Four*7

More slackness on my side for neglecting this progress blog. But never fear, that doesn't mean nothing has been happening. I finished the animatic a week or so ago, I gives a fair indication of the timing. Very basic mind you. Looking at it I think that it will run a bit longer than this, closer to the 5 - 6 minute mark - but that is something that will be decided on how much interesting footage I can get as well as the pacing with the actual shots. I have filmed some basic tests and will be playing with them over the next couple of weeks - doing basic comps of exported 3D cubes as well as 2D elements into scenes. I'll post up some screens of those as they come. I will be posting actual examples of my program tests soon but I thought I may as well wait till the end of the month and throw up a big reel of them then - I should have some actual comped examples by then so then you will be able to see how it all comes together ( sort of =p). Still playing with the visual style - at this stage take my word and assume it will be a mixture.

Heading off to see Scott Pilgrim vs the World tomorrow (release day and all!) which should provide some excellent inspiration.

Animatic (P/W - "meAGAIN2map") :

Animatic. from Dane Kirkland on Vimeo.

One*7

Story Progress notes.

I have been struggling to get started with developing the story for this project from a base idea into an actual working concept. It's an understandably difficult thing - deciding what it is exactly that I want to focus on, what kind of story I want to tell, the mood of the film, the target audience, the stereotypes to avoid and those that are unfortunately inescapable. There is also the prospect of taking a stereotypical idea and approaching it in a way that is new and refreshing but based on previous attempts of such an approach my track record is nothing marvelous - therefore that is an approach that has been scrapped as I write this.

I must keep in mind that there is a requirement to produce a written companion to this new body of work that must reflect my objectives with this film (project). Thus my contemplation has been following these lines; what the objectives will be and many that I have thought about are important in regards to creating the film - but not necessarily a factor into my MAP specialisation (visual effects). Therefore my ideas/concepts/thoughts on all possible objective require rational sorting of this random collection and identifying which directly regard my specialisation.

Important Concepts (so far)

- Shoot the film using alternative filming methods.

- Achieve a unique visual style; evident in the characters, the world and involving the implementation of CGI elements into live action.

- Create characters with emotional depth.

- Create an environment which is both alien and familiar to the audience in both tone and physical appearance.

- Develop a story which provides a rich history to the story.

- Develop characters 'look' in an efficient way which incorporates visual effects in collaboration with existing elements.

Obviously some of the concepts in the list above do not relate to my area of focus for the MAP, from this particular list those would be;

- Achieve a unique visual style; evident in the characters, the world and involving the implementation of CGI elements into live action.

 - Develop characters 'look' in an efficient way which incorporates visual effects in collaboration with existing elements.

These two as well as the development of a 'familiar alien environment' and of course the story will be the focus of my project. Dependant upon consultation with my supervisor my main area of focus will revolve around developing a unique visual style which is evident in the film's visual effects and their implementation. Their implementation of course will depend upon what filming methods are decided upon, but finally narrowing down a goal excites me! Particular inspiration for this line of thought have been the appearance of Tim Burton's films and in particular Tron - a style which is instantly recognisable. The style of these films are there identity and it is interesting to note how the audience perceives a film based purely upon it's appearance.

Many can misinterpret the film's tone or intentions due to the style of the effects implemented. Film's such as Avatar approach visual effects with aims to achieve complete realism from unrealistic concepts and are received favorably. Other films such as those set in the real world (i.e. Die Hard, V for Vendetta etc) aim to achieve an 'invisible' extension of reality with their visual effects. Then of course there are the films such as Toy Story, Shrek, Kung Fu Panda, Coraline etc which aim to create a completely fictional world which will never be believed as 'real'. These 3 approaches are typical to visual effects, but there are those that attempt to blend the barriers such as Final Fantasy which strive to create a fictional world with complete realism and fail to trick the audience into believing that it is 'real'.

To get back on topic - it does sound strange, but I believe the style and approach to the visual effects of a film can play a unique role in the identity of a film. The fact that Pixar, Disney and DreamWorks feature animations may be identified by the styling of their characters is proof of this. My aim is to develop a style of visual effect which is uniquely my own.

I do not mean in the sense that the CGI Characters appearance will reflect my personal artistic style - I mean EVERYTHING will. The way that thing's move and interact with their environment. I wish to create a film that represents my emotions, my thought processes. The way things move may not necessarily be how they move in reality, although I am sure some will be. I want the film to reflect my personality and how I perceive the world.

Throughout this process I will develop the style, review how I may achieve the style and investigate alternative methods in which to achieve said effect. This will undoubtably involve research into various plugins, various artistic methods in regards to 3D modelling, digital art and digital compositing. I am sure there will be many more aspects to this challenge but I do not want to get ahead of myself until I consult with my supervisor.

After discussion with my supervisor, pending his approval I will rapidly move ahead with the story/screenplay as well as concept art.

Two*

 As a part of my research I have been looking into alternative methods of filming and remembered an article I stumbled across in December last year, which I posted an entry about on my personal blog so I thought I would repost it here;

The article was on photographer Phillip Bloom and his recent visit to Skywalker Ranch to demo some camera's to the Lucasfilm crew out there, namely George Lucas, Rick McCallum and Mike Blanchard. The camera's that he was giving the run down on were the Canon 5DmkII and the Canon 7D - but focusing on their potential for use in film as opposed to still photography. As someone who is looking to make a short film over the next 2 years  I was very quickly very interested in this article and followed it to Bloom's personal blog which went more in depth into what he did whilst out at the Ranch for 5 days.

Skywalker Ranch from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

It's amazing what can be done with a digital slr, I must say that i was unprepared for the superb quality of the video. No wonder ILM/Lucasfilm are looking into the cameras, moreso Lucasfilm than ILM. Lucasfilm just finished up principle photography on Red Tails and are looking into the cameras for use in shooting some cockpit scenes (WWII Fighters) which sounds as though they are once again moving ahead of the times. The maneuverability within a cockpit with a slr opposed to a full size film camera is of a definite advantage to the film maker - obviously allowing them the freedom for new angles, perspectives and techniques that the physical size of film cameras immediately dismiss. As Bloom mentions in his blog, they are also considering the cameras for some work on the upcoming live-action Star Wars TV Series; which I am very curious to hear/see more about but that will not be appearing on our radar for a while longer. Obviously the range of the applications for these camera's is of obvious interest to those in the film industry looking to further the techniques of filming, or at least alternative methods. I think there would also be interest from the Indie Film Community due to the camera's portability and it may be a cheaper, more cost effective approach for some.

Following this train of research has given me something to think about in regards to my Master's Short Film. There is an accompanying seminar that is to be written and given in the latter part of the course's duration which focuses on your project and area of focus. I think I will look into new and alternative methods of filming and incorporating visual effect.

One*

Welcome to my blog! This is where I will be keeping track of my progress on my Master of Arts Practice (Visual Effects) Project for the next 2 years. It's very exciting, starting something like this - I hope you will enjoy the progress as much as I will!

Below is excerpts from my original proposal, dated 27 November 2009. I have since been accepted as a Masters Candidate and though the official University study period is yet to start, I thought I may as well begin it in some respect.

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Excerpts from "Master of Arts Practice (Visual Effects) Project Proposal" - Dane Kirkland. 27 Nov 2009. 

Introduction

My aim in undertaking a Masterʼs Project in Visual Effects is to create a short film that explores the nature of the human condition when dealing with a myriad of emotions with a focus on guilt and hope. I intend on exploring this through a short film, making use of such storytelling techniques such as surreal dream sequences and flashbacks. The process of creating the short film would also perform in a way that would encourage me to develop my skills in special effects further and implement them in new and more efficient ways than I have previously. The end result would be entered in both national and international film festivals and competitions.

Story Outline

The story would be set in an alternate present focusing on a young man attempting to deal with watching the changing world and those changes in society that are for the worse (war, death, corruption, social decline). Focusing on his guilt over the fact that he could be doing something about these changes due to the recent manifestation of the super-human ability to influence, persuade and manipulate people’s actions. His guilt is amplified by his observations that there are a few others in his proximity who are also developing abilities and using not applying them in a beneficial way. Climax of the story is his decision to make a difference and use his power to change society and this decision coming too late as the city in which he is living is attacked as a World War is announced. Dream sequences would be used to portray his ideal world and the flashbacks would provide a history to the character (including a background in the armed forces).

Rough Timeline

As I intend to undertake the Master of Arts Practice Part-Time and by distance education I plan on spending the first 6 months writing the script and storyboarding the film, as well as producing a rough animatic of the film. Whilst doing this I would also focus on pre production; scouting locations to film, finding actors as well as learning and mastering new techniques. This stage of the preproduction would extend until November 2010, which is when I would ideally like to begin principle photography. The aim is that during preproduction I would trial different techniques and decide upon which will be used in the final product, and ideally some effects created during pre-production would be easily transferrable into the final product with some minor touching up. With this timeline I would hope that filming would be completed by December/January at the latest and then the entirety of 2011 would be spent in post production, developing an edit and final visual effects, with the film ready to submitted to festivals by the end of the year.

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Some other things of note;

I will be watching a number of reference feature films as well as any short films that I come across that are applicable to what I am doing. At this point upon reflecting on the base story that I presented as a proposal I can see that there will be significant reworkings as well as a clear defining point to the film. Along with the short film I need to complete a written component, so the first stages of the script writing will definitely involve narrowing down the my focus area in regards to;

- Story - 

What it is I am trying to achieve with the short film in regards to the audience's response and what I personally am trying to achieve with the film. As it stands I'm uncertain about the direction I want to take - looking at my initial outline there are certain stereotypical things that I am attempting to avoid. Right now my thoughts is that I want the film to evoke an emotional response from the audience. I just really need to nail down what I want to achieve.

- Technical -

I am looking into new techniques in filming and plan on applying some to the short film - attempting to create something which is with the current/or next trends as opposed to an older technique.