Visual Effects

UFO/ Flying Saucer Sketches & Concepts (Designs)

Here are the final drawings of the Flying Saucer. I wanted the design to be simple yet stylish and slick. I wanted the design to resemble the classic UFO concept but with be incorporated with my own design. I wanted the UFO to be chrome and reflective so that its surroundings will be reflected on its surface.

These were my initial quick sketches of my UFO design. As you can see I took the simplistic design approach, and I pretty much knew what I wanted in terms of design as soon as I had carried out a little research.

UFO Design Research

The images below were found on the internet. I found these images in particular especially interesting in terms of design and shape.

The image above is of some kind of household appliance. It looks rather like a flying saucer too, it has a great shape and some cool details.

This image was great. The UFO depicted here also has an interesting design, subtle yet smart yet retaining the classic concept of the flying saucer.

The shapes above are really cool. The shapes are so simple yet interesting. Their form is defined by light more than anything else and no detail is present.

This is a 3D model made in 3DS Max. Again this design is interesting and is instead comprised of several key components adding to detail. However the overall shape is still true to the classic UFO concept.

Lighting Map

This is a little diagram of lighting positioning which I think Stanley Kubrick used as a setup for his shot in 2001. I may be completely wrong but I believe that he only used a couple of weak ambient lights to illuminate the ape. The rest of the lighting came from the matte painting/ background behind the character in the foreground. I shall use this as reference in conjunction with the original clip to create a basic lighting setup in order to light my 3D model effectively.

2001 Clip Boards (Plan of Animation)

Reason for choice of film clip.

I chose this particular scene as it is one of the longest locked off static camera shots of the film which has potential for including 3D animation over the top. The reason for this is because almost two thirds of the frame are completely unobstructed. There is plenty of blue sky for me to animate a UFO over the top and no tracking or masking is necessary. That way I can focus my attention to animating the UFO well. I also love the simple composition in the frame with the ape in the foreground and the vast expanse of a desert landscape in the background.

Analysis of Original film shot. I thought that the best way to incorporate a 3D model and animation was to first understand how Kubrick setup the shot, taking in to account the use of lighting and its direction as well as composition.

Quick sketch of UFO Flight Path

Firstly I wanted to map out a rough flight path that the UFO might follow. I decided I wanted the UFO to fly towards the centre of frame then turn to the left and out of shot. I did not want the UFO to simply fly in a straight line as this would have been uninteresting and would not have allowed for any interesting and effective animation.

Quick storyboards of UFO Flight Path.

Change of Plan

As I realised that tracking in Maya Live was going anywhere and I am now in the fourth week, I decided to scrap the Open Range idea and start completely from scratch with an entirely new idea. I decided to use the same film clip that my brother chose from 2001: a space odyssey because it was a perfect static camera shot which lasted for roughly thirty seconds. This shot provided a perfect opportunity to include some kind of 3D CG visual effects and animation. I wanted to make sure that I had something for the tutors to mark and I was worried that I would run out of time and not meet the deadline. I made a conscious decision to use a locked off shot which consequently needed no tracking as I could insert an airborne vehicle, and little or no masking was required. This meant that I could keep the project relatively simple and manageable yet still finish something that would look visually effective.

I decide that I would focus on the animation and the modeling process. My new idea would beto animate a massive low flying UFO within the 2001 film scene.

Problems Tracking

I have had real problems tracking using Maya Live. It seems everything that I have tried to do has failed and the tracking is always unsolvable. I have attempted to both add and remove tracking points. I realised that the problem was due to the fact that my tracking points were poor and were not defined enough from the rest of the movie clip. The other problem was, was the fact that there were simply not enough useful tracking points within the frame in the american planes landscape. I am really getting frustrated with Maya Live, I have been patient but now I am worried that I may not finish the project if I do not alter my plan of action. One way is that I could forget about using Maya Live, however this would mean that to make the animation half way decent I would have to key frame each 3D component to the camera shake of the camera. The other is to choose an entirely different scene from the film, however I discovered that not one shot is a static locked off shot. There is a final option which I am seriously considering. And that is to start entirely from scratch with a new idea and new film clip.