Making Helga

These are a few images of the modelling of Helga thus far. I've set the driven keys for the facial controls (bit easier than last time as she doesn't speak), and have almost completed the skeleton. Next comes the controllers and more driven keys, should get that all done tomorrow. I'm aiming to have her rig completed by the weekend, which will give me another week to complete the environments, and then a week after that to draw my 2D nurses ready to animate.

So basically well on schedule.

Only thing that might cause trouble is that I have to use gravity/physics on the skirt, which I haven't used before. I also need to use jiggle weights, which I've not done much of yet.

Testing Visual Treatments

Based on effects used in Death Proof and Planet Terror, and on lomography and polaroids that fade over time and become chemically deteriorated.

I really like the second one, and will use the effect of the reel slipping off the sprocket to make it look as though the film was shot on film stock and is being watched on a projector, as would have been the case with B-movies.

Making the Hospital

Just modeling the environments now. Think if I take my time with the lighting and everything it'll look really atmospheric and cool. Good job I've got ages to do this! Need to arrange a focus group or two for next week so I can show my work to my target audience and get their feedback. I've managed to set up a Facebook group to find out when people are free but so far not set a day.

Animatic is almost finished, just putting the soundtrack to it, should be done by the start of next week.

Here's the hospital so far.

Bit simple at the moment, needs equipment and side tables and stuff. But the proportions should all be right for the length the nurse needs to walk etc. And it has that Kubrik long corridor feeling, so it should look pretty good when I pull focus with the camera when tracking down it. I'll do some tests when I've got all the props in.

The floor will be checkered floor tiles too, which should look pretty trippy. I think for the walls I'll make some grungy textures in Photoshop that make the hospital look all run down and eery.

How Goes It?

It goes well.

Still no internet though.

Today we are having a crisis meeting because lots of people haven't done enough work. I hope I have. I think I have.

Before hand-in on Fri (unless we get our deadline extended) I still need to develop my zombie designs, finalise my environments and finish my animatic. Easy.

I've done all the rest of the animation bible, and it really feels like my character is real. Which is good, cos I feel I'll be able to animate her movements really well. I might make more sketches of key poses and make some diagrams showing progressive movements if our deadline does get extended. Would probably be useful. But in my head I know exactly how she'll behave so they're not essential.

Time to update my problem blog.

Paper Mario

Just thought, I could have a look at the 2D paper style in this game. I could play a 2D png sequence on an image plane with alpha channels and run the camera past it. This would make for quite an interesting effect on screen.

I also think I could maybe animate the same sequence but from the opposite side, to give a weird 2D/3D feel as the camera passes. Experiment time!

More Research...

This week I have been pondering labyrinths and perspective and camera tricks. I got a bit nostalgic and thought back to classic board games from my childhood that used maze-like concepts. These include Mouse Trap and Marble Run. I thought these structures would inspire my Hell Hospital design, as I want the floor to twist and turn and drop through different levels in space.

Also, spoke to Andy today about getting the floors to collapse away, and he mentioned a plugin for maya called Blast Code. I really want to practice with this as i reckon it'll increase the impact of the environment of the Hell Hospital.

I thought layered structures of tunnels like these would make interesting links between the hospital ward rooms as she passes through them. I will also use simple blendshapes such as the 'twist' deformer to deform the corridors.

Also, I would like to play with perspective, like in the kitchen scene from Gondry's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Here, he creates a confusing effect by creating oversized props and flaying with the focal length of his camera. I would like to produce a similar effect using hospital beds and equipment as I think this will help to confuse the viewer.

Sober.

So, lately I've been working on my sketchbook, figuring out key poses and stuff to really make the character believable.

Also, I've been storyboarding to music for the opening bit of the film, trying to match actions to the beat and that. Looks alright. Needs a bit of tweaking here and there before I draw up the final full colour one, but I'm pretty pleased with what I've got so far seeing as I've thought it through in my head A LOT since summer. The more difficult bit is going to be the bit in the hell hospital, because I've yet to design the set properly. I've got a test model at home which I can post when I've got the internet, but I don't really like it. I want to base it on the optical illusions of M.C.Escher, and I've been watching videos on Youtube of people's 3D models they've made of Ascending/Descending and Relativity, to see how they have created the illusions in 3D space. It's pretty clever actually, but it'll take some serious practice if I want to make my own. Still, I really think the neverending stairs would make for some pretty trippy viewing, and same for all the upside-down stairs and sideways doors and stuff. So I think I'll try and make something like that separately, see if I can do it ok, then plan out the layout including them (hopefully).

And then I'll be able to storyboard it.

In other news, my hard drive is still utterly broken so my work is still utterly lost. Which means the showreel is on hold. Hopefully the tutors have my work on disk from when I handed it in for deadlines. Otherwise I do have some stuff online which I can download, though it's already been compressed so sticking it back through AE would lower the quality even more, what with that effectively being the third compression :/

I need to start my problem blog! I'll do that now.