New Site Coming Soon..
A few months ago I took a look at my site and realised that it no longer represented me at all. In fact, I really didn't like it any more at all!
I've been working with friend, colleague and amazing programmer Alex Heaton on a brand new site, trying to learn as much as possible about the code that'll be powering we I go along.
I'm pleased to say that it is now finally near completion and should be online by the end of next week, along with some new work and a brand-spanking new showreel . Stay tuned...
April
Although I have utterly failed at keeping this blog updated with interesting posts recently, I have today finally parted with my VFX work on The Dark Side of The Earth. As this was what was eating up most of my time, expect to see more regular updates here in the future.
2010
Happy New Year to all! This year will bring lots of new (and hopefully exciting) things my way. So what do I hope for from this year?
Sci-Fi Is Back!
During the last 2 month I have been to the cinema twice, and both of those times I was in complete awe of what was on screen. Even better, both of these films were science fiction epics, and even better than that they each represent the opposing ends of great sci-fi. I am (of course) talking about Moon and District 9.
Lets start with Moon:
The first feature by Duncan Jones, who has spent the last 10 years or so working in advertising and refining his directing skills. Although Duncan is David Bowie's son, this film is no Space Oddity. I won't explain the plot here as its easy to find anywhere online (and if you haven't seen it you REALLY, REALLY should), but Duncan has managed to produce a science fiction epic in the style of the 70's classics, and some of his self-proclaimed influences: Silent Running, 2001, Alien, etc.
Moon is charmingly understated, mainly dealing with the protagonist's internal struggles. It isn't effects-heavy, but all of the lunar effects shots were done using miniatures.
I simply cannot emphasise how much Moon impressed me - in a movie climate where for the last few years science fiction has been all about explosions and big budget effects (not that I'm not a fan of these, on the contrary!) Moon is a refreshing breath of fresh air. The fact that Duncan managed to do this with only $5 million is purely an added bonus!
District 9 on the other hand sits at the other end of the spectrum - it is an effects-heavy action sci-fi adventure obviously dealing with big, difficult issues in the kind of bold way only science fiction can - this, combined with the fact that the effects work with the story (and aren't just there for some eye candy) are what makes District 9 really special. I know a lot less about it than Moon, but will definitely be keeping an eye on Neill Blomkamp, who previously directed the Peter Jackson-led Halo movie visual concepts (take a look here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUcreY0X33k - the man clearly knows what he's doing when it comes to gritty sci-fi). Again, Neill managed to do this all with a budget of $30 million - Michael Bay could learn a thing or two here.
While District 9 has receiving glowing critical reviews and huge box office success ($126 million worldwide thus far), Moon has only had the luxury of the former (although it has earned back its production costs). While Moon's appeal probably isn't as wide as an action-heavy sci-fi epic presented by Peter Jackson, it is a really fantastic film and should be seen by anyone with even a passing interest in film in general. A worldwide viral advertising campaign would probably have helped it a bit more too!
So to sum it all up - if you like film (especially sci-fi), then you simply must see both of these films. Don't wait until they are on DVD either, they are best viewed on the biggest screen you can get into. Lets hope that both Duncan and Neill will have long careers in the movie business - the future of sci-fi is brighter than it has been in a good few years. Roll on Avatar...
Wheels & Wires
So on Thursday I had my last lecture for 3 weeks - short summer holiday here we come! Aside from a dissertation to start, house move to commence, various paying jobs that need to be started and lots and lots of reading to catch up on there is also that tiny compositing project I have going on..
So over the past week I've managed to squeeze in a few hours of compositing for Dark Side Of The Earth, so I'll give a quick update as to the progress of the shot I have been focusing on (which is still very far from being 100% finished, but I will get there soon!)
This particular shot is a little trickier than the last shot I covered as it is roughly twice as long (at 113 frames) and the characters manage a 360 degree turn around eachother as they fight. But, the bigger the challenge the more satisfying the solution, take a look:
The Original Shot
Obviously a few things need to change - namely the puppeteers need to vanish, the ceiling element and ropes must be added in and the whole thing has to match up and play smooothly (to simplify!)
The Current Shot
So this is where the shot is now - puppeteers have been successfully removed (apart from in the spokes of the swordsman's wheels - barely visible here but a real issue when he turns sideways) and the ceiling element has been added into the background. Next I need to clean up the masks that have brought back in character elements (such as The Swordsman's shield and arms) so that they move a little smoother, and correct the edges of the ceiling element so that it seamlessly connects to the background. In order to finish the shot I'll need to add in some convincing rope elements and light them accordingly to make them fit the shot. At least its on its way!
Finally, take a look at the script behind this 113 frame (around 4.7 seconds) shot:
Node Tree
Put simply each 'node' is a single action, mask or object - when interconnected they can work together to mask out characters, bring objects back in and add entirely new elements to the scene. Quite a lot going on but its a lot of fun when things are working properly.
Next time I'll update with a rundown of a completely different shot, in which we had to almost entirely rebuild The Swordsman himself!