, and Resolution." In simple terms, stories are built upon the foundation of "conflict-resolution." The climax is akin to the pivotal moment in experiential design that triggers emotional responses from users.

Film color combinations and scenes

The color combinations in each frame of a film are similar to the design of our amusement park scenes.

_{Pink represents innocence, sweetness, femininity, playfulness, compassion, and beauty.}

Yellow represents pastoral scenes, innocence, craziness, unease, and paranoia.

Blue represents purity, coldness, loneliness, rationality, melancholy, endurance, and calmness.

Green represents nature, freshness, corruption, omens, darkness, and danger.

Different movies have different color tones, and the same movie may feature a variety of color changes during different pacing stages. As a designer of amusement parks, mastering the combination of colors is essential to creating the desired atmosphere in the park.

The pacing of the movie's storyboards connects with the amusement park's tour routes.

An amusement park should not keep children in a state of excitement all the time. It should have its own rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution, featuring adventure, breakthroughs, reflection, and growth. In addition to tour routes, the plan for park design analysis can simultaneously showcase: 1. Types of games; 2. Intensity curves of play; 3. Emotional change charts; 4. Color tones; 5. Sound levels; 6. Empowerment values...

_{Lishui Jiulong Wetland Park - Route Analysis}

Lishui Jiulong Wetland Park - Analysis of Game Types

Conclusion

The demand for cultural tourism projects is steadily increasing, and parent-child parks will become the new generation of "theme parks" with low investment. Gradually, not relying on thematic packaging to create storytelling scenes will become a trend.

In recent years, the market has been continuously introducing fresh and interesting park expression methods, proving that new expressions have certain popularity in the market. However, there has been a bottleneck in the design aspect of the industry, and the shaping of scenes and narrative space will be a breakthrough point. At the same time, this also poses higher demands on technology. The use of film techniques to shape children's play spaces also has certain technical barriers, and the height of theory and application will elevate the design to a higher level.

Many movies fail to tell a good story because we always use a simple method to tell a complex story, while good movies often use a complex method to tell a simple story. Similarly, in shaping children's amusement parks, we also need to refine various expression techniques, learn to simplify stories, and add richness to equipment, scenes, and landscape.

JEGOPALY, a global provider of amusement park solutions. With a design team of over 60 professionals at the Ji Gao Tourism Planning and Design Institute, we adhere to the group's strategic direction, driven by design creativity, to offer high-value-added services to our clients. We aim to create beautiful and enjoyable moments for Chinese families and children. Over the past 12 years, we have completed over 1,000 design projects, bringing delightful experiences to more than 70 million users.