Everybod needs their own style, ...Right?

Before going into more detail about the project as a whole. I want to take some time to talk about style and how I feel that it could make or break a VFX showreel.

Looking though show reels on the internet you can quickly get an idea of the average level people are at in the world for compositing and VFX. This is a good way to see the competition and what I need to do to improve my work. But lately I have been witnessing some show reels that are a complete carbon copy of Video Copilots tutorials and some CG tutorials out there. It confuses me when people think that they can make a show reel based on a step by step lego book tutorial. I feel that the major pitfall is that some people don't think about how to use the techniques applied in the tutorial and how to make it into your own style or version of the tutorial. I'm slipping into a rant so ill make my point. I need to make sure that my show reel after this project has a unique feel to it and is enough to catch someone's eye. So for this I have started looking into how I could apply different styles to my short such as mashing Anime type of shots with Edgar Wright's unique take on an action movie 'Scott Pilgrim'.

For an example, 'Scott Pilgrim' has a special comic book feel to it which I found interesting. I'm not a huge fan of comic books but this has a fast style which I guess is what Edgar Wright is known for.

Here is an example of how Edger Wright can summarise a scene in a few seconds without wasting too much time.

This is a nice technique and I would love to add this to my short but I don't know where I could add it in. But I would also like to combine this style with a comic book style Edgar Wright created in 'Scott Pilgrim'. Look at the split screen technique that is used in this next clip at 0:05 in. I like how this shot has two focal points, again summarising the moment in half the time needed.

If you have a film that can keep an audience that like this style I feel that it could be used as a very nice device to progress the plot. But I feel that this can only be used in a specific situation. Any cinema movie could not get away with this technique.

Here is a test shot of my take on the former styles discussed. This is a shot that I didnt know if it would work so I thought I should try it out and see.

I thought this shot worked well and I think it will turn out to be a nice input to the path towards my style.

I know this is kinda contradicting what I first stated in this post but I guess my main point is that I am aware of what I need to achieve in style for my work to become interesting and different to others. I need to do a little more research into a few other areas of cinematography styles and by the time I shoot this short I should have a good collection of research to apply to my work.


Next post I have decided it will be a Vlog and you guys can put a face to my name. Hopefully I can cover some areas that will be more interesting from the production point of view.

Until then, here is my You Tube channel which has a collection of clips related to the project and some that are from old projects created. Enjoy!

You Tube Channel

VFX Breakdown

In order to get this done I need to declare what VFX shots are to be created and how I would achieve them.

VFX shots:

Computer generated Sword

• Collectively there are a variety of shots to be taken for the CG swords. My plan is to use wooden poles with strips of coloured tape in sections to record the movement of the pole. This will then be used as a reference for the motion capture sword fight. 
• Particles will be emitting from the sword. This may be done in compositing or in Maya. I need to create some tests to see which is the most time efficient and with the best quality.
• Sparks from sword will be done in Compositing. It will be easier to use stock footage for this effect.
• I will need to create a HDRI dome for any reflections in the swords for the scene.
• Some roto will need to be done to mask off hands above sword hilts.
• Of course the shots will all need to be 3D tracked to declare the ground plane in a 3D world.

 Ground Runes

• This will be created in compositing by a graphic, animated and various effects applied to make it more appealing. a small amount of roto* will be needed for this.
• This shot will need a crane at achieve a overhead shot. Because of the lack of access to the crane though the evening (5pm onwards), my plan is to use the green screen for the overhead shot and then hoist a camera on location to get the image. If this becomes problematic, I can create the scene in 3D space with texture projection and use this as a backplate to my green screen footage. 

Assassins Smoke

• This effect is the smoke the assassin uses to escape the scene.
• In this effect there are three choices.
1. Is to use fluid effects and use a proxy scene and then composite it into the footage.
2. To use stock footage and comp it in (this will be quicker and easier but I don't feel that it would create a realistic effect).
3. Is to use practical effects and use smoke machines to create the smoke. This will create the most realistic effect but my worries would be health and safety and access to smoke machines.

This is a brief breakdown of my effects in the short and a few of my thoughts on how to create them with efficiency and quality.

*: Rotoscope - Roto

Sword Developments

The swords are going to be one of the focal points of the short and I need to design them for practicality (not to seem to heavy or unrealistic). Because of this my design research has spanned over many different types. I don't want a particular style of sword fighting but any specific type of sword would imply that instantly. Due to this I have come to the conclusion that I will create a hybrid of sword types.

 

These are a few I have been looking though but there are a couple of swords that have really caught my eye for larger symbols to show more detail from afar. The viewers will not see any close up detail so I would rather opt towards larger details on the sword.

And of course I have a huge temptation to use a design that would loosely follow The Legend of Zelda Master Sword.

This was a little insight towards my thoughts on the VFX and what Sword designs im looking at. Next up will be a few ideas I have thought of to make this video a little more unique to a normal video. I have plans for its own stylised feel.

Thought's

Now that I have established what the story is about I'll go into some extra detail.

This short is intended to show off my skills in a mixture of areas from Compositing and VFX to film production. My intentions are to work with people in their areas of expertise. So for this project I will be outsourcing music to a professional to gain the best quality possible and if I can find someone I will out source sound design too. I would love to learn this skill but at the moment I need to concentrate on the areas I have experience in and how to improve them.

This short, is a sword fight with computer generated swords integrated into live action footage. The script says it is set, exterior night but I have a few bumb's along the road that I need to look into.

 Day for Night?

First is the choice between full night shooting where I will get real shadows in the lighting or day for night shooting where it would be easier to light in general. I'm starting to think I want to film at night and provide lighting but I am not sure at the moment. This is where testing comes in. I will need to take images of day shooting and convert them to night or take the camera out at night and take the images again from the same spot to compare.

Day for night image taken from: http://ifsstech.wordpress.com/2008/11/11/day-for-night/

Mo-cap or sword slap?

Next challenge is weather to use tracking points in the image and track the sword movement straight form the camera or shall I use the motion capture studio the university has on offer. I have tracking experience but to track a sword I will have to shoot on at least 1/250 shutter speed to collect the data I need to track. This can cause a mass of problems such as 1/250 is very dark for a night shoot so to track, the previous decision of Day for Night would be very appealing. That or I light the scene a lot but that would start creating a false look to the scene. 1/250 would make it look very odd in the first place. Adding motion blur would be another issue here.

Or I could go for another option where I use the motion capture studio to apply the movement to the swords in 3D space where I could still shoot at night and without a worry of hight shutter speeds or adding unreal light. Only fear here is I have no experience in motion capture and I would be learning the skill from the ground up. I love a challenge but I wouldn't want it to hinder my production time.

Mo-cap image taken from Tigermyuou user in DeviantArt

So this is a couple of stumps in the road which I need to decide on a solution though testing. Next things are CG designs for the swords and a full VFX list of what I need to do to achieve this short.

Final Year Project

So its time to get started with production of my FYP.

I took a while on deciding on what to do for this project. Some choices were to scrap VFX and compositing and attempt a study into producing and film making. This is a huge passion of mine and I believe this to be a major part in my study towards the film industry. But I need an area of expertise so if I cant find a job I can at least drop back to my well known area to generate a healthy income. Second was a study into different major areas in the compositing world. This was a strong idea where I would study advanced techniques over 4 months but fell short with footage acquisition. What would I need for each shot? How would I acquire said shot and how much time and relevance would it be towards the technique. In the end I decided that this study would be too unrestricted and I could easily fall off the tracks towards the end. 

In the end I decided to make a short VFX video lasting approximately 3 minutes which would be a mixture of VFX and compositing. Here is a quick description of the narrative I have created and should give you a quick idea on what my plan is.

Alley Encounter

A young man is walking down a dark street at night. He is looking down at his phone periodically looking up to see where he is going. He stops in his tracks as there is a dark figure down the street staring at him. The dark figure is dressed in a black draping coat that has a large hood covering half of her face. The attire is quite elegant and would suggest that it was a female.

The hooded figure turns to the side to reveal a large curved sword with green glowing etchings that emit sparks as it slides across the floor. The man looks at the hooded figure for a moment and then sighs as like he has been in this unique situation before and knows how to handle it.

He sets his bag down and rummages through for a moment until he pulls out a hilt of a sword. He stands back up and looks towards the figure then quickly slams the hilt on the floor. Large runes appear on the ground around him as there is a large glowing centre. A sword starts to materialise out of the ground as he pulls upward.

The man spins his sword then sets himself into a defensive position. The hooded figure stares at him and cracks a small smile. The character tilts her head back a little to reveal it is a female with an intricate set or runes painted onto her face like a tattoo. She charges off towards the man, sparks are spraying everywhere. They connect and begin to battle. Each character getting a subtle blow in at each other before they break to rest. They rotate in the alley watching for a move to be made. Suddenly the female attacks again and they break into another battle. This time the man is getting the upper hand and manages to go for a final blow until she flips him onto the floor and vanishes in a cloud of smoke. Scene ends with the man standing around waiting for her to come back. She does not…

 Here are a few images I have found on the internet to give you some visuals towards the story:

 Hooded figure taken from "The Walking Dead" TV Series

One of my thoughts were to paint runes on the Hooded woman's face to show a little background about the character because nothing is explained in the short. This could imply that she is an assassin from a guild.

This is a little too extravagant  for a hooded style but this is a mix of face make-up and hoods.