Live Client Project Proposal Visualisations

I recently had to produce a client proposal for my Happy Go Lucky nightclub visual display film explaining what exactly was going to be produced and an overall idea of production schedule and budgeting. I also had to produce some visualisations depicting what the film might look like. I produced these images below using photoshop to give any idea of the kind of imagery and effects which may be present in the film.

Artefact 1 - Experimentation

For my first artefact I shall be comparing prosthetic make-up to CGI by creating a deformed zombie like creature using both techniques. I shall be using Z-Brush to digitally sculpt my CGI zombie as I feel this gives the most control and is easier to use from a beginners perspective than other 3D modelling programs. I have recently purchased a book to teach me the fundamentals of Z-Brush as this definitely looks like a program I would like to use more in the future. However here are some zombie and creature designs I made before studying the book.

Progress with CGI & 3D Animation
Since the purpose of my personal research project is to compare the difference between traditional special effects and computer generated special effects in film I have set myself the fairly ambitious task of creating artefacts using these different techniques - prosthetics, puppetry and 3d animation. Since I have basic to no knowledge of any of these I am going to have to be a very fast learner and depend highly on others for help when producing these artefacts. Fortunately I have friends that help me with all of these however I would feel better if I attempted to do as much as possible through my own learning. I am a fairly qualified in terms of fine art therefore prosthetics and puppetry does not pose a great threat to me at the moment, all I need is money for resources; however the 3d animation is something that I have never been taught properly as well as being a skill that is notoriously difficult to master. I have always presumed I was limited to 3D Studio Max as a 3D animation program since this is what I was introduced on the course, the interface alone for this seems daunting enough let alone the sculpting tools. However this week I have been looking at alternatives;I have recently obtained copies of Z Brush and Maya and have found these much easier to get to grips with. I am currently working on creating a zombie head on Z-Brush and creating a basic crocodile body structure in Maya by referring to various video tutorials on Youtube. Maya is tricky but I am finding the interface much easier to navigate and am getting to grips with the modelling basics.

Maya - Basic modelling tutorial

Z-Brush - Basic modelling tutorial

PRP Feedback
Receiving feedback for the first part of this module last night was a bit of a kick in the balls. To be fair I really hadn't worked on my special effects research report as hard as I should have done though at the same time it was definitely not the easiest of tasks, especially considering the lack of reading material available on special effects. Here are some main points that I noted from talking to Jools today:

• Key issues are not clearly highlighted therefore report feels repetitive and superficial - I need to define what makes a special effect effective in terms of realism. This will make it clearer as to what I am trying to achieve through creating the artefacts this term.
• Argument would have strengthened by making reference to work of others who discuss similar issues - Was unclear as to what this meant initially as I had made some clear references to veteran special effects artists such as Tom Savini and Stan Winston and their opinion on the subject matter. This was diffiuclt to elaborate on too much due to lack of sources. It was suggested that I talk to the puppetry and effects course leader at NTU, Sean Myatt, for a more in depth opinion.
• Very poor attendance, shows lack of professionalism - I lost considerable marks on this essay due to my lack of attendance and failing to show that I was truly engaging with the project. I was unware that this would effect my grade so severely as I probably did not read the learning outcomes properly. Fortunately I should be able to greatly improve this pulling my socks up and engaging properly with the course for the rest of the year.

Live Client Project - Collecting Resources
Over the Christmas holidays I have been researching and collecting footage that could be used for my psychadelic visual display film for my client Happy Go Lucky. I have collected numerous pieces of footage which I feel relate to jungle music and the scene surrounding it; this so far includes footage from various wildlife and nature documentaries, cartoon gangster footage from Snoop Dogg's The Blue Carpet Treatment film, footage from various jungle raves such as Best of British and AWOL, softcore porn footage from various films and other surreal footage from films which I feel would be suitable. I have researched into the work of other VJ artists, some who have used copyrighted footage as I intend to myself; these artists have evaded copyright infringements by manipulating footage to such an extent where it is barely recognisable, I intend to use this same technique.
I am also currently researching various programs which would be most suitable for creating this project, Arkaos seems to be a very interesting program and am currently getting to grips with it.

Snoop Dogg's Blue Carpet Treatment

Rainforest: Beneath the Canopy documentary