Category: Collaborative Projects

WALK MAN

For this project we split the class in two groups. Each one had to present an idea for a short movie about 45 seconds long. My group was compose by Sean, Giulia, Jane and me.

The first steps for this were to come up with an idea a modboard and a mind map of what we need to do. We came up with a couple ideas.

FIRST IDEA:

Here you can find the mind map of it: https://www.zenmindmap.com/docs/view/gP8V4y1aK88RbQGw5Wvz

The idea was to create a short story about 3 or 4 people that are not related to one and other, but somehow one story continues from the last one explained. This is a modboard for this idea:

But we quickly move to a second idea that we had and like better.

SECOND IDEA:

This idea is the one that we end up creating. A post apocalyptic world where there is no life and a scavanger is exploring an area that he found abandoned and never been there.

This is the mindmap for this: https://www.zenmindmap.com/docs/view/k1oYq9wdLZZwajPXgEBG

Again after the mind map we created the modboard. We search some reference on Mad Max, Love and Monsters and more:

Because this was our final idea we proceed and created a storyboard to have a better understanding of what we wanted to do.

The scavenger finds and abandoned church and he decided to enters to see if she can fins something. Once inside the scavenger discovered and old robot made of old tech, like pen drives, cd’s, Walkman and more. The plot of the story is that at the end the robot sends and important and life changing message.

Next step was to creat the sript and a schedule to organize when and how we need to work for a good result.

This is the script:

WALK MAN

ACT ONE

FADE IN:

EXT. TOWN – SUINRISE
Aerial view of a destroyed town. Overground vegetation and rusty cars. There is a church in the distance.

EXT. CHURCH – SUNRISE
A church destroyed. There are no life signs apart from a SCAVENGER (21) who is dirty and sweaty with ripped clothes. The scavenger opens a war bottle and drinks his final drops of water before walking inside the abandoned church.

INT. CHURCH – SUNRISE
Empty and old. Overground vegetation.
SCAVENGER notices a robot among some rubble and walks closer. The scavenger is excited to see the robot, believing he will be able to lead him to salvation. The scavenger drops to his knees, the tension builds as he waits for the robot to say something. The robot is not able to talk, he is only able to communicate by music that comes from the old tech he’s made of. The robot opens his mouth and sings “CRAZY FROG” before powering off and dying.

END

This was the scheduled we followed:

And all the shots that we needed to create and work on:

Shot #	Int / Ex	Camera	Camera Angle	Shot Type	Location	Shot Size	Shot Description
1	EXT	Drone	Bird’s Eye View	WS	CGI, Drone, Stock Footage	4k, 3840 x 2160	AERIAL VIEW OF A DESTROYED TOWN. OVERGROUND VEGETATION AND RUSTY CARS.
2	EXT	Black Magic	Perspective	MWS	St Mary’s Church	4k, 3840 x 2160	STILL HEAD-ON SHOT OF CHURCH, SCAVENGER WALKS INTO FRAME AND ENTERS CHURCH
3	INT	Black Magic	Perspective	VWS/WS	St Dunstan in the East Church	4k, 3840 x 2160	INSIDE THE CURCH THE SCAVANGER LOOKS AROUND AND NOTICES A ROBOT AMONG SOME RUBBLE AND WALKS CLOSER.
4	INT	Black Magic	Robot’s Persp	MCU/WS	St Dunstan in the East Church	4k, 3840 x 2160	THE SCAVENGER IS EXCITED TO SEE THIS ROBOT.
5	INT	Black Magic	Perspective	WS/MS	St Dunstan in the East Church	4k, 3840 x 2160	THE SCAVENDER DROPS TO HIS KNEES, THE TENSION BUILDS AS HE WAITS FOR THE ROBOT TO SAY SOMETHING
6	INT	Black Magic	Perspective	MCU	St Dunstan in the East Church	4k, 3840 x 2160	MEDIUM CLOSE UP OF SCAVENGER’S FACE
7	INT	3D Camera	Perspective	MCU	CGI, St Dunstan in the East Church	4k, 3840 x 2160	MEDIUM CLOSE UP OF ROBOT’S FACE
8	INT	Black Magic	Perspective	CU	St Dunstan in the East Church	4k, 3840 x 2160	CLOSE UP OF SCAVENGER’S FACE
9	INT	3D Camera	Perspective	CU	CGI, St Dunstan in the East Church	4k, 3840 x 2160	CLOSE UP OF ROBOT’S FACE
10	INT	Black Magic	Perspective	ECU	St Dunstan in the East Church	4k, 3840 x 2160	EXTREME CLOSE UP OF SCAVENGER’S FACE
11	INT	3D Camera	Perspective	ECU	CGI, St Dunstan in the East Church	4k, 3840 x 2160	EXTREME CLOSE UP OF ROBOT’S FACE. THE ROBOT OPENS HIS MOUTH AND SINGS CRAZY FROG BEFORE POWERING OFF AND DYING

Once we have all the shots listed and we know everything we need to shot we meet up outside in a location that we like and start shooting. Here are some behind the scenes images:

And here we can see the first edit with what we shoot that day.

We were very lucky that the location we chose was perfect for what we wanted to achieve and we were able to shoot everything we needed in one day. Once we had all our footage ready we start working on the 3d model of the robot and researching other 3d models that would fit the looks and fits the scene.

We used quixel Bridge with megascans to implement some 3d assets to create a more post-apocalyptic look.

After we had our assets and the movie sequences, we started to implement them, while trying some looks on with DaVinci. And then Jane made the background music and sounds for it. Once we had everything we put it together and this is the end result.

Advance and Experimental VFX Animation and Techniques Collaborative Projects MA Visual Effects Term Three

ARMAMENTUM – WEEK 03

This week we improved the models, made the walls a bit more interesting with some geometrical shapes so the light can bounce on it and give an interesting look. And we replace the sofa with a Rubik’s cube with some sort of transparency that made the scene much cooler I think.

Here we can see some of the changes. We also add a desk and a chair to fill a bit more the room.

With this now we rendered the scene to see the light reacting to the new walls and models. As you can see we are going for a basic/minimal look for the environment to focus more on the CG Arm that we are gonna replace so the audience does not distract from it with a very complicated background.

For next week we are gonna work on the back of the room, where we are gonna put a door maybe with some see-through window so we have another source of light to fill the room and also to close the room and people don’t ask where do people come in from. So this will help also the story of the scene.

After we finished the basic idea of the room we will be able to put on hold the modelling and start testing to shot in the studio to see if the camera movement works, and testing the lights we have access to.

Advance and Experimental VFX Animation and Techniques Collaborative Projects MA Visual Effects Term Three

ARMAMENTUM – WEEK 02

This week we focused on research and blocking for the environment. I used a web called Milanote to create a moodboard. As I said in the last post we are looking for a futuristic look. Something like the game cyberpunk with those bright and vibrant colours.

Here you can see the moodboard created. Follow the link for the Milanote project where you can see in detail all the references.

https://app.milanote.com/1Lsgu91aTMQK0d?p=lzQGlfs64sq

After we decided on the look we can start blocking in 3D the environment to see how the camera movement work and to have a better idea of what we need to do.

Here we can see the first blocking.

After this I started to play with lighting to achieve the look we want. I set up 2 neon lights to with blue and purple colour and some fill lights to create shadows and to have a brighter image.

Now we can see better the look we want. For next week we decided to get rid of the sofa and place a geometric/minimalistic sculpture with the lights around it. Something like this:

For next week we are gonna replace the sofa as I said, and we will have a rendered video to see how the lights works and effects the geometry.

Advance and Experimental VFX Animation and Techniques Collaborative Projects MA Visual Effects Term Three

ARMAMENTUM – WEEK 01

This project is gonna be a collaboration with Gherardo, I had an idea and ask him if he wanted to collaborate with me.

The main idea is to record ourselves in front of a green screen and we would also replace our forearm with a robotic/futuristic arm. This project will have different techniques, and that’s what we wanted to do, a short video where we could show our work with a lot of techniques. Some of them are, green screen extraction, rotoscope, modelling, texturing, lighting and more, all of them combined to produce a nice shot for our reels.

For this project, we ask Dom to help us since he is the one that showed us how to use 3DE4 for the tracking process. He was happy to help and overview each one of the steps for this project.

The basic plan is:

STEP 1: CAMERA MOVEMENT
STEP 2: BACKGROUND/ENVIRONMENT
STEP 3: DIFFERENT IDEAS EACH FOR THE BACKGROUND
STEP 4: CHARACTER ACTING
STEP 5: ANIMATIC IN 3D

When we are happy of every step we can start shooting the scene.

So the first step was the decision of the camera movement for the shot. For this, we created using Maya camera setups with different ideas.

After looking at them with Dom, we selected both cameras that we like the most and combine them together. This is the result of this combination.

First week of the project is quite simple and short, but is the first step and as important of the rest, this is the base of the project. I’m sure after a few weeks when we decide what background we use and other parts of the project, this could change just a bit, but the basic idea of this project is here now, and its a good start.

After each step, we have a meeting with Dom to supervise the work and give us the ok and more ideas on how to proceed. Now, as the plan is, the next step we are to work on the background style. We will see more on to the next post, but the basic idea we have is a futuristic/cyberpunk scene.