Inspiration for Idea

The idea I had for this project came from my experience of watching many science fiction films or films with CGI visual effects. I do love the science fiction genre and has always been an interest for me from a very young age. I suppose watching youtube videos of film footage where someone has added some sort of CG element to it has also inspired me to come up with an idea such as this. Having said that this idea was rather spontaneous and I just thought it might be interesting to create a craft of some kind and animate it within a movie clip. The initial idea was that I wanted to create something funny and anachronistic in as far as futuristic technology found in a film set in the early american cowboy era.

Research for Film Clips

I have looked at various films for this project so that I can attempt to include my own visual effects within certain shots within a clip from the film. Such films include 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Starship Troopers (1997) and Open Range (2003).

2001: A Space Odyssey

I wanted to look at this film as it had many great locked off static camera shots that lasted for a long duration. This film is visually stunning and maybe a great opportunity to animate something within a chosen scene.

Starship Troopers

I looked at this movie as this film has potential in as far as animating an object within its footage. I was thinking of adding perhaps my own bug design or introduce some more federation cruisers to make the scenes seem even more epic.

For this idea I wanted to introduce some ultra futuristic technology and 3D flying craft to create a strong contrast between old and new. I thought it might be amusing that technologically advanced vehicles would be flying over the heads of cowboys.

Planning

First I have to establish what film clip I shall use. I obviously want to try to find a clip which is steady or static so as to provide a good matte base. I also need to make sure that there are minimal obstacles or characters obstructing a potential pathway for animated objects/ characters and locations for buildings/ props.

I have decided I will try to model buildings for the background and animate objects either floating or flying in the background. I shall keep it simple and make sure I understand the principles and skills needed to make these 3D creations look as though they belong within the film clip. Paying particular attention to lighting. I must do all that I can to make it as slick and as professional as possible.

I want to either emphasize a contrast between Old & New, or develop something quite comical or produce something visually interesting.

Schedule

Below is the project schedule I created. This will be invaluable to my time management. It will inform me of what tasks need completing and how much time during a week should be allocated to a specific task. Understanding how a schedule works early on will be extremely useful, as many schedules such as this are used frequently in the Film and Game industry.

Timetable

Below is an example of my understanding of time management. I created a timetable for myself for this project so that I could manage my time effectively week by week. This timetable is a guideline to inform me of what tasks need doing and when they need to be completed by. It also helps me to formulate a plan of action and make myself aware of time constraints and important events such as assessments and upcoming deadlines. This timetable will keep me on top of the workload and should in theory prevent me from lagging behind with certain tasks.

Project Brief

The purpose of this project is to build upon student's existing animation and compositing skills. The project will also help to plan and execute a project in a productive manner, thus enabling students to learn to manage their time within the time constraints of this current project and future projects. This project will also help to improve both animation and modeling skills so that students can show off their skills in an interesting an d engaging way.

We have been instructed to create a short sequence, mixing live action with Maya derived animation or props and buildings.