Week 10 - The Beginning of a Crucial Workflow period

This week, things have slowly commenced a steady progression although a few issues arose along the way. Rigging consultations were done and animations techniques were discussed on how it needs to be approached. A new "Crucial Week" Gantt chart was also made in line with the new extensions provided for us.

New Mock

The new mock shoot had been done, although we had to redo a couple of shots from the first take. I shared my feedback with my team mate wherever I saw issues and she reworked on them. I also provided video reference examples that I shot from my phone with my brother as guidance on how she can film the robot entrance shots.

With the added CGI and editing, the mock shoot was sent for approval on Wednesday. To our astonishment, the mock was already semi approved (as the final) with a few shots having some issues that could be redone. The biggest surprise to us was that it was "funny" to the audience in the way the actors performed and the story unfolded. This really helps us achieve our genre in the right way. We were concerned about this right from the start as we didn't think the genre was justified in the previous mock - guess things really do work out for the best!?

A translated script was also provided since it was best that the actors speak in their native language so as to be more expressive. This was done after they had filmed the shots, hence they were casual during the shoot and didn't read off a script.

However, the issue I found with this shot when editing was that the girl was facing her back to the camera and only the guy could be seen from side view. My suggestion was to have this scene done twice, one facing the guy and the other facing the girl character with over the shoulder camera placement.

Nonetheless, as I did some research into when and why ITS shots need to be done, I realised that I was wrong. Or in other words, this scene didnt require ots shots since the characters are "disconnected" from one another due to it be a quarrel scene between siblings. This video rightfully explains this with shot breakdowns from the TV series Westworld (2016).

StudioBinder (2019)

I still studied a bit more in depth (for my reference) on how to film dialogue shots, and here were some great video tutorial examples.

Film Riot (2019)

Ronin, M. (2016)

Rigging

Rigging consultations were done with Rashed this week. For my robot, I needed to work on a skeleton with IK chain in a slightly different format. The parent bone had to start from the wheel upwards. A demo was provided in the consultation. I also needed to fix my finger bones as it would need a hydraulic system to rig and function which would be incredibly complex with the design I had. Since we don't have much focus or animations with the fingers except for the fist bumps, I think I will remodel the fingers to make the rigging simpler. Other issues such as the ball joints on the legs had a slight displacement in position, which needs to be fixed before I start rigging. I'm hoping to be done with the rig as soon as possible to start with the animation and get my shots ready on time.

Animation Techniques

We were shown how to approach animation in the best and most efficient way used widely in the industry as well. It needs to be streamlined, and this is how to go about it.

1. Shoot has to be approved

2. Posing

3. Timing

Posing and timing are the key techniques to Blocking animation (Clark, 2004, p.1) which requires the use of stepped curves, not spline. This enables the timeline to remain clean and sent for review. It also makes critiquing easier and more effective to the workflow. After this is approved, all other 10 principles can be achieved through using curves, adding weight and follow through. Even if our characters are robots, we need to establish personality in them. Hence, once the rigging is done and possibly approved I will get to blocking the animations for my shots so as to get them approved asap and have my shots ready for submission. In order to ensure that we complete the project on time, I put together a new "Crucial Weeks" Production plan for my team and I to follow. If any of the new deadlines are missed or delayed, it will heavily cost our production. See below of the new Production plan created on google sheets.

New Production Sheet

Therefore, with all these tasks left to do and the possibility of renders taking too long or issues coming along the way, I will work to ensure I meet my tasks on time. With our mock being semi-approved, here is what we got so far. Refinements to the shots on these will let us have our final shoot done and ready to work on CG and vfx shots. Hope to do our best.

NEW MOCK

References:

Clark, K. (2004, April 8). 'Inspired 3D': Blocking Your Animation — Part 1 [blog]. Retrieved fromhttps://www.awn.com/vfxworld/inspired-3d-blocking-your-animation-part-1

Film Riot (2019, April 28). How to Direct a Dialogue Scene [video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ3YNy1Sgh8

Ronin, M. (2016, July 22). How To Shoot a Scene with One Camera - Tutorial [video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSpCxmWKdF8

StudioBinder (2019, March 4). The Over The Shoulder Shot in Film (and How to Shoot a Dialogue Scene) [video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4hfGzDtzXk