Modelling Character so far...

Model Character

So far this is how modelling my character is going. After building the main body which wasn't hard, when it came to placing where each of the springy legs would go, I wanted to get it aligned right so I used a triangle as seen in the image above and below and placed the connecting cylinders at each angle point.

I have been using tutorials and what we've learnt in our lessons to make the model character. I have used the Parent/Child function to connect the various parts of the model together so I can dis-assemble the parts if I need to go back and correct anything.

I have not yet considered anything like colour and shading because we have not yet covered that and I would like to have the shape done before I start correcting the appearance.

The image above shows the current modelling progress in the quad view.

Here, I am stuck as to how to connect these helixes which are the legs of my character to the main body.

To know where to position the legs of my character, I used a triangle that was placed in the center of the body.

What Might Go Wrong....when you still plan ahead

As part of my task of trying to do more videos, to experiment and basically increase my knowledge in filmmaking, I offered to help a friend film a dance trailer so he could advertise himself to companies and schools so he could be hired.

I planned ahead of this, gave myself 3 weeks: 

   I booked the studio

  I sent an email to give early notice of when I shall be hiring the film equipment

 Told the friend all the details: time, day, place etc 

  Sent the same details to the friend to remind him

 Made sure I had my notes of what main scenes I was going to shoot.

 I was very well planned. The day came, after setting up, I went to pick up the friend (doing him a favour), meant that I could start the filming early with less delays if I picked him up. He didn't show up and couldn't reach him.

So the lesson is, no matter how well you plan ahead of time, sometimes things go terribly wrong, factors such as camera equipment not being available, actors/actresses don't bother showing up. Keep trying, film other things, that's what I have learnt recently after this happened to me.

Besides that, I learnt some new settings on the XD Camera and learnt that when you're going to use a high speed camera indoors, you need powerful lights such as these below...

The stands are stronger, more stable. The light heads are heavy and powerful, the light gets very very hot.

This light diffuser helps to soften the light when shooting, such as softening the shadow outlines, making the scene more aesthetically pleasing.

A sandbag may be needed to keep the light stand from wobbling.

Whenever you have equipments that need to be plugged in, shake the plug to listen for any rattles, if there is no rattle then everything is in good condition, if you hear a rattle then take a screwdriver and check if any screws are loose, if not that could cause the circuit to break.

So since I was planning ahead I did blooper trials with the lighting a week ahead just to get comfortable with the equipment. I shall post them up later. I shall also be thinking of simple ideas to make a video on, nothing longer than 2 minutes. This will be to learn more video editing and filming skills.

Film Based Job options...

ITV CHANNEL

http://itvjobs.com/working-here/graduates/your-options/

The ITV channel company has a graduate scheme where you get hired by the company and work through the scheme. There are different areas to work in but the Creative Production section is more relevant.

In the Creative Production section you will be getting to know the ins and outs of the TV show scheduling, filming and financing.

This sounds like a good programme those thinking about making contact with the media industry.



PRETZEL FILMS

http://pretzelfilms.com/#about

''Each year we sign up a new young director. We employ them full time. We invest in developing this young talent as part of the Pretzel team. We have been doing it since 2005.'' A quote from the Pretzel Films website about their recruitment method. 
Their website has daily updates of what the company is up to, their work team and various other information. 
They hold a competition where they ask upcoming directors/new directors to send in their best work, to hopefully be shortlisted and get the position of junior director.

JACK THE LAD
http://www.jacktheladfilms.co.uk/
A Manchester independent short film based company, that's been running for four years, caters to all sorts of clients and videos.

I shall be researching to find more companies, national and international.

Choros by Michael Langan

http://www.shortoftheweek.com/2013/02/05/choros/

I watched this short experimental film by Michael Langan. I found it interesting but after a few minutes, it got tedious because the continual echoing of the dancer's movements were too slow, if it had been a bit faster then it would have kept the momentum of the whole film going at an interesting pace. I can definitely see inspiration from photographer 'Edward Muybridge' and Norman McLaren as the film critic said ''Taking inspiration from Edward Muybridge and especially Norman McLaren’s Pas de Deux,''. 

Jason Sondhi the writer of this article presents the as ''modern compositing techniques to create wonderful ghost-like images of movement,  Telling a loose narrative of rebirth through 3 movements.......the film honors traditional forms of classical music and dance.'' The shots are simple, shot at eye angle so it might have been interesting to combine different camera shots with this technique to see how visually interesting it made it. A reason it may have been shot at an eye angle is that the viewer could concentrate on the visual echoing movements of the dancer. I would enjoyed watching the film and it has helped in present the technique of echoing in filmmaking which can be considered when wanting to create cool effects.

Ill Sessions 2012'

I had the opportunity to experience this breakin' jam in early december last year. The event called ''Ill Sessions'' is a breaking event competition held. It was a soloist competition so the format was 1 vs 1. This is the trailer filmed by Doy (Andy Ward) & Dylan Cabanis, and edited by Doy (Andy Ward). The shots are amazing with nice angles of the cyphers (dance circles). The main aim of this trailer is to capture the atmosphere of the event and how people were feeling that day which I think has been done well. It had shots of the DJ spinning, b-boys dancing and shots of the battles that happened that day. It finished with a nice shot of the winner Rukus, what I liked about that last shot was the lighting, it seemed there was a spotlight surrounding Rukus which only emphasised him winning which is clever I think. I shall be looking at the sequence of shots and the angles when I consider filming a trailer of my own.

Overall, the public should keep a look out for the next Illl Sessions event because it is a fun day where you will meet lots of interesting people and get to see the action live.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TYB7ymMtwE

The Mummy Returns (CGI)

I watched The Mummy Returns last night, I would say it is a good classic movie with its pre-quels and sequels. It is comedic, has action and drama. Though all these genres may not be portrayed in the best way possible it is still very interesting, I say this because the funny parts felt forced and I felt the storyline could have been presented in a better way. 

Though what I really wanted to point out is the CGI generated Army Of Anubis. The image is shown below.

As you can see the CGI is not very realistic, the models have been created very well though since this movie was released in 2001, technology was not very advanced. Most scenes of the army were done with them being at a far distance that you couldn't make out their shapes which made it easier. When scenes like the image below were shown, you can tell by the skin texture that these creatures look more game like than movie realistic.

I am stating this just to point out how un-advanced CGI technology was but also when you watch the movie the movements of these creatures were very static and not animal like.

Overall a good movie, I'm just focusing more on the animation side of it.

Red Rabbit by Egmont Mayer

''Mayer’s student film is a beautifully paced, stylistic piece, where no dialogue is needed to convey the emotions of the main characters. Tensions and relationships are slowly and thoughtfully developed throughout the film and we seem to know exactly what the characters are thinking and feeling without anyone ever having to speak a word. Even though as a viewer you really feel the loneliness and isolation of the characters, there is still a certain warmth and touching poetry to this tale.'' El Vez (http://www.shortoftheweek.com/2009/09/26/red-rabbit/) accessed Mon, 21 Jan, 2013, at 15:19

I watched this animation and I agree with the statement above, the animation has no dialogue but the viewer can guess what is going on because of the pace and facial/body expressions given by the characters. This man is trying to hide his pet from the outside world and neighbour who is trying to connect with him on some level. The sound helps to communicate these expressions further because it is timed nicely which I think is good. It is a 3D animation which has beautifully conveyed the storyline and added a comical ending where he realises his upstairs neighbour also has a large pet that she is hiding. When it comes to the environment set around this characters then  I would say that it has been done well, the lighting and little attention to details gives it that realistic atmosphere, for example when the apartment is being shook by the rabbit, the ceiling chandelier is shook too, simple but yet it makes the viewer see the animation as more realistic. So I am posting this film for others to notice how the story is told and could take note.

Website of his other work: http://www.egmontmayer.com/

The Makeover by animation school Supinfocom

Done by:

Martin Vermelen
Matthieu Hassan
Elsa Bréhin

This animation takes inspiration from famous Disney films such as 'Beauty & The Beast'', ''Cinderella'', ''Peter Pan''  and the ''Little Mermaid''.

I would say that the storyline does not really make sense but the music score and visuals help sustain this animation.

I am blogging about this animation because it uses some of the fundamentals of animation such as timing, squash and stretch and anticipation.

The objects in the house are animated beautifully, I would say this animation is also a musical because there are scenes with the objects dancing. Overall, this is good to look at when trying to bring characters to life through movement.

http://www.shortoftheweek.com/2011/09/01/the-makeover/

Oktapodi by Gobelins

Done by:

Emud Mokhberi

Quentin Marmier

Thierry Marchand

Olivier Delabarre

François-Xavier Chanioux

Julien Bocabeille

This short 3D Animation with accompanied music by Kenny Wood's score which definitely sets the pace of this work.

The story is about two octopuses trying to escape being captured and eaten. What I like about this animation is that it has beautiful visuals, the environment and storyline fits and works well. The characters actions have been exaggerated and just like old animations seen on cartoon network the octopuses have been given human emotions, which I think helps bring the comedy to this. It shows how you can convey a story in a short amount of time with the right timing.

I would definitely watch it again, the ending is also what helps finish this off nicely when after fighting with the delivery man, a seagull takes one of the octopuses and the viewer can see that the chase starts again, so the situations that the main storyline can be set in is endless.

http://www.oktapodi.com/makingof/  - this is the site that shows the making of this animation. The preparation sketches are beautifully done. An example is shown below.

Until The Quiet Comes by Khalil Joseph

''A PROMO FOR ELECTRONIC ARTIST FLYING LOTUS, THE IMPRESSIONISTIC VISION OF RISING STAR KHALIL JOSEPH IS DISPLAYED IN THIS SHORT, DREAMLIKE TRIP THROUGH A LOS ANGELES PROJECT. A SUNDANCE 2013 SHORT FILM.''
http://www.shortoftheweek.com/2013/01/07/until-the-quiet-comes/
accessed saturday, jan, 15:36pm, 2013
Watching this film was beautiful. Khalil Joseph is the director of this and the scenes are captivating. The opening scenes starts with a boy being shot but then goes through a flashback of the little boy playing with friends and enjoying being a kid then his older friend gets shot but comes back to life in a dreamlike state and dances his way into a car that drives off in a slant. It is all very dreamlike. The way he portrayed the hip-hop and urban life from the negative side yet made it look atheistically pleasing was very nice. I chose to put this on my blog because it is related to film, which I am interested in and it touches on situations that arise in bad neighbourhoods. Though also the camera and angle shots are done well to help communicate the idea or story. The environment in which this is set helps to convey to the viewer what type of situations these characters in the video face. I am inspired by this short film.