Research:
To begin with the project, I've done research on two things: Tree & Forest Design, and Hunting Scenes.
To design the forest we're setting our animation into, I looked into how a forest is built, and how the ecosystem works. I found an article about Virginian forests, and it laid out how a forest functions, and why it's developed like that. Essentially, there are 5 different levels of a forest, and their positions all relate to how much sun they get. The forest is essentially a competition for sunlight, with each layer growing taller and taller. The lowest layer, grass and topsoil, has the least, so it doesn't grow very high, and mostly subsists on whatever makes it through the canopy. the grass is followed by Ferns and Bushes, which are biologically similar to trees, but just can't grow as tall. after that is the Understory canopy, which usually consists of larger, wider trees that can't quite get as tall as others, so they make up for it in width and leaf size. Finally, there are the overstory canopy trees, that can outdo the competition, and make it above everything else. they usually have very long trunks with no branches, and then have a lot of leaves and branches at the top, like the Lodgepole Pine.
I then looked at a bunch of Tree designs in video games, to think about how to make the project look:
I ended up with the following designs from this research:
I think we're leaning towards either the polygonal style or the more realistic style on the bottom right. They fit the best into the setting and the story we want to tell. I've also looked at the layout of the landscape that we're setting the story in, and it will probably look something like this:
I then looked at a bunch of Tree designs in video games, to think about how to make the project look:
 |
| Grow Home (Ubisoft) |
Animatic:
21st March:
The Animatic hasn't gone very smoothly. We're all still dealing with exhaustion from last week's Floating City Project, so a lot of people have completely lost a sleeping schedule, and haven't been able to work much on it. We did manage to put together a storyboard and delegate tasks, but we just didn't get it done quickly or timely. This is the product of our work:
I think we'd already ironed out a lot of the problems initially, but some of us had trouble with the Storyboarder Program we'd started using, so it was difficult to bring all of our ideas together cohesively for the Thursday deadline. I'll blog more tomorrow, when I have a bit more to say, and reflect on.
22nd March:
This is what we had for submission today:
I think we'd already ironed out a lot of the problems initially, but some of us had trouble with the Storyboarder Program we'd started using, so it was difficult to bring all of our ideas together cohesively for the Thursday deadline. I'll blog more tomorrow, when I have a bit more to say, and reflect on.
22nd March:
This is what we had for submission today:
I think that it works pretty well except for the last few shots.The scene makes sense, and the mock test audience of our class all understood what was happening. I'm happy that it conveys, since there were a few other projects in class that the audience didn't understand.
With our project, the main problem is the gunshot and the reveal. The gun fires, and there's an awkward cut back to a previous shot, and then there's the reveal of the deer hunting the human. The pacing, the logic, and the scene overall doesn't really work here. So, we're going to change it for tomorrow to get the script and the scene working better. We're getting rid of the hang time in between the shot firing and revealing the deer immediately. (We thought about adding a wide shot of birds flying away at the gunshot, but decided against it because of cliché.) I'll continue this post tomorrow as well, to reflect on the locked-down animatic.
It's really interesting how the audience reacted to people's animatics. Some were extremely effective when the creators thought it was weak, and some were really confusing when the creators thought it was clear. I guess this shows the importance of test audiences and sharing of work.
In our project, I have a few problems with the conveyance of our scene. The cut between shot 2 and shot 3 is challenging, since shot 2 wasn't originally meant to be of the same spot in the scene. Mike was concerned about that shot, since it's confusing, and doesn't reveal as much as it could. So, our solution is that the second shot and third shot will be the same. There will be a slow trucking shot forward, and the hunter raising the rifle in front of the camera will stop that movement. I think this is a solid solution to the issue of shot 2 being separate from the rest.
Overall, I think our Animatic is solid, but just has a few issues with it. We crossed the line in the shot of the gun firing, a few edits are confusing, and the pacing is off. A bit of tweaking, and we'll be ready.
With our project, the main problem is the gunshot and the reveal. The gun fires, and there's an awkward cut back to a previous shot, and then there's the reveal of the deer hunting the human. The pacing, the logic, and the scene overall doesn't really work here. So, we're going to change it for tomorrow to get the script and the scene working better. We're getting rid of the hang time in between the shot firing and revealing the deer immediately. (We thought about adding a wide shot of birds flying away at the gunshot, but decided against it because of cliché.) I'll continue this post tomorrow as well, to reflect on the locked-down animatic.
It's really interesting how the audience reacted to people's animatics. Some were extremely effective when the creators thought it was weak, and some were really confusing when the creators thought it was clear. I guess this shows the importance of test audiences and sharing of work.
In our project, I have a few problems with the conveyance of our scene. The cut between shot 2 and shot 3 is challenging, since shot 2 wasn't originally meant to be of the same spot in the scene. Mike was concerned about that shot, since it's confusing, and doesn't reveal as much as it could. So, our solution is that the second shot and third shot will be the same. There will be a slow trucking shot forward, and the hunter raising the rifle in front of the camera will stop that movement. I think this is a solid solution to the issue of shot 2 being separate from the rest.
Overall, I think our Animatic is solid, but just has a few issues with it. We crossed the line in the shot of the gun firing, a few edits are confusing, and the pacing is off. A bit of tweaking, and we'll be ready.
- Virginian Forest Design: https://environment.arlingtonva.us/2016/02/designing-a-forest-from-the-ground-up/
- Grow Home (Ubisoft)
Comments
Post a Comment