O.k, so now within the project its time to map everything out. We have a storyboard and were recommended to do a draft version of our final project to the music we picked ( vox humana ). So, towards the end of the week I began to introduce camera animation to get a feel of the kind of shots we want, mainly sweeping and zoom shots of the busts. This took a while to get used to as I tried to figure out how long each shot should be compared to the overall time of the intro. I hav decided anywhere between two and five seconds is o.k, depending on the importance of the character. There will also be quick cuts so not all of a shot may be used.
So, following this I rendered out low quality versions to use in the mock-up of our intro. This is really helpful as it shows me little things wrong with the modelling of the scene. These things shall be changed for the final product.
I then brought these clips into premiere pro as well as pictures I have taken of the storyboard. From there I looking at the music, its beats etc... to see where i can fit all these pieces and to give a sense of timing for the real thing. In all the balance between notebook and museum if fairly even with some shots having time priority to others. It will also be a fairly short intro, roughly1 minute, 5 seconds.
Alright so continuing on from last weeks decision to use marble busts I have been working during the beginning of this week on creating all five busts and the museum using Mudbox and Cinema 4D combined. I have a free reference images as well as images I have done myself to try and get a feel for what the museum should look like, after all what would the artefacts be without a proper display? so really this requires as much time as everything else. At the end of last week I had begun work on one type of museum. Now, after looking at more images I have a better direction to go in.
I also have 3 of the 5 busts complete ( though a bit of refining will need to be done before the end ) which I will use to create short animation to give the other members of the group something to work on when creating the sketch book.
here are the busts as they stand now, taking up to a few hours each:
i know the likeness isn't great right now but i hope to modify them before the final production. Also the sculptor may not have been able to create life-like pieces.
here are some primary images of the museum:
this is the older version
this is the updated, newer version
I hope to begin animating these at latest, monday next week.
We have chosen to represent the film gladiator using busts reminiscent of the time to portray the main characters in an heroic style. We will combine this with the writings and drawings of a sketch book from a sculptor at the time. We want to create a slow and atmospheric feel to the sequence.
Technique and approach:
For the busts we will use 3D modelling software, both Mudbox and Cinema. We will animate these with as series of sweeping, dramatic shots. We will create the sketchbook using use ink and watercolour for the drawing and animations which be created using stop motion, and calligraphy for the writings. We will merge these together along with old paper made using teabags in Photoshop.
We will cut and wipe between the two using After Effects.
MoodBoard:
1. Leather bound book with engravings which we hope our book at the end of the sequence will resemble.
2. Another example of the book. This is the style we want for the interior of it.
3. This is the style of bust we have modelled ours on using similar poses and textures.
4. This is a similar image to what we want to start off the sequence with.
5. This is a more detailed image of the bust similar to those that we want to create. The orange tint to the marble matches our colour scheme.
6. this is an arrangement similar to the one we want for the busts in our project.
7-9. The images by Rodin found in his sketchbooks are along the kind of style we want to create in ours.
10. This is an experimental mock-up of our roman museum.
11.The outro. to Sherlock Holmes boasts the same colour scheme and a similar style to what we want in our intro.
Music:
the music we have chosen for it is calm, atmospheric and anthemic produced using orchestral instruments. It has a good flow and should work well with the overall feel of the sequence.
Sequence:
Shot 1:
slightly oblique shot of an old book sitting on a table.angle narrows and book opens. a page with a drawing of an old museum opens and the camera slowly zooms towards it.
Shot 2:
The drawing becomes the modelled, realistic museum portrayed while the page disappears (fades) around it. a slow zoom continues.
Shot 3:
The camera slowly pans towards the left till it reaches a head-on view of Maximus (Russell Crowe).
It stops briefly then continues until it shows the right hand side of the bust.
Shot 4:
A drawing forms around the sculpture , it then turns into part of the image whilst a page from the sketchbook forms.
Shot 5:
Page flips, animated scenes of maximus fighting and praying form with small analytical sketches scattered around the rest of the page.
Shot 6:
A stream of red ink runs down the page and falls off the edge of the book. This drop falls, hits off of a bust and scatters to reveal old Ceasars bust.
Shot 7:
Camera looks up towards the statue at an oblique lower angle. It slowly moves up until it is level with the centre of his face.
Shot 8:
Another drop of ink falls from this scene as it melts and splashes as it hits another page.
Shot 9:
An animation of him speaking to Maximus appears from the ink. Page flips to a drawing of the king.
Shot 10:
A page peals/falls out of the book. It flows downwards and flies past the screen, covering it. The page leaves the scene and the bust of Lucilla is revealed.
Shot 11:
A head on shot slowly zooms in and focuses on her brooch.
Shot 12:
The brooch turns into a drawing whilst a page builds up around it.
Shot 13:
Key scenes become animated and analytical drawings appear on the next couple of pages.
Shot 14:
A page turns over and reveals a zoomed in part of Juba. Slowly it zooms out so the camera is looking up towards him.
Shot 15:
A drop of ink hits the bust and runs down it until it drips off and splashes on the camera. The camera zooms out of the black fill which is some typography.
Shot 16:
Images and animations of Juba occur on the next couple of pages.
Shot 17:
The page burns out from the bottom right corner to reveal a poorly lit bust of commodus at the back of the museum.
Shot 18:
The lighting increases as smoke enters the screen from the bottom and fills the screen.
Shot 19:
Smoke clears to reveal the last page with an animation of him with his thumb down.
Shot 20:
Book closes to reveal the word 'Gladiator' on the originally blank cover.
For the next part of the project we shall be creating a sculptors notebook, this is drawn from the idea of creating busts of the main characters. Within this notebook will be animations, sketches and typography relating to the film bringing in the names of the studios, directors etc... The animations will possibly be rotoscoped from movements and actions me and jack make then done in a style similar to that of Auguste Rodin's sketch books using watercolour and ink.
I have taken references from many of his works to use as an influence when creating these sketches.
Smaller, simpler images will also features throughout the book.
We have already created old-looking paper which we will use as a basis for drawing onto.
this is an image i found that has roughly the same style we are trying to acheive
Following on from yesterdays blog I have some more pictures of the research that took place last week/ early this week involving ink experiments, clay modelling and charcoal.
With the ink we wanted to see how it spreads on/in different mediums such as paper and water. We also chose different amounts of liquid to see how if interacts with it.
This week we decided that we should use busts of the main characters to give them and introduction. Initially we have made them from modelling clay and we'll try to translate these onto the computer in the programme 'mud'.
After easter we were given a new brief: to create a film title sequence. From a given list of films me and my two assigned teammates Jack Browne and Clodagh Cahill, chose to do the film Gladiator by Ridley Scott. The reason we chose this was because we thought it had alot to offer with lots of textures such as the sand of the arenas, the rust of the warriors armour and the mud of the battlefield. As well as this there is also the abundance of ancient roman artefacts which can be incorporated into the sequence.
With this as a base we each through up ideas as to what we could do in the 'experimentation fortnight' where we are allowed to experiment as much as possible with new materials to use in our final production.
From this we gathered materials. This was mainly between me and Jack where we got things such as ink, spray paint, rusted metal, glass and sandpaper etc.. then we decided to do some experiment, some of the main things we did included making old tapestry-like paper using teabags and rust which will become maps of rome, and experimenting with ink drops in water. Jack also built a cardboard house which we burnt in reflection to Maximus' house being burnt in the film. Throughout this week I was mainly in charge of documenting everything we did through film and ink although some has to be redone using blue screens as these initial ideas were only very rough.
Following on from this week and a tutorial with one of our tutors, we agreed that although we shouldn't have a storyboard, we should have an inclining into what role our experiments will have within the sequence. So, we came up with one of the main portions of the animation which was character introduction where we will have each of the main characters as a bust such as the ones featured throughout the film. It is unknown yet how we will definitely do it but we are experimenting with modelling clay with a view to making them on a 3D modelling software.
we will look later on in the week as to what else will happen within the sequence and how to introduce the fire/maps as well as the names of the directors etc...
here are some of the videos of what we have done so far:
I will upload more experiments tomorrow when I have them off my memory card
