08/03/22
More progress made on the film. Although only 20 seconds of footage so far now due to changing the frame rate for a smoother turnover of film. Problems arose with the figurines basically falling apart In hand due to the studio light and weight between the feet and the body, body temperature from hands doesn’t help either. I have also decided to add a monotone filter over the film to make it feel more nostalgic in line with the classic films of the past, in the post editing I will also be adding cinematic bars again like the last film in semester 1. Although it will fit for this film more due to it actually being a romanticised type of film.
The lack of footage based on the amount of time past is merely down to having to repeat shots, change set around. Fixing the arms etc.
When it comes to a new project whilst diving head first into a completely new realm of creative involving this sort of animation, there is things I am obviously going to find difficult and easy. The main difficulty this week is really the size of the actual set; the size is making the scenes feel quite small and as stated last week, it is also difficult in some ways using small figurines as they can mould quite easily with the lightest touch.
09/03/22
Today I switched to making props and set dressing/furniture for the upcoming scenes. Making the cot was quite a challenge in terms of the mould but came out successfully. The baby for the last scene is done too, as well as bricks, tea and coaster etc.
A rising concern is the amount of clay Im going to need for the house…this may have to be a trick of the eye more than anything due to the rising costs. There Is also the realistic nature of the the film being long enough to invoke any real emotional effect…this shouldn’t be an issue with the amount of time left but the first issue raised is becoming more prominent.
* I have now decided to completely restart the film as I am not satisfied with the overall look and feel. Tomorrow will come a huge green screen and I shall be painting the figurines to give more depth to the shots as well as the trees. This will be the correct way forward as the overall quality of the film will be vastly improved.*
11/03/22
Green screen arrived late evening yesterday, got to work setting it up in the correct manner. This took a long time due to the poor lighting, so it took a good 1.2 hours to fix the lighting with two desk lights. I then corrected the trees to fit the scene more appropriately with a brown coloured clay. The end result is below:
I found this look to be the most effective whilst still being integrated with the characters. Which are now being painted (in the process of)
Although restarting the film has lost me time, I am confident that the end result will be much more full-filling in terms of the the visual effect. This weekend will helm a good first start of the new filming process.
12/03/22
Today I’ve made some major progress on the start of the film, the animation is much more fluid and there Is a definitive depth to the characters and trees, even the green screen. The restart has paid off in full so far.
Each scene involves changing the lighting to stop the green screen fading into the clay. This takes longer but lets the lighting remain in focus, ironically without a green screen this process is not needed but for good background implementation its key.
13/03/22
Today I have now ended up at 30 seconds of footage at 8fps which is now numbered at 236 photos taken. A good result based on the project being restarted 6 weeks in, but was worth it. Everything is much more fluent and an obvious story is taken place. A good sign as if I keep putting the effort in, at this rate I will have the film done in time for editing which will be a big undertaking as it will involve potentially making music for it too.
The is a quick shot of the film with a monotone filter, in post and editing the lighting on the figurine will be much more in focus with the green screen, which will result in an attempt at the more grounded lighting.