Character Design / Bachelor of Design in Creative Media
Shofwa Alyadiena / 0350019
Instructions
1. Invisible Set Extension
Slide 1. Invisible Set Extension Moodboard (1/11/2022)
Moodboard | Slides 1-10
Other than what's placed on the slides, I'll explain further my decisions. I've never been much of a movie fan, and when I watch some they tend to be animated works- even then I prefer a 2D animation kind of movie. However, earlier this year one of the artists I listened to, Dirt Poor Robins, released a new album- Queen of the Night. I was intrigued and saw that it was a soundtrack for a series they'd worked on. I was immediately interested and watched through all of them. To my surprise, it was announced that they'll remove the episodes and turn them into a full movie, as was originally intended.
Flash forward to the start of this project, a movie was needed as a prompt for our invisible set extension. Queen of the Night (Youtube Link) is a silent fairy tale, and matte paintings and visual effects are exactly the kinds of scenes being used. I was especially interested in the 'secret' metaphors and foreshadowing with the spiders, Capricorns, and tentacles throughout the movie, and I thought I could try to make something inspired of the sort. Furthermore, the wide range of backgrounds in the film was a great opportunity to explore different environments.
To me, the most important choice was the colour palette. The original film is black-and-white, so a monochromatic scheme was the most fitting. I believed as well that a cool colour palette would match because of the film's dark theme.
Sketches | Slides 11-13
In the sketches, I actually started off with the shipwreck city, which was done before I understood that a movie prompt was somewhat necessary. I scratched off the idea and moved on to other ideas, that being a burning city, a steampunk-inspired road, a spider-shaped mountain, and a moonlit cliff.
The burning city is part of the story, once the main character returns to earth and finds that he wasn't welcome anymore. There wasn't a full image of that, and I thought it was a great idea to try illustrating a 16:9-sized matte painting for it. Plus, it would be simpler to find what VFX I could use.
In the end, I chose the spider-shaped mountain. Although it kind of messes up the foreshadowing in the original story, it makes sense with the theme (and I also really like spiders). Other than that, it was a good learning experience.
Trial | Slides 14-16
I started off the test trial by mashing together the images I gathered. I misunderstood the meaning of a baseplate and thought the photo mashing is what it was. I painted over the mountains to create that spider shape. At this time, I had no idea what I was doing that was wrong; it just didn't look right.
Baseplate | Slides 17-18
After a feedback session, I finally understood what the baseplate was and searched for the ones that were fitting. I searched on Unsplash for deserts and rocky hills and found one that matched what I was going for. Of course, I had to consider the colour and lighting
Added Elements | Slides 19-23
For the added elements, there were multiple things to consider- mainly the light source of each element. I need more mountains or rocky hills, castle bits and pieces on top of hills, and I thought for a bit that I needed space visuals.
Final Progression | Slides 24-28
After the compiled pieces were set, I opened a new file in Photoshop and attempted the matte painting again, this time with a proper baseplate. It was easier for me to understand the values now. However, Mr Kannan pointed out that there was a problem with the over-texturing of the mountain in the background and that it doesn't have a proper light source. There was also a note that the pillar was completely out of place.
The original plan was to create pillars that appear at the start and zoom in as if it's an entrance, but my friends agree that it didn't work well as a still image. I took my friends' and Mr Kannan's notes and replaced the pillar with more rocks on both sides to keep the focal point on the spider-shaped mountain.
Final Works | Slides 29-36
The final work was drawn and separated into layers as preparation for the Thematic Painting. The mountains in the background are completely replaced, and a proper lighting source is attempted (light from the right side).
Other than that, the overcrowding of the stars in the sky really bothered me. Upon closer inspection of the original film, I realized that a splash of bright colours was usually used to lessen the crowd; and a vignette overlay really brings the main attraction into focus.
2. Thematic Painting [VFX]
Fig. 1 Thematic Matte Painting Final Video (10/12/2022)
For the thematic painting, I utilized the separated layers and imported them all onto an After Effects file. I used the splash of light in the background layers and spun the skies a little, all notes taken from the original film. In the first two attempts, I had the stars stop spinning after the 4th second, which I realize made no sense, and had it changed in the final version. Other than that, I used a "dirty film" overlay to match the silent film aesthetic.
Feedback
Try not to rely too much on imagination, and use references often.
Simple shapes are needed to create a good balance in structures if a detailed sketch is too complicated.
If an image doesn't match the colour or lighting, just change it entirely or add a blurred duplicate layer to overlay the entire image and see if it's possible to be added.
Reflection
This project felt like it took forever. Not that I didn't enjoy it, but because there were so many things I've learned just from doing it. This project is exactly what made me realize I understand things slower than everyone, but once I understand it I can apply what I've learned quite well. I understand yet again that it isn't my best work of all time, but I was so proud to see that I could use my favourite movie and create a set extension for it that feels real to me. I hope once my skills are at a close expert level I could remake it.
From seeing my classmate's works, I gathered that my other ideas weren't great. It's true that my block-out sketches were difficult to understand by others, not of the same mind, and it was especially difficult for myself trying to explain it. Mr Kannan repeatedly informed me to use real-life examples, and although I felt like I have, my observation skills seem to still be lacking. However, by the end of it all, I could say that I'm at least satisfied with my work right now.
This project felt like it took forever. Not that I didn't enjoy it, but because there were so many things I've learned just from doing it. This project is exactly what made me realize I understand things slower than everyone, but once I understand it I can apply what I've learned quite well. I understand yet again that it isn't my best work of all time, but I was so proud to see that I could use my favourite movie and create a set extension for it that feels real to me. I hope once my skills are at a close expert level I could remake it.
From seeing my classmate's works, I gathered that my other ideas weren't great. It's true that my block-out sketches were difficult to understand by others, not of the same mind, and it was especially difficult for myself trying to explain it. Mr Kannan repeatedly informed me to use real-life examples, and although I felt like I have, my observation skills seem to still be lacking. However, by the end of it all, I could say that I'm at least satisfied with my work right now.
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