Extra Credit: Lighting a Scene in Maya

My initials are "V" and "E". Below are all the photos: Non-lit and 1, 2, and 3 point lighting. 

no lighting

One Point Lighting

Two Point Lighting

Three Point Lighting

Special Effects in Animation and Live-Action

My first two term paper scores were 95 and 94; I will not be writing a third term paper.


[ Regardless, I did enjoy researching when writing the outline for the third paper. It's amazing to see how far special effects have come, even if they still don't always look "realistic." Sometimes traditional animating is still the way to go! I've learned a lot from researching for these term papers so thank you!! ]

Outline for the Third Term Paper

Special Effects in Animation and Live Action

INTRO
a. Visual effects have been a present feature in films, both animated and live action, for many many years. For this paper I will be comparing the visual effects of water/sea storm from two Disney films: Pinocchio (1940) and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007)

BODY
I. Pinocchio (1940, animated) – Monstro the Whale scene
- Water waves and effects (bubbles, ripples, splashes etc). was hand drawn and painted by animators and visual effects animators.
- Waves closest to the camera had thicker line quality and those furthest had thinner line
quality. This gave the illusion of depth.
- Cell paper would have the waves traced on it. Visual effects animators would then shade the waves with blue and black  pencil leads to give the waves a sculptured look/feeling.

II. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007, live action) – Maelstrom scene
- Shot in a large warehouse with life scaled ships (for actors to use)
- Used real water effects for rain, large splashes, etc. as much as they could in order to a) make it feel real (if you want it to look real, use real elements) and b) so the actors felt as if they were in a real storm (i.e. acted with that element; not having to mime it).
- Digital Effects
    * ILM Studios (750 shots in 5 months) and Digital Domain (300 shots)
    * water fx
    * Maya
- Given this is a live action film and having more resources helps for a more authentic “real” look.

CONCLUSION
a. Both films are successful, in my opinion, in creating these water effects. In Pinocchio I believe there can be more credit given to the fact that it was hand drawn, even if it does have a “fake” look to it as it is cartoon. In Pirates of the Caribbean, having some real water elements and using 3D, computer effects help give a more realistic setting. However using 3D and computer graphics can also be an obvious use of its “artificial-ness.”

b. Throughout the years, visual effects in films have come a long way. Visual effects then were limited the resources available and most of the time were hand drawn. Today we have many computer programs that help with creating better looking/realistic effects. Both methods are successful and do have their flaws but are nevertheless amazing and deserve much credit for their creations. 

Stop-Motion Character Animation

For this Stop Motion assignment, I decided to team up with Allegra Colston. We knew we wanted to work together for this assignment. Our planning started with Skype sessions, since we could not meet often. We first showed each other different objects around our homes that we might be able to use. We agreed on using the my artist Manikin and her Penguin and Turtle wood figures. Then we brainstormed our story. We had the idea that the Manikin was going to a zoo or zoo exhibit and was fascinated by the animals. Our focus animal was going to be the Penguin. The following are our storyboards:                                         

  (Veronica - thumbnails) 

 

(Allegra's thumbnails)

We combined both ideas and came with with the following story: A person goes to a zoo exhibit and sees these cool animals. The turtle does not react as much to the human taking pictures, so the person moves on. Once reaching the penguin, they are fascinated and quickly take the camera out. While they are doing so, the penguin decides to leave, resulting in an empty habitat area with no penguin = no photo.

That was our original concept. We then thought up designing our habitats for the animals. We used clay, construction paper, illustration board, shoe boxes (for bases) and books for more height). We also used cotton balls & plastic wrap for the Penguin Exhibit, and grass, dirt and brown clay rocks for the Turtle exhibit.



As we were shooting, we decided to add a “NO FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY” sign to the Penguin exhibit. This would eventually change our ending. The Manikin, being too excited, takes a photo of the Penguin with flash anyways. The sad result of that is that it ends up killing the Penguin.

Both Allegra/Veronica shared the work equally. While I/she focused more on the camera work, I/she focused more on the animation; collaborating back and forth. We each made of the habitats for the animals and I/Allegra made the tiny camera for our person to hold. Veronica/I also made the “Welcome” sign and the “No Flash Photography” signs you see in the video. After much time, the end result if our animation!! We had a lot of fun making this and hope you enjoy!!