Sem 3 _ Compositing and Special Effects

30 March 2018
Week 1
Vivien Christian Cahyadi [0331241]
Compositing and Special Effects

---

Case Study Session

The objective of today's activity is to study different title sequence and identify the elements found in good title sequence. I chose Marco Polo, a (cancelled) Netflix original series. The series follows the adventure of Marco Polo during the 13th century of China as he aids Kublai Khan in his conquest to become the emperor of the world.


 


The title sequence features the usage of traditional medium : ink, water and paper. This creates a unique pattern and texture, creating a visual that sustains the viewer's attention.


WHAT I LEARNT

• Rich visual and aesthetic sustains viewer's attention
• Graphics help direct the viewer's eyes to the texts
• Editing to music
• Variations of shots, sometimes close up, then farther away.
• Smooth camera movement, panning, zooming in
• Brief glimpse of what the show is about from the title sequence, there's an element of storytelling from the illustrations
• slow motion footage is a trend
• Usage of interesting pattern by recording ink spreading. 
• Rule of thirds, composition is important
• Mantain a consistent style throughout the video, even the typography complements the "ink" style.
• Title always show at the end. 

BEHIND THE SCENES
http://www.themill.com/millchannel/26/marco-polo-title-sequence-


Similarities found in most motion graphic opening title sequence
-Visuals and music syncs
-Introduces the theme of the show/ It is an abstract showcase of the entire show
-Title always show at the end, it also gives the "wow" factor
-Rules of compositions like rule of thirds
-Good typography that's readable, and suitable. Complements the overall theme.
-Pacing
-Colour palette

We're not limited to only 2D, only 3D, there are many mediums to experiment on.

---

Lecture Notes

Introduction to After Effects.

Shortcut

Ctrl + Shift + C = Precompose

Ctrl + Shift + D = trim length
N = trim work area (end)
B = trim work area (beginning)

---

9 April 2018

Week 3

---

Opening Title Progress

STORY

Orphaned since child, Azleiyah could only recall little pieces of memories, of her parents which she held so dearly. Until one day she’s kidnapped, sold and brainwashed. Forcefully turned into a relentless, unfeeling metallic cask with a human mind. A living war machine.


TYGRAPHY MOODBOARD

I decided to incorporate a more sci-fi look by using these kind of glitchy and computer looking typography.


THUMBNAIL

---

Lecture (20 April)

Mooboard should be specific. Identify which part of the reference that you want to extract. If else, people will think you're going to do the exact same visual. For example, group references like "composition", "lighting", "colour palette", etc.

Next, make a style guide.

Animatics is important so you know which part to work on. Ex. You don't need to spend time on unnecessary details if the part is going to be blurred out.

steps :
Lay out your storyboard. Each shot, name it. Have a checklist to track your progress.

---

Exercise 27th April

---

Concept Art Exercise

We were introduced to matte painting and environment concept art by sir Kanan.

Steps to create concept art :
1. Identify the location
2. Find quality image
3. Start blocking out. nearer objects are darker while things far distant are lighter
4. Can start directly with colour or black and white
5. After you’re done blocking out and putting some details, nailing the composition, highlights and shadows,
6. Put photographic images and start masking in the informations.

For the exercise, we were instructed to make 10 thumbnail sketches, 3 concept, and one final cleanup.  Below are my take on it.

In the first few thumbnail sketches, I struggled. I tried blocking out random shapes and try making a good composition out of it, however, I feel it didn't really work out for me as the drawings I made turns out to be just another environment sketch - add city here, add mountains here, add lakes here. Next thing I do is try and do it in a different approach. First, I sketched it out (just lines), and then start blocking out the colours, slowly adding stuffs. This method proofed best for me.

Then, I picked top 3 of the thumbnails and started detailing by overlaying with photographs. The photographs I used were from unsplash.com, a website that offers free photographs by generous photographers around the world. I interchanged between painting in details and masking in textures from photos. Lastly, I added colour to the black and white painting using gradient map. Then add layer upon layers of colour with the "colour" blending mode.

Just being honest here, I admit I didn't really put much effort in the last one.

a closer look. The sci-fi city in a foreign planet

Discovery of an underground ruin