*Playblast of the environment from the interior view of the car.*
Approach:
During the week I began working with my cameras in the Maya scene for the pacing of the utility poles and adjustments for the lighting. I went back and referenced my light layout and had to add a few more for the sake of making certain small areas visible; such as the inside of the car and the small lock on the door. I also began putting together a refined storyboard in Photoshop and assembled in Premiere. It's very basic, but in my opinion necessary for understanding how the pacing of the short will feel. I also made a play blast of the scene with the camera in the car window. Choices Made: I chose to make the window section of the car just a small diorama with holes on both sides of the enclosure. I'm using a sky-Dome light in Maya for a natural look on the utility poles and the outside environment. I decided to include some extra lights where the sun spot is visible, and use them for the atmospheric-fog in the light. My main goal was to make sure that when a utility pole passed in front of the light, we can see the light bend around the edges of the pole, as well as see the shadows visibly cast from the light of the sunshine. I'm not sure how I'll end up lighting the lock on the window, it has proven to be difficult. I think that I'll perhaps have to do a separate render pass and layer it on top of the other for the sake of making sure the lock is lit (and we can see the shadow move indicating the passage of time).
*Rough animatic of the short.*
Inspirational Sources:
Although it doesn't resemble the style that I am looking to create, I do appreciate all of the visual aesthetic it has to offer. The animation is done by "Cossa", and they remind me of Roy Lichtenstein. It has this pop art representation, while the color palette is muted but chosen carefully. It's only a green, red, blue, white/black throughout. I really enjoy the way that they executed transitions and other camera tricks. There is a point with cards on the table that become 3D. The camera dives down deep into one like a tunnel and the effect is extremely satisfying to watch. I'd like to utilize some inspiration based on the transitions and maybe utilize them in my short. Stephanie Richards — Gong from Pomp&Clout on Vimeo.
Questions Raised & Needs:
Next steps: Next week I'll be working more with finishing up the edges of the road to make them seem more realistic than they are right now. At the moment it just a solid plane. I'd like to add some bushes, trees, stones, something to cover up what's there now. I also would like to consider using image planes rather than actual objects. I'll also consider using a normal map for the side of the road, it will probably need to be tile-able. -Taylor Olsen
*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
*An exploration of visuals based on the chosen poem from the assignment brief.*
Approach:
From the assignment brief: "Often we recall a memory moment, because there is a particular sound, time of day, season or smell associated with that memory. Memory moments are brief but descriptive moments we viscerally remember from our person experiences when reminiscent conditions trigger the memory or experience." For this 4-week design project the goal of the assignment is to recall a significant memory in which lighting drives what the memory holds. It will eventually be a 15-second experience in which the viewer notices and comments upon what they have seen. To begin, we created a series of 3 instances in which we thought lighting was pertinent to the memory at hand. "The foundation for the project will emerge from your willingness to engage in visualizing experience, with the purpose of building a vocabulary for describing them and improve your skills and technical knowledge in storytelling of experiences." Choices Made: Initially, I couldn't think of stories that had much to deal with lighting, as most of my memories come from what actions I was doing rather than how they would be remembered through lighting. Thinking further, though, I realize that most memories that I have did include lighting based on the location regardless. It's just something I thought less about as I recalled the instances. My initial choice was to remember moments that weren't necessarily about light, but the synthesis of light and shadow. I recalled moments where I was still, and not necessarily moving. The three stories are as follows: #1 - "I've never felt closer to the earth while holding her sun-dressed hand in Tokyo, Japan. The lustered beams of quilted light hazing from the amber peaks of the skyscrapers dissipated all sense of location and self. Spiraling through the overwhelmingly surreal traffic together in the first moments, lost and disconnected among the endless reflections, I felt free for the first time in my life." #2 - "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." #3 - "Feeling wholehearted from the fire outside in the cold white frost, I only see the teeth of my friends as we laugh about nothing. Necks arched, we blow out plumes of contentment. We cloud the stars above while our faces mixed with the embers. Later, as I find myself alone, a tear drops near the fire. It was pure darkness, the dancing swirls had no effect, a shadow paled in comparison - but that drop still burns brighter than any morning sun." Out of the stories told, I eventually ended up with using my second one. The inspiration for the story comes from many car rides in the back seat of my parents car. I usually despised the music they would play, and would put in earplugs so that I didn't have to listen. The rides would last for a few hours, usually from going to my relatives hometown in the middle of nowhere. This would make our trips there and back usually in the morning/evening when the sun was rising/setting. All of the light would shower into the car and onto my face, and I would wait for the movement of the light poles to stop. By the time they would, it meant we were arriving/departing our destinations. Inspirational Sources: Because of my previous projects using Max/Msp/Jitter, I want to incorporate sounds into the experience that is directly affected by the visuals. I'm considering utilizing repetition as the basis for this short to influence the light, and making it longer so that âI have some room for exploration with music. An inspiration that I have for this video is something from an Instagram post from an Animator (Ezequiel Torres) - rudoplayer1 on Instragram:
I really enjoy this short tidbit of music and visuals paired together. How he synced up the movement of the lines going across the screen as the beat of the separate parts of the track begin is visually and experientally pleasing to watch. I always find it interesting that more animation schools don't teach foundations of learning how to use sound. For people who are not deaf/blind, it would seem as an invaluable resource to have as they have more use for visual/spatial/audible exploration.
Questions Raised & Needs:
Next week, I'll begin with recording my voice for the narration of the short story. I'll also explore more Msp usage in the short, and consider creating my own soundtrack for the project. I want to also look online for free 3D assets if it will save me time with creating the visuals by hand. Lastly, I'll have to decide if I want to use traditionally drawn animation, as that will be the most time consuming in the long run, but in my opinion will give the project more character. -Taylor Olsen |
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May 2020
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