Transcription Update...

So here's the update on my progression for the production stage of the transcription unit:

I'm looking into adding lots of little details like barnacles, polyps, corals, limpets and slipper limpets to my scenes... Here are a few of renders so far with lots of work still needing to be done...

I'm now trying to use reference images to find out how and where these different details would grow in my scenes. Here are just some of the reference images i will be using:

 

Alongside this, i'm also looking into underwater particulate matter to create the dust and particles found underwater... Here's my progression so far, i will be able to tell how well the particles are working when i do some test batch renders for the scenes, but so far the stills seem to give an impression of snow which isn't what i want...

i've gathered some underwater lighting image references together for my meeting with alan tomorrow, i'm hoping to resolve my lighting problem and come out of the meeting with some visually pleasing results. Some other areas i would like to discuss include how to achieve high quality results from the establishing seaweed and kelp shots, the best way to model broken columns/buildings without looking too CG, animating schools of fish using dynamics, wrapping limpets and barnacles around geometry and the best way of achieving visual pleasing underwater gowths.

I'm currently working on modelling other scenes for the animation as well, expect further posts on the progress of these soon (If i don't save over them like i did this morning)...

Framing Practice Topic... Film Violence in Culture...



After my last post considering research into film violence and how it affects human behaviour, i decided to find some books and internet articles on the topic. This is definitely a topic of interest and also poses well for a dissertation topic because the argument still remains a stalemate with valid reasons both for and against. A particularly interesting read is 'Our Faith in Evil: Melodrama and the effects of entertainment violence' by Gregory Desilet. This book will be a key part of my referencing and research not only providing strong information on both sides of the argument with valid quotes, but also helping to uncover further areas to research along with some key phrases and terms.

Areas of further investigation:

A Clockwork Orange (1971):

The first port of call that this book led me to was 'A Clockwork Orange' directed by Stanley Kubrick based on a novel by Anthony Burgess. The film became the focus of a media outcry because of its ultraviolence, eventually causing Kubrick and Warner Bros. to ban its distribution and release of the film. Not only is this films use of the coined term 'Ultraviolence' of significance and importance, but the film's influence on a series of copycat crimes deemed to be a result of the ultraviolence in the film affecting and influencing human behaviour. this link provides just some of the examples of copycat crimes that have been deemed to be as a result of the film http://www.visual-memory.co.uk/amk/doc/0012.html

This quote from the webpage gives just some idea of the relevance of the film in connection with the copycat crimes as well as an indication of the influence and impact that the media potrays in the argument:

'The problems really started when the press reported a spate of supposed copy-cat crimes. The first and most famous of these was the case involving a 16 year old boy called James Palmer who had beaten to death a tramp in Oxfordshire. As Edward Laxton reported in the Daily Mirror, in a convincing enough manner that the more reactionary reader might suspect that, A Clockwork Orange was terrible enough to influence even the most unassuming and hitherto quite innocent of young men, it was clear that the press were going to make the film even more controversial. "The terrifying violence of the film A Clockwork Orange fascinated a quiet boy from a Grammar School...And it turned him into a brutal murderer". Laxton continues, "The boy viciously battered to death a harmless old tramp as he acted out in real life a scene straight from the movie A Clockwork Orange"'

Another more recent article in the daily mail gives further example of 'Ultra-violence' supposedly influenced by A clockwork Orange.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1050292/Horror-Clockwork-Orange-attack-elderly-Italian-monks.html

"A Clockwork Orange had been in theaters for over a year when a bizarre and brutal crime put the movie back in the headlines. In 1974, a gang of British youths attacked a teenage girl. As they raped her, they performed the same song-and-dance number—“Singin’ in the Rain,” made famous by Gene Kelly in the musical of the same name—that Alex sings as he prepares to rape a woman in the film." (http://www.sparknotes.com/film/clockworkorange/context.html)

The relevant scene in the film to this case can be found through this link, in which Alex, our protagonist, rapes and violently abuses a man's wife whilst performing "Singin' in the Rain", the specific song mimiced my the gang of British youths whilst raping a teenage girl.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2a73Z-cTMo

Other areas of interest i need to research further include:

- Anti-hero (How an anti-hero, like Alex in A Clockwork Orange, affects the perception of violence and ultra-violence portrayed in films).

- Catharsis (theoretical arguments for and against how film violence affects human behaviour).

- Mimesis (theoretical arguments for and against how film violence affects human behaviour).

- Plato and Aristotle on the effects of tragic drama and melodrama (mimesis in 'The Republic' by Plato).

- Statistics (Relevant numerical figures linked to the possible increase or decrease of crime rate in correlation with film violence).

- Quotes (quotes that pose strong and valid reasons for and against the topic of discussion).

- Ultra-violence

- Articles on Copycat crimes, high school shootings etc. that have been connected or correlate with cinema and film violence.

- Freud in A Clockwork Orange.
- Aestheticization of Violence.
- Stanley Kubrick on A Clockwork Orange.
- Review of a Clockwork Orange.

As i delve further into the research of this topic, i will begin to uncover new areas of research, but for now this is a strong start point with some key ideas and terms to look into.

Cathedral Interior... Theatrical Lighting Tests...

Since Tuesdays tutorial with Phil, i've been trying to figure out the best way of adding theatrical lighting to this scene. Phil explained that it needn't be realistic because this is a CG world, so we can exhaggerate and manipulate the elements of realism, mainly for visually pleasing results and visual aesthetic. The type of dramatic and theatrical lighting Phil suggested referencing was woodland as it has similar breathrough light beams from the trees that i aim o achieve through the cathedral windows. So a couple of problems i have at the moment involve the fog which makes normal lights struggle to to be seen and also Mental Ray will kill me on render time, so i haven't got the added lighting benefits that poses, which seems to be the main choice for most under water lighting tutorials. However, i decided to import my searchlight scene from the narrative project and use the light beam from that which seems to have a visually pleasing effect on th overall scene. At the moment it still needs a lot of work because i've kept all the settings the same from the searchlight scene. The light beams are actually cylinders with glow, but the object is hidden meaning that only the glow is rendered.

Dolly Zoom Stairs Scene...

Here's another scene i've been working on... I aim to use a dolly zoom to create a distorted camera movement, i'm hoping this will add to the atmosphere, mood and tonality of the shot...

Progression Sheet 23-02-2011...

To keep myself aware of the progression of my Maya scenes, i've decided to use the progression sheet that i developed for the narrative project. It also serves as a professional documentation which is visually pleasing for anyone following the blog and my progress. It's definitely something i think everyone should be using for their own personal use...

Framing Practice Topics... In what way does film violence affect human behaviour?

With the media industry having a strong position in influencing and manipulating an audiences' thoughts and opinions, the topic of how film and video game violence affects/influences it's audience is still an on going debate in foreground of the media. With an increase in violence over the years from street crimes to high school shootings, i feel that this is a very interesting subject to research into with a lot of points for and against the idea, making a great topic to debate. I feel the subject is even more of an issue as we develop 3D technology further, the violence in the film world will become even more realistic, possibly increasing this problem even further.

Texture Columns... Further Texturing Tests...

Cathedral Interior... More Underwater Fog and Lighting Tests...

Some more experiments with the lighting and underwater fog for my scenes...

Cathedral Interior... Underwater Fog and Texture Testing...

Here's some test renders of the interior of my cathedral thus far with an etching shader and various progressions of underwater fog.

Cathedral Interior Development... Columns Shot...

Here are a couple of renders for the interior of the cathedral that i'm currently modelling.

Framing Practice Topic... Evoking Emotion in Film...

From the word go, i've always known that my dissertation would be written in context to film and film theory. It is an area of interest for me and something i feel comfortably writing about; being one of my biggest passions and the industry i would like to pursue a career in. I thought about what i could write about over and over in my head with endless possibilities that i contextualise with film theory. However, one thing that interests me is how film is used to evoke emotion. This concept of evoking emotion could be anything from anger to happiness and everything inbetween. What i aim to do now is pursue this topic further and find out how deep it goes. It's possible that there could be absolutely nothing on this topic, or the opposite; almost too much to take in. The research i do will let me know if this is a topic worth writing about or not...

Maya Tutorials, Week 3... Dynamics...

Maya Tutorials, Week 2... Dynamics...

Texturing... Etching Tests with Colour Continued...

Here's some more tests for the coloured etching shader...

Texturing... Etching Tests with Colour...

So i went to see Alan earlier about understanding how the etching shader worked and it seems that it would be hard to make many adaptations or changes to the shader because it is based on black and white ramps. However, Alan found a way of connecting a lambert to the shader which is able to seemingly change the white sections of the shader to another colour/texture. As a result, i was able to produce the images above. One noticeable difference is that the black etching lines aren't as predominant as with the white undertone, but i find the subtle etching texure to be a lot easier on the eye and works nicely to show the shading on the columns.

Texturing... Etching Shader Tests Continued...

Here are some more tests for the etching shader on the spiral staircase scene i'm currently modelling...