What I have learnt from COP

Overall this has been a really great module for me personally. This has been the first time in the three years of COP that I have really felt positive about the module. I have been excited about it throughout, especially the practical side. I have loved being able to create a short film and using it for a survey has been really useful for the project and helpful to my own personal skill development.

I am really looking forward to pushing my CG and visual effect skills in extended practice and I think it will be leaps and bounds better due to the things I've learnt from my research in this module.

Survey Results

I shared the survey on all my social media accounts throughout the last week to try get as many responses as possible. I'm really happy that I got 49 responses overall. The general consensus is that the version without visual effects works better, however less people found the VFX version immersive than they did told the story better. 
This shows how while the visual effects may show you what you need to see better, it takes less effort from the viewer, therefore potentially immersing them less.

With the film being very suspenseful, the responses are more based around the way the difference in visual effects changes the mystery. While this is still useful evidence, I was hoping for more of a comparison of the use of visual effects rather than how to keep up suspense. I could have avoided this and potentially got some more relevant results if my film wasn't as suspenseful.

Eran Dinur's Filmmakers Guide to VFX

I just recently found this book online and requested it into the library. Thankfully they did buy it in and it is really interesting. The book is a very technical book on many processes used within the VFX industry, however there is a lot of theory as well. As this is the most recent in-depth book I've been able to find, I finally have some research about TV rather than just Hollywood film.
Some of the key quotes I have used so far are:

“Visual effects are like magic tricks - the magic only works when the trick is hidden. It is of course the responsibility of the VFX team to create the perfect magic, but it is also the responsibility of the filmmaker not to overindulge in the use of this magic.”

"Television is now on par with movies in terms of quality of content (some say even better, at least in the USA). And as far as visual quality goes, the gap between TV and film has narrowed down considerably. Most home TVs are now HD resolution (or higher), and the same digital cameras are now used to shoot TV and cinema. The level of complexity and the quantity of visual effects in TV programs has increased significantly, with TV series such as HBO’s Game of Thrones pushing the quality bar ever higher."

Published the Survey

After finishing all the visual effects, I can now publish my survey to see what people think. The questions I have asked are:

Which version do you think told the story better? And why? 

Which version immersed you more in the film? And why? 

What was your initial feeling/reaction upon seeing the dinosaur in the version with visual effects?

What was your initial feeling/reaction upon seeing the point of view of the dinosaur in the version without visual effects?

And finally, if there were two similar films in the cinema, one marketed as having prominent visual effects and the other without any at all, which would you be more likely to see? 

These questions should all yield the most relevant and helpful results. I have specifically asked about story and immersion seperately because it is an important distinction. The storytelling is about communication and immersion is about the delivery of that. 
I am excited to read the results and really don't know what to expect.

Compositing

This is my favourite stage of the process. It is always very satisfying to put everything together in the end. The HDRI maps made this a much easier process. Most of what I had to do was colour correct the dinosaur to fit the footage. Upon importing the render, most of the shadows were way too dark so had to be levelled out with the correct exposure. 

I have read a few different sources talking about the blending of CG elements through camera characteristics. So I kept in mind matching; motion blur, sharpness, grain, lens distortion, lens flare and chromatic aberration.

"When we see, onscreen, an impossible event happening in ‘photorealistic’ CGI, we are invited into the fantasy that it has actually been recorded photographically, and thus has taken place in the real world. This performance of ‘photographicness’ (simulated motion blur, camera movement and so on) is as much a part of the illusory strategy as is the simulation of flesh and form on computer generated bodies." - Dan North, Performing Illusion

The main things I added were a very slight blur to de-sharpen the render, very subtle grain (the footage wasn't very grainy anyway) and motion blur (which rendered out of maya anyway)

What went well
I think that next time I do something like this, I will make sure to have more involvement with the ground interaction. I think this lack of presence has caused the effects to suffer a bit. I am proud of what I managed to do however and have got some good experience and practice.

Animating the Dinosaur

Despite it not being the model I would have liked, I am proud of the animation I managed to achieve. I tried to make sure I was including enough weight to the dinosaur to make it feel real. It had to feel like it was really stomping along in the woods. We tried to add curving motion in the tail, but due to issues in the model, this wasn't possible without it breaking. I think the up, down and side to side movement works well enough to have some form of visual interest in the tail however. 

There were some issues with moving the chest as well. If I moved the arms or neck, the chest would warp and break in unnatural ways. I tuned back any movement that caused this error to at least still have some movement of that area of it's body. 

These kinds of issues could have been avoided if we had spent more time searching for a model and rigging. I managed to work around these issues, but they were troublesome. I have significantly increased my confidence in maya animation through doing this. 

Also, using 360 degree HDRI images made lighting so much easier and more accurate. These consisted of many high dynamic range images stitched together in a spherical fashion. Since I don't have a 360 camera, I had to do this my camera just taking a picture every 45 degrees or so, and on different tilts. This, and the stitching process, were rather painstaking, however they yield the best results. 

Creature Rig

The original plan was to get the 3D creature from Dan which he is already creating for his COP. However, he informed me that he wished to take more time in planning and developing his creature and so it would be better for me to use a creature rig from online instead. This would let me at least get the survey out for the sake of my COP, but once his creature is finished, at his own pace, I can replace the temporary one.

While this was a shame since I was looking forward to the intergration of a creature specifically designed for the environment, I completely understand the reasons, and I don't want to hinder Dan's process and rush a creature from him. 

So I went searching for a good model to use from SketchFab.com. I found it a challenge to find a model that looked good and detailed, which was rigged for animation and didn't cost anything (since this is only a temporary placeholder creature). In the end, I came across this model...

https://sketchfab.com/models/d98b4f7dcf6d40b8b1f0b5523b3f551a

which was really nicely textured and could fit the story and environment. The problem here was that it wasn't rigged for animation, the model is meant for 3D printing. So I asked Dan to rig it. I didn't want him to take up too much of him time so as long as I can make it move in a somewhat realistic fashion, I'll be happy. It's only a temp version anyhow.

Editing and Colour Grading

I sorted through all of the footage we had shot, finding all the best takes. This took quite a long time but wasn't especially hard as I still had the best takes in my mind from shooting and the audio of me talking while filming was useful to remind me of the best takes.

There were a few shots I cut to make the overall edit tighter. These shots weren't really needed to help tell the story, only to reinforce something which the other shots around them were already telling. I think it's good to be able to let go of shots like this, even though I may have liked them from a cinematic perspective, the story comes first.

I believe the edit is concise and effective. Every shot has a purpose in telling the audience something new. I tried to trim every shot down more and more as the edit goes on in order to ramp up the energy, however I'm not certain I've truly succeeded. A couple of  shots at the end are still similar lengths to earlier ones. I will still try to trim here and there as I go.

I am happy with the initial colour grade and correction. I think it all look balanced and even. The colour correction could have been easier and quicker to manage if I'd have kept an eye on the white balance during filming, as there were many shots that started going very blue as the sunset, which was harder to match to the rest of the piece.

Here's an example of a few shots before and after colour correction and grading.

Filming the scene!

With the script finalised, I organised the shoot for Tuesday the 13th. We started off by going briefly through the script together to get a clear joint idea of what we would be doing and then we quickly got going. 

We shot in chronological order for most of the day, only shooting out of order if there was the need for a lens change for a couple of shots together. I used two lenses for the shoot; predominantly a vintage 50mm F1.8 which gives a much more cinematic depth of field (along with an anamorphic bokeh filter that I added to the back of the lens), and the other was my 15-45 kit lens for any shot in which I wanted a wider angle to show the isolation of the character. 

I shot the scene in 4k resolution so I have maximum image quality and flexibility in post. I tried to slowly increase the amount of handheld shots as the day went on in an attempt to create more unrest in the viewer. Liam Shevill was great to work with again and played the role nicely as well as offering suggestions. I am really pleased with his performance and contribution.

The only issues were that we had to re-shoot a couple of shots the next day due to the originals being far to noisy as a result of the high ISO to compensate for the sunset. This wasn't a problem and I am actually more happy with the new takes from a cinematic perspective as well as they are framed better (as well as lit better).

Scriptwriting for the short scene

Once I knew the location the scene would take place in, I could start scripting. 

Choosing shot types was something I put a lot of thought into, making sure that each shot was motivated and telling the audience something with visual communication. There were only 2 spoken lines in the script, both of which didn't even stay in the edit. The shots also get tighter and quicker as the story progresses to accentuate the tension. The way I visualised the difference between the VFX shots and NO VFX shots was intuitive and made a clear distinction.

I think that I could have done better in making action details more obvious when reading the script. There were a few times during filming where I would really have to read shots before and after in order to remember exactly what each shot was. This wasted time, and could have been easily solved by adding those details and maybe putting them in bold.

Here is the final script that was used for filming...

Location Decision

Yesterday, Me and Dan did a scout of the locations he has shortlisted for his creature. While Kirkstall Abbey does provide some interesting visuals and opportunity for creative shot types, it would be logistically much more complex to film there. It also doesn't provide any height difference for high angle shots. There are also signs everywhere with history information, which take away from any mystical atmosphere. 

We decided that the woods would be the location that would likely offer the most variety and freedom in shooting, while also being much easier to film there; with it being close to our house and not needing permission. Now I know where the scene will take place, I will finalise the script ready to shoot as soon as possible. 

Practical Development Update

I have decided to drop the idea of a practical version of the scene since it doesn't actually add all that much to my argument and it would be hardest version to film and create. As I've done more research, I've refined the idea to be more about the impact of digital visual effects, rather than any other method of tricking the audience.
There are many more ways to trick an audience but I just want to explore the digital visual effects side of things.
Dan is currently shortlisting locations for his creature to exist in, and once he has decided, I will finalise the script and film all footage I need to. 

Digital Storytelling - Uses of Visual Effects Research

In reading 'Digital Storytelling' by Shilo t. McClean, I have been informed on the categories of visual effects usage. This has made me think about how I am going to go about my practical scenes a bit more.

• Invisible (everything within the shot could be done for real, must be doable. Maybe it's just easier, cheaper or safer to do with visual effects)
• Seamless (audience can’t tell that it is vfx, however, they know it must be. The example the book gives is 1945 Warsaw, the audience knows that they obviously couldn't have filmed there, however it looks convincing.)
• Exaggerated (between real world and extraordinary, often used with comedy and action as pace ramps up. Used to push the boundaries of what is possible)
• Fantastical (something that simply couldn’t be real but made to look it. Alien creatures, magical effects, ect.)

So there may be less of an argument to be made there about if effects are really needed because some elements of the story simply couldn't be shown at all without effects. This means that for my scene without effects, I would have to film it in a very different way altogether.

A solution to this dilemma could be to have a few different effects (the creature being fantastical, other shots having seamless effects that people genuinely could believe are real). This adds a bit more variety to my argument since some effects might not even be noticed so we can see if they actually do change the impact of the story at all.

COP3 Proposal

Visual Effects and the audience's perception of story in contemporary TV drama.

In my project, I want to explore the power of how a story is delivered. Most people would agree that in TV and film entertainment, the story is paramount. However in modern content, you’d struggle to find a show or film that does not utilize visual effects in some shape or form. Whether it is used to establish a scene in a matte painting or to have a full on CG character/creature, it is used usually used to aid the story.

Popular opinion is that visual effects are being overused in movies to the point where it is actually a hindrance to the story, that the filmmakers are being lazy in telling their stories because they know they still have visual effects to make it look interesting.

I wish to learn and evidence that it is not so simple as that. If visual effects are used well to the service of the story they should be seamless in an effort to immerse you further into the story.

For my practical, I am planning to create a scene three separate times. The first without any visual effects (filming around the need for visual effects). The next version will be done with simple practical effects to at least tell the story in a more visual manner. Then the final version will be that same scene but with visual effects to the best of my ability. They should all fundamentally tell the same story, however the delivery of the story could also make an impact on which version people prefer and which they feel communicates the information needed more effectively. This should hopefully help me learn about the differences needed to tell a story and also how to work around the tools we have at our disposal.

At this moment in time, I am still in search of what scene I am going to make into my three clips. I will choose based on how much information is communicated in the scene and how complex of an effect it would be.

For case studies I will be selecting drama that involves good story and less so effects, and then something else with a rather lackluster story but with stunning visual effects. I can find a few examples of both and compare how they sit with popular opinion.

Some books I am using to aid in my research are:

• Story - Robert Mckee
• The Hero with a Thousand Faces - Joseph Campbell
• Digital Storytelling: The Narrative Power of Visual Effects in Film - Shilo T. McClean
• Digital Visual Effects in Cinema: The Seduction of Reality - Stephen Prince

RocketJump Video Essay

This is a video essay from the YouTube channel RocketJump which I felt was pretty relevant to my research. RocketJump started out as a YouTube channel making silly skits and shorts involving many visual effects, however in the last few years they have started to branch out into much more long form storytelling with shows of theirs getting onto Netflix and HuluPlus.
Some key quotes mentioned within are:

‘Great visual effects serve story and character, and in doing so are, by their very definition, invisible’

‘Even classics, with practical effects that might look dated to our modern sensibilities, we don’t really seem to mind those and audiences certainly didn’t at the time. Maybe it’s because we don’t have much to complain about when it comes to great movies, the craft and storytelling so enchants us that we’re not in the back of our heads looking for an easy scapegoat’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bL6hp8BKB24

Study Task 8: Reflective Writing

For my practical response to this theme, I have tried to visualise the concept of character development. The main way this is possible is through physical appearances. These are the external attributes that are visible to any outsiders. This mostly has included things like; hair, beards, clothing, posture, attitude, demeanor, cleanliness and injuries (scars, missing body parts). Most of the images show the contrast of beginning and end, or polar opposites as much as possible to get as much difference as possible.

I came to find that many characters who go on negative character arcs (in which they become typically less morally sound throughout) they tend to grow more facial hair. I thought this could have something to do with hiding their inner selves as well as it looking more menacing. It’s less about the growing of the beard, but being clean shaven is often associated with being pure and clean, which these characters no longer are. There is also the trend of characters shaving their heads when going rogue or off the rails slightly. While Walter White had cancer which instigated the shaving of the head, it also worked with the same reasons as Captain Flint in Black Sails and Shane Walsh in The Walking Dead. In contrast to growing out a beard, they shaved their heads to mark a kind of clean slate and that they are ready to rebel.

It was hard to find ways to illustrate the aspects of character development without simply showing the physical changes in their appearance. I couldn’t really show the internal development in the way the characters make their choices. I did manage to illustrate a few of the ideas from quotes I had gathered. The quote about intention and obstacle was illustrated with the idea of someone reaching out for something (their intention) but they are being held back from it (the obstacle).

I feel that the visual research helped me further understand all aspects of character development. Though it is harder to show internal development, the external appearances are all relevant and complement it. For example, Long John Silver plays into the legend that is created around him as a fearsome and deadly pirate. His colour pallet gets much darker and his hair and beard engulf his profile to create a more imposing figure. I developed this into blending faces together from different periods of the characters story when they are at complete opposites. I started doing this by getting photos or screenshots and crossfading them over each other. This created a interesting effect that made me think about animating this kind of transition which ended up being my final piece.

I had been struggling to think of an idea for the final piece, debating whether to just do a character design or something like that. However, I am happy with what I did in animating Long John Silver’s character change. I drew the inbetweens so it has a good passage of the character throughout the seasons of the show. Admittedly, if I had decided on doing this earlier, I would have been able to go more in depth with more inbetweens and maybe even doing a full body transition.

I would have liked to have done more sketching and illustrating of the ideas in my essay. I am not much of a sketcher and so I found it difficult to always try to add pages into the sketchbook. I would like to improve my time management to allow me to get more done in my visual part of cop next year as I feel I could have done more in order to aid my project as a whole.

Study Test 7: Practical Planning

So far I haven't got as much in my sketchbook as I'd have hoped to. I think I am struggling for ideas since there isn't many other ways to show character development visually other than the physical appearances of them changing.  

As for where my practical work is going, I'm still not quite certain on the final outcome. It was suggested earlier that I could look into decide your own destiny style stories in which you turn to the page of whatever decision you want to make. These could be interesting because it lets the reader develop the story and character how they choose. It could have a certain amount of endings that reveal and create a different type of end character by the end of the story. This sort of idea really excites me however it is simply too much to do for the time remaining.

Through the process of gathering photos of characters changing through their respective stories, I have thought I could make an animation of a character morphing between the start and end of the story. This would be interesting to show, as their mood and expression can change too. I'm not sure if this is what I will actually end up doing but it is probably the most realistic idea at this point.

Primary Research:

I have looked at books and video essays to gather my primary research. These include Robert McKee's Story, Aaron Sorkin's Masterclass on Screenwriting and K.M Weiland's Creating character arcs to name a few

Secondary Research:

This includes searching for images/screenshots of characters throughout their stories to show the physical development. I have then also drawn using these sorts of photos for reference. 

Media and Processes:

I have and will continue to use pencils for most of my sketches. I will keep using photoshop to make digital pieces. I also want to try communicate the idea of true inner character using tracing paper to be able to reveal the underneath layers of a characters person. 

Context:

Robert McKee's quote saying 'True character is revealed in the choices a human being makes under pressure - the greater the pressure, the deeper the revelation.' is really useful to understanding the fundamentals mechanics of character development.