Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Reconstruction - Storyboards, Schedules & Assets

[ UPDATE SLIDES ]

Amazing things have happened in the last few weeks that resulted in a restructuring of the entire cinematic. Now, there's going to be significantly less emphasis on the narrative portion of the entire sequence. This is to enable each and every artist on our current team (which has since expanded!) to both develop and refine professional skills that will strengthen our portfolios and abilities. We have taken into account everything each member of our team wants to personally work on so we could craft a project where every artist can get what they need out of it. The strength of Ley Lines as a world to use for portfolio pieces is that we could conceptualize nearly anything and fit it into the world. 

Now, onward to the work that has been accomplished during this time! We have storyboards, schedules, asset lists, and what hats everyone will be wearing.

 STRIKE TEAMS

ENVIRONMENT
KC (3D art), Steffen (3D art), Claire (3D art), Ashley (lighting, atmospherics + layout)

CHARACTER - MIRIA
Lauren (3D modeling), Summan (facial rigging), Jasmine (body rig)

CHARACTER - MANTIS
Alex (3D modeling), Katie (rigging)

CHARACTER - GOLEM
Roselyn (3D modeling), Brian (rigging)

CHARACTER - SNAKE
Josh (3D modeling), Samantha (rigging)

STORYBOARDS / ANIMATICS
Samantha, Jasmine, Ashley (layouts)

 VISUAL EFFECTS
Brian, Katie, Ashley, Summan

ANIMATION
Samantha, Jasmine

We want to utilize the size of our time to optimize the quality of our sequence, as opposed to focusing on adding quantity in time. We decided that it would be far more efficient to break up into "strike teams" that are responsible for a key component in the sequence. These strike teams will meet multiple times a week to work together on that key asset. We will meet as a complete team once a week on Fridays to discuss the previous day's critiques and plans for the coming presentation. This will cut significantly on the amount of meetings we will have to attend and allow us to use our limited time in a far more efficient manner.

 STORYBOARDS



These rough storyboards were done ahead of the final character concepts so we can take both layout and scene progression into account as early as possible. The flow of this sequence goes as follows: Miria is magically tending to her crystal garden with her Golem guardian/consort at her side. Suddenly, the peace is shattered thanks to a fight between the Snake and Mantis monsters. They crash through a wall and remained locked in combat. The Golem decides to put an end to this fight himself to protect Miria.

Early on Wednesday, we convened to discuss storyboards, scheduling, scale, and final concept designs. We received the final concept art for the monster and decided on the exact scale of each of the monsters (Miria included). We also discussed some content we would like to change for the coming cinematic of the storyboard. The potential changes we discussed were:

1. The Golem attacking both the Snake and the Mantis at once, utilizing its floating hands, to smash them both together.
2. Miria will not be a passive character throughout. Towards the end, there will be a closeup of her face, showing her determination & anger over the situation. It will end with her implied intervention to stop the nonsense.
3. Adding more symbolism of each of the characters (for instance, we were entertaining the idea of the Golem will be a representation of man, and Miria a representation of the planet's life. The Snake will be a representation of corruption, and the Mantis of humanity's progress). We will try to include some celestial aspects to the environment to further communicate that this is in another realm entirely.

Our sequence will be staged similarly to a trailer so we can have quick cuts to dynamic scene after dynamic scene. Doing it this way will make it far more efficient for animation, so we can make the fighting scenes much more precise. This will also allow Technical Artists to utilize more effects, and for everyone's work to be showcased equally. 

In conceptualizing this scene, the Storyboard artists examined the Tales of Symphonia opening closely:


What does this opening include?
1. Establishing environmental shots.
2. Quick cuts to the action.
3. Establishing the breadth of this world through implication. There is just enough content present for the viewer to be curious why everything is happening the way it is. Because we're honing in more on the action, giving just enough to the viewers will be our priority.

As for timing? We are currently looking at a sequence that's approximately 30-40 seconds in length.

LAYOUT REEL


 SCHEDULES


 We want to use this portfolio piece as a means of applying to fall internships, so we have kept this strongly in mind when arranging our schedules. The beginning weeks will have a heavy workload for the character artists as they would need to get their characters completed as quickly as possible to allow rigging to begin. After these three intense weeks of working on characters, they are scheduled to have a week break (if they desire to use this to work on Capstone) and will then proceed to work on the extensive environment with the artists in charge of that. Because there will be many macro and micro elements incorporated in the environment (and all of which will be portfolio quality), this is why we think six artists working on this at one time will be necessary. This way, we will also be able to focus on making our already expansive environment detailed and full without having to worry about sacrificing quality. Also, given the difficulty that may come with initially finding work as a character artist, it will be best for them to build on this skillset as well.

 ASSET LIST


MILESTONES


___________________________________________________________________

FIGHTING REFERENCES

MANTIS

We have begun looking at some inspiration for the movements of each of our characters - though none of these are currently set in stone. For the Mantis, for instance, we have been looking at some Capoeira videos. This fighting style relies heavily on being constantly in motion (even in "idle") and the increased agility that comes along with this.  

 
GOLEM

One of the most  important characteristics about the Golem we want to convey is weight. He's a hulking, slow, but powerful mass in comparison to everyone else.



SNAKE

The Snake creature is a little tricky in that we will have to incorporate both human and snake-like movements in his animations. One immediate reference that came to mind was Scar from the Lion King, chiefly due to his mannerisms. He can convey his malevolence without overacting, though his personality gears towards being more theatrical. We have also found some animation references of a naga character to use as reference!


MIRIA

 Rose Quartz from Steven Universe has been a big influence for Miria as a character. She's a great reference for us to use because she's motherly, graceful, but powerful all at the same time. So we have looked to her as our initial inspiration. 

No comments:

Post a Comment