Mentor Meeting 2

Had a second meeting with Lynn just to discuss my submission for Pre-production work.
Showed my images, liked.

Wanted me to look into the planning and development of cities.

Talked about what was needed for the Concept development document

Will meet again on Wednesday to discuss going forward

Collage Moodboards

I wanted to make some moodboards of the type of future city landscapes I appreciated but Lynn suggested that I attempt to do it as more of a collage, seeing as compositing is likely to be at the heart of this project.  It's been a lot of fun!
I tried making a collage of different elements to get a feel for how landscape could be altered.  I tried using different colours and backgrounds and I drew people and characters on top to get a feel for some kind of human presence.

In the first one here I wanted to show a more prosperous future with a well developed extension to the city in the river and windmills in the river itself harnessing power in a clean and efficient way.  In the second, I tried to paint a picture of something a little more bleak, with technological advancements for sure, but added surveillance equipment and urban decay.  Couple this with people of varying privilege or fortune who appear a little closed and shifty and things begin taking a more sinister slant.  I think the second option has more of a personal narrative, revealing more about the people and society than the city, whereas the first reveals a lot more about the city itself.  The warmer colours in the first images make for a more whimsical picture, whereas the greys and blues in the second, coupled with the wet ground, make things in the second seem a little bit more unwelcoming and dreary.

I'm not quite sure what it was I was trying to achieve in the first one, but it was actually my first attempt at making the collages in this way.  The images were made by adding elements from a real photo I had taken with stock backgrounds or other people's versions of a futuristic landscape.  It worked in creating a colour palette similar to typical modern sci-fi films but doesn't really say much in the way of narrative.  I tried to add a bit more in the way of story by scribbling some sketchy lines on top.  I liked the style of this but it developed into simple silhouettes in the later images which worked a whole lot better.
In the second image I wanted to capture the essence of a world kind of impersonal and superficial, all neon signs blazing with the hustle and bustle of daily life yet with a touch of the industrial.  More people might have made it seem busier but I liked how isolated the positioning made everyone appear.

Mentor Meeting 1

I have been assigned Lynn as my supervisor.

I have just submitted my research proposal on 1st.
We met to discuss the aims of the project.
Signed my extension
Agreed to get some photos and start imagining how to change the environments.
How do I imagine the future?

Post Proposal Post

I actually found going through the process of writing that proposal to be kind of useful in figuring out what I am trying to research (it's almost like that was the point...).  At the very least I mean it was useful to help me structure my chain of thoughts regarding the issue.

Here is the gist of it from the abstract:

The purpose of this research is to identify the scope of the role visual effects play in the communication of narrative in film, either directly or indirectly.  Visual effects are used readily in many genre of film in the enhancement and creation of environments and characters to the effect of creating realism, fantasy and spectacle.  This research begins by discussing the attraction of this spectacle before moving on to look at how effects are more central to the idea of narrative than might be apparent.

To some, when visual effects are obvious and eye catching, they often run the risk of creating distraction.  When they are subtle, they make for a more perceptually real and believable experience for the viewer - much like good set design, costume or make up.  Certain films lend themselves more to the use of visual effects such as fantasy, science fiction and action films and as a result audience opinion can be divided on the merits of these films from a narrative standpoint.

Looking into concepts like mise-en-scène will benefit this project by serving to put the subject into the context of pre-visualisation and design, which should allow for a greater understanding of how contemporary visual effects are able to serve and enhance the depth and breadth of an overall narrative in ways that may not have been possible in the past.  This research should lead to the development of several media tests utilising effects techniques, which will convey a broader narrative across the whole.

I stated the aim of the project was:

To explore ways of expressing narrative through the use of visual effects and develop a series of images or short video media tests expressing an understanding of the concepts and methods involved.

Objectives:

1. Examine the use of Visual effects in film and determine how they support the narrative.
2. Carry out media tests to determine a framework through which digital visual effects artists may operate within a film production pipeline.
3. Create media tests by altering existing environments to create a cohesive sense of narrative across the whole.

Hopefully that will give me a better idea of the way the project is going.  I need to try and figure out practical tasks that can help explore these things.

First I need to get my concept development submission prepared and arrange a meeting with Lynn to go through what I need to get done before the Christmas break.

Eternal Sunshine VFX

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is one of the best examples I can think of that drives the story with VFX (aside from Inception but I'll look at that later =P ).

Eternal Sunshine is like Inception in that it's a film that takes place inside the main character's mind.  The premise sees Jim Carrey's character, Joel Barish, meet and fall in love with the beautiful Clementine Kruczynski, played by the timeless Kate Winslet.  After a whirlwind romance things end up taking a turn for the worse, things getting so bad that Clementine opts to have Joel completely erased from his mind.  He decides to follow suit and undergoes the procedure himself, but in watching the memories of her fade away piece by piece he begins to realise how much he loves her.  In the end they decide to try again to make it work out.
It's a great story about loss and love, how we can remember the good times in spite of the bad and that it's never too late to make things right.  Carrey plays (for the time) an uncharacteristically low-key character and Winslett is wild and tempestuous.  The ironic thing is that they seem so completely unsuited for each other that you could see the entire cycle of meeting and forgetting happening time and time again; the nature of their characters is one that they would likely keep meeting and falling in love despite their best efforts.
This is, however, entirely besides the point...

I saw this breakdown of the VFX on Youtube.

I particularly liked the bit in the street where the run of shops is extended so that each time Carrey runs back and forth it appears to alter before the audiences eyes, the shops becoming emptier and the signs becoming blank with each pan of the camera.

What is also cool about the video is it shows how, compared to something like Inception, the things they do visually are pretty straight forward and don't actually require anything complex.  That makes things less daunting.

This might be worth doing a more detailed case study of next semester.

Considerations for VFX

So I think I've been struggling to try and think of things to film and make for creating some sort of visual effects because I know there is a lot to consider when actually filming if there are supposed to be effects in the scene.  If a director has a script, for example, there is likely to be a lot of information for every department to consider such as production design, lighting, even costumes and effects.

This is why I need to stop worrying about who and what is being made and just start making some little tests to see what effects I will be able to learn.

But the point I was making above is that it could be so easy to mess up the production schedule if there isn't a solid working process (okay okay, pipeline, if you insist) where they can plan ahead with all of the aspects of the end results in mind.
It must be a nightmare to plan for all CG scenes involving an actor..... then again maybe not....?

In an example from digital tutors James Whiffin, a freelance compositor and motion designer, talked through planning an idea out from start to finish starting from a simple concept to the complete effect; in this case a ghosting time warp effect.

It's by no means comprehensive but it was good to see the consideration of the things I have been concerned about, and it has given me some basic (and obvious) questions to ask myself and a little bit more structure to considering anything in the future.

I'd note that he said in the video that he shot the footage 4 times before achieving the camera angle he liked and that brought out the best in the effect, experimenting with focal length along the way.  He also put a hat on his actor to save him time when it came to rotoscoping.

Whilst I know very little about camera lenses and focal length etc, he comments that a reasonable shutter speed to help with roto and matchmoving (not something like 25... ).

Note camera details (filmback and focal length).  Any distortion that the lens may have.

All things to try and understand....

source: http://www.digitaltutors.com/tutorial/1819-Creating-a-3D-Time-Warp-Effect-in-Maya-and-After-Effects#play-44762

Presentation 1

I delivered a presentation on the progress of the project to the class and it went fairly well.

The meeting with Lynn certainly helped to get to the bottom of some things and I think this came across.

The hardest thing for me, as I've stated before, was simply trying to articulate for myself and others why it is I want to investigate VFX as a topic.

To summarise my presentation: 

• I find the use of VFX in TV and Film makes the experience that more believable to the audience
• James Cameron described it as "The seduction of reality"
• Stephen Prince talks about this in his book (subtitled the same name) - describing VFX as more integral to the core narrative of film than people may think
• To look at the extension of reality - expanding real life locations.
• Compositing into images/video objects and items.
• Historical dramas etc are good for reference in how they alter real locations into different time periods
• Final piece will probably take the form of an environmental piece.

To sum up the feedback given, Brian talked about the presentation and the different levels: how I talked through philosophically about the parts of making things more believable before going on to talk about the genre interests I like and adding to real life.  To him, the key now was to think about what it is I might want to be saying and trying to communicate that/make people believe that.

Lynn described the idea of trying to iron out the pipeline while carrying out practise

Inspiration...

I've been thinking this week about why it is I want to do this as a project, about why it is I want to get into VFX.

We've grown up with a burgeoning TV and Film industry where Visual Effects have been used in ever increasing amounts to enhance characters, story and generally do things that would have been impossible (or incredibly expensive) to do in the past or simply in reality at all.

Typically, in the past, only big Hollywood blockbusters would have had the budgets to achieve vast landscapes or produce more than simple effects, but TV has enjoyed a surge in popularity, increasing the scale of investment and attracting the creative minds of big Hollywood producers.

TV shows like Lost, created by J.J. Abrams, and Band of Brothers, produced by Steven Spielberg, have led the way along with the likes of The Wire, Madmen and The Sopranos in increasing the quality of storytelling on offer and the validity of TV as a tool for creatives to explore.

Modern examples like HBO's Game of Thrones have completely destroyed any ideas of TV as a limited medium in terms of scale and have seen huge investment pay off.

Lost and Game of Thrones both have made extensive use of digital effects to create their worlds.  Much of the mysteries found on the island in Lost are created with VFX and Game of Thrones has entire landscapes built digitally that would have been nigh on impossible to create believably without.

I grew up watching all sorts of TV shows that have utilised VFX to realise the worlds within.

Xena/Hercules inhabit a world filled with gods and monsters and VFX helps sell this aspect to the viewer.  These were TV shows that managed to create interesting worlds with obviously limited budgets. Poseidon, god of the sea, created entirely with VFX is made of water

Gotham

So I just starter watching Gotham and they had an interesting making of piece before it.  The third part talked a bit about the use of visual effects which was cool.

Harking back to one of my questions last week about understanding terminology, I enjoyed hearing Tom Mahoney, the Visual Effects Supervisor, describe how visual effects and special effects are commonly, mistakenly perceived as the same thing:

"Visual effects are anything you treat visually, special effects are anything that's done on set practically".

You can see why the mix up occurs: it is easy to consider, for example, lighting from Thor's Hammer or a fireball from a warlock's hand as a "special" effect rather than simply a "visual" one due to the nature of the effect.  This point of view may be a good way to keep track of any confusion, should it arise.

Additionally, in watching it I think have realised that part of what it is that compels me about the use of visual effects is in the way it allows you, as a viewer, to become even more immersed in the world you are being presented. In the video, Production Designer, Doug Kraner, describes the adding of Gargoyles to the roof of a New York building.  They also describe adding buildings and constructions to the back- and foregrounds in order to enhance backdrops and helicopter flyby shots.  These things are the icing on the cake that really sells the story, history, mythology of a film.

Sit Rep 1

Was feeling a bit mixed up about things this week and I'm not really any further forward as to where I'm going with this project.

We wrote a bunch of questions we had down on a sheet of paper that we either had about the project, process or things we wanted it to answer and it was kind of helpful.  Here were a few of mine:

1. Do I understand the terms I am using correctly

 - I think this is obviously important in communicating your ideas, researching and making sure you understand the vernacular used in 

Honours Project

This will be the honours blog charting the progress of my research for my honours project and dissertation.

In researching this project I would like to explore the realms of Visual Effects, particularly within film production, as it's something I've never given myself the chance to get to grips with and it's probably the main reason I wanted to get into this industry in the first place.

I did a small animation project last year wherein I integrated a 3D modelled character into a real world environment but I barely touched on the ins and outs of the process and would really like to become more familiar with it.  This was my first attempt at compositing and was generally successful as a test piece but lacked any technical finesse or sense of being a part of a bigger world.

The other thing I would like to investigate as part of this is digital special effects used in film as well, where film-makers decide to use digital special effects rather than physical ones such as explosives or weather effects etc, as well as effects that can only be produced digitally such as magic etc.

Obviously there is a lot of scope within this field and a lot of software options that can help deliver the results so a bit of research will be necessary to see how each is put to use out there in the world.
For the compositing aspect I'm thinking of exploring Nuke, as I encountered that last year as an option for motion tracking before opting for Matchmover.

As for what form the final outcome could take, I'll have to give it some thought.  I discussed some things with Brian and Lynn (module tutors) in our first class.
Brian suggested something like physically altering a street, such as its time period, or looking at adverts because the viewer is more likely to accept odd situations in adverts that they may not in other pieces of film.  That might be an interesting avenue to explore.
Lynn suggested considering what it was I would like to use visual effects for, such as conveying atmosphere.  This is a tricky thing to answer.  Films and TV shows typically are formed by genre and subsequently the script, thus all considerations for the required effects are contained within these parameters (That isn't to say that there aren't the occasionally blurred lines, but generally you are unlikely to find wizards in sci-fi, for instance).
Initially the point was to get better at simply producing these things.  However I realise this does not a dissertation make, so that might simply be a place to start.

Both lecturers were keen that I should just give a few things a try at first such as filming a couple of everyday places and seeing how I can adapt them as well as developing an understanding of the software available.  I will see what I can acquire to set about doing that.