VIdeo concept for final film

Here is the link to my concept final film.


https://vimeo.com/346908118

Change of Topic for Essay

As it was difficult to find academic research based on VFX. I have changed my Essay topic according to how easy it will be to find the answer to my Topic under the strict rules of academic standards.


It will now be


"Has American and Japanese art/animation culture become similar in today's environment?"


resources: https://etd.ohiolink.edu/!etd.send_file?accession=osu1408539349&disposition=inline

Re-Written Storyboard

HERE I HAVE MY RE-WRITTEN STORY BOARD WHICH NOW HAS A STORY TO TELL.

Final Film and Storyboard/ colour script

Here I have my digital story board using Illustrator .........

Here is the link to my Final film composition that includes motion graphics and visual effects.


https://vimeo.com/251548805

Photo shop images before and after

PHOTOSHOP IMAGES BEFORE AND AFTER


Here are some photos I have edited on photo shop.

BEFORE

AFTER

I have given the cold depressing creepy effect on this picture. See the huge difference.

BEFORE





AFTER





Colour of pillars changed and adjusted the lighting and quality to give it the old fashion photo effect as if its been taken in many years ago.


BEFORE

AFTER

Notice i have blended in the sand and made the blue ocean go way further back so it looks like the beach is way bigger plus i made the time of the day look different as if its midday by making the picture brighter and bringing out the green more colour on the trees (brighter)

Client/ Business requirement for an ideal candidate on portfolio

I have looked at various jobs and built up an idea on what production companies look for in the VFX/ Motion Graphics position they are holding. I have also looked at the field research I have done for the interview I had with Phillip Ray Tommy.




Client Portfolio requirement -

• image manipulation using programs such as Photoshop (including ‘before and after’ images)
• Compositing work that looks effective
• Storyboarding using Adobe Illustrator
• Colour scripting (Colour grading, colour correction for visual impact and understanding of colour connotation)
• Design and/or motion graphics work and be creative
• Demo Reel/ Show reel no longer than 2 minutes

• http://www.orchard.co.uk/Jobs/North-West/Motion-Designer--Video-Editor-106964.aspx?utm_source=Indeed&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=Indeed#

• https://www.animatedjobs.com/jobs/motion-graphics-artist/

• https://www.animatedjobs.com/jobs/after-effects-animator-illustrator/

PORTFOLIO LINKS-
http://www.bubble-jobs.co.uk/digital_design/portfolio-advice/animation/


http://www.senecavfx.com/portfolio-requirements/

https://www.glassdoor.co.uk/Job/motion-designer-jobs-SRCH_KO0,15.htm

Port Folio Crops and Research

I have taken pictures of a car park which I find really useful as I like the lighting and shading. I have also deliberately taken the pictures at night time as it is very effective.

From all the pictures I have taken, I have finally decided to choose the last which is this one in particular. 

This picture is effective as it has some dark shades as well as lighting so the character can blend in the environment. I like how the perspective going to the end of the car park makes the image look suitable for the character I have. I may enhance the picture lighting by editing it on Adobe Photoshop.

This is the edit software I have been using which is photo Shop. I have been adjusting the colour and shading of the picture.

This is the final photo shop edit I have done. You can see that I have made it gloomy and used cold colours to make the atmosphere depressing for my character.

What I found on VFX Artists

I have researched on couple of VFX Artists. Here are the following -

Ricardo Alves:

• VFX Artist with vast experience
• Studied at Instituto das artes e da Imagem in Portugal 2010-2013
• Skills he claims to have -                    

3D Studio Max

3D Modeling

Zbrush

Graphic Design

Drawing

Figure Drawing

Painting

Digital Illustration

Digital Painting

Digital Matte Painting

Vector Illustration

Photoshop

Illustrator

After Effects

Premiere

See 13+

Geomagics

MARI

ZBrush

Adobe Illustrator

Modelagem 3D

Adobe Photoshop

Design gráfico

Desenho

Adobe After Effects

3D

Jogos de vídeo

Artes

Nuke

• Experience -

  3D Designer

  iMakr

  November 2013 – October 2014 (1 year)London, United Kingdom
  3D Modeling for Rapid Prototyping.
  Processing various scan data for Print.
  
  Opportunity to work for clients such:
  -Grey Goose
  -Rococo Chocolates
  -Google
  -Zipsters

           3D Scanning Technician

             Propshop

           October 2014 – January 2016 (1 year 4 months)   

           Digital Production Technician

             Propshop

          January 2016 – October 2016 (10 months)

         

           Modelling TD

             MPC

           November 2016 – Present (1 year 1 month)London, United Kingdom

• Films he has worked on for visual effects -

- Godzilla: King of Monsters
- The Lion King
- Star Wars VIII: The Last Jedi
- Justice League
- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
- Tim Burton: Miss Peregrine
- Star Wars: Rogue One
- Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens
- 007: Spectre






                                                                               

Source: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/ricardoalvesvfx


Carlos Acevedo:


He has vast experience from 2007 onwards and has had major roles in big production movies from "Fast and Furious 7" to "Spider Man: Homecoming"


https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlos-acevedo-38b4726/


https://vimeo.com/cavfx


Research on Job Requirements


ESA FILMS
I found one job which is a Freelancing one which is a Motion Graphics Artist. They are looking for a talented motion graphics artist who is able to create a (lower third) motion graphics with newspaper  clippings.


Required Skills:
• At least 1 years Motion Graphics Experience
• After Effects
• Other motion graphics/animation software
• Adobe premiere or final cut pro
Job Type: 1 day contract (with the option to use you for future contracts)
Start Date: Friday 17th November
Location: London, E8 Postcode
Daily rate: £150 – £200


Source:
https://www.animatedjobs.com/jobs/motion-graphics-artist/


ideaMACHINE Studio
This one is abroad in New York. The pay is according to how much experience you have but it is an ideal job with a lot of benefits.


The ideal candidate should have at least 3-5 years animating commercials.

• After Effects,
• Illustration and storyboarding
• GraphixDesign,
• an understanding of business,
• experience working with business clients,
• and a general knowledge of how to direct advertising.

Other Skills

• Strong collaborative work ethic and the ability to help lead and deliver creative concepts
• Generating ideas and selling them to clients and other members of the team
• Collaborating across the studio to drive up standards of digital creativity
• Strong knowledge of video editing 

https://www.animatedjobs.com/jobs/after-effects-animator-illustrator/


Most of these jobs require experience so I have concluded that VFX Artist need to start off as freelance workers.

Research and findings

PORTFOLIO IDEAS

I'm thinking of doing a mixture of portfolio movie clips like a show reel. It will include like VFX title cards in motion graphics and 1 or 2 short scenes which I will create. The build up to the idea will be significant.

• Title card with motion graphics
• 2 or 3 VFX scene ideas
• Storyboard for show reel and colour chart 
• Research on ideas 

TITLE CARD IDEAS


Here are a few I found -




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzedcFWct2o




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0-O3cqSQ98


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63rCnmqBAas


Here is what I found for tutorial on how to make title card motion graphics -   https://youtu.be/TeXQS2RbPPU


Here is what I found about the making of Charlie and the chocolate factory regarding special effects -

https://youtu.be/JczaZH1Z48s  

• And this is the old school behind the scenes of Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory video  - https://youtu.be/jkVqY7nIVPE

Image background ideas for Portfolio film

I have looked at a few ideas on what background to use for my portfolio film. Because I used the green screen in my raw video, I can easily manipulate the back for the character I am using.

• CAR PARK BACKGROUND

This image is good as the shading is dark and gives me an idea on what I want as it relates to the character body language and the dress code.

I like this one as the side angle would make my character look like he is coming from the car park door entrance.

I really like this one as it has creepy environment feeling. I can add on an special effect in this one with the camera video glitch sequence.   

• THE BEACH SCENE

I like how the banana bed is in this picture as well as the sun shining as it is the opposite to the car park scene

The blue sky and white sand as well as the palm tree go together

This one should be perfect for my character because of the angle of the picture and the palm trees symbolise a nice 5 star holiday



ACTION POINT

• Extending the short film length to around 90 seconds from the original 25 seconds.
• More research showing VFX Artists show reel
• May just do a Port folio story board improved and enhanced.

Samuel John Joseph Walsh:

• Here is Samuels short film called Conway. Is there any VFX used in his short film? 

          https://vimeo.com/57307518 

• This is his show reel for Visualisation including planning 

          https://vimeo.com/125389123

Alan McKay

•  Here is Alan McKays Show reel as a VFX Supervisor +Technical Director

           https://vimeo.com/59005411

Interview with Phil Tommy for industry standard field research

last week, I did an interview with a film maker and a director in the film industry. I asked him a few questions that will give me a good idea on what the film industry will look for as a candidate.

1. Name: Phil Ray Tommy
2. Age: 37
3. Occupation: Film Maker/Director/Actor
4. How long have u been in the industry?: 10 Years
5. What is the Ideal candidate for the job?: A combination of passion/ hard worker and can do work in his/her personal time plus team work is most essential like for example if any issues would arise, they can help each other so I would like them to have good chemistry skills especially in the visual effects side of it. I would like them to have talent and conflict management skills as some times this does arise when people fall under pressure.
6. Is experience essential?: Experience is not essential as every one is entitled to opportunity. Although it can be ideal, but the main thing we are looking at is passion, as it can be a difference with a scene made for instance, an un-experienced Visual effects artist could possibly make a better edit than the person with experience who has little passion for his work. We have to look at Stephen Spielberg as he had no experience at all first and now look where he is now. Its all about giving a chance to someone
7. I know the subject was mentioned earlier but I will ask again as I might get more information regarding this. Does the candidate need team work skills?... if so, anything specific?:             Well yes Team Work is very important! In Production, it is not a one man job as End result is done by team work. If there is no team work, then there is a high possibility the final piece wont function properly as everything has to be linked. As I mentioned before, if someone needs help then they can organise meetings as well to tackle the situation.
8. Does the candidate need to know how to use any specific software? if so, which ones?: Final cut pro could be essential or even after effects. If they don't have strong skills in them, then we can teach them how to use the software as mentioned above.
9. If the candidate needs to bring in a portfolio, which examples does the person need to bring in for the interviewer?: A small portfolio with good quality. Anything good in VFX with an example of high quality from anything ordinary to a major edit... Even a change of background would do.
10. What was the best production work u done so far since u been in the industry?: "Cane + Able" is the best I done so far as it was a learning curb for me. It shows how much of a person I am. I had problems in the process but my team managed to tackle it. its all about the team... You learn as it goes along... It Is not black and white, its all about passion and the quest for self improvement.

The 3 people that have caught my eye.

There are 3 people that have caught my eye. I have looked at Samuel John Joseph Walsh, Allan McKay and a man I personally know who works in Film Production.

• Samuel John Joseph Walsh (Sam Walsh)
• Sam Walsh was born in the North West of England
• He studied BA Hons Animation and graduated in 2005
• He got his Masters in 2012 at "The National Film and Television School
• He specialises in Animation, General TD and Visual Effects

His recent work with Visual Effects was with "White Horse Films". He gave support to the director for visualisation and setup solutions for a sequence. It is supposed to contain a large number of add on extras including a 3D Model of the sequence using "CAD". At the end of it all he completed a number of shots as a digital Compositor.


(Samuel John Joseph Walsh (2016) , [Visual Effects Supervisor 2016] [Accessed 06 December 2016] available at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sjjwalsh)


Allan McKay: 

• Born on 01/05/1982 in Gold Coast Australia (Crikey mate).                                                          
•  He is known for his VFX films such as "The equalizer 2014", "Star Trek into Darkness" and "Metallica through the Never". 
• He has his own Academy where he teaches people VFX. 

Essay for VFX

I have my Title as ...


"HOW VFX HAVE BEEN USED IN PRODUCTION"
So I will basically be talking about how VFX  came in handy and how they developed it on what ever the footage or game is.


I will discuss various artists as well and what movies or games they developed.


This is a good idea for me as I want to get into the industry.

Essay topic/ Subject Idea

I have thought of an idea on what topic to bring up in my Essay, personally I am fascinated on how much different old school movies are manipulated in re-makes for example Romeo and Juliet. The question is, what subject should I bring up as my main title? as that will be the discussion without going off track on my subject title.


The area I am interested in particular is the VFX on how the original movie used it compared to the modern movie. That is what I will be focusing on.


Research will be made and illustrations will also be made... mainly Digitally for ideas.




First of all, I will need to make an essay title. I will first do some research and paste on some resources.


Here are a list of Movies I have found that had the original produced and then a re-make made -

• Romeo and Juliet

1968

1996

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

1990

2014

• Charlie and the chocolate factory

1971



2005

TITLE OF ESSAY:

"COMPARING VISUAL EFFECTS FROM THE ORIGINAL MOVIE RELEASED TO THE RE-MAKE MODERNISED"

I still have to think which movie to compare, for this I have to do some research.

One which caught my eye was "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory". The original is called "Willy Wonka and Chocolate Factory" (1971) which was made by Roald Dahl and the Re-make is called "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" (2005) which was made by Tim Burton.

Source: http://www.thestar.com.my/lifestyle/books/news/2014/09/14/willy-wonka-vs-charlie-for-the-better-chocolate-factory-movie/

Personally I think this film will be a good idea to use for my essay. I will be looking at different VFX Artists now.

Source of top VFX Artists:

• http://www.imdb.com/list/ls002143779/
• http://www.creativebloq.com/digital-art/vfx-artists-you-need-know-101517168

(VFX breakdown in 2005 movie)

(Original Film 1971)

Allan McKay (Visual Effects Supervisor and Technical Director)

https://vimeo.com/allanmckay

This man is the top dog in the VFX area of the Film and Games Industry. He has major clients such as UbiSoft, Activision, Autodesk and ILM.

He has over 20 years experience in the Film and Games industry specialising in VFX. Major titles he has done vary from Star Trek, Halo and Transformers.

As I have mentioned Autodesk, he specialises and contributes their work with Maya and 3D Studio Max.

He has over 100 workshops and does classes all over the world in furthering peoples careers.

https://vimeo.com/170569448

Ray Harryhausen

Ray Harryhausen is known for his movie magic on motion effects. He was best know for his special effects role in Clash of the Titens.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0366063/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm



ESSAY STRUCTURE



I have carefully thought through my Essay structure and the layout. Here is what I have planned out.

Introduction : 500 words

Topic : 500 words, this will explain the films I will be comparing about the original and the re-make and what will be discussed in it. It will also explain who I will be talking about in who did the Visual Effects on the films.

Original film: Will talk briefly about the story of "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" (1971) -

• The main special effects used in the film and how the characters are created
• The VFX team
• How the effects are resourceful in the time ere

Re-make film: Same as how I will explain about the Original but this time with the Re-Make which is called "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" (2005) -

• The main special effects used
• The VFX Team
• How the effects are used in advanced technology

Comparing the two films: I will discuss how the effects used in both films have changed, and will also discuss the computer work used compared to the raw special effects man made.

Conclusion: This will discuss the end answer and an overall view on the 2 films I have compared.  

Intro on Module: Essay + Portfolio

I have just started the module which is quite late. I have a few ideas on what to do regarding my Essay and also the character port folio. It will consist of pre production and production work.