Low-res photos from Bray Head lower, no difficult walking to get to this spot. Lots of overgrowth.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Week 3 : 16-22 February
This week we advertised on several websites for the role of the main character. We got several responses, all of whom we responded to, giving more details of our requirements. In the following weeks we plan to audition several of the actors and decide on one as soon as we are confident of their ability.
The group went location scouting in Howth where we travelled around a headland and took photos of possible shoot locations. Although there were several places we were interested in we didn't settle on anything as we intend to view several other possible locations.
Over the weekend three of the team attended two 8 hour seminars with pro tips on Apple Final Cut Studio Pro. This gave us excellent tips on using FCP, Soundtrack Pro, Motion and also gave us a much clearer idea of general coluring concepts. It also allowed us to plan out an initial workflow for our footage which we plan on testing in the next week.
Workflow.
Film footage at 1080/25p, capture this footage into FCP, send to Motion for keying and then use Compressor to create .mov files of our greenscreened footage which are downscaled to Pal 16:9 Anamorphic.
In Cinema 4D create our background video files as .mov files with dimensions of 1024 x 576. This is smaller in width to Pal 16:9 Anamorphic as we have to take into account the pixel aspect ratio of our recorded footage.
Use After effects to composite edit the two video files together.
For outdoor scenes video will be shot at same format as greenscreened footage, colour corrected in FCP and downscaled to Pal 16:9 Anamorphic in Compressor.
The group went location scouting in Howth where we travelled around a headland and took photos of possible shoot locations. Although there were several places we were interested in we didn't settle on anything as we intend to view several other possible locations.
Over the weekend three of the team attended two 8 hour seminars with pro tips on Apple Final Cut Studio Pro. This gave us excellent tips on using FCP, Soundtrack Pro, Motion and also gave us a much clearer idea of general coluring concepts. It also allowed us to plan out an initial workflow for our footage which we plan on testing in the next week.
Workflow.
Film footage at 1080/25p, capture this footage into FCP, send to Motion for keying and then use Compressor to create .mov files of our greenscreened footage which are downscaled to Pal 16:9 Anamorphic.
In Cinema 4D create our background video files as .mov files with dimensions of 1024 x 576. This is smaller in width to Pal 16:9 Anamorphic as we have to take into account the pixel aspect ratio of our recorded footage.
Use After effects to composite edit the two video files together.
For outdoor scenes video will be shot at same format as greenscreened footage, colour corrected in FCP and downscaled to Pal 16:9 Anamorphic in Compressor.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Production Tasks
-Scene setup for live action
-Location for live action
-Audition Actors
-3D city design
-3D city construction
-3D Scenes
-Soundtrack Composition
-Soundtrack Recording
-Sound Effects
-Props/Clothing
-Greenscreen
-Location for live action
-Audition Actors
-3D city design
-3D city construction
-3D Scenes
-Soundtrack Composition
-Soundtrack Recording
-Sound Effects
-Props/Clothing
-Greenscreen
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Week 2 : 09-15 February
The group settled on using live actors green screened in front of the 3D world testing several different black and white styles on our characters. We experimented with moving the camera in green screened scenes and then replicating the camera in Cinema 4D using MatchMoving software Voodoo and a free trial of Boujou Bullet. We found that the results for this were a little shaky so we also experimented with leaving the camera stationary and moving the props and lighting with better results.
We began sketching out building styles and created a folder of industrial and futuristic source material to work from. Plans for the city’s layout and infrastructure were created along with test 3D renders of elements which we felt we may struggle with including the animation and reflective properties of the water in canals. We looked at suitable solutions for the colourization of our video outside, settling on Apple Colour for now.
We came up with a few different sequences that we wanted to include in order to build up ideas for shots that we wanted to plan out.
We continued to research different types of music and sound effect styles and experimented with GarageBand to get a feel for both the internal and external music.
We began sketching out building styles and created a folder of industrial and futuristic source material to work from. Plans for the city’s layout and infrastructure were created along with test 3D renders of elements which we felt we may struggle with including the animation and reflective properties of the water in canals. We looked at suitable solutions for the colourization of our video outside, settling on Apple Colour for now.
We came up with a few different sequences that we wanted to include in order to build up ideas for shots that we wanted to plan out.
We continued to research different types of music and sound effect styles and experimented with GarageBand to get a feel for both the internal and external music.
Crooked House Forum
Posted an invitation for Actors to submit their CVs and photos on Kildare based actors forum Crooked House.
Post URL
http://www.kildare.ie/crookedhouse/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1651&PN=1&TPN=1
Post URL
http://www.kildare.ie/crookedhouse/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1651&PN=1&TPN=1
Monday, February 16, 2009
Music- background
The opera Orpheus in The Underworld by Jacques Offenbach, based around a greek myth also deals with a scenario where there are two different worlds.
Saint Saens' Carnival of The Animals he similarly uses different instruments for different animals e.g. double bass and piano is the elephant, two pianos and cello are the swan
In Sergei Prokofiev's Peter and The Wolf he uses different instruments to depict different animals e.g. the flute is the bird and the duck, the oboe.
Saint Saens' Carnival of The Animals he similarly uses different instruments for different animals e.g. double bass and piano is the elephant, two pianos and cello are the swan
In Sergei Prokofiev's Peter and The Wolf he uses different instruments to depict different animals e.g. the flute is the bird and the duck, the oboe.
Music- Soundtrack
The soundtrack will be separate into the two different worlds- the inside world (in the factory) and the outside world (our world).
Some of the words we use to define the inside world are:
Mechanical
Dark
Electronic
Grungy
Creepy
Instrumentation we thought would depict this well are:
Drones
Electric Keyboards
Electric Guitar
Vocals
Rhythm- possibly a simple drumbeat
------------------------------------------------------------
Some of the words we use to define the outside world are:
Pensive
Fresh
Amazing
Fantastical
Light
Organic
Scary/ New
Different
Simple
Magical
Instrumentation we thought would depict this well are:
Piano
Double Bass
Acoustic Guitar
Oboe
Drums/ Bongos
--------------------------------------------------------
Our main plan is to create two different themes for each world and have them recurring in various places. Returning themes will link both worlds.
The music of the outside world should reflect his thoughts or emotions regarding the new world. The music of the inside world is a mixture of mechanical sounds and melody. This could be used to imply that the important thing on the inside world are machines, the characters emotions become important in the outside world.
Some of the words we use to define the inside world are:
Mechanical
Dark
Electronic
Grungy
Creepy
Instrumentation we thought would depict this well are:
Drones
Electric Keyboards
Electric Guitar
Vocals
Rhythm- possibly a simple drumbeat
------------------------------------------------------------
Some of the words we use to define the outside world are:
Pensive
Fresh
Amazing
Fantastical
Light
Organic
Scary/ New
Different
Simple
Magical
Instrumentation we thought would depict this well are:
Piano
Double Bass
Acoustic Guitar
Oboe
Drums/ Bongos
--------------------------------------------------------
Our main plan is to create two different themes for each world and have them recurring in various places. Returning themes will link both worlds.
The music of the outside world should reflect his thoughts or emotions regarding the new world. The music of the inside world is a mixture of mechanical sounds and melody. This could be used to imply that the important thing on the inside world are machines, the characters emotions become important in the outside world.
Greenscreen
We plan to buy material and make a larger greenscreen for the television studio in DCU.
http://www.eefx.com/eefx2/store/item_extras_grommet.html
This website sells material greenscreens that are backed with foam so they don't move.
Polyester is probably the cheapest material to buy and can be different thicknesses and can be bought for less than €5 from TWI International Co. (www.fabricsireland.com).
Most polyester lining comes in 1.5m width rolls. We should think about possibly lining the whole greenscreen, if the material's not thick enough.
http://www.eefx.com/eefx2/store/item_extras_grommet.html
This website sells material greenscreens that are backed with foam so they don't move.
Polyester is probably the cheapest material to buy and can be different thicknesses and can be bought for less than €5 from TWI International Co. (www.fabricsireland.com).
Most polyester lining comes in 1.5m width rolls. We should think about possibly lining the whole greenscreen, if the material's not thick enough.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Futuristic Cities
Link http://abduzeedo.com/beautiful-3d-futuristic-scenes
Lots of 3d futuristic cities for inspiration
Lots of 3d futuristic cities for inspiration
Friday, February 13, 2009
Sequence Idea
James and Ais came up with this sequence as part of city scene.
Sequence
Person at work in factory
Close-up of machinery
Shot of internal workings of machines... wires, electrics
Shot of electrical wires converging into large mass of wires
Converging to big machines
Zooms out to show machinery at work
View of the city overall
This will show that the work being carrying out is powering the big machinery, which in turn powers the light
Sequence
Person at work in factory
Close-up of machinery
Shot of internal workings of machines... wires, electrics
Shot of electrical wires converging into large mass of wires
Converging to big machines
Zooms out to show machinery at work
View of the city overall
This will show that the work being carrying out is powering the big machinery, which in turn powers the light
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Water Style Test
Most effective look used, expanded to full river and submerged steps object in order to show refraction effect.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Soundtrack Ideas
Tried a few things in Garageband today to try and find some instrumentation that I like. Also to compile some of the sound effects with different music types.
For Inside World:
SFX w/ Elec Keyboard
SFX w/ Edgy Guitar
For Outside World:
Guitar & Upright Bass
For Inside World:
SFX w/ Elec Keyboard
SFX w/ Edgy Guitar
For Outside World:
Guitar & Upright Bass
Summary - Week 1 : 02-08 February
Initial planning stage. We came up with the first draft of the plot based on Plato’s allegory of the cave. We then tested different styles and techniques for the 3D animation including black and white minimal style. We decided to add a shade of grey to add depth to the animation. We also tested using green screening to film silhouettes in place of character models. Also began testing boujou and other matchmoving software to allow us to move the camera in the green screened room and translate the camera movement directly into Cinema 4d movements We felt this would allow a smoother transition between the 3D and live action sections of the animation. First drafts of storyboards were created along with character sketches in order to develop the story and visual style and ensure that all team members had a singular vision of the project. We met with Declan Tuite to discuss the project and he gave us valuable feedback on several aspects of the project from visual style, story development to the soundtrack and character animation.
(Few days late on this one, will try to post up on mondays from now on)
(Few days late on this one, will try to post up on mondays from now on)
Water Style 2
Second test: oil covered, high reflection and high refraction. Will more than likely abandon all three although oil is seperate layer so could be added to the style we choose for extra effect.
Water style test 1
Cinema4D Water styles, test 1. Central style preferred by James and Aislinn at least.
Animated shapes physically along with .mov bump maps and specular reflections gives best effects. More on the way with multilayer shaders to simulate oil, etc.
Practice with Smoke
Experimentations using the partical emitter and pyrocluster in Cinema 4D to create smoke/steam. Render times can be huge with this - first attempt took 8 minutes to render a still image. Changing the settings decreased the time hugely. (Turning off illumination, decreasing the volume and density and decreasing the birthrate of the emitter)
Monday, February 9, 2009
Soundscape test
Combined various machinery foley with some drones and heavy reverb.
Combined various machinery sounds with electronic atmospheric music. Music used is Race to the Bottom by the Dirtbombs.
Also figured out how to embed a nice music player into Blogger.
Combined various machinery sounds with electronic atmospheric music. Music used is Race to the Bottom by the Dirtbombs.
Also figured out how to embed a nice music player into Blogger.
Story Draft 2
Scene One:
The scene is set in 3D world where light shines in from an unknown source through a grate and is held as deity, similar to pagan societies. Individuals are bred, educated, live and work in this factory world (e.g. Abe’s odyssey). Characters live and work in factory setting. Returning to pods at night.
Scene Two:
While the characters are all working (manual labour), something foreign floats through a hole/grate/yet to be established from the outside world- a leaf - from a world which they are not aware of. Our character, reaches out and tries to touch it, distracted he ignores his task at hand and is hit by a rogue lever…which results in him getting knocked into the drainage shoot.
Scene Three:
Our character falls into the real world, from the drainage shoot. View of which may be obscured. Comes out at dark. --LIVE ACTION--
He explores this strange new world, sees other lights, which confuse him as they’re everywhere. Spends time finding different light sources- stars, streetlamps.
Encounters people indirectly. Possibly by walking past people dancing-
-----> Lights in a town.
At the end of his night he witnesses a sunrise. He comes to the realisation there's more than one light than the light he experiences in his world. This freaks him out to the point of wanting to retun to his world.
He runs back to the drainage shoot exit that he fell out of.
Scene Four:
He returns to the entrance of his world. With the light shining behind him. He wants to tell the people of his world about this outside world and about all the lights out there.
They see him with a dazzling light behind him, the fellow workers reject him as not belonging to their world. A fellow worker presses a button to close the entrance.
Scene Five: (possibility)
Door closes on our character, and a last shot of worker returning to work.
The scene is set in 3D world where light shines in from an unknown source through a grate and is held as deity, similar to pagan societies. Individuals are bred, educated, live and work in this factory world (e.g. Abe’s odyssey). Characters live and work in factory setting. Returning to pods at night.
Scene Two:
While the characters are all working (manual labour), something foreign floats through a hole/grate/yet to be established from the outside world- a leaf - from a world which they are not aware of. Our character, reaches out and tries to touch it, distracted he ignores his task at hand and is hit by a rogue lever…which results in him getting knocked into the drainage shoot.
Scene Three:
Our character falls into the real world, from the drainage shoot. View of which may be obscured. Comes out at dark. --LIVE ACTION--
He explores this strange new world, sees other lights, which confuse him as they’re everywhere. Spends time finding different light sources- stars, streetlamps.
Encounters people indirectly. Possibly by walking past people dancing-
-----> Lights in a town.
At the end of his night he witnesses a sunrise. He comes to the realisation there's more than one light than the light he experiences in his world. This freaks him out to the point of wanting to retun to his world.
He runs back to the drainage shoot exit that he fell out of.
Scene Four:
He returns to the entrance of his world. With the light shining behind him. He wants to tell the people of his world about this outside world and about all the lights out there.
They see him with a dazzling light behind him, the fellow workers reject him as not belonging to their world. A fellow worker presses a button to close the entrance.
Scene Five: (possibility)
Door closes on our character, and a last shot of worker returning to work.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
3D / Video Combination Test
Short test clip with some green-screened video and some 3D modelled city scape.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Story so far...
Scene One:
The scene is set in 3D world where light shines in from an unknown source through a grate and is held as deity. A recurring corporate logo is featured in this world. Individuals are bred, educated, live and work in this factory world (e.g. Abe’s odyssey). Characters live and work in factory setting. Returning to pods at night.
Scene Two:
While the characters are all working, something foreign floats through a grate from the outside world- a leaf - from a world which they are not aware of. Our character, reaches out and tries to touch it, distracted he ignores his task and is hit by a rogue lever…which results in him getting knocked into the drainage shoot.
Scene Three:
Our character falls into the real world, from a grate. --LIVE ACTION--
He explores this strange new world, sees other lights, which confuse him as they’re everywhere. Spends days finding different light sources- sunrise, stars. Encounters people indirectly. Cars passing him by etc. He finally comes across streetlamps that bare logo he recognises. The logo that is recurrent in his world. He comes to the realisation that all the work carried out in his world is insignificant in his world. He sees a grate where the light is illuminating and goes in for a closer look.
Scene Four:
He sees his old co-workers and inhabitants working through the grate. He wants to tell them about this outside world and the seemingly insignificance of their work.
He tries to return to his 3D factory world. They see him with a dazzling light behind him, the fellow workers reject him as not belonging to their world. A fellow worker presses the button to close the entrance.
Scene Five: (possibility)
Character turns back to “real world” and notices other humans with the logo stamped on them… other workers that have escaped.
The scene is set in 3D world where light shines in from an unknown source through a grate and is held as deity. A recurring corporate logo is featured in this world. Individuals are bred, educated, live and work in this factory world (e.g. Abe’s odyssey). Characters live and work in factory setting. Returning to pods at night.
Scene Two:
While the characters are all working, something foreign floats through a grate from the outside world- a leaf - from a world which they are not aware of. Our character, reaches out and tries to touch it, distracted he ignores his task and is hit by a rogue lever…which results in him getting knocked into the drainage shoot.
Scene Three:
Our character falls into the real world, from a grate. --LIVE ACTION--
He explores this strange new world, sees other lights, which confuse him as they’re everywhere. Spends days finding different light sources- sunrise, stars. Encounters people indirectly. Cars passing him by etc. He finally comes across streetlamps that bare logo he recognises. The logo that is recurrent in his world. He comes to the realisation that all the work carried out in his world is insignificant in his world. He sees a grate where the light is illuminating and goes in for a closer look.
Scene Four:
He sees his old co-workers and inhabitants working through the grate. He wants to tell them about this outside world and the seemingly insignificance of their work.
He tries to return to his 3D factory world. They see him with a dazzling light behind him, the fellow workers reject him as not belonging to their world. A fellow worker presses the button to close the entrance.
Scene Five: (possibility)
Character turns back to “real world” and notices other humans with the logo stamped on them… other workers that have escaped.
Initial 3D visual style tests
First we created a shader which displayed only solid black and solid white:
We then added a gray shadow to add more depth to the images.
We are also testing textured visual styles with inspiration taken from fictional urban industrial settings such as the Final Fantasy VII and Abe's Odyssey's worlds.
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