During our first lecture in Advanced Pre-production Methods we began with an introduction to the theory and principles in production. We were introduced to our new lecture Collin West who from the beginning impressed me with his enthusiasm and ambition. I already gained much excitement when reading the unit brief, I was hungry to finally be given the opportunity to put the skills I learned into a project driven by my own original concept ideas.
Our first initial task was to come up with 5-7 story ideas stating our most favorable and our least favorite in order with explanation why.
To my great frustration I have encountered a creators block finding it very difficult to grasp the ideas so desperately seek. I have finally found my element and struggled greatly with conviction and confidence in the ideas I had finally grasped
Idea 1
Idea 2
Idea 3
Idea 4
Dilemma with deciding between Ideas
First Character Design
Concept Art
First Castle Design
Color Test
Sketchbook
Character designs
Armor
Storyboard Version 1
Alternative Shots
Fight Scene
Feed Back
Prologue
Second pass
Introduction Idea
After Projections and Teleportation
Final Fantasy 15
Second Sons
Designs
Fight Sequence
Charge
Failed attempt
Final First Kill
First Knight Draw test
Fight Sequence 2
Animatic 2
Dramatic look around scene
Mines of Moria
Environment Concepts
Animatic Shots
Animatic Pass 2
Animatic Pass 3
Final Animatic
Final Animatic Shots
Unused shots
week 1 introduction to Advanced preproduction
The unit was introduced with a presentation defining and deconstructing what pre production consists of and why it is vital in any production whether it be live action or animation. Although I already felt I had a intermediate level of intellect in preproduction principles, the introductory presentation already gave me a new and more in-depth incite into the core theory of how to produce a advanced level of pre production and just how refined and detailed the quality and standard of work expected in industry level. The task laid before us however daunting it may seem I am filled with excitement and feel ready to take the next step into my own development. The first task we were given was to come up with 5-7 first initial story concepts with inspired and related reference images to each idea as well as stating the ideas in order of most favorable to least with explanation.
To construct my own concepts I first concentrated on my own preferences, what sources I aspire from what passions I held and deconstruction of where my ideas originate from. I have a great passion for medieval themed fantasy settings with in-depth story telling. I strive from post modern and tradition relatives more over futuristic and modern themes. However one major obstacle stood in my way, I tried to avoid basing my concepts from other famous stories because unless a story consists of unique elements a story will be compared as a poor imitation or one of many under a genera lead by greater tales. This set me back gravely because I felt that non of the concepts I constructed held any unique edge or strength to shine as its own piece. A great inspiration of mine is the highly popular Japanese role playing game series Final Fantasy, mainly because of the story telling and the loveable characters each game has. The interesting fact of this series is each story follows a similar pattern however due to diverse themes and characters each stands as its own story. Another source I aspire from greatly is the Game of Thrones series due to the dark themed fantasy setting with many story arc's progressing under one time line. The main aspect I take from this series was is how a string of events shape the path of a characters development and the ethics that drive them forward. My research was thorough and in-depth in attempts to piece together my own stories built on individuality whilst using inspiration from other genera's. I specifically looked into the fantasy genera to decipher construction to story arc's, I particularly gained much insight from the story line in Biowares game Dragon Age Origins. The story driven game tells of a character who loses all that he holds dear and joins an ancient order to follow his destiny and defeat the evil that plagues the land. An element in this story stayed with me, a character experiences loss which drives he/she to become a hero to face the antagonist. A character who experience great lose holds a greater will to overcome the odds which stand in his path. I struggled to develop my own unique and original concept deigns due to the standard I set myself and the determination to avoid mimicking other stories so I was set back the first two weeks due to not being able to work in the Cintq room because of overbooked classes.
Week 2 Finding my Story
Through much thought and research I produced four initial story from 4 quick sketch concept pieces as followed:
The Blade of vengeance: A great evil awakens from the depths of his ruins seeking vengeance on those who caused is downfall... the gods. The evil sends his undead knights to challenge the gods by massacring the gods chapels killing all in their path. The gods cannot act alone so they must select a mortal champion to act in their stead to face the evil. The gods chose their champion and provide an ancient relic with godly powers with the strength to over come the darkness.
Shadow Stalker: Follows a Tyrannosaur stalking and hunting a herd of herbivores.
From Dusk till Dawn: A young farmer longs for adventure, every night he looks up at an abnormal star telling is wishes and dreams. His village lays under the shadow of deep forest of giant trees. One night a strange song echo's from the forest, a haunting yet beautiful melody. Memorized by the beauty of the voice he ventures into the forest in search of the voice. He falls down deeper in the woods where he meets a small strange creature which heals his injuries, before he can find his bearings an even larger creature thunders before him and attempts to eat him, he is saved by a party of strange adventures who quickly take him and offer him the chance to join them in a great heist to steal the crown jewels.
Gods and Titans: recreate Greek mythology, Hercules labors.
I presented my concept ideas to my partner and urged me to follow the story that I felt a connection to instead of exhausting myself to appeal to all audiences. I felt more confidence in my ideas and believe I can shape a compelling story that reflects my passions and reaches out to my audience.
The lecture dissected the theory behind short story telling and the plot points in any story. A story follows the pattern of a beginning which opens the story introducing the characters and the setting, a middle where a crisis is revealed and an end where the characters reach the climax of the conflict and the protagonist overcome the crisis and the story is concluded. I felt I was not versed enough in short story telling and researched into fairy tales, fables myths such as three little pigs, little red riding hood and the Billy goats gruff. These short fables introduce characters a crisis with conflict and a resolution all in the same of a short frame. I distinguished a short story from a long story an longer story has time frame to progressively reveal characters show the full extent of crisis and the struggles the character face to overcome and resolve. A short story is more instant without seeming rushed. I feel I must add more dramatic depth to my story to increase the snap like effect to resolve the story in short time frame or show the main conflict whilst still enforcing the full story for the audience reference. The logline would be a key to summaries the story in maximum of three sentences to find the main plot points to reflect the main basis of the story.
logline: An evil ancient king made deal with demonic gods to become undead and wreak havoc on the world. Gods sealed him in ruins until one day he awakes and seeks revenge on the gods. The gods chose a champion to weld their ancient relic to stop this great evil.
Week 3 Developing my Story
Although I had four concept ideas, I felt I needed guidance in progressing my first initial concepts to find the story I was searching for. I sat with Collin and pitched my fours concept ideas with little confidence due to the mind block i experienced, to my surprise Collin encouraged me that I had nothing to worry about and my concept ideas had potential particular the Sword in The Darkness. We discussed in great length many references I was advised to look at such as Dark Souls, Demon Souls, Wraith of the Lich King to acquire inspiration for the use of lighting in dark themes, colors and atmosphere of environments and the design of antagonists. I went away from the meeting with great aspiration and excitement to begin my chosen design The sword in the Darkness. I was acquired to write a brief one to three sentences summarizing the plot of my story, my protagonist the aims of the character and the antagonist or conflict that stands in his or hers way.
The lecture explained the rule of thirds and composition in cinematic shots. There are many rules in the compositing of shots to ensure from fame to frame a sequence flows fluently without confusion and also how to create balance and depth in a shot with placing an object in the fore ground which positioned to lead to a greater object in the distance.
I found some confusion due to we were required to create a story timeline listing main shots and locations for out chose stories however I had just selected my chosen story now. I decided I had no time to lose and allowed my imagination to take the drivers seat and began creating a rough storyboard. i quickly created a first pass thumbnail storyboard which i obtained my chosen environments a ruined castle from the outside, the great hall, and bridge leading across a bottomless drop in a gigantic ruined cavern like room that seated a throne on the opposite end. I was very optimistic with my first pass due to the previous meeting I had with Collin, in which we spoke of composing a very fast and fluent fight scene between the protagonist and the undead kings guard. I took on board the research we were requested to do on cinematic framing and color pallets to create different moods and atmosphere.
Once I completed my first rough storyboard I presented my work t my partner first to acquire feedback from an outside source. To my dismay the feed back I received was very negative and disheartening. My partner did not understand the story and felt there was no depth or meaning behind in which appeared to her was a fight scene between a character she had no attachment for. This knocked my confidence greatly and I strongly considered changing my story in a very sensitive stage. I lost my sense of direction and needed guidance so I sought the advice of Collin. I was on my way to university to meet Collin with an idea flashed before me, I needed to create a tragedy a back story for this character experiencing loss which brought me back to me first initial thought when researching the Dragon Age Game. The audience required a more attention the character where he came from and why he has come to his point. I decided to create a prologue in form of an image montage memory in which the character reverts back to painful memories of his family being killed by the kings knights. I finally found an edge I could reedit my story to create a tragic but more inspirational story of instead of following an unnamed warrior with no characteristic to a father filled with grief avenging his wife and child.
Week 4 Storyboard Research
The lecture explained color pallets and the use of specific pallets for different film genera's, atmospheres and emotions. Color was a vital part of my animation due to the lack of it because of the dark environment, the color pallet is very vital to set the scene. Collin spoke of the theory behind storyboards the importance of storyboards and the amount of information required by each frame for the animators to work from. We were given the exercise to select a shot scene from a film or cinematic of our choice and recreate a section in storyboard format. retro board. I selected the first section of the bar scene from terminator 2 where the terminator enters the bar seeking apparel and transport. I selected this scene due to the abnormal view port of the shot switching to the terminator walking in naked to from his machine red vision POV. The scene breaks many rules with placing the character central and 180 flip, however the purposes of this is evident de to the uncomfortableness of the scene and the tension building. I learned a great deal from deconstructing this small section and feel I have a greater understanding of composition and cinematic framing.
As a test of motion I booked a session in the motion capture studio to act out some actions for my protagonist. I in specific wished to film drawing a sword, a sword play whilst moving, walking with a hand on sword pummel and the dead king awakening. I acted the actions myself wearing the motion capture suit and welded an actual sword to get a good sense of weight and gravity. The motion capture came out very successful and the only regret was the recording camera was not work so I missed out on love footage. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and I learned a great deal about the art of welding a sword.
I have began drawing the prologue sequence if the protagonist in a younger cleaner and happier state enjoying a simple life with his wife and child. I selected a range of different shot emphasize the happiness and love this small family shared for one another and the impact of the death of his loved ones had on the character.
Week 5 Refined Designs
The lecture went into more depth on storyboarding understanding the reason behind each composition and if a rule is broken there is specific reasoning behind this more to reflect uncomfortable and nerving scenes adding more suspense and buildups. I was in the process of designing my second pass animatic refining the sequence of the prologue and more so composing the fight sequence. I had initially thought on having my character ultra speed running through the knights that stood in-between him and the dead king with a sword dance and tricks. However this made the fight seem very easy and took away the dramatic buildup to the face off. I had my previous meeting with Collin and we discussed adding more depth into the characters skill and the power granted to him by the gods. Collin showed me a reference from the infamous Game where the company the second sons and created after image projections of the character as he moved. this element fit very well with the theme and concept I had for the character however I felt there was more that could be added alongside the after image to flow more.We looked at the upcoming Final Fantasy 5 game trailer where the main protagonist teleports during combat. I discussed with Collin to have the character leave after image projectiles when he killed each enemy then teleport to the next, however Collin advised the projectile would be more relevant when the character teleports. I felt I could take either route with this element and applied and test both methods my storyboards to define the best use.
I had began designing character sketches for my protagonist and antagonist. I have a more fantasy/ realism approach to my protagonists buy sculpting the body with perfect anatomy then add extra features which Collin felt looked a bit Anime esc, so I researched into game character models from The Elder Scrolls Skyrim and Game of Thrones character references to try and acquire a new stylized design for my characters.
Week 6 More exaggeration
The lecture focused on character designs in depth on when designing a character elements to consider, expressions, poses, form posture, color pallet and personality. This information comes from the character sheets created and is essential to read all this information from these sheets. I am still in production of designing finalized character designs but have began designing poses sheets and images of the after images when the character kills and enemy. The character has a very tense but melancholic expression with a broad muscular physic. the character requires to show age and more untidy appearance then his younger kept look when he lied with his family. I presented my fight sequence to Collin in my meeting, in which was positively received and given good advice and feed back with reference again we referred back to the Final Fantasy 15 trailer and Collin encouraged me to let my imagination lose when designing the sequence and use as many over exaggerated movement as possible. This feed back urged me to push my storyboard even further ready to create a first pass animatic.
I was in a dilemma if whether my animation was going to contain dialog, and how frequent and significant should the dialog be. I took my queried to Collin who advised me the dialog would and more depth and narrative to the story as well as show the characteristics and despair and determination of the hero and the evil and demonic evil of the villain. I have began to work a dialog interaction between The dead king and the protaganist.I felt the dialog adds much depth and more compelling for an audience with the building of suspense and the show down of good and evil. I have been continuing with concept art for character designs, armor designs and apparels for the character as well as weapon designs. The divine weapon given from gods felt too plain so to enhance the presence of the sword the swords blade is forged from Damascus engraved steel which consists of wood like engraving texture with runes running in the center of the blade which glows blue when it pierces an undead. The pummel of the sword was designed a creamy white and silver to enhance the divine purity.
Week 7 Fight Sequence and Armor
By week 7 we were required to have a finalized storyboard read to time into a first pass animatic with a selection of character concepts location assets and the characters anatomy. My progression took a more refined approach each week I show my progression and each week Collin and I found more improvements more depth to improve the story further which makes the pre production a very exciting a d prosperous endeavor. I timed my refined storyboard shots into an animatic to observed the storyboard as a entire piece. When observing the animatic I found the movements of the character where so quick and advanced the flow of movement was hard to follow from one to another. I decided to take my animatic into Adobe Flash from Photoshop where I had refined my thumbnails to animate the fight scene fully in 2d to get a feel of the sequence. To m great joy the fight scene flowed very well and showed a complex and thrilling range of motion. When showing the animatic in Flash to Collin, I received positive and constructive feedback to improve and finalize the sequence. The majority of my fight sequence changed and progressed in flash using more complex and impressive motions which flowed from on movement to another. The progression from each storyboard to animatic showed a great deal of growth and improvement and feel I have a learned a great deal of what was shown to me in week.
My animation has consists of range of assets from apparel to weapons and a ruined throne. I took my research into observing real swords which were provided by my classmate Daniel Styler to acquire so inspiration to design the weaponry used by characters. The protagonists blade represents purity and godly whereas the knights and dead king represent death decay and darkness. The apparel for the dead warriors required a decade and rotted look so I looked at ancient relics found by archeologists as well as taking regular armor and attempting to decay with my own imagination.
A very important element in character design is the characters form, the body type and shape reflects great deal of the characters personality and characteristics. my character is very masculine and sculpted portrayal of the male body so study into anatomy was essential. I am very luck in this area due to my previous profession was personal training so my knowledge of the human form assisted to great lengths.
Week 8 How to Finish with a Bang
My storyboards were now complete from first pass to second to third and now I was working on my animatic in Adobe Flash. I had decided to create my animatic passes in Adobe Flash to animate with key frames the fast passed action fight scene to give a real sense of the movement, the sequence from one fight to the next without losing track of the characters movements and location. The decision to use Flash was a very positive move because it gave myself real insight into the motion of the character, the use of cinematic framing and lighting to create dramatic shots and begin to consider the movement in terms of working with 3D models. When discussing progress with Collin I discussed the resolution of the animation, the showdown between the Dead King and the Protagonist. on and already demanding and lengthy storyboard I was at a loss as to how to frame the showdown without creating another lengthy sequence considering the time scale of production. We discussed many alternatives methods and scenarios for instance quick kill finisher or leaving the story on a cliff hanger with perhaps the protagonist getting infected by the darkness. I played with the concepts of alternating the ending scene but however the more I designed the more i felt I had to create a ending scene worthy of the story I took so much care and time to create. I took to my sketchbook to work out a sequence which was snappy and straight to the point but still reflected on the power and ferocity of the Dead King compared to his nights. The idea I considered was some form of a magical energy beam, an element the character will not expect and cannot withstand forcing him to take drastic action and work around the magic. I took my ideas to Collin who agreed with the idea but I felt I had to give visuals to portray my thoughts
Week 9
I worked on my animatic in sections to dedicate time and attention to detail with each shot which also made editing removing or adding shots more manageable and more precise. I had completed the first animatic with each shot carefully arranged and constructed into the sequence. I had key framed the more dynamic shots and left few images for others. I felt the animatic felt incomplete and needed to be key framed throughout to keep the consistency and flow of the animatic as a complete piece. I named this my first pass animatic and I timed each shot and arranged the sequence together to work from to design my next pass. I refined the movement even further adding in-between as i progressed and redesigned the mid sequence to emphasis more on the characters dynamic abilities showing more teleportation ability and the swift and elegant movement. I rearranged the shot to also create a more free flow transition to the next fight, the character throws a sword after defeating two guards at once. initially the character stopped aimed and threw, when I presented the animatic to Collin, he felt the break in the move slowed the scene and took some dramatic effect so I changed the mid battle so the character teleports runs throws the sword and teleports again. The shots flow much more fluent and feel like a fully choreographed sequence.
I took to working back into my sketchbook to create more design turn around and refine the designs for the evil knights as well as creating an image of the knights in their glory days. The constant designing kept my mind fresh and open to new elements and to gain a more understanding of the character and his personality. I felt emotion when drawing the characters family filled with love and happiness which gave me a new understanding into complex character designing and touching into connecting with the character before production. I feel I am on a consistent and positive track with my work and as each design come to life the more excited I become.
Week 10
I was well into creating my second pass animatic with each shot more refined and visually pleasing. The timing and flow for shot to show had progressed dramatically from my first initial storyboards to this stage. I began testing possible dialog for my animatic and felt a narrative maybe an option to give a story telling like aspect to the beginning of the animation. I am considering elaborating even further on the story adding a beginning montage of the history of the dead king explain more how he became his present state. This would add a vital piece to the story however due to problems I experienced early on in the project as well as access to the facilities I feel I have left this too late in production and the quality of my final piece may suffer if i neglect progress now. this is something I must take into great consideration and compensate if possible. I feel very confident with the story as it is and feel it stands as its own narrative but if I would change my production I would strongly consider adding this section into the story in an image based montage.
My character construction sheets are refined and at there final stages, i am very happy with the final designs of my characters and feel they reflect the vision had had when I first concepted the idea. Due to the progression of my animatic and the constant enhancements I feel I have neglected environment concepts and will focus more to create some working piece of my locations.
Week 11
We are coming to the end of our Advanced Preproduction Methods unit duration and I have completed my pass 3 of my animatic with key framed free flowing movements passing through shot to shot with a good constancy and the build up and conclusion complement each other. Collin did want a final shaded animatic so I am in process of redrawing all my shots from my final animatic into Photoshop showing lighting and more detailed artwork. I would have preferable started the 4th and final pass sooner but with other unit commitments and the detail taken into the previous pass I was unable to manage the time frame more consistently. However due to the detail of the previous animatic I am finding redrawing the shots a much speedier process and I have completed half of the shots. I have finalized design sheets storyboard passes and almost 4 passes of animatic I have worked to a tight schedule and despite the first few hiccups my progress is on a steady consistency ready for the final stages.
I refined my dialog script further and feel I have a carefully worked out a successful piece that fits to the mood and emotion of the story. I used my own voice to voice the animatic to get better understanding of the characters voice and how to portray a character who has essentially nothing left to live for but revenge for him loved ones. I recorded a selection voices to compare and add to the visual of my character and find the correct tone pitch and presence.I am nearing the end of the week and have finished 75 percent of my final animatic, If I can keep up with the consistency I should finish before time.
Week 12
The final week as finally arrived and I am filling in the last few shots of my shaded pass 4 animatic, the visual of the final animatic looks more visually pleasing then I could have hoped for and I removed a few in-betweens here and there to meet the deadline but without losing any quality. The animatic feels and looks like a final piece and the key framed movements adds a extra boost to the dynamic fight scene. I have my blog arranged and images and videos of my digital and hand draw work as well as my animatic timed and put into sequence.
Overall I feel my Pre-Production Methods unit was a successful journey in reaching my final design and sequence. I feel the first 3 weeks set me back allot due to the lack of confidence and mind block i experienced and in my failing I felt i should have been more persistent to acquire a meeting with my lecture for guidance. I was very pleased with the final outcome from storyboards to animatic and if I could change anything I would add a section about the history of the dead king and his vendetta against the gods. I would have also liked to have done a previous in 3d to gain more insight into the atmosphere and depth of the environment and apply the motion capture animation I did to a practice rig for more observations.
