What If? Metropolis - 3D Modelling

Some Basic Assets for my digital set. I've began to work on just crating basic items at the moment to get into the flow of things. I need to work on UV and texture, bump and specular mapping next. 

Maya Tutorials - Old Alley - finished (except textured boxes)

Aside from the crates not being textured I have used spotlights, directional lights and area lights along with help from the Arnold Rendered to Light my scene effectively.

Life Drawing

Animation - Silly Walk

In Progress, however I've got my preliminary drawings of my walk which I will use to create my adobe animate animation from as reference.

After Effects - Parallax Test

This is the image i created for the parallax effect in Photoshop today.

Below is the final result.

What If? - Metropolis - Online Greenlight Review 2

Film Review - Black Narcissus (1947)

(Figure 1)

Black Narcissus is a film with contains the three struggles which make good drama. Man against the world, Man against Man and Man against himself, the film deals with the human struggle of isolation, being trapped in an environment such as a gilded cage (The palace of Mopu), and repressed carnal and sexual desires. We find ourselves watching the story unfold of these Anglican Nuns going to set up a hospital and school in a disused Haram once used by the General to house his Concubines. The set is a great example of being so harsh that it effects the characters and gives us our underlying theme of isolation. The Castle is called 'The Palace of Mopu' and is situated on a stunning extreme cliff edge, hundreds of feet above the village. It is an incredibly grand, isolating and belittling environment. "The painted landscapes by Walter Percy ‘Poppa’ Day and co are a thing of wonder. Aesthetically it takes particular inspiration from the work of Dutch Baroque painter Johannes Vermeer." (Simmonds, 2017) 

(Figure 2)

To add to this sweat box of isolation we have once of the main characters come in. His name is Dean and he is the only Englishman in the film, he is intrinsic to the Nuns because he is their only link to trade and the outside world. It is not often that there is a male at the centre of sexual objectification, but in Black Narcissus it plays a key role in how the film unfolds. 

"Dean's charms seem to have some effect on Sister Clodagh, but they also ignite the buried passions of Sister Ruth (Kathleen Byron) who becomes increasingly jealous of her superior." (Mirasol, 2017) 

(Figure 3)

Unable to escape him he becomes the catalyst, the Nuns fight off repressed sexual urges which eventually drive Sister Ruth (Kathleen Byron) into a mad Hysteria. Through this we can see the brilliance of technicolor where the film gradually goes from dull, muted, clean lit colours to deep reds, and shadows, right near the end the scene is into the Horror Genre and is almost completely black with shadows. The colour red is subliminally used during this film to signify lust, passion and desire, and plays a huge part in the underlying theme of repressed sexual urges.      

"If, as it appears, the intention of Black Narcissus is to demonstrate that religious zeal is dependent on suitable climatic and social surroundings, then history has already provided the answer to this thesis." (Pryor, 2017) This is a case of a group going to an environment in order to change it, but instead the environment changes them. Pryon hits right on the mark here and says exactly what we are all thinking. Black Narcissus wouldn't be the same film is it if there was any single thing different, the baroque environment, subtle changes throughout the film in regard to lighting, the isolating overtones, tension between the Nuns and Dean and cast are all boiled down into a hot pot which produced a masterpiece in story telling, and themes underlying.

Bibliography:

Mirasol, M. (2017). [online] Rogerebert.com. Available at: https://www.rogerebert.com/far-flung-correspondents/black-narcissus-which-electrified-scorsese [Accessed 20 Nov. 2017].

Pryor, T. (2017). Movie Review - - BLACK NARCISSUS - NYTimes.com. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=ee05e7df173ce261bc4c52dfbe66838c659ede [Accessed 20 Nov. 2017].

Simmonds, E. (2017). 'Black Narcissus' Is Truly, Madly, Hysterically Wonderful. [online] PopMatters. Available at: https://www.popmatters.com/129821-black-narcissus-2496150755.html [Accessed 20 Nov. 2017].

Illustrations:

Figure 1 - Black Narcissus. (1947). [film] Directed by M. Powell and E. Pressburger. Pinewood Studios: Pinewood Studios.

Figure 2 - Black Narcissus. (1947). [film] Directed by M. Powell and E. Pressburger. Pinewood Studios: Pinewood Studios.

Figure 3 - Black Narcissus. (1947). [film] Directed by M. Powell and E. Pressburger. Pinewood Studios: Pinewood Studios.

What If? Metropolis - Final Painting and Outline

Final Concept Painting Depicting my Composition and Scene.

I've used yellow to outline what I intend to 3D Model. 

Life Drawing - Session 7

Adobe Animate - Session 6 - Walk Cycle

My walk cycle animation. 

What If? Metropolis - Production Design Ideas for Set

A bunch of designs for the main buildings in my scene.

Above is for the left most public space I have developed.

Above are Designs for the Central Public space in my design.

Film Review - Edward Scissorhands (1990)

(Figure 1)

Tim Burtons Edward Scissorhands co-written by Caroline Thompson is a twisted fairy-tale much like his other work in animation including 'Frankenweenie' and A Nightmare before Christmas, this film is a full feature film from the perspective of an animator, and he has really worked on that in the set design with visual representation. "They live, in Avon-like propriety, within the portals of well-ordered houses that look like boxes of cosmetics. They are pastel pink and blue and green, and very, very neat. This is a world waiting for someone to astonish it with passionate unorthodoxy, and Edward is just the man to do it." (Malcolm, 2017)

There is a clear division between the world Edward inhabits and the rest of the world, Edwards world is dark, scary and situated on top of a grey hill dwarfing the the landscape in a castle, the rest of the world is a 1970-80's american suburb in quaint little houses in uniform lines, with a colour scheme of washed out pastels, the entire scene is designed to imply the idea of a fairy-tale, but its shot in a way using naturalistic acting to make it very believable and real to the viewer. "Combining Edward’s dark, gothic world with the sunny, idealized representation of suburbia was no easy task. Every house had to be painted, the vegetation completely stripped, and all the cars were given a uniform palette that revealed nothing about where or when the story took place." (Chernov, 2017) 

(Figure 2)

The characters of this world aren't so different from Edward, they all have extravagances which make them all fit in with each other. The only thing that sets Edward apart is a Mysterious and monstrous appearance. His innocent, loving and caring nature do not tend to make it into the hearts of the town, he is seen as more of a convenient, useful spectacle during the film this makes the town very welcoming to Edward and his Uniqueness, but eventually, much like in Frankenstein, Edward is chased off by the masses as an outcast. "Everyone in this film is stylized and peculiar, so Edward becomes another exhibit in the menagerie, instead of a commentary on it." (Ebert, 2017)

Bibliography:

Chernov, M. (2017). ‘Edward Scissorhands’: From Box Office Misfire to Cinema Classic. [online] Variety. Available at: http://variety.com/2015/film/news/edward-scissorhands-25th-anniversary-johnny-depp-tim-burton-1201653236/ [Accessed 13 Nov. 2017].

Ebert, R. (2017). Edward Scissorhands Movie Review (1990) | Roger Ebert. [online] Rogerebert.com. Available at: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/edward-scissorhands-1990 [Accessed 13 Nov. 2017].

Malcolm, D. (2017). Edward Scissorhands | Reviews | guardian.co.uk Film. [online] Theguardian.com. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/film/News_Story/Critic_Review/Guardian_review/0,,558617,00.html [Accessed 13 Nov. 2017].

Illustrations:

Figure 1 - (Edward Scissorhands, Tim Burton, Movie Still 1990)

Figure 2 - (Edward Scissorhands, Tim Burton, Movie Still 1990)

Figure 3 - (Edward Scissorhands, Tim Burton, Movie Still 1990)

What If? Metropolis - Thumbnailing and composition drawings 02

Some More Ideas for Composition.

What If? Metropolis - Thumbnailing and Composition Designs

(Apologies - I forgot to Number all the nails)

I began with some Basic shapes to formulate buildings, I started getting a little more blocky and trying to make the designs squared.  

I also did some work on composition and trying to give the viewer a snapshot of the nature of this city. I focused on an idea for a cultural market, a street and the hospital, I reasoned the market and hospital would be major installations in this city.

After this my ideas of the architecture changed and I wanted to try drawing some more organic buildings again, as well as the idea of roof gardens.

This was the final Composition I did, it tries to incorporate everything into it. I liked how enclosed it is. However it feels very grimy. I envisioned this environment as more of a Utopia and this isn't conveying this message.

Maya - Tutorial - UV'ing Old Alley

UV Mapping for the Old Alley Tutorial.

Digital Painting - What If? Metropolis - Thumbnailing

Two thumbnails playing around with the lasso tool.