After the feedback I did a quick chronological layout to look at what needs done and where exactly I’m at. I just need to colour correct a couple scenes and fully compose, light and render 4 more scenes. That being said the lighting for the last 2 is complete because its the same one scene but I still have a couple others that needed set up, lit and rendered.
After I had some scenes rendered out I wanted to panel them just to see what the colours were like and if they were mixing okay and if it resembled my storyboards closely enough. I think that the scenes on either side of the ‘forest tunnel’ need to be a little darker and colour match the scene like the storyboards do. Its important that I replicate that in my film, its important to the story.
Before beginning to model these environments I wanted to keep a plan of what needs completed, what computer the scenes are on and whether the lighting is complete and animations imported. It’ll be a good way to keep track of what scene is finished after I get feedback on the environments and can get the thumbs up to move on. There’s a few scenes that need done and some environments will be used for multiple scenes so its a good idea to keep track and avoid confusion, with everything coming together now, especially when things are getting stressful and more is preoccupying my mind.
I created a scene by scene breakdown of what needs animated, the camera, the length of the scene and how many frames each is. Just like before I’ll simply keep track and mark off what it completed, a WIP and what is pending. Its been a good way for me to keep track of my progress and so I’m sure it’ll be convenient for animating as well.
Over the years I’ve learned how truly important it is to plan and keep track of progress so that there’s no confusion or a slip of memory. So in order to save myself some time and pain I put together a spreadsheet for all the things I had to model. I included what type of model it is and if they had been modelled, UV’d, textured and if required, rigged. It’ll help me keep track of my progress so much easier and I can simply tick off whats been done.
One day I was sitting revising the storyboard, going through it scene by scene, breaking it down in my head and envisaging what each scene required; the animating involved, how long each scene would be and I started to think that there was some easier and more improved ways of doing some of the scenes. I constantly recalled when Henry had told me that I should let the props and images do the talking, when introducing the antagonist I should show the guns, the helmet, the ominous shadows on the face to visually clarify the messages I’m trying to illustrate. So I thought that using compositions and certain influences from photographers for example I could use static shots with the right, interesting material, and avoid having to animate in some places but still conserve visually appealing shots that could efficiently and appropriately take the place of some more technically arduous and strenuously animated shots that I had originally conceived.
After my conversation with Yuan about how I should probably avoid closeups of faces and over exaggerated, callous, amateurish animated facial expressions and my feedback from my pitch presentation with Henry suggesting a more ominous, Neo-Noir appearance to the film I decided to revaluate the scenes. There are some quite notable differences from the original storyboard that I did but rather than change the narrative, change what I mean, or change what the images symbolize, I instead replaced them with interchangeable representations of the same underlying connotations and visual messages & metaphors. I wanted to compose shots that were beautiful and reminiscent of the research I have done but also being able to use more intelligent less time-consuming ways of creating the animation.
I thought hard about each panel, each frame, and how I could generate something visually attractive, something visually engaging but simultaneously creating something that was perfectly representative of the message I was trying to portray in the frame or the emotion I was trying to evoke. I had to consider all the fundamental elements of evoking emotion in my audience, like light, colour, composition, the distance from the subject and the moment. I considered all these components when formulating my new scenes, making sure I could include as many of these interesting fundamentals as I could, creating the best image, without overindulging and effectively lessening the impact of the image. Its important to get that balance and use what techniques are most appropriate to evoke that particular feeling, emotion or style that I’m going for.
Now that I’m happy with my storyboard and feel I have it properly nailed down I can continue on to create an animatic, this is when you first get a sense of the pacing, the rhythm and the progression of your film.
This is also the last step before going into 3D, so it’s important to make sure that no more story changes are needed.
My presentation consists of pretty much everything I’ve recorded thus far in the blog. I covered the initial idea process and then the development of the storyboards and influences in the research that I did as well as the considerations I made after the feedback I had with the tutors a couple weeks before the pitch. Just a brief overview of the commencement and getting feedback on the narrative and any continuity errors or plot holes that the tutors might have recognized. They also give feedback on what might be time consuming, what reconsideration’s we should make and constructive critiques so that we can stay within time constraints and continue steadily down the road to completion.
I was really happy with the feedback that I got. There wasn’t much regression at all and the tutors seemed really quite pleased with how the project was coming along and the conscious, rather responsible considerations I was taking in service to the consistent progression of the project and the deliberation in the analysis of any possible set backs and time constraining impediments that will inevitably arise. I think its important, as I’ve learned throughout my university and placement experience that it is resourceful and responsible to anticipate hurdles. They conclusively resolved any concerns that I had about the project, like the style, the colour of the skies and some continuity issues I was concerned about. Ultimately I had any queries I had answered and informed about how I should continue to progress and what the next important steps are.
I did Gantt chart for the rest of the semester at the suggestion of Brain, it’ll give me a good idea of how to approach the next few months and what I want to be doing, to be where I want to be, come the new year (which is in a good position). By the first couple of weeks of January I want to be fully animating my characters to be put into my environments. I understand that this isn’t going to go exactly to plan and that I’ll have to take into consideration, set backs and complications but I’m hoping that I can stick to this plan.
After showing Henry and Yuan my storyboard and script idea they generally concurred that it was good thus far and I was allowed to progress forward with the production of the project. We had a quite a conversational back and forth; I disclosed some things I was apprehensive about and decisions that I was enthusiastic about and we each deliberated resolutions to problems and prepositions. I discussed the technical compromises and shortcuts I planned on, to cut down on time a little and avoid having to do extra (perhaps unnecessary) rendering.
One of the main points we discussed was the style, Yuan said that because it was a sensitive subject, the style was important and it needed to be right. She suggested that the best approach would be to do it as realistic as possible, model with realistic proportions and avoid any stylisation, it could be misconstrued in the wrong way. It resolved my doubt and I was happy to pursue the more realistic approach to the style.
Henry also suggested that I research the metaphorical representations of animals in Africa and use a more appropriate animal to represent the analogies of freedom and innocence. He additionally proposed that perhaps the antelope wasn’t necessary at all and I should just use the butterfly as the visual analogy, instead of using 2 things. He recommended that it would be cleaner and less confusing to do so, as well it would be one scene that I could conclusively just omit, saving me extra time.
Henry also advised that I begin developing colour palettes for the storyboard . He gave me a good website called Kuler- Adobe Colour that creates colour palettes with the colour wheel, hex or image. You can browse lots of colour combinations and it provides good inspiration so it’ll be a fun tool to use for experimentation and generally make my life easier.
Additionally both Yuan and Henry suggested that I make a Gantt chart to manage my time and use as post-preparation for the project, it’ll help me stick to a solid and beneficial timetable that I can plan my week around and use as a guide to how far and accordingly I’m coming along. I was also informed that it would be smart to create an asset list so I know everything that I will have to model. Henry instructed that I categorise the models, what will be hero props? (A hero prop is a prop that is used on screen for closeups and has all the necessary details so it can be shown up close on camera. This means that it has e.g. working features like lights or moving parts, opposite to a static or stunt piece) and what are background props? Which in this instance can include characters.
He also articulated that I should decide and write down what will be 3D and what will be 2D, I should consider rotoscoping as an option, for instance when the antagonists are walking across the screen silhouetted. It could save time and less animation would be necessary.
All in all I think it was a successful exchange of ideas and ultimatley I walked away with a cleaner form of narrative and more effortless, less complicated ways of creating the scenes.
These are some sketches that I had done before I completed the storyboard. Some sketches of the antagonists design and facial expressions of the boy, attempting to capture the exaggerated effects of the face and what it is that demonstrates a particular emotion. I thought perhaps drawing it out and researching the dynamics behind the actions would help me better understand it and inevitably help me when it came to rigging and animating the face during production. With help from Uldis Zarins’ book on Anatomy of Facial Expression I was able to dive extensively into the topic.
For the antagonists design I thought that I could and should use accentuated features to visually communicate a sense of antagonism and sense of foreboding malevolence and ominousness. The character is important and I initially thought that I could use big muscles, a big torso and a wide-mouthed sinister grin to convey what I thought was important to convey about the character, especially considering I’m not planning on using any dialogue, just music. All of this being said though, after I sketched out my ideas; the large chins, strong jawlines, big muscles and bodybuilder-esque physique, I wandered if it was appropriate, if it could easily be misinterpreted as inconsiderate of the subject matter, unintentionally would it come across as offensive and conclusively, was it ultimately the wrong style to go for?. Although I liked the clean cut angles, the accentuation and stylisation I had to choose what was right, not what I liked. I thought that before disregarding them completely I would show them at my next feedback meeting, perhaps it could spark some sort of inspiration as to what the right style would be. Currently I’m in a process of elimination and furthermore trying to nail down that correct style.
After I wrote out the script I advanced further onto the storyboard production. I had pictured it almost frame for frame in my head how I wanted it, so it was just a matter of getting it down as soon as I could before I started to lose any subtle nuances or niceties that I thought were important. I knew deep down that there were some changes to still be made but I thought that if I saw the ideas and concepts on paper it would help develop better, less complicated methods and techniques of visually illustrating the story. I also knew it would better help my tutors understand my concepts and decisions better if they could see them as well as read the description, which would ultimately result in better more detailed and definitive constructive feedback.
I did them a little more detailed than was perhaps necessary considering there was still room for revisions and alterations but nonetheless its visually straightforward and in line with the fundamental representations, compositions and approaches I had for the visual imagery, at least there won’t be any confusion or misinterpretations during feedback. Hopefully. Creating these storyboards now and including all the important and necessary details, will save me from having to later correct major mistakes, mistakes like broken story lines, continuity errors and playback timing issues. If I fail to identify issues early on it could dramatically decrease the quality of my production. Its better, to sift through the foundations now and eliminate any errors before I continue to build upon on it. A bit like a house, you must make sure that the groundwork preparation is done correctly before you progress.
I just have to wait now for the constructive criticism and any ideas or alterations to the story or images. After I receive the feedback I can include the revisions and begin to establish and develop colour palettes for each of the storyboards. In the meantime I can commence on the storyboards that I know will assuredly be in the final revised and approved concept, while I concurrently finish any additional changes or developments to the story.
duckinthesobriety 