Year 2 Weekly Summaries - Week 15
Day 1 - Retopology,uv and substance painter
In today’s session I was able to finalise the uvs created over the weekend around the arms of the character. I ensured that each of the edge flows looped around the subject and this would allow a good bake in future stages. By doing this the edge flows supported the topology of the character for example around the collar I had to create a lip to show the change in shapes from the collar bone. After the retopology was finalised I moved onto uvs. This was relatively straight forward as I selected a camera based view and simply selected the loops around the waist, shoulders, forearms and wrists. As well as selecting the ankle. This gave the base to move forward onto unfolding the uvs. For this I had to cut along the edge of the loop previously cut and move the subject in the uv editor and then press unfold. I the. Pack each of the unfolded uvs into the corner and exported to substance painter.
Substance painter was a relatively new process for me as I had never used the software before. I found the software quite intuitive and really easy to use. By simply dragging the material onto the elected uv I was able to give my character texture therefore lifting his overall look. This also helped to distinguish what each part of the character was made of for example the material of the clothes compared to the braces and belt. I chose a white denim for the shirt and a darker denim for the trousers sticking too the 2d concept of the character. For the texture of the belt and braces I chose a leather and coloured the belt brown and the braces black. The most interesting part of the design comes within the head as I chose to use a Caron fibre material. This will create a distinct look as the lights are placed on the character for the walk cycle and turnaround.
Day 1 - Group feedback session with Lyndsey
In todays group feedback session I was able to identify how to make my screen play cyclical. For this I pitched the idea of having the character play with a gun at his desk at the start of the screenplay and then have the new accountant pull the same gun out at the end. Lyndsey didn’t think this idea would fit the characters persona at the start and so suggested another route. I chose to forward two ideas the first one was that the character would be handed the gun by his boss and he doesn’t want to use it and so locks it in the desk. The second was too have the character playing with cards at the start. This would therefore establish the characters motive for going to the card game later that evening. I think I will try to incorporate both of the ideas into the screenplay as it will greatly benefit the story telling. However, I feel like I am getting severely close to the word count and so need to condense the screenplay entirely.
Day 2- Rigging the character
In todays open session I was able to begin rigging the character for my project. I used the knowledge learned from previous sessions to help establish a base in which to start the rig. However I quickly realised because of time constraints towards the end of this project I need to move quicker in order to get to animating the characters walk cycle, turnaround and third actions. For this I chose to auto rig the character. This does have its draw backs as a severe amount of weight painting is needed to full establish the characters movement when a controller is used. In addition, I had to rig a completely new hand for the character as the auto rig did not achieve this. I then parented this up to the rig itself. Tomorrow , I will continue to weight paint and start blocking out the walk cycle for the character .
Day 3 - Character performance workshop with Sarah Perry
In todays character performance session. We recorded reference video for the performance to establish key beats and posing for the characters. I found that this was instrumental in developing my idea. I had previously recorded a scenario of a news reporter and a member of the public. The member of the public would mimic the reporter and exaggerate the movements of the reporter before the reporter notices him. By having a bigger performance area it was better to establish framing for the characters as I wanted a character in the foreground and a character in the background to the left. The character in the foreground would take up the most of the frame to show that he is the focal point.I am looking forward to develop the performance of the character and begin the animation process.
Day 3 - open media lab session
Today I was able to finalise the rigging process. I finished the weight painting of the character. This was a painstaking process due to me not understanding the fundamentals of the mechanic at first. I had to paint weight back on ti each of the joints after testing the rig by moving limbs to areas I could use in the walk cycle. This process also helped how to establish any flaws in the topology as more edge loops were needed around specific joints like the knee and elbow. This is because pinching appeared around the back of the knee and the topology was going inside of itself. Furthermore, around the shoulder the weight under the strap had to be adjusted as it was being pulled by the chest. This caused it to cave in . I am looking forward to completing the walk cycle of my character as I feel I have rigged well.
Day 4 - The reflective essay
In the essay discuss how you would animate the script
Demonstrate a range of research
Explore relevant books, films, images, digital resources and critical texts
In your essay:identify the potential challenges of filming your script and how you would overcome them. Discuss how and why you revised and redrafted your creative work.
On your blog show your creative development from start to finish, e.g writing exercises, character profiling, beat sheet, outline etc.
In your essay reflect on the potential challenges of filming your script.
Demonstrate an understanding of screenplay style simple, clear, visual.
Follow the basic rules of screenplay format
Tone and style: your reflective essay
You should write in an appropriate academic tone- citations and bibliographies required
However this is a reflective essay, can use first person and write about your own experiences as relevant to your creative process.
The reflective essay: 1000 words
Don’t explain Jekyll and Hyde
Explain how your screenplay was inspired by the set text - themes ,transformation, names and characters, genre and particular lines incidents , images from the book.
Discuss your writing process- reflect on your journey from the first idea to the finished script- introduce evidence of wider research.-
The valentines day massacre
The wolf of wall street - Jordan Belfort
The construction in New York in the 1920s
3. Discuss how you would film your screenplay. Eg:
Aesthetic style - Pixar/Dream-works inspired
Colour pallet - dark, dimly lit , black and white
Soundtrack - typical to the time (1920s swing and jazz music, rat pac)
Intended audience- adults and teenagers
Would the script be easy or difficult to film ?
What challenges could you face?
How could your over come them?
The five stages of Tragedy
Christopher booker the seven basic plots (2004) defines the 5 stages of tragedy- sources at end of presentation. Tragedy tends to begin with a temptation
