Light Tests

Just whipped up a background for a lower res version of what our film looks like before compositing or anything like that (lighting by Matt). Pretty happy with this.

Farmer Rig Completed

I've just completed the farmer rig, being the main character (and also being in almost every shot) it was important that he have a large range of motion.


Now to start on animation and progress to the next rig!

Colour Boards

A Basic colour test, inspired partly (the end) by that of the 'Horton hears a who' film.

More Silhouettes/Shadow Puppetry

The Windmill Farmer is another good example of not only the fusion of a shadowy foreground and colourful background but it also keeps to the same side on view of the same location throughout the film.

New Post

Here is a long overdue post of what we have been working on thus far. As you can see we've made great progress on the 3D models of our 3 major characters.


Our main focus was trying to maintain the style and sense of character present in each of the 2D representations as we translated them into 3D models. This I think we have achieved.

Go Go Team Procrastination

As we continue to push through yet another version of our storyboard it is important to continue working on other areas to ensure little wasted time and increase general productivity.

The character designs have been completed, so modelling is ready to commence. I've also created a master project directory and established a naming convention in order to facilitate a clean workflow and minimise issues when we start referencing scenes.

Continued research work on the environment is progressing and all the basic masses have been blocked out. There is still a large amount of room for the creation of visual style to work in harmony with the character however. I recently happened on a Japanese game that features an interesting and inspirational style. Take careful note of the bold 'flat' silhouettes the environment creates even though it's obviously 3D. See 3:18 especially.


El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron - Ignition Entertainment

Size Comparison

Here is the size comparison I made of the main characters, I quite like the idea of giving diffrent colours to the characters although they may change from what they are in this image.

Character Turn Arounds

So here are the three main characters from the story, more to come yet but it is important to start modelling these now so that the meshes and rigging can have time to be perfected before animating. I have been a little slow to upload these as they were actually done a little over a week ago.

Update

Its been a while since I have been on the blog so I figured I would jump on and make it a little more presentable by whipping up a new banner and background and tweaking the design settings.

So far I think our group has made some good process, with Will currently churning out the storyboard the rest of the group will focus on the design aspects. Matt, Jack and I will start work on finalizing the character and environment designs this week and have turn arounds and environment 'floor plans' to be ready before (or at the very latest during) the mid semester break.

I plan to start the modeling with Matt and Jack during the break, by week 9 the group should have a rough environment, or at least some of them so that we can start to set up the shots for previz.

I will also be trying to arrange a group meeting sometime after Will finishes the storyboards, so that we can go through them and discuss the cinematography choices and how to break up the shots without distracting the audience from the vital concepts of the film.

We were a little slow on the uptake I think, but that was due to many assignments and the script being re worked about a thousand times. I personally like the script now, and the group seemed very happy with it also, so now we are free to start actually making this film!

Exciting Title

As I sit down to draft out a budget and all the wonderful paperwork that comes with being elected producer, it dawns on me that the previous production plan is just not an adequate enough guide to follow. So here's my revised production plan, now spanning the entire year.



Hopefully this will provide a better guide to check-pointing our project, and eventually finishing off this beast!

Pfft, Plans Are For Losers

As we start to really push into the pre-production of this film, it becomes imperative that a structured plan is put into place to ensure that we all work to capacity and you know, finish on time.

Below is an idea of our workflow and how it pertains to Griffith's academic calender.


Currently it is week 6 (I think ಠ‿ಠ), so as we move to more refined versions of the script, we can all be starting to design our overall visual style and characters (ergo incoming image spam). As you can see we hope to finish most of the modelling and rigging of characters by the middle of the year, leaving plenty of time for animation and post-production.

With this plan in place there is sure to be a lot less procrastination on our part (hopefully) and with better time management comes a better film.

New and Old Inspirations.

Starting to work on the new version of the script, it is beginning to evolve into something a bit more original (I hope) and I will meet up with the group members soon to see what they have to think of it. I have also been creating some concept art and character designs in photoshop, but they are not ready to post just yet.

Recently I've been fairly undecided about how much the film style would draw from the realm of shadow puppets, constantly doubting which direction would be the better option. I thought I had made my mind up to just have a hint of it throughout the film, but a friend from uni linked me to an indy game called Limbo the other day and its visuals were incredible. The composition of the shots is fantastic and not confusing at all (which I thought may be a problem with this style), I think it would make an amazing influence to draw from for the film. However I would still want some colour, the film noir look would be a bit out of place for the film.

Also, I have been looking closely at the animation Between Bears recently. It has some aspects similar to our film in respects to the side on nature most of the film has and the way that have chosen to break up the camera shots without drawing to much away from the 'side on' nature of the film. Also the colours and the music are very inspiring, but it was mainly the choice of shots I found interesting.

Anyway, time to get back to work, between the essays, the animating and the WIL project I am doing at the moment I hope to be posting new content on the film later in the week.

Full Rotation Film blog up and ready to roll.

Ok I have formatted the blog enough for now, I will update the blog with fancy headers and things on a later date. Oh and actual content on the film too, best not to forget that stuff.