I was reading an interview of director Joseph Kosinski. One answer that stuck with me was one where he was asked what software he use the most for his visual effects shorts, he answered Microsoft Word. He then proceed to talk more the importance of writing and re-writing the treatment for the piece and how that is the most important thing about his work.
The very concept of writing a treatment is foregin to me, the first treatment I've ever written was for my thesis, the process itself was frustrating. My work is very spontaneous, most of my pieces were conceived and completed within a very short time frame. It's part of the reason why I love live visuals so much, you built a basic set of visuals on a style/theme/color and the execution is pure improve, creating on the fly, there something very pure about it, it's like painting*.
The idea of spending 16 weeks on a piece, where the concept and executions are pretty much locked in three weeks into the process feels very odd to me. Having to commit to so much creatively at such an early phase of a project is very new and quite uncomfortable.
I'm looking at my rough animatic right now, it feels good, I like where it's going but I can't help but feel like I'm locked into something that come March, I could completely hate. But I understand it's part of the process to making something more than an half baked animation
I really should be tweaking on my animatic right now, but instead I'm writing this, while watching the Kosinski's work. There's something very compelling about his work that I can't put a finger on, there something very subtle in the details that keeps me thinking about his work, I'd love to read the treatments for his pieces, maybe it'll shed some light into understanding his work. Maybe it'll convince me that committing to a concept and aesthetics will make me a better artist.
*not that I'd know since I've never even held a canvas...
So far today consists mostly of me cursing at my computer in both English and Cantonese. Taking the advise of my classmates, I've started simplifying many of the technical aspects of my thesis, not that it's actually really helping that much. Trying to get the global illumination settings to just caused more heartbreaks, right now I have a very ugly looking scene with little else redeeming about it.
Getting deeper into the research phase of my thesis, I found the amount of time I spend on Wikipedia have increased dramatically. To streamline my and organize research, I've started using Pathway, which I now really can't work without. The best thing about it is how it in essence logs my thought process, I can begin researching on a subject, get completely A.D.D. and decide to go off and build a transistor radio. I can save the research tree I've thus far, build said radio, come back later and be able to look at the research tree, figure out what I was looking at, how I ended up there and then continue with my research. Once I start writing the paper, all my saved pathways are going to really help me formulate my paper.
In some ways, I found it rather odd that I've worked as an animator, called myself an animator but never really actually understood how to animate. First off I've never actually studied, learn or researched animation techniques, whether it was Flash, AfterEffects or Maya. I stuck to what I've figured out in Flash and did everything solely fixed key frame based. In terms of motion graphics, that technique carried over well. Since at the time I started as an AFX animator the "Flash Look" was in, the blunt, abrupt, cutty style worked and generally for most title and type work that still holds true.
The challenge came when I started working with virtual cameras where I actually have to create smooth animation that doesn't look like someone just kicked the camera half way through a push. So moving away from keyframes, I've been really trying to get a hang of animating with curves. It's different and difficult to visualize as how a curve on a graph relates to speed and movement in space. Practice, practice, practice...
Scene one camera move test.
Lately I've been trying to visualize just what it'd look like if we can shoot motion picture with a Holga. I'm sure it'd be like shooting with an old beat up 8mm, but I really wonder just how the combo of the plastic lense, light leak, loose tracking will create. I really want to see if it's actually possible to built one.
For the time being I went into AFX and threw together what I hope would could be what a motion Holga would look like. I've definitely been really interested in the look of light leaks, how the red adds a level of dimension to the frame. I've definitely been playing with the idea of using the light leak as a design element for the thesis. Not really sure if that'd happen, but I can really see how that'd make an interesting transition device.
Beyond all of the obvious Bladerunner and Brian Wood graphic novel references (which I'll get to later), I want to start my reference material discussion with the work by Edward Burtynsky, more specifically his China series.
My first exposure to his work was at his show at the Brooklyn Museum, I became quite emotional after seeing pictures of the towns that were being torn down to make way for the Three Gorges Dam. I personally don’t remember ever becoming emotional after seeing a piece of art work, (there were unsubstantiated reports of me crying during the ending scene of E.T. but I’m pretty sure my mom was imagining things.) and for awhile I didn’t quite understand why those pictures affected me so much.
Only after reading more about the project and looking at the photos again did I start to understand the reason I felt so emotional about these photos was because of how helpless these photos made me feel. Seeing huge parts of my country’s history purposely being destroyed and literally put under water in the name of progress, one can’t help but feel a massive sense of loss.
I began thinking about China’s manic urge to reinvent itself based on western ideals, where material gain is seen as the key to fulfillment and joy. As such development will lead my country to one that is about mass consumerism, one have to question what will become of the country when this transformation is complete. Will the people see through the hollow promise of fulfillment and joy mass consumerism brings? Or is the development of the dam and the demolition of the cities the signs that the population have already accepted the promise and are now simply participants in the degradation of their culture and their minds?
Statement
A CG narrative short exploring the suppression of one’s individuality via commercial manipulation.
Synopsis
In this commercialized society, the corporate message dominates the social and cultural landscape. Through repetition, the message of conformity slowly manipulates it’s population into submission. The individual no longer exists, they only serve to carry out their prescribed tasks. The successfulness of the message is such that, it’s population becomes willing participants in their very own suppression. Stripped of their individuality, their aspirations is to become the message itself. Does the population become wise to the messages that manipulates them? More importantly, do they care?
This is a visual narrative that explores such an environment. Via a virtual fly through of a media saturated metropolitan city created in 3D. The narrative begins in an apartment, showing a very neat and organized room, the camera then guides the viewer through a window, revealing the city outside that is visually bright and intense, full of commercials and messages. The camera explores parts of the city in more details, the viewer is introduced to countless advertisement featuring one person. As the exploration extends further, more images of this person appears, on posters, on billboards, on televisions, on magazines, his image is inescapable, establishing that he has attained a status beyond the common person. The camera continues, moving past the glitz and glamor of the signs and billboards and down a back ally, at the end of which is a door. The camera travels through the door, into a large indoor space filled with rows of people producing goods. The camera continues into the space, closing in on one worker, he looks up revealing that he is the same person as the person in the images the viewers saw around the city.
This piece is about the lost of identity, it’s about forgetting who we are. Where in our rush to succeed and to improve according to structured paths, we are forgetting about ourselves. When we are told happiness can be purchased, when fame becomes the ultimate pursuit, beyond all of that, what is left of the person at the end of it all.
Statement (Rough 09-13-06)A CG digital short exploreing societies' obsession in fame and the realities behind the advertised image, via a fly through of a media saturated metropolitan city using computer generated and live action elements.
Synopsis (Rough 09-13-06)The corporate message dominates the social and cultural landscape, in a media saturated society, the message bombards it’s population into submission. They tell you what to think, and how to act. They say your unbridled trust in the message is the only way to salvation, truth and happiness.
They offer you a role-model, they show you what success is, they say aspire to be like this person and all your hopes and dreams will come true. You will be rich, beautiful and free.
The population submits to the advertised image, their obsession on fame distracts them from the truth.
Amidst the loud, colorful and powerful images lies the reality of the message. But their apathy will keep them sedated and their thoughts under control.
keywords:
Media saturated society
Corporate controlled
Police state
use of media to control
keep people happy
sedated
fame vs identity apathy
obsession on fame vs reality of the advertised image
Semester two: Lighting & Rendering 1 / Maya 2
Project: Thesis concept
I combined the final projects for two different class into one. Since both the maya 2 and lighting and rendering class final was to create a scene in 3D that is textured and lit in a photo real manner. I decided to spend my time on creating one refined project rather than two rushed ones. The maya 2 requirement stated that I needed to model the scene as well, to I took this opportunity to build models where they can be reused for my thesis as well.
Modeling for this project is based on a photo I took in Wan Chai, Hong Kong. The initial plan of this project was to project the image onto the model as the texture. But I quickly realized the angle of the shot and the lack of detail in the image made this approach unfeasible. Plus the lighting condition in which the photo was shot created a lot of shadows and uneven lighting.
Since I didn't have to actually match the buildings brick for brick, I took a lot of liberties in reinterpreting many of the details. On that note, I feel that I might have worked in a little too much detail for what I was actually using it for.
Approaching the texturing using procedural texturing proofed to be the right move as I was able to quickly repurpose textures for different use. All three buildings in this scene used the same basic building texture. The glass texture for the windows was the most difficult texture of the whole group to get right, it took quite a few different tries for me to arrive at the one I used. For my thesis, I will choose to not work with a transparent texture as that in itself creates a lot more work to deal with interior details.
Of the many difficulty I encountered with this project, rendering times was one where I could have worked harder to reduce and it is something I really should research further for my thesis. One of the key reason for the long render times was the fact that rendered with ray tracing using Mental Ray, I chose ray tracing rather than rendering straight with maya software was mostly due to the amount of reflective windows in this project. I tried a few different textures and had a really hard time making the windows look like glass without ray tracing. This I can also say was partly due to time limitation, as the modeling phase took longer than I'd have liked.
This project is a good test run for my thesis, I'll most likely still render in Mental Ray, I might have to rethink my wish to produce this project in 1080p or even 720p. I want the size, but just don't think I can pull that off within the timeframe and equipment access I'll have.
