Butterfly Modifications

Reference Image:

Here is the final shot of what the butterfly will look like:

I have created a bump map in order to create veins within the wings of the butterfly. I wanted to add detail but not too much. I'm happy with the amount of detail that I have gone to, I think that there's just enough detail without making it too obvious.  I have re-textured the butterfly and have played with it so that it catches the light as it moves.

I think that these subtle changes have made all the difference to the effectiveness of how well this butterfly works. The reason that I changed this was because of the 'week before' deadline presentations. The feedback that I got on the butterfly that I had before was that it looked a little solid, thick and not particularly realistic. I'm really glad that I got feedback on this as I think that the comments that I got have pushed me in order to change it. I think that the modifications on this have completely transformed its effectiveness and I think only highlights the importance of getting other peoples feedback on things. Without the feedback that I received on this, I possibly might not have ended up with an effective butterfly within the scene.

Self Promotion

The last few moths I have been considering different ways in which I could start to promote myself. At the moment I have the usual channels i.e, My Vimeo Channel.

I have been considering the best way to utilise these various methods for example, with my Vimeo I'm using my Vimeo channel, instead of just using my Vimeo account. I have found that by having a channel that it has allowed me to direct people to one place that presents my work. I have found that this is a neat and effective way of sending people a link to my work.

I have also started using Twitter. Although I have had a Twitter account for a while now I have never really made the most of it before. However, over the last few months I have started to use it as a way of following designers and posting links to my work. I have decided to keep my Twitter as a design related medium and use it in a professional way. Instead of using it in a similar way to the way that someone might use Facebook I am trying to keep twitter as a way to keep myself up to date with the industry and also hopefully keeping the industry up to date with my stuff, (if people would like to see!)

However, one of the main things that I have been using in terms of self promotion is 'linkedin'. Heres a link to my linked in profile. I have been using Linkedin since the beginning of this semester and I have found that it has been an extremely useful way of creating connections. For example one time when this has proven effective is since me and Steve have finished our placement at the Neighbourhood I have been able to add contacts form their studio. I also hope to get a review of the placement from the studio, which would be great in terms of having a recommendation that other people could view. We also are waiting on a recommendation for the freelance work that we created.

 http://uk.linkedin.com/in/mattgeeling. 


Whats next?

Well I have had a domain name for a while now, however at the moment the design is very basic and is basically the same as my business card, with a link to my email address. My intention for my business cards is to create a design that is related to my show, so that anyone that pick one of my cards up can remember my work.

I will design my website around my ideas for the show and around my final piece and this will be something that i will promote on my business cards etc when I create them.

Based on my previous post I would like to incorporate one aspect of the unit to house my business cards, I think that by having one section that was based on promotion that it is a nice way to tie different elements together. Using the design for the show, to emphasise my self promotion.

Show Ideas

Under the work top section I intend on having some form of draw unit. I intend on playing around with just having a couple of draws able to open. However, I intend on modifying the draws, possibly by mounted blocks on the inside of them so that they only open so far.

I would like to have one draw designed so that it contains promotional material, i.e. business cards and any other elements that I feel will help promote myself.

Flip Book:

Fairly early on in the project I thought that it would be a nice idea to create some form of printed document, for example a little book which included information about the characters in my animation. However information that included aspects about where the bugs I made originated form, the habitat information and their habitat requirements etc.

Throughout this brief I have been using a few books for reference, one of which is a book about insects and their habitat etc. Below is a shot as an example of the type of information that this book showed:

One solution for this is to create a flipbook in which I can choose the bugs that I want to animate. Im thinking that I could create an animation to make a flipbook out of, which on the right hand side you see one of my bugs move and then on the left it includes information about my bugs.

Prototype of Piece:

When we were down in London at Nexus Productions they showed us one of the prototypes that they had had made for one of their character designs. I would like to get one made of my glow bug, in which I could use the idea of pin boards and display mine in a similar way to the ones shown above. 

Butterfly designs:

Something else that I would like to do for the show is to create a display case which has some of my own butterflies in it. I intend on getting hold of some real insect in cases and display some real one, with my own butterflies modified to look as if they were real. 

I am thinking of using the printing process of 'photo screen' and printing my butterflies design onto silk. Here is a mockup to loosely illustrate what I am thinking:

Close up:

My reasoning behind displaying using the ideas that I have talked about above, is because I think that it is a nice way of rounding of my project. My connection with the Museum and the help that I have received form Dmitri has been invaluable and I think that by displaying my work in this way would be a great way of rounding this project off. 

I have already discussed with Dmitri that I would like to provide a write up of my project for their website/blog and I think if I could incorporate this somehow within the show would be a nice idea.

Slow Motion Reference for Butterfly

I felt that it was important to observe how butterflies fly and how they behavior in order to make sure that my butterfly fits within the environment that I have created. When we presented last week one of the things that I received feedback on was to try to make the flight of the butterfly seem a little more natural. This video shows how a butterfly flies in slow motion, so it is great to see the way that the wings actually move. It's interesting to see how the wings flap all the way down past the body and then the whole movement propels the butterfly forward and up. This is definitely something which I am going to translate into my own piece.

The Neighbourhood Portfolio Crit

This portfolio visit was a little different from the rest that I have had over the last year or so, as it was the first return visit that I had made to a studio and it was also the end of mine and Steve's 2 week placement. Me and Steve sat down with Jon, (one of the companies directors) and Stuart, (3D artist). It was great to sit down with both Jon and Stu as it was them that we saw along with Sarah, (studio manager), before Xmas.

As we knew that we would be showing our working to them at some point whilst we were there, we decided to put together a new showreel that was shorter and had some sort of opening and closing to leave an impression in someone's mind.

Where we were sat in the studio we were sat opposite some tenants that are self employed and rent studio space from the Neighbourhood. It was good to sit here in the studio because as we were working on our major project, as well as chipping into meeting etc we were able to get a sense of proper studio life. I think we found a nice balance between working on our own work, whilst also being able to sit in on meetings and join in on discussions. One of the tenants was an animator called Jonathan who gave us some great advice. We had already added him as a contact on Vimeo and he had taken a look at our work. He said that he liked it, the only thing with our showreels is that he suggested that we made them slightly shorter and concise. Taking this on we decided that we would re-edit our showreels.

I've struggled to find a music track that I felt was the right pace and gave the right amount of energy to showcase my work. However, at the beginning of the placement I came across a track which I thought had potential. The first thing that I showed them was my new showreel and both Jon and Stu said that they liked the edit, then music choice worked well and was upbeat and that they thought that it was much tighter than last time that they saw my showreel. I was really pleased with this and it made me feel confident about the content that I had included. I still want to change elements within my showreel, however this is mainly the parts of my major project. So, with this in mind, when I finish my major project I will include aspects from it.

As mentioned, during the placement we sat in on a few meeting. In a few of these meetings they had prepared presentations. Therefore, we decided that it might be a nice way for us to present our major projects to the Neighbourhood. Below is a link to the presentation that I presented to them.

PRESENTATION TO THE NEIGHBOURHOOD

It was great to hear their feedback on my major project as they seemed to like it. Personally I feel that this project has allowed me to use lots of the skills that I have learned over the last few years and utilise different things where appropriate. I think that in terms of a full process, from initial ideas, research, through to production as a whole it is the project that over the whole course I have got the most out of. This is why I was happy with the feedback that I received.

I think that the best feedback that we received was when they liked our work last time, however they could definitely see improvement, which was really nice to hear. They said that they are looking forward to seeing the work when it is finished and that they would like me and Ste to go back in when it's finished to show them. Having this crit on the last day of the placement was a fantastic end to a brilliant placement and is definitely the portfolio crit over the whole year that I have got the most from.

Tandem Work: The last Werewolf

This post is a reflection on the work that both myself and Steve did for the 'Tandem Brief'. This post has been written by both myself and Steve.

This brief came about after our recent visit to London after visiting the Tandem Films studio. Daniel Greeves got in touch with our tutor Christina and asked if any of her students wanted to get involved with a project that they were working on for a client. We were asked as it was felt that we were progressing well with our Major Projects, so that we could devote some time to this. As well as this is was thought that we'd represent the course well and really take advantage of the opportunity.

The brief was to create a few different animations in which we would represent both the transformation from man to werwolf and a victim attack. The animations that we created were an arm bend, a pelvis snap, a rib break and a neck snap. We decided that  although working together in terms of ensuring the style was similar, that we would split the animations up and do two each. The way that we decided to split these up was as follows:

Steve

Pelvis Snap

Neck Snap

Matt

Arm Bend

Rib Break

We started out by finding imagery and creating some style frames to send down to Tandem, to see if we were on the right page. The response to these was that they looked good, so with the go ahead we started producing some tests.

We continued to respond to the feedback we were given until Daniel was happy with where we were at, then we went into full production and ensured that we continued communicating with Daniel. As we were producing work and they were comping as they went along we felt that it was important to ensure that we planned our time effectively, as we had deadlines that needed to be met.

Here are the final animations that we produced:

Arm Bend:

Rib Break:

Pelvis Snap:

Neck Snap:

Here is a link to the final film:

http://www.tandemfilms.com/page/job/the_last_werewolf&play=true

It's great to be recognised in the credits for a project like this:

We feel that it has been a great experience to have whilst were still students and appreciate being asked to be involved in the project. For more information about the process, please see the supporting sketchbook.

Freelance work: Health and Safety Animations

When we were down in London me and Steve got an email to ask if we would like to produce some animations for  a Health and Safety video. We were asked by Matt Davies who we had the portfolio visit with just after Christmas. 

Here's the 4 videos that we produced. The first two are the ones that I worked on and the next two are the ones that Steve did:

Inhalation:

Ingestion:

Absorption:

Injection:


The feedback that we received form these animation was positive. They loved them and said that 'they were exactly what was required'.

This freelance job was great as it allowed us to work out the best way to manage our time and hopefully based on the feedback that we received, will mean that we could get more work out of it in the future. I think the best thing about this job is that the work came from one the portfolio visits earlier in the year, so it just highlights the importance of making contacts as you never know where they could lead.

Making of RAF advert

This is a great example of an effective 'making of' video and how I would like to create my own making of video. I think that what this brilliant about this video is the way that it shows how everything is progressively building up.

Butterfly Shots

Here are some shots of the scene within my piece where the butterfly flies over the top of the glow bugs. I have explored playing with depth of field in these shots, as a way of pulling focus on different elements within the scene. I have played around with this focus as the voice over talks about different things. For example, initially the focus is pulled on the glow bug which sits within the foregound of the peice and then as it talks about 'objects being able to decieve ... looking like other things', the butterfly in the background flies over the top of the glow bugs and as it reaches the foreground of the frame the focus is pulled to this. I tried to use depth of filed as a device in order to help draw the viewers eye to different asspects within the scene.

Glow Bug: Transition possibilities

One thing that I need to consider is the way that that my glow bug works. Then the wing casings open here the ball on the back of the bug starts to glow. In this test I have taken the idea of the red back which is the colour generally associated with these tablets and have the colour change to the yellow/green glow colour. However is this necessary? Does it need to start red and change to the yellow/green colour? Could I just keep it yellow/green from the start. A benefit of this is that if I sit my bug in the scene next to actual tablets then I could just colour correct the tablets in post, if I require. It would make this simpler and mean that I wouldn't have to have this transition from red to the yellow, just have the wing cases open/close.

GLOW BUG IN SCENE

Here is a test render with my glow bug comped into the scene. I think that it works well. I think that the bug appears as if it sits nicely within the scene and that the occlusion gives it a lot more depth and helps the bug apear as if it is in the scene and not just stuck on top.