To-Do List|Responsive

List of things I need to get done before February (deadline for this module is late March, so 2 months for animating/editing/adding sound should be enough. 'Should' since I've never actually animated anything than couple seconds long ;) )

To-Do List:

• gather inspiration photos/illustration/animations
• script
• storyboard
• animatic
• landscape/material practice
• character redesigns
• colour keys to establish final mood and style
• 3D layer tests (similar to the ones I did for VFX project)

And I think that's all. I've already started on some of these points and feel pretty confident about this project.

Thor:Dark World|VFX

Blur Studio posted recently a VFX breakdown from the Thor:Dark World.


Blur: Thor: The Dark World VFX Breakdown from Blur Studio on Vimeo.

I haven't seen this movie yet, mostly because I wasn't particulary impressed with the first one (almost felt asleep ;)). However, after watching above breakdown, I'm eager to watch it.
From technical point of view, it was interesting to see how they've created light beams, planets and used mo-cap footage for battle scenes. Thor: Dark World is one of these movies that are heavy on visual effects and use of green/blue screen, which is hard to make it believable. It could be why I haven't enjoyed the first one, it looked way too unreal, more like fairy tale or cartoon.

Stalingrad breakdown|VFX

 Stalingrad breakdown by MainRoad|Post
It's not always about big Hollywood blockbuster movies made somewhere in US or Europe. A really good VFX studios can be found all around the world and MainRoad|Post is one of them.
MainRoad|Post is a visual effects studio based in Moscow, Russia. They've got a nice portfolio of movies, including Wanted, but they've also worked on a game called TimeShift.
VFX breakdown for Stalingrad is probably the best breakdown I've seen so far.Well paced and interesting with great music. Some people says that it's more interesting than the movie itself (which I haven't seen yet, as war movies aren't my cup of tea. Explosions and fire looks very real, scenes are detailed and nicely composited together. Unfortunately I wasn't able to find any technical info on what software they've used (possibly FumeFX and Maya?). Still, it is interesting and good breakdown, definately worth watching.

What is Research| Lecture COP2

Notes from What is Research lecture.

Landspace Inspiration|Responsive

Over the years I've taken a lot of photos, mostly during summer time trips, which I can use now as an inspiration for this brief. Also, I've got quite a good library of texture photos, mostly rocks, which will definitely come handy later on.

 

When creating my landscape mood board, I've looked mostly for interesting, foreign looking sea shores/cliffs/beaches photos. All above photos were taken in UK, in places like Cornwall, Clapham, Seaham and Whitby.

Action will take place on the island, so the sea, as well as hard, full of rocks, surface of steep hills and caves.

These places will inspire my environments and give me an idea for a possible color palette (as most of them were taken during sunny days).

 
Another part of my research was looking at photos of different plants to get an idea for what type of vegetation could be found on that island (inhabited by cyclops and sheep).

I've gather few photos from my trip to Malaga (Spain) and to Minack Theater (which is AT the Worlds End in Cornwall), which are shows a bit of Mediterranean (tropical for us living in UK;)) nature - aloe plants, cactus, baobab trees. In the next following weeks I will try to design few possible trees and shrubs that I could then use as an assets in my final animation.

The last part of this blog post are rocks. I love rocks, mostly for their uneven texture. I'm planning on using my photos as a textures, as well as creating a bunch of rock assets that could be composite into a final scenes (I've also run few tests to see how long it can take me to actually draw a rock).

Portable Green Screen Adventures|VFX

So, for our VFX module, we had to have a green screen sequence. It doesn't matter if it's 60 or 4 seconds long, if it's filmed in a studio environment or outside. We HAD to have it.
I've borrowed a portable one as I was filming everything outside. Luckily, I've also took out a frame to mount screen onto, which was sturdy enough to stay in one spot during windy day. Shooting itself went quite smooth and we finished it all in less than an hour. However, the troubles were yet to come.
Portable green screen FlexDrop2 is not as easy to fold as it's presented in multiple YouTube tutorials. It took us quite a lot of takes to actually manage to fit it back into a bag. I bet we looked like the guy from this video ;)


Lesson for next time: allow extra time for packing green screen up.

Subculture and Style|Lecture COP2

Notes from Subculture and Style lecture.

 

Steampunk - sub-genre of scince fiction, usually featuring steam powered machinery, inspired by 19th century industrilized Western civilisation. Alternate history of British Victorian Era or American 'Wild West', were electricity wasn't discovered (postapocaliptic settings). Also inspired by art nouveau designs.
game example: Dishonored (electropunk), Order 1886 (yet to be released), Thief, Wild Arms










Cyberpunk - postmodern science fiction genre, features advanced technology and a radical changes in social order (low life). Cybergoth is a subculture that devirates from cyberpunk, combines elements of rave, ribethead and goth fashion, as well as direct inspirations from cyberpunk.
game example: Cyberpunk2077(yet to be released), Deus EX.







Lolita - a fashion subculture, originating in Japan, based on Victorian-era clothing. Lolita is not only a specific type of clothes, but also a type of life style. It's more about presenting yourself in a 'elegant' and 'cute' way, rather than showing more and more skin ('sexy' look). Types of lolita: goth -, sweet - , classic - , punk -, princess - , Shiro & Kuro -, Oji - , Guro - , sailor - , country - , Wa - , Qi - , casual -. Outside the Japan Lolita is a cultural phenomena, mostly seen during comic/manga conventions (cosplay).
game example: Danganronpa, Persona 3, The World Ends With You (game action is based in Shinjuku and features multiple subcultures)
.

Video Inspirations|Responsive

Few more examples of what I'd like to achieve with my one minute animation. As I want to get a 2.5D I've picked few examples that visualize it perfectly.


PLANET L.U.C & TRZECI WYMIAR - KOSMOSTUMOSTÓW from BOX POSTPRODUCTION on Vimeo.


Adventure Concept Art Set from Artur Sadlos on Vimeo.

The level of detail in those videos is crazy, which is something I'm unable to make, mostly because of the time constraint, as well as the style I'm going for. However, the camera work/depth of field is something I'll definately take from those examples.

Inspirations|Responsive

Inspirations for my one minute video:

Horrible Histories - style of a show; presents a serious historical events (sometimes really cruel and bloody in a funny way), which allows it to be watched by kids and teenagers.

Kung Fu Panda - Story of Po's Childhood




Parts of above sequence are done in 2D (After Effects and Flash), colorful and stylized. Another good example of what I'd like to achieve is a end credit animation from Kung Fu Panda 2.

What I really like about it is the simplicity, use of bright colors, stylization and quirky animation. Moreover, this type of animations is getting used more and more often in end credits in many animated feature films (Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Wreck-it Ralph and many more).

Illustration inspirations:

Hannah Christenson - great style, amazing colors and details.

 Lorena Alvarez Gómez - beautiful colors, quirky characters.

Nicholas Kole - great character designs, some of them made specially for animation. Colorful and simple, strong silhouettes.

Nelson Atmos - style, traditional marker sketches.

Enrique Fernandez- character stylization, range of dynamic poses, use of colors