So this is where Iāll be posting updates for my senior year thesis animation project!
Iām not 100% sure what exactly Iām doing, but itās looking like Iām gonna stick with this dragon boat project I pitched to Maks and Christine. The idea started out with just an animation of a dragon boat race and it developed into the feeling of a race rather than the actual race.
I wanted to start it with a quickening heartbeat; white against a black background. It would then fade to various shots of people performing their pre-race rituals: braiding hair, drinking preworkout, taping up their paddle, etc. And then I had this thought that I could have the perspective switch to first person and itād show the character stepping into the boat and sitting down. There would be the sound of yelling and cheering and just all the noises you hear when youāre at a race. The coast would fade into whiteness and the only thing surrounding the character would be the boat and their team. Everything else would be white. As the race begins, sound activates the visual of whatever is making the sound. For example, the other teamās drum would only appear with the sound of it.Ā
And then I realized I could make the whole thing first person POV and even maybe put it into Virtual Reality.Ā
The beginning would be the same, a pulse, rituals. I thought itād be cool to be able to look around and be surrounded by the whole team doing their thing before a race. I want it to be like every time you watch it you see a different ritual you didnāt notice before.Ā
The same idea for sound applies to the VR idea. The biggest issue I was having was how to make a cinematic VR film work. Itās linear, unlike a video game, and requires the viewer to be along for the ride within the story and not be taken out of it because, well, theyāre a bit restricted.
The sound would be the trigger, if you will. Each sound would be the loudest thing in the film and that would, hopefully, call the attention of the viewer. If you hear the other boatās drum, youād hopefully look over to where the sound is coming from to see it. And once itās done, itāll fade back into white.
This idea came mainly from one of the instructions my dragon boat coaches and captain told me: focus in the boat. Because looking outside and watching the other boats ruins your concentration and ruins YOUR timing, technique, etc., which could cost your team the race. I wanted everything outside of the boat to be white to emphasize that. I want the viewer to only really be able to look inside their own boat, except for when a sound comes from a different boat. Maybe even when a sound happens, the coach outside the boat could yell āBench 5 left! focus in!ā or something like that. I really want it to feel like a racing experience. Ā Ā Ā Ā
theartofmadeline
2087
gummygunk
pixelskylines