shoes Maya gloves next

torso/leg/pelvis start modelling

                                        

modelling the other details

Eyebrow maya tutorial

Neck modelling and ear part tutorial

Postmodernism Essay 3000

Postmodern Narrative in the... by on Scribd

Self Reflective Statement

My Strengths and weaknesses whilst being in the Virtual Duck group.

My Strengths-I think whilst working in a group we were all pretty good we all tried to make it even amount of work and stick to our strengths whilst still doing a bit of everything. For example I think I was helpful when it came to the ideas stage and visually drawing it out and also the storyboarding also modelling and animating, I think a strength was my expression through the character especially after acting and when I could make it through modelling I felt like I had come a long way from before. I feel like my strengths were camera shots and facial expressions and story ideas but not the flow of the animation or the principles which are vital when it comes to good animation.
My weaknesses-was definitely simplification at times I struggle to focus at first with the right thing and I think being in a group helped that as they could tell me if they thought i was over-complicating things. There was things I didn't understand like texturing and my group showed me that which really helped. I realised that things like this need to be a focus next year. I think execution has always been something I struggled at and I need to focus on that in year 3. But I think I am improving and I have done a lot better than last year.
To improve-I found out that my animation skills need work for example the smoothness and timing and also just in general really. I think I could improve on modelling too however I feel like this has progressed since beginning of last year and this project as my team has also helped me learn as well as myself so animating and other things that hold back a better execution/presentation of a project to do this is by practice so doing more tutorials and also by asking for help and improve my execution that way.

a few of the scenes with updated altered stage

Animation done today and Lightbulb for mime scene

This is some animation for the Shakespeare actor I worked on today these are the rough ones not final but its all being composited and edited with my group. The Lightbulb is for the mime on after effects when he gets an idea to turn off the light.

Shakespeare act bowing just need everyones altogether

B Movie Review-Battle Beyond the Stars

Fig1.

This film came out in 1980 and is inspired by Seven Samurai in 1977, George Lucas creator of Star Wars was influenced by. There is knowledge of film history because the planet Kira is tribute to the director Akira Kurasawa. Also films such as Magnificent Seven because the story follows the same plot of a army being built to defend farms. Roger Corman is a huge exploitation film maker and wanted to keep the budget low, It is arguable that the fact it is a b movie is what makes is because of this and anything that at the time is popular cult film is taken on and mix matched to try and get credit for a similar story or movie. But when its on a budget it doesn't quite always end up as good as anticipated. For example the script was originally 160 pages long and Roger Corman literally fired and ripped pages out he deemed as unnecessary. 

The film is regarded as quite the rip-off due to its unmistakable similarities to very specific themes like Star Trek 2 The Wrath of Khan and the effects. 

" Wonderfully campy sci-fi version of 'The Magnificent Seven'.It even features Robert Vaughn as the same lost-his-nerve gunslinger he played in the original!." (IMDb,2018) 

Fig2.

A redeeming quality would be that despite the limitations the crew who made the sets and miniatures were very talented, in fact James Cameron was even involved. The set included cheap materials that only great artists could make look good with spray paint and imagination that has got to be a good quality.

Fig3.

A redeeming quality of this film is definitely the miniatures and variety of ships like Star Trek they used this method. This is a redeeming quality as there was creativity despite the amount of tributes to things like Galaxy Quest. The main ship is personified as female breasts and takes science fiction a step further for example in Star Trek and Star Wars the ship is always referred to as a she but this ship is a literal she. Nell talks. Its also not all that strange to see something of sexual explicitness either as science fiction has been in that area. The Crew were friends based on similar interests. There was Seven Main Ships then there was all the other less important ships. 

Fig4.

The Live Action Sets were done very well and just like the Matte Painting/Environments had a lot of atmosphere Despite some of the sets looking very old sci-fi some props and parts of the set actually look quite modern and like they would hold up well.

Fig6.

The Acting was terrible however some of the designs for the characters/costumes are also quite modern or an interesting choice. The mix of genre shows and the detail is actually quite spectacular. For example the Machinery on the Doctor. Although this is quite dramatic the other robots are actually rather simple not much detail is shown alternatively unless you see the mannequins insides but it still gets enough across to recognise. The Costumes achieve the look of a hybrid genre and Star Wars is hybrid.

Fig7.

Another redeeming quality would be the Art in for example the use of the Matte Painting. The atmosphere and landscapes are good. The techniques used to show more with less. They have a surreal yet science fiction, fantasy feeling it almost has a nostalgic feeling for all the people who have watched Films of similarity.

Bibliography

IMDb. (2018). Battle Beyond the Stars (1980). [online] Available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080421 

YouTube. (2018). BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS miniature effects. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWmaUmNgWqM 

Graphic Design and Layout lesson

Everyone got given a theme and mine was ww2. So for the first page I thought it could be an introduction so there is infantry, tanks and planes as one whole simple shape this is done by overlapping and silhouette. The second page has a sergeant rank badge and a gun leaning on it to emphasise ground soldiers and is an abstraction so not showing the entire image. However this could spread onto two pages so that there is an equal amount of space on these two pages as the planes and tank page etc...

Again on the page for planes there is an abstraction so it is highly reliant on peoples knowledge of the war but this icon of the spitfire is enough to indicate it is focusing on planes. And lastly tanks which is a complex mechanism so its easier to pick the main part of a tank in this case the tank track so you know that is the focus without showing to much and being still a background entity.

Now I need to apply what I have learnt to my Character profile bible. 

• Simplicity
• Shapes
• Colour
• Alignment
• Tones Values (opacity distance.)
• One entity not two that get your attention off track.
• Focal Point
• Proximity-clutter but done well e.g. more than one shape being put together by overlapping etc and making it one overall shape.
• Sweeping lines=people follow these.
• Common fate, people all same size walking,looking same direction repetition.
• Closure=not showing everything using negative space.
• Remember the difference witht the foreground and the background.
• figure out the grand voice.
• Eye line.
• Don't make it too dramatic.
• don't make it to static and make you look off the page.

Shakespeare act Virtual Duck Studios all clips composited.

Mime character=Nelly
Animated by=me
Stage=Nelly
Shakespeare Actor and Skull=me
Scroll=Tia
Silent cards=Emily
Storyboard=I drew but we all shared ideas.

Some of the previous drawings for the act:=me

                                                   

Check out our blog: Virtual Duck Studios 

actor slips over skull