Evaluation!

Right well I must first say how pleased I am that we've all managed to wrap up our project and get it handed in without too much horrible horrible stress. I think our group got off quite lightly compared to other teams with the same project. We managed to produce a fairly decent final film clip of our environment we all designed.

I will briefly go over some points I'd like to make about how I feel about the project.

What did I enjoy doing?
Fortunately, the members of my group had a range of different strengths. We had a modeler, a compositor, an animator and an all rounder. They needed someone who was able contribute more of a 2D aspect to the film, and I feel that is my true strength. So I was able to do stuff that I loved, like doing concept work, animatics in Toonboom, and some animation in 3D. Toonboom is a fantastic new tool that I have had fun getting used to.
I also enjoyed working with some people I don't often talk to that much. I feel that we all worked well together, and this helped us think positively about our work.

What did I dislike doing?
I can't really think of anything that I really hated about this project. I guess I was a little apprehensive about animating in Maya, but once I had gotten the hang of how to do it properly, I found that it was a lot of fun.

What did I struggle with?
Like I said above, I struggled with Maya at first, but that was because I needed to get a good flow going. I will definitely do some more animations on there, now that I feel more familiar with it.
I think we all struggled to get the rendering done without any hitches as well. It's a very tedious, time consuming, and important process that we kind of took for granted. However, we gave ourselves enough time to make mistakes and still get it done, which is a relief.
We also had the idea of doing our film in 3D, but it would have taken too long to render everything. I'm glad we considered this idea though, because it would have added a whole new aspect to our work, and it has made me realize how much the animation has progressed, in terms of quality and technology.
I think I should have done the sound a little sooner too. I had a lot of fun sounds that I would have liked to add to the film, but I just didn't have the time. Oh well, I feel that we can still add those sounds later on for our showreels, to excel our work further.

Have I worked well in a group?
I think I worked pretty well in our group. I did all the tasks that I was assigned (2D, concept, sound and animation) and I made sure I finished them in time for the other group members to incorporate with their work, in order to progress. The maya animation was challenging, but I managed to get it done quick enough for it to be put into the finished environment.
I think that maybe I should have communicated some ideas I had a bit more, but because we had to hurry due to two weeks of snow putting us on hold, I felt that it was best to get on with everything. I also feel that if I had done a few more pieces of concept work, it may have projected my idea of how the environment should look a little better.
I also regret not doing a bit more rendering too. My group members rendered a lot and came across a few problems with it, causing them to stay up late to get it done. I did one scene without any major hitches, but I wish I had made more of an effort at the beginning of this stage to do more to help.
Despite this, I am glad I worked with some different people and I feel that we all had fun working together

What have I learned during this project?
I have learnt to animate properly in Maya and Toonboom. I have also learnt that it's really important to make sure that you synch these two programs when animating. Animating 12fps in Toonboom for a 24fps clip in Maya was not one of my brightest ideas. They ran a little too fast, which was annoying
Another valuable lesson I have learnt is not be afraid to speak up. Occasionally I felt that my ideas were not worth mentioning to the group, but when I did they really liked them.
I also feel that I find it hard to learn new things sometimes. I must try and push myself harder to break down these barriers so I can learn new things and master them

What could I have done differently to improve my work?
I think practise makes perfect, basically. I really want to improve my skills in Toonboom and Maya, because I reckon I could really show my potential in these areas. I should also try not to shy away from the idea of doing other things outside of my comfort zone.

Cloudy with a chance of braaaaains?

Another film I bought whilst working on this project was the film "Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs". This film greatly inspired me when I was developing concept art for this, and I'll explain why in a sec. First, take a look at this clip:


Check out that lab Flint and Sam are in. I just love the style of which they have used in making it. Everything looks so curved and slick and cartoony. And again we have the contrasting colours - blue and orange. I noticed it a lot in the first scene inside the lab. The film makers use these complimentary colours a lot to create a dramatic look in the scenes. Like I have said previously, I have tried to create a nice contrast of purple and yellow in our brain environment.

I also love how Flint operates his machinery. He undertakes the most mundane tasks (ie plugging sockets, pressing buttons and turning on switches) with such exhileration and passion. That was something that I wanted to transfer into my button bash animation. I hope this shows in the final cut of the film!

Effective Lighting In Films - UP

I bought the Dvd of Up the other day, and have been watching it over and over again since. I noticed that there were some fantastic moments that have been improved because of the clever use of lighting. Since I have been unable to put a lot of input into the lighting for our project, I figured that it would be a good idea to analyze a scene from UP to make up for it.

The scene I want to talk about is the one where Muntz has invited Karl and Russel into his blimp as guests, and they eat a meal around a large table. Muntz then talks about his desire to capture the endangered bird (Kevin) to prove its existance. He finds out that Karl and Russel claim to have seen the bird. Muntz then threatens them by retelling the tales of people who have stood in his way.

This scene starts off warmly. It is a meal in which Karl meets his idol in person. In order to show this warm friendly atmosphere, the lighting needs to help emphasize this. Pixar do this with success by placing a single light source in the centre of the table, which shines light on all the characters in the room. The lantern creates a nice orange glow, and this enables a nice contrasting colour to the blueish shadows and darkness outside which can be seen through the windows. Later on, this blue presence comes in handy.

The next part of the scene shows Muntz's stubborn and ruthless determination to capture the bird. The attention is now on Muntz's story of his struggle to seize the bird and show it to the world. How can the attention be centered on the bird? The great thing about the lantern is that it can be moved around the room. So Muntz picks up the lantern and places it behind the skeleton of the snipe at the far end of the room. The light draws your eye straight over to Muntz and the skeleton. This effect also creates some interesting shadows which make the skeleton look more imposing. The cameras are placed in places that show Muntz as a rather stark scary silhouette. The audience will now begin to wonder about Muntz's morals.

The scene progresses as Russel blurts out that he and Karl have met the bird. Karl tries to save the situation, knowing that Muntz has bad motives for wanting to find the creature. Muntz decides to threaten them by showing some wooden pedestals showing the hats and goggles of past explorers. We can only assume that Muntz has "gotten rid of them". He drops each one to the ground with an aloof and threatening manner. Muntz has now placed the lantern behind the row of pedestals, creating a similar intense light and shadow effect to the last sequence. This time, the light hits Muntz's left side of his face, leaving the other side of his face in shadow. We have a wonderful example of how colour contrast can be used effectively here. The blue and orange give Muntz a rather ominous look, and further intensifies the audience's suspicions that he's up to no good.

Now Karl tries to make a hasty retreat with Russel, as Muntz advances on them in a provocative way. The light leading to the exit is quite light and inviting, so it shows the path that the old man and boy need to take. Muntz, on the other hand, is walking away from the light source that is still next to the iconic explorer headware on statuettes. The orange glow is draining away from his face, which symmbolizes his hospitality slowly turning into hostility.

I think this is a perfect way of helping to tell a story with the tool of lighting. I think it is important that we dont take this tool for granted when it comes to our project.