*Screen-shot of the Street view from the creation of the scene.*
Approach:
This week included finding visual references for the short, creating some basic look development photos, recording our own voices based on the memory we chose, and writing a technical description of how we would go about making the final experience. This week was more about creating the assets for the short to prepare for texturing and rendering, more will be explained further in this post. For reference, here is the poem chosen (I made small alterations during my recording session): "Telephone poles punctured the sky like cracks on pavement. I was still, but the world moved around me. Each passing line ticked in my brain like a metronome. [Soft humming in the background] Melodies danced around my head to the beat of the shadows, killing time and creating memories. Eyes closed, my mind waited for the pattern to halt." Choices Made: As for the visual references, the images themselves needed to have a sound reason behind their comparison to the experience. Such relationships included (from the assignment brief): "why chosen, relationship to your memory, type of lighting, technical description of lighting position, quality and approach and lighting diagram of top and front placement for each reference image." I decided to search for images that weren't necessarily influenced by lighting, but showed the mood of the short. I picked the utility pole because of the harsh contrast, and the divided street barrier for the repetitive pattern that would ultimately influence how the scene is created. (See Below...#1 is the pole - #2 is the barriers)
*The imagery.* *The diagrams for the respective image.*
For the technical understanding and explanation, I decided that I would stick with the programs that I had familiarity with, but would explore more with Max/MSP/Jitter for the audio output and final influence on the short. I want to experiment with Nuke as well, a compositing software that can add in effects to 3D-scenes that make the whole shot look either more realistic or stylized. From my own submission:
"The utilization of Maya will be for creating the backgrounds that will eventually be rendered into a full scene. Foliage will be necessary in order to create the illusion of depth in the scene—I might consider using flat imagery though to still create the same effect as what would be seen from a side angle (should also consider the fact that the camera will be moving very quickly, and won’t necessarily have time to ‘dawdle’ on the imagery presented)... Max/MSP/Jitter will be used as an experimental aspect of the short. It will have the video fed into the program and output sound based on what is seen—I’m thinking that this will be where most of my learning for this project comes from, as I am comfortable using the other programs for obtaining a desired effect. Photoshop/Illustrator will be used (as mentioned) to possibly create some flat imagery that will move slowly (parallax effect) in the background behind the 3D footage." When recording, I made many different attempts to capture what my voice actually sounds like in a relaxed setting. Most times, I think my voice sounds very "forced" in my approach, so reeling back and taking more chances to hear what I sound like and re-recording helped with feeling confident in how it sounded for editing later. (See Below for the actual technical layout, the layout of the imagery and scene lighting, and first-pass edit of my recording.)
I honestly overlooked the part of the brief that mentioned to create development images/a storyboard that captured the ideas that I had in mind. I took influence from the repetitive lines as a beginning point. Below you can find a very bare-bones storyboard that includes how I want the short to begin. It starts with a fade from black, eventually "scan-lines" appear on the screen, giving little hints that something is moving in the background. Below is the board:
*Bare-bones storyboard.*
As the short begins, the scene reveals itself as the camera trucks backward to reveal the window as seen from the first-person POV. Something I wanted to consider for the passage of time is the lock on the door of the window. While the light source moves through the horizon, I've considered either the shadow of the lock moving from left to right, or having the shadow increase in length as it is pushed closer towards the camera. If I choose the option for the shadow to increase in length, it will only be effective until a certain point. choosing the movement of the shadows from right to left will be more effective (in my opinion) in showing a passage of time, though this piece isn't necessarily concerned with showcasing the lock (it's just something to add character to the scene).
During the creation of the scene, I considered having my scene on a single loop for the utility poles section, but this would lead to even spacing between the images and would make it feel too "perfect" in my opinion. So, I instead created each pole, duplicated them with even spacing, then went back through and rotated/tilted each one slightly and changed the spacing between them to make the scene feel a little more realistic in its execution. After creating the poles, I started with a basic guard rail for the siding of the road for added realism to the scene. I then went through and created the power lines connecting each pole (it might have made more sense to do this post, but it was fun making each line a different height in the end). (Below is a time-lapse of the creation of the street/highway)
*Environment time-lapse*
Inspirational Sources:
I didn't have much for inspirational sources this week, other than exploring more imagery that would influence how the light would be depicted in the short. Below, you can see an image of a render someone made using light--I would like to mimic this effect of having it pool in through the edges during the begging of the short. It almost looks blinding, seemingly like the area behind it is mysterious and possibly endless. I'd also like to point out how the particles affect the overall mood of the image, it makes the scene look more dormant and still. I won't be using the same effect, but I have considered making the window of my scene a little clouded as to give some character to the window the audience will be looking out of.
*Reference imagery that will influence how I want my own light sources to "pool" into the scene.*
Questions Raised & Needs:
For the following week, I'll be refining my storyboards and putting them into Photoshop. I'll also begin creating an animatic for the timing of the short, and go back and perhaps add some spacing between my audio to make it more dramatic and give visuals more time to reveal themselves; rather than having a very short mid-section, and having too much time spent on the beginning and end of the experience. I'll be making use of my initial layouts to also create a lighting / cinematography and timing sheet (as well as camera setup) for future drafts that will aid towards the final renders. -Taylor Olsen Comments are closed.
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May 2020
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