Submerged Innocence: A Toy’s Lament

The toy ducks, as the protagonist, appearing around the dilapidated pool expresses my complex emotions toward fragmented childhood memories and the related spaces in my subconscious or dreams. This work tells a story of nostalgia, innocence, and gradual loss. Viewers are first drawn in by the playful visual and sound effects, then gradually reminded of childhood through details and interactions, prompting reflection and an underlying sense of melancholy. The background sounds enhance the nostalgic atmosphere and immersion. All elements within the scene—the 360-degree photo, photographic works, video piece, interactions, arrangement, background sounds etc., and most of the 3D models (including scanning and modeling)—are my original concepts and creations. Nevertheless, I also used some external music because I believe those pieces can evoke the memories, especially when combined with the scene. However, the walls in the scene were initially damaged, and after watching many tutorial videos, I couldn’t achieve the effect I wanted. Ironically, when importing the scene into Styly, the worn texture of the walls unexpectedly became exactly what I had intended to convey. Reference Elements that use the built-in model of Styly: Ducks (only those floating in the water), trees and candies. The pattern of the slide in the 360-degree photo was generated by ChatGPT Background music Doris Day. “Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be).” Columbia Records, 1956. Streaming audio. Spotify. Julie Andrews. “My Favorite Things.” The Sound of Music (Original Soundtrack Recording). RCA Victor, 1965. Streaming audio. Spotify. Raffi. “Five Little Ducks.” Raffi’s Singable Songs for the Very Young. Troubadour, 1976. Streaming audio. Spotify. CAEL2104_Project 1_2025_Yang Wu(YAWU2248)