May 12 - 18 May: Weta Presentation Feedback

 May 12 - 18 May: Weta Presentation Feedback - Things to change, adapt and improve 


Overview

On May 11, Jack, Mona and I gave our first presentation about our respective projects. All the presentations went fairly well and we all got very good feedback on our ideas and projects. Now the aim is to review the feedback we were given, continue with the research and start implementing the feedback and research into a concept art process. 

Most of the feedback I received encouraged me to push the work a bit farther, past the stereotypical Victorian steampunk aesthetic and try make something new.


Feedback 

  • How can you make steampunk new? It has been done before, so why would an audience want to watch it rather than an old IP? What is the hook?
  • Break down steampunk? What makes it a genre? How can you use that? How can you change that?
  • Give and take: societal values - How can they change and flux? How do they develop? Why might someone hold a set of values to begin with? 
  • How would a culture without a strong environmental leaning view your film? How would you get them to watch? How will you get the message to them?
  • Look at your target audience to decide on animation styling. Who are you making this for? That should influence your stylistic decisions.
  • Steampunk - Don't just look at Victorian England, the whole world had an industrial revolution in some form or another. Look at other sources of inspiration for cool imagery and design. Play with both time period and location.
  • Why do the City states (Shliwyd) and the Miran hate each other? What are their cultural clashes?
  • Decide on how the fuel works, how is it produced and how it is "burned". This will inform your design.
  • Look into cultural pillars. Who lives in this societies? What values do they have and what do they believe in? What is their history and where did they come from? This should inform their design.

Ideas and changes

  • The Fuamh eat the crystals, important part of the ecosystem. Crystals are like magic radioactive weeds that explode.
  • The Fuamh is actually the core of the giant creatures, that is what is used as a fuel source? Build the Fuamh out of the environment AROUND the core, gathering materials from its environment.
  • Aim the key scenes around the "Lowest lows and the highest highs, or the everyday life scenes"
  • Think about how the Fuamh eat. Their made of earth, so they don't need organs and guts.
  • Don't just think the Miran can live ON TOP of the Fuamh, can they live inside it or on it's sides?
  • Opening scene that sets up the Fuamh as something to be feared and hated. Put the audience in the main characters view so the characters journey can mirror the audience.

References suggested

  • Priest (Movie)
  • Tales from the loop
  • The Monster calls
  • Clockwork design for machines
  • Flying machine designs and concepts

To do list

  • Continue research reading (Monsters, Poaching, Retro science fiction)
  • Look into other industrial revolutions and other cultures, look for some good design influences to push the design away from stereotypical steampunk.
  • Make some story decisions to push the design. How big is a Fuamh core, how is it used as fuel, Etc.
  • Map out the five man bands personal character arcs, how you they change and evolve over the story.
  • Look into references mentioned above
  • Start producing concept art based on the previous task and research

Fuamh 3D concept Process idea - Blender 

  • Create a sphere, give it a color texture and name it "CORE"
  • Create several other objects, these many change based on the region the Fuamh is meant to come from.
  • Use the GREASE PENCIL to cut up all none "CORE" objects, creating new geometry.
  • Turn cut objects into weighted objects and allow them to settle on a flat surface
  • Fix new cut objects out of physics and remove effect
  • Move, rotate and scale new pieces as needed to create a base reference form
  • Add lighting and texture
  • Take rendered screenshots of reference model
  • Export as PNG or JPEG
  • Import pictures in Photoshop
  • Paint over reference made in blender
  • Add texture and details as needed


Design thinking

  • Shliwyd
    • Wealthy trading city -What real world aestheic did trade cities have?
    • Sea and mountain bound city - Ships, nets, gold and stone motifs - Hard straight and orderly - Scandinavia?
    • Wealthy vs the working class - Mountain vs the sea
    • Mountain cities - Machi Picchu, Annecy
    • Other city examples - Amsterdam
    • Agriculture - Andens

Get Paul to reveal his map making secrets!!!

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