Hello, Im Thomas Newton and I am Currently studying Film Games and Animation in my second year at Leeds College of Art, I am in my second year of the course, and have the option of taking a third year if I wish to choose to, at this moment I plan on keeping my options opened as to whether I undertake the third year and want to decide what route is best for me. I have decided on an area of work I Wish to forsee a carear inwhich I have found out about myself these two years and a route I believe im set up well to sucseed in. Locations wise I am struck between two contrasting decisions, the chance to work in places like America and Australia greatly apeals to me for a variety of reasons including climate, culture and personal interests. However I would not apose to working in UK as its the place where I have been brought up and I am familiar with, also for family reasons as I am fairly close however a change may bring out the best in me.
I have chosen a specific route I would like to undertake, which is more based on the illustration side. I enjoy concept art and coming up with Charcter and game environment designs. However recently I have rediscovered my aproval for Graphic design and is something I wouldnt rule out. Ive also recently got into designing tatoo's and have considered a tatto artist.
My plan on getting to where I hope to be is firstly to get a good portfolio and to improve my skills even more in the pacific area. I plan to get my work out their through entering design competitions, getting my work on sites such as Deviant Art and maybay even running my own website which is something to consider.I'm hopefull on gaining some contacts through both social networking sites and going to convebtions and keeping in contact with mates from previous courses, basically get alot of contacts, and try to think of something different inwhich to promote yourself which makes you stand out upon the many canditaes.
Monday, 31 January 2011
Thursday, 27 January 2011
Quick Concept Ideas - Game Art Year 2
Took a break from the research and just thought Id get pen to paper and come up with a quick concept design. Taking my research on board this is the design I came up, Quite like the design and is the base to explore with. Not sure what the interior will be like at this time. but I quite like the idea of modeling on maya then duplicating a few then connecting them together, each one of different size until you reach the like boss of the island, which could be where you have the battle with my character or however I plan to use it. The overal design of the structure I really like and I dont believe would be too hard to construct on maya and would look good with some nice textures. Also like the idea of the lift which could be used to get to the next element. Its just an idea at this point and its good to get it on paper so I can visually see it and develop it further from here.
Research ( Settlements) - Game Art Year 2
Below is some research. I started off by looking at some island settlements, obviously with my island been set on an island I thought it would be a good idea to look at a few examples to gain influence from, such as the terrain of the island, the size and the landscrape inwhich to gain influence on and take into designing the island. I really like the second island and could see that working really effective. I would like the isalnd to be feel very sizey, what with you been a monkey, a rather small creature, so the idea of been surrounding by mass of trees greatly apeals to me. So think it would be a nice idea to have a very terain part of the island which is beautifully landscraped and then a rather flat terrain level in which the game level will be hold. Just an idea at stage but one I can potentially see in taking forward. Another idea I potentially thought of was to have the island landscraped to a kind of monkey face similar to skull island . I think this would greatly apeal to the target audience, obviously dismanting the kind of sinister apeal and going for something more within the region of my target audience. Just a few ideas inwhich to take into development.
Here is some monkey enclosements at Zoos, I just wanted to get a feel for the kind of habitat monkeys are used to, It would have been nice to actually visit a zoo in which to gain a better knowledge but with it been winter and so on. But within doing this research, I though shore thats ok, bit im not aiming for realism so really I can just design what I want to and be comletly crazy which is what im aiming for within my game level as i believe my my target audience would be more grabbed it be something whacky and unique rather than a realism portrait og a monkey enclosement which can be found in a zoo. sort of concepts I have in my head are monkey themed slot machines and video games, something along those lines would work brilliantly.
Heres a a few images I found on the internet on The Tarzan Treehouse attraction at Disneyworld, Its the perfect image of something im aiming for, what im aiming for is buildings but at tree height level so you dont ever connect with the floor and this is some great research as its beautifully themed, I really like the ida of having a king of mini village within the trees, and the mountanious setting behind I think has real potential. Only issue I have is this could take alot of time modelling which is my realy worrie within this project as my skills on the software arnt up to scratch at all. Another thing I really like the textures of the buildings and is something Id consider, the use of wood, but potentially make it colourful and incuse some interesting patterns, maybe even patterns of different animals, which could add a real fun factor to the island. I really like the use of the drawbridges, which look great and i could even connect them to different trees. Another worry I have with this idea is I dunno how unity will react with me and I may have to model trees, but we shall see when I get to that part in the project.
On the subject of disneyworld I remembered visiting the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse which is a smilar concept to the tarzan attraction and is themed very like which is of similar concept to the idea im looking at. I really like the fact inwhich everything is made of wood, which is something to consider on my island, the resources inwhich the monkeys have to build things, but then you get onto the point of not aiming for realism. Even still I think the idea of including wooden construction only is the way to go and will contrast best within the trees. I also just thought of a great idea inwhich of having modern day items such as TV's and video consols but having them made in a wooden texture which would work really well and gets away from the realism point i made. I also like the idea of using a lift to get you around the trees which is something to explore.
Here is some monkey enclosements at Zoos, I just wanted to get a feel for the kind of habitat monkeys are used to, It would have been nice to actually visit a zoo in which to gain a better knowledge but with it been winter and so on. But within doing this research, I though shore thats ok, bit im not aiming for realism so really I can just design what I want to and be comletly crazy which is what im aiming for within my game level as i believe my my target audience would be more grabbed it be something whacky and unique rather than a realism portrait og a monkey enclosement which can be found in a zoo. sort of concepts I have in my head are monkey themed slot machines and video games, something along those lines would work brilliantly.
Heres a a few images I found on the internet on The Tarzan Treehouse attraction at Disneyworld, Its the perfect image of something im aiming for, what im aiming for is buildings but at tree height level so you dont ever connect with the floor and this is some great research as its beautifully themed, I really like the ida of having a king of mini village within the trees, and the mountanious setting behind I think has real potential. Only issue I have is this could take alot of time modelling which is my realy worrie within this project as my skills on the software arnt up to scratch at all. Another thing I really like the textures of the buildings and is something Id consider, the use of wood, but potentially make it colourful and incuse some interesting patterns, maybe even patterns of different animals, which could add a real fun factor to the island. I really like the use of the drawbridges, which look great and i could even connect them to different trees. Another worry I have with this idea is I dunno how unity will react with me and I may have to model trees, but we shall see when I get to that part in the project.
On the subject of disneyworld I remembered visiting the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse which is a smilar concept to the tarzan attraction and is themed very like which is of similar concept to the idea im looking at. I really like the fact inwhich everything is made of wood, which is something to consider on my island, the resources inwhich the monkeys have to build things, but then you get onto the point of not aiming for realism. Even still I think the idea of including wooden construction only is the way to go and will contrast best within the trees. I also just thought of a great idea inwhich of having modern day items such as TV's and video consols but having them made in a wooden texture which would work really well and gets away from the realism point i made. I also like the idea of using a lift to get you around the trees which is something to explore.
Introduction - Game Art Pt 2
For part 2 of the game and art brief, We have to design a interactive world through using Unity software inwhich for our game characters to play in. As mentioned before my ideas at the moment is to have a kind of isolated island which is inhabited by monkeys. Im looking at going for a kind of tropic/jungle theme featuring waterfalls and lots of folliage. And some good landscaping and include some beach terrain, and thinking of having maybe a mountain with some snow / ice terrain which I beleieve will look good upon the setting. Another one of my ideas is to have some huts for the monkeys to live in surrounded around the area, or maybe some treehouses and have kind of paths in trees which could look good, These are just some potential ideas for me to explore.
For my character, I plan to have it as kind of the boss of the area and to signal this having him a massive building to live in compared to the other inhabitats of the island. I plan on having him live in a kind of treehouse construction, with a lift inwhich you can interact with to get up. Ive not thought about it too much but I have a basic idea inwhich I plan to develop further. So im going to have a look and some research and come up with some illustartions / concept art.
For my character, I plan to have it as kind of the boss of the area and to signal this having him a massive building to live in compared to the other inhabitats of the island. I plan on having him live in a kind of treehouse construction, with a lift inwhich you can interact with to get up. Ive not thought about it too much but I have a basic idea inwhich I plan to develop further. So im going to have a look and some research and come up with some illustartions / concept art.
Thursday, 13 January 2011
Digital Film Year 2 Part 2 - Evaluation
I am very disapointed with the final outcome of my individual project film and believe I have not acheived the results I have hoped for a vary of different reasons and problem which I had occured during the project which were out of my control. I believe I had a good idea and style which I wasnted to head in the direction with and used a good selection of reasearch in which to gain my influences. However during this project I had learned alot from the negative experiences such as in future to plan ahead in more time and to include backup plans incase of happening which are out of your control and to definatly be more organised. However I believe I improved my knowledge of shooting films for example about camera settings and how to get the best out of the equipment, I learned alot more about lighting and where to place to reduce the amount of shadows. Whilst I realise that this area is not my strongest nor aspect im that interested in there is certain areas I did enjoy and believe im in a better position now for any future project involving the filming and lighting side. I also got more used with using software such as after effects and final cut which I find to be more around my area and the aspect I enjoy most especially after effects as I love the effect side of the project and is an area I would like to learn more about, and unfortunally the effects I had planned for my film I couldnt acheive for a vary of reasons.
What I did like about my film was the original concept and we did get some nice shots by got using the First person shot,and I did like some of the stuttery effect and it did look good certain aspects in black and white adding to the kind of dream like effect. I really liked the shot which is not in first person of the sin city three colour effect we got, which looked very effective and stood out well and I can take forward on and evelop on for future projects or for when I decide on refilming which is something I plan on doing as I kept the same shots I would have done however I didnt include the shots I could'nt do due to varid reasons.
Unfortunatly I had to cut out some of the shots and effects I wanted to include in the film for a variety of reasons. Firstly the amount of snow and ice which we had made my project morealess impossible to film for around 1 and half week as the area I was hoping to film had become very dangerous, and even if it was potentially possible to film in this location there was no way I was going to risk damaging a camera, so this left me with about a week left to finish my film where I hoped to be in the later stages of editing by this time, so it was obvious from this point there was going to be alot of shots and effects I was going to leave out or it wouldnt be completed in time. Secondly One of my concepts in the film was going to include a woman in which he kept on seeing when he was dreaming, however the actress I had planned on using was only really available for the week in which we had the heavy snow, as she had other stuff planned after. I also found it hard to get someone else at last minuite obviuosly with it been the time of year were deadlines are fast aproaching.Finally during filming there were shots I wanted to include such as around the broadcasting tower as I had planned on using the building as a silhouette during the film, however this was just not doable for the amount of people that were around the area and would look to contrasting compared to the other shots. Ilearned that the best time for filming this shot would have been possibly a sunday however could imagine would still be a challenge, or very earling summer morning however for obvious reasons that was not aproachable. However I do plan to refilm and include all the shots and effects I had orinally planned and these are shall keep in mind those two times and day for future filming.
If I was doing this project again there are many things I would aproach in a different way, Firstly I made the mistake of not experimenting by recording test footage which I should have done as It would have given me a better idea of how to to shoot and could have given me a potentially better way of filming the shots. And I could have got some footage for experimenting with on after effects which would have left me in a much better position. I also learned that as soon as you ready to shoot then get it done as soon as possible, which I left a week to concentrate on a crit for another project which turned out to be a bad mistake due to the terrible weather, so better management of time and been able to manage 2 ongoing projects at the same time. I would have taken lights out with me, especially for the shots inide as the lighting is terrible and that would have improved vastly. And inside the subway as I was hoping to create a sin city effect here similar to the follow shot, however was near impossible as the the t-shirt came out in near black during the footage and would have been time consuming and time is what I didnt have. I would have included more footage as some of the edits are terrible and the jumping from location to location as we didnt have enougth for a continuous walk cycle. I should have taken more people out on location with me for example someone for when the path was clear or to potentially warn the public that we are filming would have been ideal as that was the biggest problem trying to find free spaces with no one around especially at around 11 am at a busy area of leeds which turned out to be the most frustrating aspect of filming, It would have been easier if I had more time as there wouldnt of been such a rush.
For this project I worked mainly with Dan however others offered input and gave valid feedback in which I took on board, they offered feedback such as videos to look at for example the doom video which I would never of thought off, and gave my effects advise for example how to overcome a problem and gave me help with masking which I was very grateful for even though I didn't use any on the video it was nice to learn how to perform this if the outcome came. Danny was great help with the filming and came up with his own ideas and was his idea to do a few shots that were not in first person which is where i got the idea for the sin city effect shot which worked well and got some good shots. He also helped a little with the editing but I had to complete most of it due to him having to complete another project which I was fine with though could have used a helping hand cause editing is not my strongest point though I do enjoy it though can be frustrating getting everything to match up with the music which hopefully mine is successful too as that is a main criteria of the brief.
I worked on a few other projects which was part of the brief to work on at least 3. Firstly I helped out with Chris a little, nothing major at all but just did a few little jobs around for example help out with the green screen as they were too many shadows occurring so just had to held it in place. Also held on to some equipment while others were busy and just helped about. From what I saw Chris had a great team that were very organised and all stuck to their rolls well and got his filming done very efficiently and from the footage I saw it looked very good and from looking at the final version its really good. Secondly I worked on John and Matts project, I was really impressed by what they was doing and its something I would never have thought of, and could tell they went into great technical detail, what I did on this project was help out driving the kinect up and down while Matt took the photos and then we swapped jobs and I took some of the photos. Finally I helped with Robbie project do a little behind the scenes footage and helped out by been tested on filming and did a little with the lighting and helped a little with filming.
Overall im not sure really how to conclude this topic, Im not happy with my final video though some of it was me to blame and some of it was out of my reach though I can learn from my mistakes. I really enjoyed coming up with the ideas and playing around on After effects, which is something I can gain from the project as a possible direction into developing my understanding and skills in this field. However I do look forward to re filming when ever I plan on doing so whether be summer or after christmas and hopefully the film will be improved and something I can be proud of for my showreel.
What I did like about my film was the original concept and we did get some nice shots by got using the First person shot,and I did like some of the stuttery effect and it did look good certain aspects in black and white adding to the kind of dream like effect. I really liked the shot which is not in first person of the sin city three colour effect we got, which looked very effective and stood out well and I can take forward on and evelop on for future projects or for when I decide on refilming which is something I plan on doing as I kept the same shots I would have done however I didnt include the shots I could'nt do due to varid reasons.
Unfortunatly I had to cut out some of the shots and effects I wanted to include in the film for a variety of reasons. Firstly the amount of snow and ice which we had made my project morealess impossible to film for around 1 and half week as the area I was hoping to film had become very dangerous, and even if it was potentially possible to film in this location there was no way I was going to risk damaging a camera, so this left me with about a week left to finish my film where I hoped to be in the later stages of editing by this time, so it was obvious from this point there was going to be alot of shots and effects I was going to leave out or it wouldnt be completed in time. Secondly One of my concepts in the film was going to include a woman in which he kept on seeing when he was dreaming, however the actress I had planned on using was only really available for the week in which we had the heavy snow, as she had other stuff planned after. I also found it hard to get someone else at last minuite obviuosly with it been the time of year were deadlines are fast aproaching.Finally during filming there were shots I wanted to include such as around the broadcasting tower as I had planned on using the building as a silhouette during the film, however this was just not doable for the amount of people that were around the area and would look to contrasting compared to the other shots. Ilearned that the best time for filming this shot would have been possibly a sunday however could imagine would still be a challenge, or very earling summer morning however for obvious reasons that was not aproachable. However I do plan to refilm and include all the shots and effects I had orinally planned and these are shall keep in mind those two times and day for future filming.
If I was doing this project again there are many things I would aproach in a different way, Firstly I made the mistake of not experimenting by recording test footage which I should have done as It would have given me a better idea of how to to shoot and could have given me a potentially better way of filming the shots. And I could have got some footage for experimenting with on after effects which would have left me in a much better position. I also learned that as soon as you ready to shoot then get it done as soon as possible, which I left a week to concentrate on a crit for another project which turned out to be a bad mistake due to the terrible weather, so better management of time and been able to manage 2 ongoing projects at the same time. I would have taken lights out with me, especially for the shots inide as the lighting is terrible and that would have improved vastly. And inside the subway as I was hoping to create a sin city effect here similar to the follow shot, however was near impossible as the the t-shirt came out in near black during the footage and would have been time consuming and time is what I didnt have. I would have included more footage as some of the edits are terrible and the jumping from location to location as we didnt have enougth for a continuous walk cycle. I should have taken more people out on location with me for example someone for when the path was clear or to potentially warn the public that we are filming would have been ideal as that was the biggest problem trying to find free spaces with no one around especially at around 11 am at a busy area of leeds which turned out to be the most frustrating aspect of filming, It would have been easier if I had more time as there wouldnt of been such a rush.
For this project I worked mainly with Dan however others offered input and gave valid feedback in which I took on board, they offered feedback such as videos to look at for example the doom video which I would never of thought off, and gave my effects advise for example how to overcome a problem and gave me help with masking which I was very grateful for even though I didn't use any on the video it was nice to learn how to perform this if the outcome came. Danny was great help with the filming and came up with his own ideas and was his idea to do a few shots that were not in first person which is where i got the idea for the sin city effect shot which worked well and got some good shots. He also helped a little with the editing but I had to complete most of it due to him having to complete another project which I was fine with though could have used a helping hand cause editing is not my strongest point though I do enjoy it though can be frustrating getting everything to match up with the music which hopefully mine is successful too as that is a main criteria of the brief.
I worked on a few other projects which was part of the brief to work on at least 3. Firstly I helped out with Chris a little, nothing major at all but just did a few little jobs around for example help out with the green screen as they were too many shadows occurring so just had to held it in place. Also held on to some equipment while others were busy and just helped about. From what I saw Chris had a great team that were very organised and all stuck to their rolls well and got his filming done very efficiently and from the footage I saw it looked very good and from looking at the final version its really good. Secondly I worked on John and Matts project, I was really impressed by what they was doing and its something I would never have thought of, and could tell they went into great technical detail, what I did on this project was help out driving the kinect up and down while Matt took the photos and then we swapped jobs and I took some of the photos. Finally I helped with Robbie project do a little behind the scenes footage and helped out by been tested on filming and did a little with the lighting and helped a little with filming.
Overall im not sure really how to conclude this topic, Im not happy with my final video though some of it was me to blame and some of it was out of my reach though I can learn from my mistakes. I really enjoyed coming up with the ideas and playing around on After effects, which is something I can gain from the project as a possible direction into developing my understanding and skills in this field. However I do look forward to re filming when ever I plan on doing so whether be summer or after christmas and hopefully the film will be improved and something I can be proud of for my showreel.
evaluation - Game Art Design Part 2
For my game art design project unfortunatly I have not completed the briefe to a reasonable standat and have not completed the animation side of the project, I struggled to adjust to the Maya software and found the softare very hard to use which was not due to lack of effort, I could'nt equip myself to using the software sucsessfully into completing the briefe before the scheduled hand in date.
I enjoyed the first bit of the brief inwhich was to come of with a chracter design, which is more in my comfort side, as I enjoyed coming up with a variety of different designs and enjoyed researching different characters for example Time Splitters which was a great place to start researching as they have some very unique and intersting concept designs.The idea of a robot came straight into my mind as it was first easier to come up with concept designs by using a variety of different shapes which I believed would be easier to construct onto maya. And secondly when coming into animating a robot walk I believed would be easier to animate due to the non human animation which I could proceed in. I liked the concept designs I came up with and took huge influence from the timesplitters comedy feel of its characters by adding a monkey into the back of the robot which would control the robot which I thought would be a unique and interesting idea to proceed in and thought I came up with really nice concept art to develop onto maya and bring it to life.
When it came to modeling, is really where I struggled, I just couldnt get the model to look like my concept at all. I could create the basic shapes such as the cube for the body, but when it came to modeling for exanple the foot into a shape that resembled the concept art I just could'nt get my head around it, and when I did create a reasonable shape it was just too many faces to use on something as small as the shoe, and this frustrated me deeply. I followed tutorials such as the modeling one posted on the brief to no result as I still struggled to grasp the basics. Eventually I took out a maya book to modelling which was actually very helpful, as it had a CD which you could follow but at the same time you had the book which you could draw reference to. Even with this It still took me a while before I came up with a modeled character which I was even slighly happy with and due for lack of time I decided to leave a little out such as the monkey and the jet pack behind as creating the shapes for these features continued to frustate me and so decidede to leave them out, resulting in my final modeled character looking a lot different to my concept however you can still tell the resemblance, I was really unhappy with this as I enjoyed coming up with the concept art and liked my idea, and hopefully if I can improve my maya skills I would like to go back.
After the modeling part of the brief came the texturing and UV mapping, similar to the modeling I just did'nt understand it, I had a go at it be reading through a variety of tutorials but they did'nt really help me and due to too much time spent of the modeling I decided to skip this part and try and have something animated to atleast show by the final hand in date but after I want to go back and try and learn more about Uv mapping in particular as its a very important part and something I need to improve my skills on.It was a shame cause I had a good idea for the texturing part such as having a camouflaged texture combined with a futuristic look to coincide with the Jungle which is my idea for the environment design which I have to put my character in.
After this I took my character into the rigging stage which thanks to some tutorials posted on the VLE, I got the grasp of and proceeded in them fairly quickly until I got to the skinning and Weight Painting part of the procedure where I noticed that my skeleton contrustion didnt work well such as having the elbow points in the wrong place and due to me rushing by this stage I failed to consider how my robot would be animatedtherefor when it came to skinning it went completly wrong and I started to try some weight painting but made no difference to my result. So I would have had to start the rigging all over again. So I decided to and in the project at this part as there was very little time to go back and rebuild the construction of the skeleton.
If I was to do this project again there I would definatly improve my timekeeping and keep to mini deadlines, which I originally started of and kept to well, but at times I missed deadlines due to having a parellel project on at the same time which interferred a little for example I agreed to help out on a video project and due to lack of booking times for the studio in which to do the filming it overlapped with one of the game art lessons which was unfortunate. apart from that theres not alot much more I'd change as I put the hours but I stuggled with the concept of Maya and spent many hours trying to improve my knowledge and skills by searching tutorials. I would also have gone to the library at an earlier date but thats something for future projects potentially to help me on software.
Overall I did not enjoy the brief,I liked coming up with the concept and drawing designs which is more the route I want to head down, but Ive realise in order to pass the course I have to complete all projects to the brief requirements, and even though im likely to be reffered, there is areas inwhich I have improved on, such as I beleieve I know a little more about Maya such as the steps required from modeling to Animating a walk cycle, and Belive I have improved my modeling skills to a better standate and I've realised I have to go back to maya at sometime and experiment more with and attempt to get more comfortable with the software,even though maya is not to my strength and an are I would proceed into the industry.
I enjoyed the first bit of the brief inwhich was to come of with a chracter design, which is more in my comfort side, as I enjoyed coming up with a variety of different designs and enjoyed researching different characters for example Time Splitters which was a great place to start researching as they have some very unique and intersting concept designs.The idea of a robot came straight into my mind as it was first easier to come up with concept designs by using a variety of different shapes which I believed would be easier to construct onto maya. And secondly when coming into animating a robot walk I believed would be easier to animate due to the non human animation which I could proceed in. I liked the concept designs I came up with and took huge influence from the timesplitters comedy feel of its characters by adding a monkey into the back of the robot which would control the robot which I thought would be a unique and interesting idea to proceed in and thought I came up with really nice concept art to develop onto maya and bring it to life.
When it came to modeling, is really where I struggled, I just couldnt get the model to look like my concept at all. I could create the basic shapes such as the cube for the body, but when it came to modeling for exanple the foot into a shape that resembled the concept art I just could'nt get my head around it, and when I did create a reasonable shape it was just too many faces to use on something as small as the shoe, and this frustrated me deeply. I followed tutorials such as the modeling one posted on the brief to no result as I still struggled to grasp the basics. Eventually I took out a maya book to modelling which was actually very helpful, as it had a CD which you could follow but at the same time you had the book which you could draw reference to. Even with this It still took me a while before I came up with a modeled character which I was even slighly happy with and due for lack of time I decided to leave a little out such as the monkey and the jet pack behind as creating the shapes for these features continued to frustate me and so decidede to leave them out, resulting in my final modeled character looking a lot different to my concept however you can still tell the resemblance, I was really unhappy with this as I enjoyed coming up with the concept art and liked my idea, and hopefully if I can improve my maya skills I would like to go back.
After the modeling part of the brief came the texturing and UV mapping, similar to the modeling I just did'nt understand it, I had a go at it be reading through a variety of tutorials but they did'nt really help me and due to too much time spent of the modeling I decided to skip this part and try and have something animated to atleast show by the final hand in date but after I want to go back and try and learn more about Uv mapping in particular as its a very important part and something I need to improve my skills on.It was a shame cause I had a good idea for the texturing part such as having a camouflaged texture combined with a futuristic look to coincide with the Jungle which is my idea for the environment design which I have to put my character in.
After this I took my character into the rigging stage which thanks to some tutorials posted on the VLE, I got the grasp of and proceeded in them fairly quickly until I got to the skinning and Weight Painting part of the procedure where I noticed that my skeleton contrustion didnt work well such as having the elbow points in the wrong place and due to me rushing by this stage I failed to consider how my robot would be animatedtherefor when it came to skinning it went completly wrong and I started to try some weight painting but made no difference to my result. So I would have had to start the rigging all over again. So I decided to and in the project at this part as there was very little time to go back and rebuild the construction of the skeleton.
If I was to do this project again there I would definatly improve my timekeeping and keep to mini deadlines, which I originally started of and kept to well, but at times I missed deadlines due to having a parellel project on at the same time which interferred a little for example I agreed to help out on a video project and due to lack of booking times for the studio in which to do the filming it overlapped with one of the game art lessons which was unfortunate. apart from that theres not alot much more I'd change as I put the hours but I stuggled with the concept of Maya and spent many hours trying to improve my knowledge and skills by searching tutorials. I would also have gone to the library at an earlier date but thats something for future projects potentially to help me on software.
Overall I did not enjoy the brief,I liked coming up with the concept and drawing designs which is more the route I want to head down, but Ive realise in order to pass the course I have to complete all projects to the brief requirements, and even though im likely to be reffered, there is areas inwhich I have improved on, such as I beleieve I know a little more about Maya such as the steps required from modeling to Animating a walk cycle, and Belive I have improved my modeling skills to a better standate and I've realised I have to go back to maya at sometime and experiment more with and attempt to get more comfortable with the software,even though maya is not to my strength and an are I would proceed into the industry.
Thursday, 16 December 2010
Digital Film Year 2 - Storyboard.
Storyboard (Part 1) Heres my storyboard, Ive spilt the story up int 3 different parts. All the shots are going to be in first person, to give emphasis from the chracters point of view.
Shot 1 - This shots going to be a shot of the charcater walking down the drive in real time. I have picked the location for this which is the drive running upto my accomidation. Its going to be in full colour and I want it to be steady constant pace in the speed of the walk. Also Im hoping for a few people to walk past, to add create the real life atmosphere which im heading for in this shot.
Shot 2 - Moving on from the character walkin up the drive I want a shot of the character opening up the front door to my accomidation. I want to get the hands opening the door in this shot, shouldnt really be any issues with this apart from might take a few takes to get a shot im happy with as might be tricky getting the hands in shot and opening door at same time, but ready to give it a go.
Shot 3 - Continuing at a similar speed and in full colour plan for the charcater to walk down my accomidation corridor. Im not sure whether im using the kitchen or my bedroom for this shot, my bedroom is more apropiate I believe as its kind of more personal and belongs to me however the kitchen has alot more space to film.
Shot 4 - Similar to shot 3, just going to be a shot of the character opening the door whilst trying to get the hands in the shot.
Shot 5 - Is going to be a shot of the charcter picking up a book of memorys, which contains a picture of his ex girlfriend who got killed in a freak accident and is finding it hard to get over her death. I plan on including a couple of pictures of her around the flat which can be used as prop. So yeh I want to include hands again in this shot and basically he picks up the books and puts it on the table.
Shot 6 - Using hands he opens the book on the desk to the picture, which I forgot to mention I plan to take a picture of the girl who agreed to act and stick it in a book. Plan on using hands in the shot, and I want to express an upset and depressed character through the motion of just using his hands, whether that be stroking the picture or band my fist on the table, theirs a few ideas im going to experiment with to get an ideal result.I'm also going to have the character kind of blackout in this shot as to im not sure how im going tto do this, might just go simple and have the screen go black for a few seconds.
I plan for the music to build up in Part 1, as Its building up to the dream part of the story, Its all going to be in colour to resemble real life. One issue I just thought of though is how im going to hold the camera and get my hands in shoot. However to this part im thinking for someone to be behind me holding the camera for the hands part as they should be in stationary parts ie opening the door and picking up the book. I wont be moving so person holding the charcater wont have to keep up with me which could have been awkard. We shall try it out and see what the results come back like.
Storyboard (Part 2)
Shot 7 - Location for this shot is going to be in the subway right next to Dry Dock, reasons I have chose this location Is I believe would look nice in black and white due to the texture of the walls aswell and should'nt be too busy making it easier to film. From here on the film is going to be in black and white to represent that kind of dream feel and is gonna be shot at different paces of speed. I also may potentially go for three colour effect but undecided to this point. As for the storyline this is the shot where he wakes up from the blackout and is kind of dazed, so hes looking around and I plan to have his hands touch the wall representing that feeling of he's not sure where he is or whats going on.
Shot 8 - Getting further down the path, he's still in that confused state of mind however I plan on having his ex girlfriend who died, walk across the path at the end and turn around and look directly at him then walk of and disapear. This is the plan but not sure how to go about it as I want it to be a kind of ghost like figure ideally or maybe even a kind os syloette however would imagine that would be very difficult to proceed with, So might just have the actor walk across with very little effects. Would give more sense of believeing she's in the dream which could work well.
Shot 9 - Where the character runs towards the end of the subway, this shots going to be in a very fast paced, I want him to still be in a confused state and kind of move all other the place, to show sign of desperation.
Shot 10 - Shot where the character reaches the end of the subway, only to find she has disapeared, I still want the signs of desperation to be their and want the camera to move all over the place as he tries to find her or spot any clues as to where she is.
Shot 11 - Want this shot to be a more slowed down pace compare to the previous couple of shots, as the character starts to walk up the hill / path. Im using the path next to the Muti Story Carpark to film this, only issue I have with this is it good get very busy and ideally I dont want anyone in the shots. I also have ideas to have the muti storage carpark to a silohette kind of effect which could look great.
Shot 12 - Want the charcter to carry on walking up the hill however I want him to fall to his knees, and kind of blackout again, I want the hands to be in shot as they hit the ground, This could be very tricky to film and dont want to end up dropping the camera. Im gonna represent him blacking out by just going to a black screen for a couple of seconds I reckon similar to what I did earlier on.
I plan for this part the music will be at its heaviest and fastest as its one of the main parts in the story however up to the point in where the charcter blackouts then im going to have the music go much softer again where it will build up to the finale. Many worries I have about these shots is getting the public included by accident which I dont want, thats why I think its best to have a member of the crewing team to warn the public of filming and indicate when the ghost is clear. Im also slightly worried about some of the effects im hoping to use however if they dont look great i'll just leave them out, Im mainly thinking about the shot inwhere his ex comes across the screen.
Shot 13 - Carrying on from the previous shot I Want the characters hands to be in the scene kind of like feeling the floor, as he's dazed still, and not sure as to where he is. Im hoping for effect in which it will show some footage and then go to a black screen kind of to resemble that dazed feeling and trying to open his eyes fully, which I believe could look nice. I want this to be quite a long scene and take some time for him to get to his feet as I want it to build up and give the feeling of when he gets to his feet his night mare continuing.
Shot 14,15 - Not really anything set in stone for this. Just want the charcter to be walking around aimlessly still searching for his ex. I have a couple of locations which I plan to use which I think could look good such as the Broadcasting Tower and Millenuim Square however theres are very busy areas still, but I belive would look good and want to go for that silohette feel. So could try out a few locations and speed the pace up which could hopefully look good and emphasise the point in looking for.
Shot 16 - This could be a very challening shot. What im going for is that the character realises ihis only escape from his nightmare is to pull the trigger on himself. However for this shot I want you to be able to see the character for the first time so its the effect of him looking at himself in the mirror. Im not sure as to how to link the shots together, probably the best idea from shot 15 is to have the charcter walk into complete darkness and then follow onto this shot. Chances are im going to have to use the greenscreen as I want the character to be a silhouette.
Shot 17 - Following on from the previous shot still in silhouette I want the charcter to Pull a gun from his head and shoot himself, However im tempted with the idea of using blood, obviously like a silhouette red, but could look a good effect what with the sin city kind of aproach, its an idea to investigate with.
Shot 18 - Final Shot in which he wakes up, I want the music to finish to this point, and it goes back to full colour, and hes dazed and everything, it goes back to first person as he thinks everything is OK he checks his hands and theirs blood all over them to leave the ending in a suspense.
Shot 1 - This shots going to be a shot of the charcater walking down the drive in real time. I have picked the location for this which is the drive running upto my accomidation. Its going to be in full colour and I want it to be steady constant pace in the speed of the walk. Also Im hoping for a few people to walk past, to add create the real life atmosphere which im heading for in this shot.
Shot 2 - Moving on from the character walkin up the drive I want a shot of the character opening up the front door to my accomidation. I want to get the hands opening the door in this shot, shouldnt really be any issues with this apart from might take a few takes to get a shot im happy with as might be tricky getting the hands in shot and opening door at same time, but ready to give it a go.
Shot 3 - Continuing at a similar speed and in full colour plan for the charcater to walk down my accomidation corridor. Im not sure whether im using the kitchen or my bedroom for this shot, my bedroom is more apropiate I believe as its kind of more personal and belongs to me however the kitchen has alot more space to film.
Shot 4 - Similar to shot 3, just going to be a shot of the character opening the door whilst trying to get the hands in the shot.
Shot 5 - Is going to be a shot of the charcter picking up a book of memorys, which contains a picture of his ex girlfriend who got killed in a freak accident and is finding it hard to get over her death. I plan on including a couple of pictures of her around the flat which can be used as prop. So yeh I want to include hands again in this shot and basically he picks up the books and puts it on the table.
Shot 6 - Using hands he opens the book on the desk to the picture, which I forgot to mention I plan to take a picture of the girl who agreed to act and stick it in a book. Plan on using hands in the shot, and I want to express an upset and depressed character through the motion of just using his hands, whether that be stroking the picture or band my fist on the table, theirs a few ideas im going to experiment with to get an ideal result.I'm also going to have the character kind of blackout in this shot as to im not sure how im going tto do this, might just go simple and have the screen go black for a few seconds.
I plan for the music to build up in Part 1, as Its building up to the dream part of the story, Its all going to be in colour to resemble real life. One issue I just thought of though is how im going to hold the camera and get my hands in shoot. However to this part im thinking for someone to be behind me holding the camera for the hands part as they should be in stationary parts ie opening the door and picking up the book. I wont be moving so person holding the charcater wont have to keep up with me which could have been awkard. We shall try it out and see what the results come back like.
Storyboard (Part 2)
Shot 7 - Location for this shot is going to be in the subway right next to Dry Dock, reasons I have chose this location Is I believe would look nice in black and white due to the texture of the walls aswell and should'nt be too busy making it easier to film. From here on the film is going to be in black and white to represent that kind of dream feel and is gonna be shot at different paces of speed. I also may potentially go for three colour effect but undecided to this point. As for the storyline this is the shot where he wakes up from the blackout and is kind of dazed, so hes looking around and I plan to have his hands touch the wall representing that feeling of he's not sure where he is or whats going on.
Shot 8 - Getting further down the path, he's still in that confused state of mind however I plan on having his ex girlfriend who died, walk across the path at the end and turn around and look directly at him then walk of and disapear. This is the plan but not sure how to go about it as I want it to be a kind of ghost like figure ideally or maybe even a kind os syloette however would imagine that would be very difficult to proceed with, So might just have the actor walk across with very little effects. Would give more sense of believeing she's in the dream which could work well.
Shot 9 - Where the character runs towards the end of the subway, this shots going to be in a very fast paced, I want him to still be in a confused state and kind of move all other the place, to show sign of desperation.
Shot 10 - Shot where the character reaches the end of the subway, only to find she has disapeared, I still want the signs of desperation to be their and want the camera to move all over the place as he tries to find her or spot any clues as to where she is.
Shot 11 - Want this shot to be a more slowed down pace compare to the previous couple of shots, as the character starts to walk up the hill / path. Im using the path next to the Muti Story Carpark to film this, only issue I have with this is it good get very busy and ideally I dont want anyone in the shots. I also have ideas to have the muti storage carpark to a silohette kind of effect which could look great.
Shot 12 - Want the charcter to carry on walking up the hill however I want him to fall to his knees, and kind of blackout again, I want the hands to be in shot as they hit the ground, This could be very tricky to film and dont want to end up dropping the camera. Im gonna represent him blacking out by just going to a black screen for a couple of seconds I reckon similar to what I did earlier on.
I plan for this part the music will be at its heaviest and fastest as its one of the main parts in the story however up to the point in where the charcter blackouts then im going to have the music go much softer again where it will build up to the finale. Many worries I have about these shots is getting the public included by accident which I dont want, thats why I think its best to have a member of the crewing team to warn the public of filming and indicate when the ghost is clear. Im also slightly worried about some of the effects im hoping to use however if they dont look great i'll just leave them out, Im mainly thinking about the shot inwhere his ex comes across the screen.
Shot 13 - Carrying on from the previous shot I Want the characters hands to be in the scene kind of like feeling the floor, as he's dazed still, and not sure as to where he is. Im hoping for effect in which it will show some footage and then go to a black screen kind of to resemble that dazed feeling and trying to open his eyes fully, which I believe could look nice. I want this to be quite a long scene and take some time for him to get to his feet as I want it to build up and give the feeling of when he gets to his feet his night mare continuing.
Shot 14,15 - Not really anything set in stone for this. Just want the charcter to be walking around aimlessly still searching for his ex. I have a couple of locations which I plan to use which I think could look good such as the Broadcasting Tower and Millenuim Square however theres are very busy areas still, but I belive would look good and want to go for that silohette feel. So could try out a few locations and speed the pace up which could hopefully look good and emphasise the point in looking for.
Shot 16 - This could be a very challening shot. What im going for is that the character realises ihis only escape from his nightmare is to pull the trigger on himself. However for this shot I want you to be able to see the character for the first time so its the effect of him looking at himself in the mirror. Im not sure as to how to link the shots together, probably the best idea from shot 15 is to have the charcter walk into complete darkness and then follow onto this shot. Chances are im going to have to use the greenscreen as I want the character to be a silhouette.
Shot 17 - Following on from the previous shot still in silhouette I want the charcter to Pull a gun from his head and shoot himself, However im tempted with the idea of using blood, obviously like a silhouette red, but could look a good effect what with the sin city kind of aproach, its an idea to investigate with.
Shot 18 - Final Shot in which he wakes up, I want the music to finish to this point, and it goes back to full colour, and hes dazed and everything, it goes back to first person as he thinks everything is OK he checks his hands and theirs blood all over them to leave the ending in a suspense.
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