Wednesday, 23 September 2015
Finished Underside and Wheels
The wheels and underside have been completely finished now, and allow for the full range of movement needed for the short film. There is not much left to model now besides the front of the bot, and maybe placing a few different details here and there. Please note that the wheel, as with the eye, only needs to be modelled once as it will be duplicated for all of the other positions it is required to be in.
Tuesday, 22 September 2015
More modelling!
I have competed more of the model, specifically the arm! It needs some more work in order to give it the ability to extend like I want it to, but it's basically done.
Monday, 21 September 2015
Modelling The Protagonists
I have begun modelling the robotic protagonists of my film. So far, I have completed the basic body shape, the back fan (which was not shown in my concept sketches but helps to add to the character as the back looks less plain) and the eye, with eyelids and ball joint. So far it looks very basic, but detail will be added as the modelling process goes on and when texturing begins. The joint for the wheels has been completed, but as it will not be seen for the large amount of shots not much detail is required for it.
Sunday, 20 September 2015
Inspirations for this Project
As this is all going to be hand made, and nothing will be 'off the shelf' (like props would likely be in a live action short film), everything has to be explicitly designed and created with purpose. For this film, I had gone through many different ideas and story concepts, ranging from aliens dropping robots form the sky to huge robots invading and discovering their emotions, but in the end all of these ideas fell sort on one thing; they don't really have anything unique about them. They are all fairly generic ideas that don't allow for much creative freedom, and have been done a thousand times in different sci-fi media.
While the idea that I have settled on has likely been done before, I like it and think it fits well with the characters that have been thought about. The idea of the robots being incredibly small was inspired by a film that released earlier this year, Ant-man. I loved the way that the cinematography conveyed size and how everything was represented and shown from a smaller perspective, as well as they way that normal everyday objects take on a new meaning when seen from a smaller angle, for instance when a tap turning on is shown as being similar to a tsunami. or when small distances are gigantic chasms.
This idea of scale is a central point in the story I have written; the small group of robots, our protagonists, are looking for any items of value to them that can give them energy, as they have nearly run out. when one of them comes across an enormous power canister (a Duracell AA battery) easily 5 times the size of any of them, they are ecstatic at their discovery. this is all about the relative perspective, as to us the battery is tiny and can't keep a torch on for longer then 5 minutes without running out, to them it is huge and contains vast amounts of power that they so desperately need, and will keep them going for years. This sense of scale is what I will try to convey throughout my short film.
The designs of the robots themselves have been inspired by multiple different works of science fiction, ranging from newer entries to the genre such as Wall-E to older more classic designs like Daleks. I have even looked at some designs from other forms of medias such as the characters of Wheatly and GLaDOS from Portal or E-102 Gamma. As these inspirations are heavily CGI-based, it has helped massively when designing methods of them conveying emotions and expressions, as seeing how professionals have created workarounds for them is interesting to discover. For instance, in almost every scene involving Wall-E, there is a shot of him bending in a way in which physically doesn't make sense. This has showed me that as long as it is designed properly and disguised well, the rules of weather these robots could physically exist and work as they do are bendable to an extent. This allowed me more creative freedom when designing my characters.
While the idea that I have settled on has likely been done before, I like it and think it fits well with the characters that have been thought about. The idea of the robots being incredibly small was inspired by a film that released earlier this year, Ant-man. I loved the way that the cinematography conveyed size and how everything was represented and shown from a smaller perspective, as well as they way that normal everyday objects take on a new meaning when seen from a smaller angle, for instance when a tap turning on is shown as being similar to a tsunami. or when small distances are gigantic chasms.
This idea of scale is a central point in the story I have written; the small group of robots, our protagonists, are looking for any items of value to them that can give them energy, as they have nearly run out. when one of them comes across an enormous power canister (a Duracell AA battery) easily 5 times the size of any of them, they are ecstatic at their discovery. this is all about the relative perspective, as to us the battery is tiny and can't keep a torch on for longer then 5 minutes without running out, to them it is huge and contains vast amounts of power that they so desperately need, and will keep them going for years. This sense of scale is what I will try to convey throughout my short film.
The designs of the robots themselves have been inspired by multiple different works of science fiction, ranging from newer entries to the genre such as Wall-E to older more classic designs like Daleks. I have even looked at some designs from other forms of medias such as the characters of Wheatly and GLaDOS from Portal or E-102 Gamma. As these inspirations are heavily CGI-based, it has helped massively when designing methods of them conveying emotions and expressions, as seeing how professionals have created workarounds for them is interesting to discover. For instance, in almost every scene involving Wall-E, there is a shot of him bending in a way in which physically doesn't make sense. This has showed me that as long as it is designed properly and disguised well, the rules of weather these robots could physically exist and work as they do are bendable to an extent. This allowed me more creative freedom when designing my characters.
Wednesday, 16 September 2015
Designing and Refining My Protagonist Characters
While I have figured out the basics of my storyline, I will likely be making changes before I write the final script and will post about it then. However, it is definite that the story will revolve around a small team of 4 differently coloured robots (to allow them to be told apart easily) but will all use the same basic model that will be textured differently to save on time as well as allowing them to use the same basic rules for displaying emotion and character. Therefore, only one of them needs to be designed. There will in fact be another kind of robot, but he has yet to be designed. So far, I have been through a number of different designs before settling on the final one, but the basic concept remains the same; a group of tiny robots that can be folded up into small boxes. (please also note that the two sad foods in the bottom right are part of the design of my notebook and are not relevant to my designs)
First Design
The basic concept if these robots being small was the starting point of these designs, and originally I did not plan for them to fold up at all. As shown in the first design (I have labelled the different designs Mark 1 - 3 (shortened to MK to to lack of space) to allow for easier telling of the separate designs). In this first design, the idea was that he would have long arms allowing for a large range of mobility and movement, allowing him to hold objects in a way that would not block his face or eyes. He had a flash light on his front for any scenes that were too dark to be lit up logically. He also had tracks that allowed him to traverse terrain, allowing for better range of freedom with the environment design (flowers have been drawn for scale before the heights were listed, so in the other designs these details are absent due to them not being needed).
The Design's Flaws
The issue with this design is that it was far too large and bulky, and it was hard to convey the concept of the robot being incredibly tiny (heights listed next to the front on views of the designs) with such bulk,. and it therefore didn't work. in addition to this, it made it hard for him to convey emotion because he did not have enough points of movement (basically none besides his arms and the tracks). the exhausts on his body also made him look to powerful and strong for my liking, and did not look as though a team of them would be required for performing tasks. the largest issue however was the arms, as they were far too long and ad a set length that couldn't be changed. this made them get in the way as they had nowhere to go when they weren't being used and would easily compromise a scene.
Second Design
For the second design, it was decided that The robot needed much more range of movement in order to convey emotion, along with the need for it to be less bulky in order to look as though the group had to work together and relied on each other. this design therefore folded up into a box with a storage space in his front through two doors that would lead to some storage shelves. the arms would fold up into the sides allowing them to be put away and the tracks were moved to the inside of the bottom, where the robot could elevate and descend on them to better convey character. This version still had a flash light, but it was much smaller and was in the top right of the front panel. It was also decided that they should have a number on the side to imply that they were once part of something bigger, but now are the only ones left.
The Design's Flaws
This design is largely close to the final one, but it does still have major differences. The biggest issue was once again the arms, but this time the opposite issue occurred. in order for them to fold onto the body while looking natural, they had to be a certain length. This has resulted in the arms being basically useless, as they cannot reach anything. While this does help connote the idea that they need to work in a group to accomplish tasks, it conveys this point too well, to the point where no tasks could be accomplished, at all, despite how many there are. The other issue is the storage doors on the front, which look out of place, and serve no real purpose to the story, making them pretty useless as well. The final issue is that the robot, while having better range of movement, is still fairly solid and cannot really convey any character due to it's fixed unblinking eyes and unmoving body.
Final Design
The final design, while it may not look much different, actually has a large amount of refinements over the other designs. The tracks have been replaced by wheels with tires and their frame has been changed, the arms have been altered to fit better with the body while allowing more movement, the storage shelf has been changed to act as a mouth of sorts should it be required to show shock or awe, but by far the biggest change is the smallest in size; the robot now has eye movement and eyelids! I am happy about this because it is something I was working on but couldn't quite figure out a way to add in without it looking unnatural. The eyes move on a ball pivot allowing the robot to look around without moving his entire body, and two semi-circular metal covers have been added to the eyepiece, acting as the eyelids, with pivots on the side.
However, due to the eyes being on a ball pivot, they can be rotated to act as eyebrows to convey both anger and sadness, along with other emotions. The arms now also extend, allowing the robot to carry things which he previously couldn't, however they still do not look strong and are relatively thin, making them look like they need help from the other robots to accomplish tasks. The new bottom frame for the wheels allows a better range of movement then just up and down, going forward, backward and side to side, allowing him to lean around corners and look over ledges, as well as tilt back to look at higher up objects.
Final Thoughts
I am pleased with this design and will begin working on the model for it as soon as I can. while there may be subtle changes due to the model just not working in ways that I may nor have foreseen, hopefully the basic design will remain relatively unaltered. I am looking forward to this creation as I cannot wait to have a play around with the range of emotion that this design should offer!
First Design
The basic concept if these robots being small was the starting point of these designs, and originally I did not plan for them to fold up at all. As shown in the first design (I have labelled the different designs Mark 1 - 3 (shortened to MK to to lack of space) to allow for easier telling of the separate designs). In this first design, the idea was that he would have long arms allowing for a large range of mobility and movement, allowing him to hold objects in a way that would not block his face or eyes. He had a flash light on his front for any scenes that were too dark to be lit up logically. He also had tracks that allowed him to traverse terrain, allowing for better range of freedom with the environment design (flowers have been drawn for scale before the heights were listed, so in the other designs these details are absent due to them not being needed).
The Design's Flaws
The issue with this design is that it was far too large and bulky, and it was hard to convey the concept of the robot being incredibly tiny (heights listed next to the front on views of the designs) with such bulk,. and it therefore didn't work. in addition to this, it made it hard for him to convey emotion because he did not have enough points of movement (basically none besides his arms and the tracks). the exhausts on his body also made him look to powerful and strong for my liking, and did not look as though a team of them would be required for performing tasks. the largest issue however was the arms, as they were far too long and ad a set length that couldn't be changed. this made them get in the way as they had nowhere to go when they weren't being used and would easily compromise a scene.
Second Design
For the second design, it was decided that The robot needed much more range of movement in order to convey emotion, along with the need for it to be less bulky in order to look as though the group had to work together and relied on each other. this design therefore folded up into a box with a storage space in his front through two doors that would lead to some storage shelves. the arms would fold up into the sides allowing them to be put away and the tracks were moved to the inside of the bottom, where the robot could elevate and descend on them to better convey character. This version still had a flash light, but it was much smaller and was in the top right of the front panel. It was also decided that they should have a number on the side to imply that they were once part of something bigger, but now are the only ones left.
The Design's Flaws
This design is largely close to the final one, but it does still have major differences. The biggest issue was once again the arms, but this time the opposite issue occurred. in order for them to fold onto the body while looking natural, they had to be a certain length. This has resulted in the arms being basically useless, as they cannot reach anything. While this does help connote the idea that they need to work in a group to accomplish tasks, it conveys this point too well, to the point where no tasks could be accomplished, at all, despite how many there are. The other issue is the storage doors on the front, which look out of place, and serve no real purpose to the story, making them pretty useless as well. The final issue is that the robot, while having better range of movement, is still fairly solid and cannot really convey any character due to it's fixed unblinking eyes and unmoving body.
Final Design
The final design, while it may not look much different, actually has a large amount of refinements over the other designs. The tracks have been replaced by wheels with tires and their frame has been changed, the arms have been altered to fit better with the body while allowing more movement, the storage shelf has been changed to act as a mouth of sorts should it be required to show shock or awe, but by far the biggest change is the smallest in size; the robot now has eye movement and eyelids! I am happy about this because it is something I was working on but couldn't quite figure out a way to add in without it looking unnatural. The eyes move on a ball pivot allowing the robot to look around without moving his entire body, and two semi-circular metal covers have been added to the eyepiece, acting as the eyelids, with pivots on the side.
However, due to the eyes being on a ball pivot, they can be rotated to act as eyebrows to convey both anger and sadness, along with other emotions. The arms now also extend, allowing the robot to carry things which he previously couldn't, however they still do not look strong and are relatively thin, making them look like they need help from the other robots to accomplish tasks. The new bottom frame for the wheels allows a better range of movement then just up and down, going forward, backward and side to side, allowing him to lean around corners and look over ledges, as well as tilt back to look at higher up objects.
Final Thoughts
I am pleased with this design and will begin working on the model for it as soon as I can. while there may be subtle changes due to the model just not working in ways that I may nor have foreseen, hopefully the basic design will remain relatively unaltered. I am looking forward to this creation as I cannot wait to have a play around with the range of emotion that this design should offer!
Monday, 14 September 2015
A2 Media Short Film
For my product for coursework this year, I have decided to do something that is more of my tastes and interests. At GCSE level Media Production, I had to make a short film, and decided to experiment with the usage of CGI at a basic level. As we had to make a short film revolving around zombies and our cast was limited, I suggested the idea of adding computer generated zombies that I would make at home, and then add them in through green screen when editing. This idea was good in theory, but at the time I had neither the experience nor the skill to create anything lifelike and it only ended up looking ok. However, I was nominated for an award from the school for creative usage of technology.
In my next year of GCSEs, for Film Studies, I again had to make a short film, this time with horror themes. As I had more experience using my modelling software and animation programs, I decided that it would be a better idea to reverse the original concept; instead of putting CGI images into real life, I planned to put real actors into a CGI world (in this case, a space ship) and film them against a green screen. This idea worked a lot better and produced a large amount more realistic scenes. However, the issue with this was no longer realism, as for it wasn't perfect, it wasn't bad with the exception of some green screen errors. The issue this time was the organisation of actors, the quality of the actors themselves and the strength of the plot, which resulted in the short film being more of a technological demonstration as oppose to being a good short film. Nevertheless, it won a Best Video Product award at my college's media awards night.
This time, I have refined the idea from the feedback that I have received from these two products; the CGI is good and it's use is imaginative and creative, but the physical side of it (the actors, props, etc.) were lacking at best. Therefore, the short film that I am making this year will be completely computer generated, as I now have a job revolving around modelling and animating, as well as creating realistic 3D environments, the final product should be of a much higher standard then any of my previous efforts.
For creating the models and model texturing, I will be using the free 3D modelling program Blender, smaller more specific textures and other extras will be created using Photoshop. The larger amount of filming and environment creation will be done through Unity 3D, a game engine that I have over 6 years experience using and now use professionally for my job. This experience should allow me to create a good looking animation for my short film.
The short film will be styled in a cartoon-esque format, with some exaggerated movements and such allowing for a better display of emotion and character. Along with this, my actors will all be robots as they are easier to animate while having still look good, as well as allowing for a large amount of creative freedom with designs. When designing my characters, I will attempt to put in place methods of displaying emotion within the robots that will allow me to better show the characters in a more believable and descriptive manner.
In my next year of GCSEs, for Film Studies, I again had to make a short film, this time with horror themes. As I had more experience using my modelling software and animation programs, I decided that it would be a better idea to reverse the original concept; instead of putting CGI images into real life, I planned to put real actors into a CGI world (in this case, a space ship) and film them against a green screen. This idea worked a lot better and produced a large amount more realistic scenes. However, the issue with this was no longer realism, as for it wasn't perfect, it wasn't bad with the exception of some green screen errors. The issue this time was the organisation of actors, the quality of the actors themselves and the strength of the plot, which resulted in the short film being more of a technological demonstration as oppose to being a good short film. Nevertheless, it won a Best Video Product award at my college's media awards night.
This time, I have refined the idea from the feedback that I have received from these two products; the CGI is good and it's use is imaginative and creative, but the physical side of it (the actors, props, etc.) were lacking at best. Therefore, the short film that I am making this year will be completely computer generated, as I now have a job revolving around modelling and animating, as well as creating realistic 3D environments, the final product should be of a much higher standard then any of my previous efforts.
For creating the models and model texturing, I will be using the free 3D modelling program Blender, smaller more specific textures and other extras will be created using Photoshop. The larger amount of filming and environment creation will be done through Unity 3D, a game engine that I have over 6 years experience using and now use professionally for my job. This experience should allow me to create a good looking animation for my short film.
The short film will be styled in a cartoon-esque format, with some exaggerated movements and such allowing for a better display of emotion and character. Along with this, my actors will all be robots as they are easier to animate while having still look good, as well as allowing for a large amount of creative freedom with designs. When designing my characters, I will attempt to put in place methods of displaying emotion within the robots that will allow me to better show the characters in a more believable and descriptive manner.
Saturday, 12 September 2015
Short Film Brief
A
short film in its entirety, lasting approximately five minutes, which may be
live action or animated or a combination of both, together with two of the
following three options:
•a poster for the film
•a radio trailer for the film
•a film magazine review page
featuring the film
The brief that I have chosen to do is the short film brief. Out of the three additional options, I am choosing to do a poster for the short film, along with a radio trailer. This brief also offers me the opportunity to Improve upon past efforts at computer generated imagery, but this time I am hoping to base the entire film around CGI rather then having elements cross with real footage (like previous videos).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)