Show reel 2012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B51GRAKzwzc

Final Year Presentation

cross hatch render test

Here are a few quick slide of my special studies on crosshatch shadows for 3ds Max, in here I am trying to achieve a 2D feel look from using a 3D software, this sketchy looking map will be used when a character is in pain, mentally and physically to represent that stressness in the visuals. It is done by using the Ink'n Paint material and use a crosshatch PNG above. I saved it as a image-sequence because I wanted a jump on each frame so it looks like its hand drawn at each frame.

Here is a quick overview of the dissertation I am currently doing.

"Perception of Animation: The Relationship between Realism and Expressionism"

Andrea Bazin, realist, film critque and philosopher

Gilles Deleuze, Philosopher and theorist. Talks about cinema painting and movement image

Thomas Nagel, Psychology theorist, talks about subjectivity and the view from nowhere



Rendered image of the scene and character in context.

Home to the protagonist 

Photo development room aka the dark room, here I am experimenting with

different mood of lights, inspired by Tim Burton and German Expressionism

this is where the images of the war are developed and I wanted a creepy, shocking,

sinister sort of shadow in the background.

Leica II camera

Character, Harry. About 80% Completion



This is a crosshatch cel shader I am trying to achieve for the visual look, here is a

render test

Psychology of the protagonist

Why is Harry afraid at night? What is keeping him awake?

During the WW2, people are not allowed to have any traces of lights emitted from their homes in case of enemy detecting them from the skies. They were required to seal off the windows, all street lights are not turned on therefore it is really dark at nights.

Sirens are alerted if there are intruders nearby.

Harry doesn’t feel safe living in a environment like this. He thinks “This is not a home anymore, it is just a fragile house at the verge of destruction, we are at danger every night”.

Family that has annual income below £500 will get a free shelter sent to their house to be built in their back yards for shelter.

He is afraid what is lurking outside, every night past, he is tortured by these feelings, he really wants to find out what it is, what kind of enemy is attacking the country.

What about Anna?

The only thing that would stop Harry from leaving this house will be Anna. But Harry knows that, either way, their fate will be the same, either survive this ordeal together or die from it.

So why not be something useful before anything happens. He knows that Anna would not want him to leave her in a situation like this, but she still got her family to look after her even if something does happen to Harry.

How does Anna feel?

Anna is not a independent person, she often needs help from Harry for everything. With the absence of Harry, she begins to be more strong and independent.

Harry’s option

Baby sit his wife, or go out there and help change the world for a better place to live in, every little helps.

Streets

A place where Harry can see other people’s reaction and feelings who are in the same situation as him. A place where he can compare himself to another.

The living room

This is the heart of the house, the entertainment and the reading room. All photo albums and books are kept in this room. Music and radio are also in this room. All puzzles are solved here.

The dark room

This is where all their photos are developed, a room where the truth materializes.

The bedroom

A room where deep emotional feelings are seen.

Battlefield

A gate between life and death, the terrific feeling of not being able to go back.

Train station

The outcome of the war, the conclusion of this conflict and the big decision to make that will affect Anna’s whole life.

House full of photo frames that reflects his occupation and past.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-2YRozCGME

Visual aims for the animation would be something like this, a cross hatched shadow and cel shaded

Pecha Kucha Revisited

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGjjkVV6MC8&feature=g-upl&context=G2db03c5AUAAAAAAAAAA

Concept

The concept is to combine realism and expressionism together, the finalised idea is to base it on war photography in WW2, in which I am trying to capture the sense of realism about war in a expressionistic animation

Realism

(We get a sense of realism through sources such as diaries, memos, articles, news papers, photos etc with these overlapped we get a better picture of the war, the story will be heavily based on these facts)

We get a sense of realism through sources such as diaries, memos, articles, news papers, photos etc the richness of these information gives us a better sense of the war but still we haven’t actually experienced war from reading from these, its like a view from nowhere, so the story is based on these historic sources.

Expressionism

The aim is to create a short film which is expressionistic yet realistic in terms of the narrative. The expressionistic style gives more room for creativity as the style enhances the emotions, psychological impact and the atmospheric mood to depict the people in WW2.

Research of WW2

In order to know about the setting more, I looked into the history of WW2, the life styles, war photographers during that era, what camera they have used, soldiers, how they got conscripted to the army, and then I looked at the fashion and style of Britain during that time.

Don McCullin

Don McCullin has been a war photographer for decades, some images are staged in order to enhance the image, but they are real. He says that when young children look at these pictures, they would form a opinion and expected to inherit a responsibility and hopes that the next gen doesn’t need to, occasionally he takes pictures of the twilight like a reminder of hope and life.

James Natchwey

James is a modern war photographer, he used to take pictures from war zones like Iraq, in his documentary, I found one of his quotes quite inspiring “every minute when I was there, I wanted to flee, but I have to deal with the responsibility of being there with a camera”

Further visual

For further visual reference, I looked at interior and furnishing of a middle class 1940s house which would help me for modelling in 3D. Looked at the layouts of the furniture and capturing every detail and to understand the poetic space of the house.

Story

set in pre WW2 and post WW2. First half is about Harry the photographer, his bids farewell to his wife to join the army to be a photographer, hoping his photos could change the thoughts of the world, second half concentrates on Anna who becomes independent with the absence of her husband and helps him develop his photos. When the war ended, Anna waits for Harry’s return at Manchester exchange station.

Side Project

Is to look at the life style of a typical middle class family in the 1940s. Families gather together to listen to the radio for updates about the war, they were required to seal their windows to avoid shattering from bombs, they were required to hide in their shelters when the siren goes off and they had to grow their own food. Low wage family gets the shelter free.

Inspiration

A PSP game the war of the lions, I like the cross hatch shadows and cel shaded animation gives a quite sketch look, sin city I like how they key colour some of the features, tim burton’s exaggerated caricatures and the third man’s use of camera angles enhancing the atmospheric mood of a scene.

Sketches and planning

Most of the short film is based in the house, so I drawn a floor plan and wall plans to help me model the scene and documenting every little details of furnishing. From the information I gathered from before, I worked out the layout of the room and how might the character utilises the space.

Psychological Impact

These are some of the psychological impacts for the characters, at night they were required to seal off all windows to avoid light emitting from the house this is to avoid enemies from above putting the whole street at risk. It doesn’t feel like a home anymore, its just a fragile house being watched from above.

Harry

This is Harry pre war and this is him in the war serving the army as a photographer. These are his key items, the hat gives him identity and the timeline, the photo album is his treasure of memories and the model Leica II camera is sort of like his dream and his will, which he carries 2 with him incase anything happens to one of them.

Harry’s Face

Facial emotions shows a lot about a character, he is athletically weak but he is yet brave and determined. This is also to help me with the facial rigging and morphing. If he was an animal, he would resemble a puppy, loyal but yet easily scared.

Anna

This is his wife, before and during the war. Women back in the WW2 were expected to live a independent life with their husbands at war, these are her key items. The first one is the letters she receives from Harry, second is the films from Harry, the head garment is the evidence of her character becoming strong and to look after the house.

Anna’s Face

Her character sort of resembles a princess, she starts off quite weak until she realises that she can’t be like this anymore, and she has to realise that there is a war going on, everyone is working hard to stay alive. Her facial features resembles a cat, sharp eye contacts to enhance the expressions.

SCAMPER

At first I decided to have 2 main characters, but I thought it added too many unnecessary interaction between the 2, so I decided to eliminate the wife as the main character at the start, then I rearranged the roles. With Harry being the main character at the start then Anna for the second half.

Interior 3D

Started modelling the interior of the house, trying to capture every small details and the patterns of a 1940s house, because most of the film is set in this house, I want to have as much details as possible, in the end it will be cel shaded and with cross hatch shading like in the example before.

House 3D

This is the street they live in, a typical terraced houses, this is the start of the film, a scene to show an introductory of the feel of the space. Going to build all the scenes and character in 3d first, then map them with a designed skin to stand out.

Future Plans

Here is a rough estimate of what needs to be done next and my current progress, still in the process of model and mapping hoping to start animating by Febuary.

After finishing the house, the interior and the model of Harry, these are my next task. For more development, research and images you can visit my blog, link up there.