Major Project: Pre-Vis Progress - Scene's One and Two

This is the current progress of my revised pre-vis. 

I had intended for it to be more or less complete by this point, although unfortunately, thanks to my fussy approach to cinematography, it is taking longer than expected.

The next scene to pre-vis is the montage of actions, although I am considering an alternate technique that should help economise time and achieve the same results.

As they are all close up, intricate shots of Franklin's hands, I may shoot this portion live action, using my, or somebody else's, hands to achieve the shots required.

This will be determined after tomorrow's tutorial.

Major Project: Revised Pre-Vis Scene One

This is the first scene of my revised pre-vis. 

Compared to the original, the character interaction is considerably less comedic, opting to play it straight throughout. 

The cinematography has been carefully considered, in an attempt to adhere to traditional film making conventions. This not only gives the animation a natural feel, but also reflects the cinematic techniques used at the time the animation is set. Some of the more extreme shots feel a little out place as a result of this, although this may work in favour of the intended tone. 

There is currently no use of accompanying music, although I'm not sure whether this scene requires it.

Major Project: Environment Development - Hallway

Since my last post, I've been developing the various environments. 

Initially, I was planning on designing all three environments together, then modelling them. However, being that the hallway is a noticeably simpler than the Street and Cellar environments, I've chosen to model this environment ahead of schedule. This gives me a little more time to work on the more substantial scenes.

Below is a small selection of the various reference images used to inform the appearance of the Hallway environment, as well as a general 1970s colour palette used as a jumping off point.

Selected Reference Images

I found myself struggling to design the environments on paper before moving into 3D, so I've been developing and modelling the setting simultaneously. Sketching out thumbnails of various elements on paper, then constructing simple scale models of them in the Maya scene to determine how they fit within the scene. 

Selected Thumbnails for Hallway

I fabricated a loose concept painting to inform the tone and use of colour of the environment. The detail is scarce, but detail was not the point of the painting.

Hallway Tonal Concept Painting

This is the current modelling progress of the environment. The various components need to be polished, although the key elements such as door placement and correct environment scale are in place.

Modelling Progress - Right Wall Collapsed

As you can see, the wainscoting reaches up the stairs, whilst the cellar door is surrounded by traditional floor to ceiling wood panelling. 

Modelling Progress - Left Wall Collapsed

Environment Staged

The scale of the environment is demonstrated below with the Franklin and Delivery Man character models.

Environment Staged, with Reference Character Models