Abegayle Elmes

Questions to ask:

• How long should we aim this project to be?
• Which layout should we commit to? Simple better?
• Is it possible to include a presenter , or would that be too much work?
• Can I get the stitch rig?
• Is 5 cameras too much? Do we need more?
• How to work on the same work space?
• How will we create the audience?

Tips:

• Look at lenses for festivals
• Cameras on the characters from Eurovision
• Discuss what cameras go through
• Use a master scene
• Focus on making the environment first
• Reference in the camera – control r
• Crowd generator – golime
• Garmies – low red human models
• b-g characters in the resources share
• Parent from other object – animation snap (Microphone)

This was so helpful advice from Luke so I felt more clear of how to move forward with the project as we were in a lull not knowing how to proceed. I made a group on the uni server so that we could all access the maya documnet files. I downlowed all the assets, props, environmets that I thought we might want to use. This included the sourced images and rigs so that we could always have files in one place and work from anywhere. When we needed to render it would be so much easier from the university system.

I then created a master file in the set project for Maya which included the stage and floor with some cameras inside. I named it so that we could all duplicate the file and have a go at designing the environment. We could all made a version and compare to see what ideas we come up with.

Luke sent me the Stitch rig which looks so good! I am so excited to use him in my animation as its so sweet to see Stitch DJing at a festival.

Group Meeting – 17th February

What we need to focus on next…

• Environment
• Plane – grass
• Props we have found, we need to add it to files so everyone can access them
• Tina is going to be doing the song Crazy in Love – Beyonce
• Marianna is doing Billie Jean – Michael Jackson

Love the choices group have chosen for their acts. I think they are classic show stoppers so will be an amazing concert finished by the music that Kenneth produces.

Making a filter for the camera was spoken about in the meeting with Luke. I suggested that I should do this part as I am a trained graphic designer. I also had the idea that instead of the presenter coming on the stage to meet artists etc, that they should be filmed separately in a studio such environment. This would be a lot easier to animate and less work as we already have a lot to do.

When you see banners around the TV for the news etc its called the lower third graphics. Here are some examples. I have noticed how they are very simple, not over shadowing what is happening in the main area of the filming. I think I will only have the frame and presenter between acts and have an opaque logo in the corner of the three acts to make sure it doesn’t take away from the animation. As in a hierarchy this is just adding to the experience and not the main element.

I also arranged to meet with Kenneth separately on Sunday to discuss the music he is making for my animation. Also other sounds e.g. crowd, wind to add to the ambience of the festival experiment.

What is it?
Zoetropes is a 2D image sequence which is overlaid on top animation to create the illusion that it is in the 3D scene

Why do we use it?
We use when we want to create an effect quickly, that adds to the scene but isn’t the main focal point.

How are they used?
In animation, film, ontop of 2d and 3d work.

• Use hardware render then arnold – quicker
• lambert material
• Duplicate to make 3D – takes less time
• Offset the timing on explosion and transparency
• Select node to animate
• Link explosion colour
• Break the transparency
• Play around with the speed
• colour file
• Alpha matt – Black and white
• Highest transparency
• .exr or .iff
• Make sure the cameras are telling a story

Ideas of zoetropes to use in Festival Project:

• Fire explosion
• Smoke

I added in some zoetropes to the scene to see if I could get some fun special effects. I followed he recorded lecture and was able to get a result. However, when I rendered a still to see how it would look, the zoetrope didn’t seem to show very well. I need to either find a solution if I have time or I will have to exclude the zoetropes. This would e a shame but learning all these areas is time consuming. I need to prioritise the blocking in this project.

I used the amazing set of Fat Boy Slim in Brighton as a reference to make a plan for what Stitches Story board should look like. I took the screenshots of the shots I thought were good. A variety of similar shots seemed to be common for DJ Set performances because the artist isn’t moving as much as a more traditional singer would.

This week was all about planning out how the scene was going to look and where everything would be in the scene so it would be easier to start building. I made a key for all of my digital illustrations to try and explain what the festival might look like. I made different plans so that when discussing them with Luke and the rest of the group we can find out which idea makes more sense.

Here were some festival photography I found across different sights which explain what makes good shots in event scenarios.

Group Meeting on 8th February

So we have decided that we would have three different acts because there were three animators int he group. This meant we could all focus on whatever music artist we wanted and didnt have to compromise. I liked this idea because I thought it was fair for each person to bring to the table what they were interested in as I felt I was running the ideas before and wanted it to be a more group decision now.

Tina had mentions she might use references from Cold Play band with different instruments. This sounded great as it was different from anything we had spoke about but was a lot more work. I mentioned that if she had more people to animate then we could always help out each other if one idea was more work than another.

Marinana said she was interest in using references from Michael Jackson which of course was a brilliant choice as he is an amazing performer despite his personal history.

We spoke about speaking Medhi to see how we could easily and efficiently create crowds and flags in front of the stage to get the sense of ambience.

We also wanted to discuss with Luke what would be reasonable goals in the respect to lighting, VFX and cameras. I have just emailed the VFX tutor, Christos. I had one student called Jane from their course who was interested but then decided to make her own group which was fair enough. However, I am determined to find someone as I think there is so much room for experimentation with the different effects created for stage performance. It would be a missed opportunity. Hopefully someone is interested.

Also we need to ask Luke how we will be working together as the files might be too large.

We also wanted to talk to the tutor KK about the strobe lighting effects and projections. This would be an amazing skill to learn also creating an exciting performance to accompany the artist.

We decided that we needed to choose a rig for the performance we wanted to do and also look for props that would be useful for everyone e.g. microphone, decks. I have already found the concert stage in the UAL drive library which is perfect!

Collaboration Unit Catch Up on 10th February

Luke spoke to use about motion capture and how to use it to save us a lot of time which is perfect for our crowd in our project.

Group Meeting on 10th February

Mariana had brought up the idea that maybe we only use one stage which makes a lot of sense as it would be so difficult to produce all the cameras and crowd etc on our own. This would mean that we could decide and spend more time designing it where it would actually work. I think my idea was quite ambitious with what we have to do in 10 weeks. I think this is realistic so we can focus more on the animation and visuals.

We decided to talk about the areas we all wanted to focus on so we can get the most out of this project.

Mariana:

• Animation
• Splining
• Lighting

Tina:

• VFX
• Animation
• Crowds
• Lighting

Myself:

• VFX
• Lighting
• Set Design

Kenneth:

• Music
• Ambient music e.g. crowds

I wanted to animated a DJ set as this what I really interested. I know Kenneth makes his own music so wanted to give him rule of the using his own music as I think he is really talented and a great way for him to exhibit his own work. He has sent some of his recordings and I love it. So did everyone else. I think. it would be cool if he made a mix of a few of his tracks so he can get more of his work in there.

Kenneth musics generes:

• Lofi
• Elector punk
• Techno