29/04/13 Bus Stop and Cityscape

This weekend I set about creating our city backdrop.

This is just a small selection of the buildings I've made. I'm hopijng that we'll have more than we need so we can place some further behind and create a nice depth of field. The buildings are glued together in sets of 4-8. This way the skyline will be easily customizable so that we don't have to be repeating backdrops when we change shots.


I also built a wee bus stop set piece.

In this photo I was trying to see what it would look like in the shot we have planned. Looks good. yep.

Continuing to Make the Set

TOday, I've been continuing to create the set. Though thankfully we have a direction now. Our storyboard/ treatment file is ready so all we have to do now is dive in and create our wee universe!

Today I focused on 2 set pieces for our sequence that will swith up the perspective to break the title up a little. The first is a shop window. THe camera will be inside thyis window and Wall-E will pass by on the outside.

I glued a piece of aceteate to the back for a window. But I then decided that wasn't enough. I dragged it across tthe ground to make it look worn.

I then decided to add in shelves to obscure the view more.


Once this was done I got to work on the other change in perspective, which will actually give us a look through Wall-E's eyes. As we see with his eyes, he will be picking up a few objects with credits on them. It took me a few attempts to get it right. Most were too big to make any difference in the view. Others weren't true to the film. I got it in the end though.

This piece mounts onto the lens. 

This, though accurate of Wall-E's eyes, aren't what he actually  sees.

This was also inaccurate of his visor.

This is the visor that will be used! It's [sort of] digitalized  and it's got the correct shape.




Treatment File

Concept

We decided to create a prologue so as to contrast the epilogue title sequence of the actual film. We want to communicate Wall-E’s intrigue and interest in the world around. To show his human-like actions and personality in comparison to the lifeless machines he originated from. In essence we wanted to show the existance of Wall-e's soul.

 

Technique & Approach

We want to create a home-made look for our title sequence. We’ll achieve this by using everyday objects and materials that could usually be considered rubbish. We will be using a fixed camera angle with a possible pan/ zoom to break it up. The background will be moved across the view of the camera with the character[s] moving independently as puppets.

Aesthetic/ Mood Board



This depicts a decaying city, similar to the setting we wish to use. Rusty, broken and generally brown. 

Signage and graffitti are a big part of our title sequence as it's using these we will incorporate the credits seemlessly into the enviroment.



This photo actually gives off a methodical working mood.

 

 This is a large city created using cardboard, though we will be using less detail, this really gives the homemade look we're striving for.

 

 

 Puppetry has been a big source of inspiration but especially shadow puppetry, with static characters being moved around the screen via sticks.

While these are much brighter than how we want they have interesting and original character design.

 We looked at these images mostly for their use of type. The first being taken straight from the film, the second being posters created by Pixar. We are going fo a 50s style of printing that is present in the film.

 

Audio

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj0IWPF4gUo
This is close to what we want to use. We want to use blues as it's a symbol of the hardships African Americans went through in the early 1900s which reflects the way in which the Wall-Es were left to clear the mess of humans.

 

Sequence of Events/ Shot list

1) Large group if Wall-Estravel down road. Majority of group sticks together, Wall-E splits off.

2)Once he breaks away Wall-E stops, looks up at the bill board continues.

3)Cotinues passes road sign with producer credit.

4)Shot from inside a shop window, credit of screenplay on evacuation poster. Wall-E passes in background out of focus.

5)More zoomed in than usual, camera pans along with Wall-E slowly revealing the original story credit on the shop signs.

6)Wall-e passes shop named Editing, with a banner saying "Stephen Shaffer in Store Today". Camera stops at Editing but Wall-e continues off screen.

7)Wall-e picks up broken stereo, brand name is "Music" with "Property of Thomas Newman" sticker. Flips box to show credit.

8) First person view of looking through camera for cinametography credit.

9)CLose up as Wall-E's body with Ben Burt as Wall-E (using the brand Wall-E Mark)

10)Wall-E moving away from camera poster ofEve robot on side of bus stop giving way to a pile of rubble and then the electronic sign with Shelby Fortwright appears from behind this.

11)Continues travelling away from camera and Wall-E title appears on bill board to the left. Camera stops Wall-E continues, cock roach follows behind him without him realizing.

 

 

Building with Cardboard

We decided that we needed 2 specific buildings for the background that will be integrated into the opening credits. The 2 writers responsible for the original story are Andrew Stanton and Pete Docter, so we decided to have a bit of a play on words with Docter by putting his name on a sign for a pharmacy/ doctors office. Stanton's credit will be put over a bookstore. Since I'm in charge of creating a set right now it was my responsibility to create these buildings. Both are created using the cardboard from a pizza box. I really enjoyed making these. Made me appreciate the flexibility and versatility of the material.

I also tried to burn the buildings slightly to give them the ruined look. I like how the cardboard looks without any paint or treatment. The signs haven't been added yet as the type isn't my job right now. 

I'm particularly proud of the curve on this door . Loved discovering it could be manipulated like that.

I've been trying to get a hold of a (sort of) pen I was told about that would allow me to carve into styrofoam/ sponge so I can make a few buildings that way. But no luck. Sad times.

Contextual Project 2

Again, just a bit of video research looking at the recent history of puppetry. For some reason I'm really being drawn to Captain Pugwash! I'm sitting here watching video after video.

It was suggested to me that I look at where puppetry cam from so I can see where to take it next.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwzVjsu9XvM  Everything on screen (in that link) are cardboard cut outs filmed in live action.

And of course the most classic of all puppetry shows Thunderbirds! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfIAKj3Gl1E Don't know why I never watched it on telly when I was younger, it looks class! We'll have to decide soon before we start filming whether or not we want our strings/ sticks to show. It was kind of an iconic part of Thunderbirds' look that I would like to emulate.

Some Trial Videos

 

We tried a few shots of just moving Wall-e across the screen. All just trials, but we're probably going to try editing the video instead of having the 2 different angles change in real time.

The Story of a Square

This was the second project which I also forgot to upload... This was sort of part of a group project we all had to begin and end a 10 second animation with a black square 250x250 pixels. What happened in between was completely up to the individual. I had no real intention of depicting what is basically a game of Jenga, it just sort of occurred naturally as I worked on the project. The most challenging part of this was getting the physics right! If one small thing was wrong there would be a little voice in the back of my head telling me so. It's still not perfect but I'm really delighted with it.

I'd like to explain the audio a little, as I was creating it I imagined a crowd of people shouting and screaming in response to the events on screen. But of course the only resource for a crowd I had were my friends who found it hard to do it without giggling, but I do thank Jack for screaming "FUCK" at the end. Really is the cherry on top for me!

I'd also like to add again that this is my tumblr. http://kulum.tumblr.com/ EVERYONE should follow there too :)

The Suspicious Cloud

The first animation I done did a while ago... Which I sort of forgot to upload (woops!)

Wall-e Title Sequence Project BEGINS!

This semester we're working in teams of 3 to make an opening title sequence to a variety of films. We chose to create one for the Pixar film Wall-e. I took on the task of gathering materials to experiment with. We are going to try and recreate some of the narrative from before the film began. Like showing Wall-e's work-a-day life before he found the plant or met Eve.
We're going to give it a homemade/ puppet style. This will be achieved by utilizing found objects like wood/ polystyrene/ metal/ plastic/ cardboard to create the backdrop and props. The characters and all moving objects will be simple stylistic versions of the well detailed originals and will be moved around the scene via sticks.
Here's a few pictures of the buildings I've made so far. These show the progression of how I created a cityscape from Coke cans, polystyrene and boxes and then went on to spray paint them black and ruin them a little. After all it is an apocalyptic future, they have to look a little shit.

The polystyrene buildings are my favouite so far. They easily allowed me to create a nice silhouette of a large, high city. And then when I needed to wreck them it came away in nice large chunks that seemed to form naturally as the knife went through it.