Collaboration - Submission Post

Reflective Statement

This project was an eye opener into the industry standard and working in a collaborative group. I learnt how to approach working in a group as well as how to assist others. Everyone has a different way of working and finding a way to balance that was defiantly a worry of mine at the beginning of the project. I feel that the opportunity to work with others was a big help to me as I struggle to grasp lots of the Maya centric work and it usually takes me a few tries to perfect whatever I am working on. I found it comforting to know that there were people able to assist if I had any questions, but also I was able to help group members with their work. I am naturally introverted and I think this project helped me to get out of the habit keeping to myself. I think that by the end of this project I was able to communicate well with my group and convey all of my ideas successfully. 

Initially our group was very productive and we quickly came up wit lots of ideas. I think our issue was not being able to plan ahead in terms of workloads against skill. I underestimated how difficult it would be to animate three Moom characters at once having very little animation experience. I defiantly need to improve on speaking up and asking for help when I need it. In terms of story building I think I have improved my story boards and script writing. In the final version of our film, due to time constraints, things were cut, and some of the key narrative moments were lost making the overall idea a bit confusing for the audience. As the project went on it was really a case of deadlines and getting work done on time. As the producer I organised the delaines and what needed to be done. As a group time keeping could have been improved as I found myself chasing after unfinished work from one group member and ultimately having to complete the work in my own time. Looking back, although this is a collaboration project, I feel as though the quality of my work slipped at the expense of completing another group members tasks when I could have focused on myself more. I thoroughly enjoyed the pre-production phase of this project and I am happy with the work I produced for that. I think that as a group member I contributed a lot of time and effort to creating our final piece. 

I found out quickly that animation is unforgiving and can be highly frustrating, however, I produced a piece of animation and I am glad that I persevered through the process. I know that this is something I need to practice on in the future, so will make an effort to do so for the benefit of my next project. There were a few discrepancies in the group which lowered the moral somewhat. I mad an effort to sort out any issues we had and try and resolve arguments. In group work these things are inevitable as four different people's opinions are not always going to be the same. I think that during these times I kept my professionalism and tried to create a good outcome for everyone. Overall, I know that our final outcome was not the best, but, I'm happy with what I produced. There were lots of obstacles throughout (personal and group related), however, I produced work to the best of my ability and I can honestly say that I worked really hard from start to finish. If anything this project as been insightful and a good learning experience. 

Blog Posts 

https://alexomartin.blogspot.com/2020/10/collaboration-briefing-and-branding.html

https://alexomartin.blogspot.com/2020/10/collaboration-skit-ideas.html https://alexomartin.blogspot.com/2020/11/collaboration-script-ideas.html

https://alexomartin.blogspot.com/2020/11/collaboration-story-boards.html

https://alexomartin.blogspot.com/2020/11/collaboration-script.html

https://alexomartin.blogspot.com/2020/12/collaboration-end-screen.html

https://alexomartin.blogspot.com/2020/12/collaboration-updated-script-storyboards.html

https://alexomartin.blogspot.com/2021/01/collaboration-animating.html

https://alexomartin.blogspot.com/2021/01/collaboration-playblasts-and-renders.html

https://hiddencommetproductions.blogspot.com/2021/01/collaboration-submission-post.html

https://hiddencommetproductions.blogspot.com/2020/12/updated-story-board-frames-and-script.html

https://hiddencommetproductions.blogspot.com/2020/11/collaboration-ogr.html

https://hiddencommetproductions.blogspot.com/2020/11/storyboarding.html

https://hiddencommetproductions.blogspot.com/2020/11/final-script.html#comments

https://hiddencommetproductions.blogspot.com/2020/11/development-of-project-so-far.html

https://hiddencommetproductions.blogspot.com/2020/11/the-wrong-response-to-script-drafts.html

Film Review - Submission Post

Myth and Storytelling 

https://alexomartin.blogspot.com/2020/11/moana-heros-journey.html

Archetypes and  Storytelling 

https://alexomartin.blogspot.com/2020/11/rango-character-archetypes.html

Structural Theories and Storytelling 

https://alexomartin.blogspot.com/2020/11/titanic-structural-theories-and-story.html

Time and Storytelling 

https://alexomartin.blogspot.com/2021/01/pulp-fiction-time-and-storytelling.html

Character and Storytelling 

https://alexomartin.blogspot.com/2021/01/black-panther-character-and-storytelling.html

Quality and Storytelling (B-Movie)

https://alexomartin.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-giant-claw-quality-and-storytelling.html

Quality and Storytelling (Exploitation) 

https://alexomartin.blogspot.com/2021/01/mad-max-quality-and-storytelling-part1.html

Reflective Statement 

I found his project informative. I learnt lots about the process of storytelling structure and the positive and negative examples of good story writing. The ideas behind story structure and character narrative are complex but these lectures and film reviews defiantly gave me a better understanding of the process. I also find that when watching other films I am now able to pick out these techniques and devices, making it much easier to analyse films. This is also useful for future projects as I will be able to objectively look at my own work use these techniques to better my work. I must admit I found the actual writing of the film reviews a bit tedious and lengthy, I know that this has bettered my grasp on story. Although I am interested in the story aspect of the pipeline I know that my writing could be improved so hopefully this project has helped that. I think that I need to improve my research skills and set time to read through sources properly. Like the essay writing research and academic reading is something I nee to improve on. 

Collaboration - Playblasts and Renders

I have playblast all my shots for the eclipse scene and Torran will edit all the shots and other content together to create our final sequence. Upon reflection the animation for this scene needed more time as it is fairly unpolished and there are improvements I would make with more time. However, given the circumstances I think that this is sufficient. There are also some still renders below to show what the shots would have looked like if we were able to render through the entire sequence.  

Collaboration - Animating

 For the scene set outside the Mayan temple there are too many Moom's to animate at once. As a solution I have decided to animate the Historian and the museum frame separately to the scene behind him. Below is a playblast check of one of the first sequences. Moom is currently moving to fast so when animating I need to make sure I time and pace his movements better. 

              

Scene modelled by Torran.

Here is the basic set up of the scene. Anything behind the museum wall will be edited in afterwards, this includes the exhibit and the Mayan people. 

Collaboration - Updated Script, Storyboards

 After some feedback and group discussions I have added some changes to the final script and added some story board frames to fit these changes. As a group we are comfortable with where we are in terms of story, however, I feel we are falling behind schedule in terms of modelling and animating. We need as much time as possible to animate in case of any mistakes or issues we may encounter. To do this we just need to pick up the pace. As we are all working on multiple projects at the same time, individual planning/ time management is key, I plan to make a time frame that I can stick to to make sure I get everything I need to do done on time. I think that my main concern is making sure that the comedy comes through in the final animation. A lot of the comedy in these skits is down to editing.

New Storyboard Frames

Updated Final Script by Alex on Scribd

Collaboration - End Screen

For each of our skits there are specific cuts. For the final scene we plan to end on a error screen. I have designed a cut screen and a glitch effect version to go between when editing the renders together. I also added a posed moom into the design using the facial rig. The pose is inspired by a character from the game Fallout. 

Fallout Character

First Design

Glitch Design 

Collaboration - Script

 I have edited the scripts so that they fit our developed story line and added them into one full document.

'The Wrong Response To' by Alex on Scribd

Collaboration - Story Boards

 Both myself and Molly have created story boards for each skit. These are not set in stone but just so we can get the animatic together which Torran will do. 

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Collaboration - Script Ideas

 After deciding in locations and character outlines, we have decided to each write some draft scripts. We plan to have story boards and animator created by the end of this week.

Skit 1

EXT. Cave, Sunset

A news reporter (Bob) stands to the left of the frame. A group of cave people can be seen standing around a pile of wood bashing rocks together. 

Bob: Good Evening, it's coming up to 2000 bc at 5:30pm and I am here witnessing what we believe to be the invention of man made fire. 

The news reporter looks back to observe the group, as they do a stone strike lights the wood and creates a fire. The group begin to jump up and down with joy.

Bob: Well there you have it folks the... the um... uh.

Just as Bod attempts to finish the story one if the cave people lifts a piece of the fire wood and holds it close to their face causing their hair to catch alight. The cave person throw the wood into the air, hitting another person causing them to catch alight. The group bump into each other causing them all to have a piece of hair or clothing on fire. They begin to frantically run up and down yelling. 

Bob: I uh.. well... I'm Bob Wright and this has been science discovery news.

Bob signals for the cameras to be cut. Just before the screen goes to black one of the cave people runs behind Bob screaming with their hair alight. 

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Skit 2

EXT. Mayan Temple, Midday

News Reporter stands next to a trio of mayan people, the are huddled in discussion. 

N: Good afternoon, it's 1000 b.c. and I'm here with a group that think the have predicted an peculiar event called the "Solar Eclipse", In which the moon will pass in front of the sun and leave us in complete darkness. 

The trio nod in excitement. The sun begins to disappear and the group look up shielding their eyes slightly. 

N: So, how long will this eclipse last then?

One member if the group looks up with a panicked look 

M: Oh well... we hadn't really thought about that. 

The group are now in darkness and all that can be seen are their eyes. The trio blink for a moment. Then they begin to panic, running around and smashing into things. Suddenly the light from the sun appears. Two of the trio are hugging each other tightly screaming, they open their eyes and quickly jump apart, one pushes the other and brushes their clothes off. The third of the trio can be seen shaking in fear on the ground. They also open their eyes jump up and laugh. 

M: Ah see nothing to worry about. 

News reporter looks to the camera and sighs.

Mayan Temple Reference 

Collaboration - Skit Ideas

As a group we have now decided on our logo and production company name. Torran has edited my design to make a smaller logo as well as creating a blog layout. 

After our tutorial with Alan we have decided go with the idea of "The wrong response to physics/ science". We are now deciding on the style and time period we want to use for our animation as we are starting to create a framework for the skits. 

 

Collaboration Briefing and Branding Ideas

 During our collaboration brief my group were given a sentence to respond to. 'The wrong response to', this will be the base of our collaboration project, and from this we need to come up with a short series of comedy skits. As a group we started to brainstorm some ideas about what these could be. 

Initial ideas to theme,

We have also assigned roles in the group, however this could change to suit the workload and groups ability. As a group we will all take on screenwriter and researcher as these are highly collaborative roles.

Director- Molly (mollysuniartblog.blogspot.com)

Producer- Alex

Marketing/ Media Planner/ Graphic Designer- Torran (torranrodgerscaa.blogspot.com)      

                                                                           Brooke (bubblinggin.blogspot.com)

We have also each come up with ideas for our production company and the overall design that we are going for. 

My quick sketches for logo and name.

Personal designs for logo.