Fantastic Voyage - Concept Art

Fantastic Voyage - concept Art Thumbnailing

Some Preliminary Sketches for my Fantastic Voyage Concept Art to work out Composition. I have gone for a more Militaristic approach to composition using famous imagery of military speeches of Dictators to impress an atmosphere on the characters. The images aren't of events in the Animation but more of a Concept for the world in which the Animation takes place. The images which I will be carrying forward are as follows: 

Page 1 - Left Side, Portrait.

Page 1 - Right Lower Corner, Landscape.

Page 4 - Right Upper Corner, Landscape. 

Page 4 - Left Lower Corner, Landscape.

(Images taken with Camera Phone, lit with White LED lamp, taken into Photoshop and cut onto 1920x1080x72 pages, black border around images, Shift+E to merge layers, image menu > adjustments > Black and White, export as JPEG.) 

Film Review - E.T The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial - Film Still

E.T The Extra-Terrestrial is proving to be an absolutely timeless film, it goes to show that no matter how technology advances in special effects and visual animation, what truly can make a story memorable and utterly convincing to an audience is a good narrative and solid message which allows us to suspend our disbelief throughout. E.T for example is a creature which in our current level of technology in film can clearly be understood as a rubber suit laid over a steel frame with a telescopic neck. But somehow we manage to identify with it in a very human way because as Todd McCarthy says in his review "The creature manages to project both a wondrous childlike quality and a sense of superior powers." (McCarthy, 1982) this resonates within our human instincts relating to protection and children and Spielberg knows this, we relate with the playfulness of the child-like qualities, and we have a sense of wonder from wanting to understanding, a thirst for knowledge, or in other works the human condition of the need to constantly ask 'Why?'. 

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial - Film Still

Spielberg has used very simple and relateable techniques to tie into a household, or most specifically an audience likely to be watching Genre film, he has "Placed a science fiction adventure so convincingly in an everyday domestic setting, where the cheerful chaos is overshadowed by the recent departure of the man of the house." (Lee, 2014), is suggested as an undertone for the film, E.T becomes the substitute for a broken home, arguably making us feel the situation is once again whole, more feel-good in this respect. 

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial - Film Still

One of the main aspects which makes the film arguably so believable is the acting. Especially by Elliot (Henry Thomas), E.T's finder,  "Screenwriter Melissa Mathison is equally adept at putting dialogue in the mouths of these babes that sounds like authentic childish babble." (McCabe, 2016), an audience who can associate with children and the mannerisms of which they possess can relate more towards the characters and identify with them. 

E.T the Extra-Terrestrial is Close Encounters but with a Family centric Narrative instead of Special Effects MO, the Plot is basically the same, the only difference is the point of view of the Characters.     

Bibliography:

Lee, M. (2014). E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, review: 'redefined popular sci-fi'. [online] Telegraph.co.uk. Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/11310774/Must-have-movie-ET-The-Extra-Terrestrial-1982.html# [Accessed 19 Mar. 2018].

McCabe, A. (2016). ‘E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial’ phones home: 1982 review. [online] NY Daily News. Available at: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/e-t-extra-terrestrial-1982-review-article-1.2665682 [Accessed 19 Mar. 2018].

McCarthy, T. (1982). E.T. – The Extra-Terrestrial. [online] Variety. Available at: http://variety.com/1982/film/reviews/e-t-the-extra-terrestrial-1200425287/ [Accessed 19 Mar. 2018].

Illustration:

Figure 1 - E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial - [Film] 1982 - Steven Spielberg: Universal Pictures

Figure 2 - E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial - [Film] 1982 - Steven Spielberg: Universal Pictures

Figure 3 - E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial - [Film] 1982 - Steven Spielberg: Universal Pictures

Fantastic Voyage - Script

Fantastic Voyage - Animatic - Current Progress

I've been working to create a style for my world which I've been reflecting in my animatic, below are some choice snapshots of work I've completed so far. I've been working in simple colours, grey and yellow mostly because I wont wish to nail down firstly the textures or the environment just yet.

This is simply to be a teaser of my progress:

Soundscape Reflective Statement

This project filled me with excitement from the beginning, sound has always interested me greatly in film as it should everyone, it is the seasoning to the meal of the eyes, it is there to fine tune the emotional response of the audience for a particular moment. This is one of the fundamental reasons I wanted to get into animating and making these experiences for others, and this project gave me the opportunity to do something which can relate to this.

It was a little daunting at first but soon I was able to simply make noises at home on a recording device, which proved to be much fun and interesting, then clean them up and marry them into a collaboration. It would appear the sounds has the potential to be very abstract. I've tried to go for more realistic sounding things, as if they were creatures or physical things happening in the universe, all be it if they maybe weren't natural to this planet.

I think with more knowledge of sounds and software I could refine my sounds to a higher degree and possibly make more in depth sounds. My final outcomes I don't feel are particularly outlandish or imaginative. I believe what is in the picture is the end result and that the sounds which I created are the correct sounds which they would have always made if they existed.




    

Life Drawing

Fantastic Voyage Final Character Designs.

Sarge:

Binky:

 Vinny:

Buck

 Harrison

Fantastic Voyage - Online Greenlight Review 1

Soundscape - Complete

Organic, flexible, bendy, stretchy, gritty, slow, growing, rigid.
This image is happening in a space which is underwater, as the structure is large and needs that environment to support its weight. Much like coral it moves to lessen structural resistance and grow.

Organic, Slippy, smooth, compacted, dry, swollen, bubbly, rubbery, slick, undulating. This image is telling me it belongs in a forgotten place, possibly a growth in a sewer, or a moist cavern somewhere biologically it can thrive.

This image is loud, fizzing, gleaming and werring. It rumbles and explodes. It vibrates in a space which is endless.   

Below is a list of noises which helped me create sound for these three images. 

Life Drawing

Film Review - Close encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

 Figure 1

Close Encounters is at first what appears to be about aliens and life outside of our solar system. It appears to be an epic of discovery and gaining knowledge which is currently light-years ahead of us. Once the surface is scratch, the majority of "The film is more of a drama with conspiracy thriller overtones." (Sobczynski, 2017) suggests, which is arguably what the majority of the film is concerning, the plot to evacuate the area of Wyoming due to 'nerve gas', along with keeping the public in the dark about certain things, interrogation and deportation are possibly factors in the conspiracy which can be likened to many events concerning government in real life. This makes the film arguably very relatable to the audience, and lends weight to the narrative because there is a connection resonating with our own curiosity and primal urges from sentience which drives us to constantly learn, question why and ask ourselves what our place in the universe means. 

Figure 2

The sound score in Close Encounters is remarkable and serves to enhance the experience, "It’s the perfect accompaniment to Spielberg’s wondrous, awe-inspiring movie." (guzman, 2017), convincingly so as mood and pace would struggle to be set as is intended without the use of the sound. There is something which fills the audience with joy and listening to the music cunningly created from the aliens spacecrafts diegetic sound. Imagining a space faring species which communicates through the use of music is totally whimsical and joyful. 

Figure 3

It's arguable that the reason we enjoy this film so much is the ability we possess to in some way relate to the protagonist, "It turns you, the viewer, alongside Roy, into a preoccupied, vision-driven auteur, and you can forget about that noisy, mundane domestic life in Muncie." (Phillips, 2017) Phillips suggests, we do this because the addition of the frontal lobe in our brain (which sets us apart from animals and arguably the reason we have 'sentience') allows us to wonder and forward think a scenario. This drives our hunger for knowledge and greases the wheels of evolution. We long to be fascinated and inspired. This is exactly what Spielberg hands us on a plate.  

Bibliography:

Phillips, M. (2017). ‘Close Encounters’: Messy as it is, it means more to me than 'Star Wars' ever did. [online] chicagotribune.com. Available at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/movies/sc-mov-close-encounters-40th-anniv-0831-2017-story.html [Accessed 1 Mar. 2018].

Guzman, R. (2017). ‘Close Encounters’ still soars 40 years later. [online] Newsday. Available at: https://www.newsday.com/entertainment/movies/close-encounters-of-the-third-kind-review-steven-spielberg-s-classic-still-mesmerises-1.14102669 [Accessed 1 Mar. 2018].

Sobczynski, P. (2017). Close Encounters of the Third Kind Movie Review (1980) | Roger Ebert. [online] Rogerebert.com. Available at: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/close-encounters-of-the-third-kind-2017 [Accessed 1 Mar. 2018].

Illustrations:

Figure 1 - Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) [Film] - Steven Speilberg: Columbia Pictures

  

Figure 2 - Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) [Film] - Steven Speilberg: Columbia Pictures

igure 3 - Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) [Film] - Steven Speilberg: Columbia Pictures

Film Review - Jaws (1975)

 Figure 1

Like so many great features it is often that the premise is simple and small, but the scope is huge. This is a strange concept but it works because we can imagine more when we have a boundary, it is arguable that Jaws is this idea personified,  'shark lurks in tourist heavy beach location'. 

"What Spielberg and his team have done is to pare Peter Benchley’s pulp novel down to essentials and then to play it for all its bare bones are worth." (Malcolm, 2016), this suggests that from its more indepth novel Spielberg has seen the scope of what it really is and adapted it visually in a way which strips it down to the most immersive and enthralling way possible.  

Figure 2

One of the techniques often used, since Alfred Hitchcock best described suspense was putting a bomb under the table and it not going off. Spielberg here keeps the monster hidden right up until the end, where even then

"We are often looking at kegs and not at a shark, but the premise is so well established that the shark is there." (Ebert, 2000) supposing that the imagination has built up a monster so much that subtlies employed like this dramatise them in a way we are conditioned to interpret them. 

Figure 3

Spielberg has used simple details paced well in order to build suspense and give Jaws the horrific persona which it deserves, Rothman suggests that "The movie is very like its subject. If the great white shark that terrorizes the beaches of an island summer colony is one of nature’s most efficient killing machines, Jaws is an efficient entertainment machine." (Rothman, 2015) an audience can there for be compared to the tourists and the characters which are terrorised by the shark. 

Bibliography:

Ebert, R. (2000). Jaws Movie Review & Film Summary (1975) | Roger Ebert. [online] Rogerebert.com. Available at: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-jaws-1975 [Accessed 1 Mar. 2018].

Malcolm, D. (2016). Jaws - the original Guardian review: archive, 22 Dec 1975. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/dec/22/jaws-steven-spielberg-1975-review-derek-malcolm [Accessed 28 Feb. 2018].

Rothman, L. (2015). Read TIME's Original Review of 'Jaws'. [online] Time. Available at: http://time.com/3894762/jaws-1975-review/ [Accessed 1 Mar. 2018].

Illustrations:

Figure 1 - Jaws (1975) [Film] - Steven Spielberg: Universal Pictures 

Figure 2 - Jaws (1975) [Film] - Steven Spielberg: Universal Pictures 

Figure 3 - Jaws (1975) [Film] - Steven Spielberg: Universal Pictures 

Film Review - Duel (1971)

Figure 1

Duel as a film is incredibly simplistic, its premise is tiny but its scope is massive. It can be shortened down simply to Car Chase, a possible forerunner to films such as the recent Mad Max Fury Road. Visually there is nothing special going on during the film, but when the consideration of the camera enters the mix our perception of events is changed, Janet Maslin remarks that ''Duel'' might almost have been a silent film, because it expresses so much through action and so little through the words that are here." (Maslin, 1983). This is arguably true because even though through music and sound effects you can create emotion and tone the impressive thing which absorbs us here is the death defying chase along narrow cliff edges ravines. It creates a totally immersive experience for the viewer, and this is why it is fundamentally a much talked about film.  

Figure 2

The Antagonist of this feature is the Truck. Its a monstrous and grotesque machine which applies pressure throughout gradually creating deep seated panic in everyone concerned including the audience. It is arguable that the reason we are so able to associate the truck with this is summed up by Greg Moss in his feature review of Duel "The concealment of the truck driver’s identity allows the truck itself to take on its own persona." (Moss, 2014) meaning instead of simply having a machine which runs on fuel and is completely lifeless, as it has no one to control it is seems animalistic and uncontrollable. There is no ability to understand or communicate with it, its appearance of the battered, rusted and 'flammable' entitled body work gives us a sense which furthers this about its persona.

Its appearance also lends weight to believing it has complete and utter placement in its environment and belongs there. It is readily apparent that once Mann has left the city, he is in the trucks territory. 

Figure 3

There is an underlying theme of Masculinity during the feature also. Howard points out that "The brief conversation colors the entire film, as does the radio program that Mann listens to during the introductory scenes." (Howard, 2011), regarding this, we begin to make constant assumptions about the environment, and characters involved. The Comparison between the Hulking rusty Peterbilt 281 truck and the little red Plymouth Valiant demonstrates a contrast between how demasculated Mann is presented, and his constant struggle to gain control over a situation he would never be able to have thew upper hand in. It is possible to contrast the environment to the struggle of Mann dealing with the confrontation of his boss hitting on his wife, the hostility of the environment and the leap to assertion is arid and harsh, it could been seen that its an obstacle he must conquer in order to come out the other side with renewed masculinity. Unfortunately it would seem that even after the constant stomach churning car chase, the only way Mann is able to gain anything back is to suicide his own vehicle in an effort to stop the truck from more onslaught. The fact if this act meant he would never finish is mission to confront his boss and he has sacrificed his only form of power in this situation.      

Bibliography:

Howard, E. (2011). Duel. [online] Seul-le-cinema.blogspot.co.uk. Available at: http://seul-le-cinema.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/duel.html [Accessed 28 Feb. 2018].

Maslin, J. (1983). Movie Review - - 'SPIELBERG'S 'DUEL,' FOUR-WHEEL COMBAT - NYTimes.com. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9804EFD81138F936A25757C0A965948260 [Accessed 28 Feb. 2018].

Moss, G. (2014). Steven Spielberg’s Duel – feature review. [online] mossfilm. Available at: https://mossfilm.wordpress.com/2014/12/18/steven-spielbergs-duel-feature-review/ [Accessed 28 Feb. 2018].

Illustrations:

Figure 1 - Duel (1971) [Film] - Steven Spielberg: George Eckstein: Universal Pictures

Figure 2 - Duel (1971) [Film] - Steven Spielberg: George Eckstein: Universal Pictures

Figure 3 - Duel (1971) [Film] - Steven Spielberg: George Eckstein: Universal Pictures