Bike Shop

The first proper sketch of how the bike shop might look

Mood boards

These are some quick boards I put together today to help establish the overall feeling I want from different parts of my story for my short film that I hope to produce as part of my honours project.

For the bike shop...

...the kitchen...

...and the house.

back to square one

Much of my weekend has been spent mulling over my ever changing honours project. I’ve been thinking about virtual reality (VR) and if it would be worthwhile researching how stage acting techniques and theatre production values are relevant in VR and stereo 3d (S3D). My main worry with this idea is that if I look too much a stage acting and stage production, rather than cinema and television production, I'm looking too much into an industry that I don’t have much interest in joining. I can certainly see the merit in the research and how it might be used by the industry. Recording or recreating stage plays in S3D or VR and distributing them in cinema’s across the county would be a great way to bring a different type of experience to the cinema. I can also see how I would be able to write my dissertation on this subject but I can’t help feeling that if I were to undertake this project I would end up being pulled in a direction that I’m reluctant to go in, simply because I don’t know much about theatre production. In many ways this project would three times more work than any of the other ideas I’ve had so far because it would have research three fields. Firstly I would have to learn about traditional stage techniques, secondly I’d have to research virtual reality and S3D within that context, and finally I’ve have to experiment how the first two areas could combine. I know that 4^th year should, and will, be a lot of work but that seems a little over the top!

One thing I would like to try is to gather people’s thoughts on why they go to see S3D in the cinema at all. This might prove to be a pointless survey with no discernable outcome, but I am still interested to see why people go and I think that there is a possibility that a quick study might reveal something that could really refine the ideas that I’m wrestling with at the moment. I was asking a friend how I might be able to do this online and he said it would be easy to set up a small poll so watch this space.

Research Questions?

Research Questions?

I had a fairly lengthy talk with my tutor Gregor White today about what i'm going to do as my honours project question. This is the result of the pitch session that I had last week that basically made me re-think my entire project, having done so I'm now having to re-think it again.

I spoke with Gregor about the prospect of doing some practice based research, which would involve looking at the differences in the way that animation is produced based on whether it is being produced in stereo 3d or not. Gregor wasn't too keen on this idea because it seems a little obvious that there are differences, but there are not that many of them, which would make for a pretty weak dissertation.

After discussing several avenues of investigation (including audience immersion with S3d and scene layout in S3d) Gregor suggested that I explore the uses of virtual reality. Specifically how one might be able to create a more theatrical experience with stereo 3d, in conjunction with virtual reality, than one is able to achieve with traditional film.

Although I like the idea of this, because it allows me to focus exclusively on the animation (I would not have to worry about backgrounds and other characters ), I can't help but feel that it's quite a departure from the personal goals I had for this year. Despite the advantages of doing this project I'm not sure that I would be totally satisfied with end result, knowing that I have not achieved what I set out to do at the start of the academic year.

I think I need to develop this idea over the weekend and consider how I might implement making a film (which is what I wanted to do originally) into the proposed subject area, thus forming a reasonable research question but with a level of personal satisfaction.

Exciting times!

Anaglyphic Stereo 3D Tests

I've just been playing around with the built-in stereoscopic camera rig in Maya 2011 and although I've not really researched how to use it properly within about 5 mins I was able to produce these images. I know that they are very far from perfect but it's pretty encouraging that even when I've just been playing around with the settings without really thinking I was able to produce this, so I'd say that it bodes pretty well for the rest of the project.

Ps. For those that don't know you'll need red and cyan 3d glasses to see the 3d. Using the ones that you get from the cinema won't work because that's a different type of 3D.

Facebook Movie

Went to see The Soical Network with some friends last night and I found it pretty inspirational. Although it's to do with the web I was still inspired that somebody could achieve that much from his dorm room.

Post-Pitch

There wasn't a great response to my project aim during last week’s pitch. My idea of analysing audience response to 3d and non-3d was deemed to be an impossible honours project.

My lecturers thought that to attempt to analyse audience response would be difficult and doubted that I would be able to glean anything useful from any data I might have been able to gather. Another general comment was that I had not really considered what a test audience might expect from 3d. It was pointed out to me that the general public have a preconception about what 3d should be, many 3d movie goers expects a certain amount of “pop-out” 3d that you get with 3d thrill rides. My lecturers pointed out that most well received 3d movies are like the thrill rides audiences expect, Polar Express and Avatar are, too an extent, like rides. The story in each film won’t blow an audience away, it's more about the visuals and the thrill provided by the 3d in these films that keeps consumers happy. If my film did not have the same level of “pop-out” 3d then an audience might not be able to assess their own thoughts on the 3d effect because they did not get what they expected.

So think means that I really have to take a bit of a step backwards and think about how I can do a stereo 3d honours project that can still work academically.

Despite having to back-pedal a bit I did get quite a few good suggestions from the lecturers that were at my pitch. I think the main one I want to take forward is Robin's suggestion that I should look at practice based research. Robin suggested that I look into how practice changes based on a different type of medium. The problem here though is that it seems like it might be a little light for an honours project, however it is no doubt a lot easier to research and study.

Lynn also suggested a slightly different approach; that I look into the way that cinematography changes when you are using 3d. Although i think that this would make an interesting research question but I am not really interested in this particular field of study at this time. I feel that following up on Robin’s suggestion of analysing changes in production practice might put me in a better position when it comes to finding a job within the industry.

As a result of all of this I have come up with two different approaches to stereo 3d and how I might study 3d in more depth:

1. "How does the production pipeline for cgi animation change when stereoscopic 3d is being used?"

2. "How can Stereoscopic 3d help animators convey the particular thoughts and/of feelings of a character?"

I intend this week to decide upon where my final piece of work might be shown and how it might be shown. It was suggested that I decide upon a location or medium during my pitch, based on previous students attempts to organise this at the last minute. I was aware of this myself anyway after continuing my research with “3d Movie Making” which points out the necessity to cater 3d effects to the screen that the film will be shown upon. I also need to research within the Uni what type of 3d they will be able to provide resources for, as there are many different types of 3d and each require a slightly different approach.

Pitch Week

Pitch week started well. the 1st to 3rd years all had some good idea about what they want to achieve this semester which made my job a bit easier, didn't have to tell anyone off for not doing any work :)

The open day presentations went well yesterday, despite me turning up at the wrong time! All our presentations went well with no major hic-ups.

And now to the important one: my 4th year pitch, where I have to lay my ideas bare to be scrutinised by the lecturers. Actually that probably wan't very fair, it's not that bad. However it is a little nerve racking to have to really try and pin down your project aim into a few slides. It is however inevitable beacsue at some point i was always going to have to finalise my idea, so hear it is.

Aim:

• To evaluate the impact of Stereoscopic 3D on an audience's empathy with an on screen character.

Objectives:

• To make a short animation that can be used to gather data about audience response to Stereo 3D vs 2D
• To create a questionnaire that will allow data to be gathered about audience response towards each medium
• To identify the best market that 3D can be aimed at.

So that's what I've got so far, although I suspect that these will change after my pitch session.

In the mean time I'll leave you with Afli the character for my short

The start of something big

A very early draft of the storyboard for my honours project animation, excuse the poor drawing but as i say it's 1st draft so i have no intention of spending hours drawing it

Great Fall

random i know but i guess it count's as research, one of the best comedy falls :)

Reading List

I thought I'd keep an up to date reading list, mainly for myself so that I can remember which books I've looked at etc.

Stereoscopic Cinema and the Origins of 3-D Film, 1838-1952

3D Movie Making: Stereoscopic Digital Cinema from Script to Screen

Visualizing Research: A Guide To The Research Process In Art And Design

Prepare to Board! Creating Story and Characters for Animated Features and Shorts

Your Career in Animation: How to Survive and Thrive

Learning Autodesk Maya 2008, (Official Autodesk Training Guide, includes DVD): The Modeling & Animation Handbook

Learning Autodesk Maya 2008: The Special Effects Handbook

Advanced Maya Texturing and Lighting

PAPER DREAMS: THE ART AND ARTISTS OF DISNEY STORYBOARDS

The Animator's Survival Kit: A Manual of Methods, Principles, and Formulas for Classical, Computer, Games, Stop Motion, and Internet Animators

John Howe Fantasy Art Workshop

Street World: Urban Culture and Art from Five Continents