Friday, March 27, 2020

Concepts

Spaceship designs
Beginnings of Photoshop Concept
Sketch of concept 1

Sketch of concept 2 (Apologies for bad quality photo)

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Prop List


This is currently the prop sheet. Still in its beginning phase. A lot of Concepts need to be drawn up and model. I have currently installed Maya on my home computer so I can do some work while in the current Quarantine. I will make blogs of every concept in the future.

Thursday, March 19, 2020

Annotations of the Thumbnails


  1. Spudnik 1 around Earth.
  2. Kennedy giving his man on the moon speech.
  3. Kennedy Dead Newspaper, Lyndon B Johnson Giving a Speech. Portrait of President Ordell.
  4. Soyus one and Apollo 11 flying to the moon. American Astronaut on the moon saluting, Vladimir Komarov Funeral.
  5. President Galt Giving Speech. Visualisation of the Milky War War.
  6. President Meelan image. Milky Way War Newspaper. Presedent Meelan and Leonid Brezhnev talking. Ekel Kirillovich. Portrait infront of funeral of Brezhnev.
  7. Shaking of hand representing the agreement of Nasa and te un. Earth with space site locations. Kirillovich signing the disbandment of cold war.
  8. SSU Flag being praised by President Mellan. Inc Flag being Praised by Galt.
  9. TV Street graffiti and showing screens of riots and news anchors questioning the change.
  10. Mechta-1 in its full glory with shuttles coming towards it. Hijackers holding station members at gun point.
  11. Pluto with ship yards and the SSU Ordell being built.
  12. Amelia Filberte portrait with the SSU Ordell flying through a new system.

Tuesday, March 17, 2020

Comic Dialouge

1. (4th October 1957 )47 years ago, the Soviet Union launched the first satellite into the Earth’s atmosphere, Sputnik 1. This little satellite is how it all started. How we got here.

2. 4 years later John F Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States made a speech to the American people, he promised by the end of the decade that they would land a man on the moon (We choose to go to the Moon). To some this was inspiring, to others a disbelief, that it wouldn’t be possible.

3. For a brief time after he died, some believed that his promise would have died too, at the time no one knew if the acting president Lyndon B. Johnson would carry out the promise. But a man named Irvin Ordell stood up and swore that not only would he get a man on the moon but also, he would set the beginnings for humanity to thrive on the moon. Some say that this promise is what won him the presidency.

4. On the 23 of April 1967, the ongoing space race between the Americans and The Soviets came very close to a draw. Both Apollo 11 and Soyus 1 launches for the moon. Apollo 11 lands on the Moon on the 23 April 1967. however, Soyus 1 suffers from faults and is forced to return home, Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov dies on re-entry. He Is considered a hero of the Soviet Union.

5. Then the world changed, the American people voted in Dan Galt in 1972 as their next president. The one who warmed the Cold War back up, or as we now call it the Milky Way War. Instead of weapons of mass destruction it was a contest for the superior space technology. Lasers, Spacefighters, Lunar Outposts and Spacedocks were only a few things that were produced in this era.

6. Out of desperation for de-escalation Jahdo Meelan wins the election in 1979. In the course of a year the Milky Way War ends and talks with Soviet Leader Leonid Brezhnev about peace and collaboration. 3 years later Leonid Brezhnev dies of a heart attack and is succeeded by Ekel Kirillovich.

7. President Meelan then works on the unthinkable, he gets the United Nations to work with NASA so that multiple space research facilities are located around the globe. Kirillovich officially end the cold war.

8. It was in 1984 at the UN Summit, Solar System United was announced. It’s promised that on Jan 10th, 1988 a one world Government would form. The way of life that humanity new would change forever. And that’s how the Independent Nations Coalition was formed.

9. For 4 years the world was in chaos, Goverments were in change. The economy started to waver, and INC was spreading across the galaxy. Dan Galt came back strong to oppose the unification. But as promised, The SSU became our Government.

10. Two months after the formation. A large Space Station named Mechta-1 and a few Space shuttles are hijacked by unidentifiable ships and oddly disappear without a trace. The crew of the station are also kidnapped in the hijack. At the same time anything or anyone related to INC vanish.

11. 11 years later. The Council of SSU announces to explore the rest of the galaxy. Pluto’s outer orbit becomes the home of ship yards. And the construction of The SSU Ordell begins.

12. Now the Year is 2005, I Amelia Filberte, SSU Ordell’s on board Historian, has taken the task to document the travel into the galaxy. And as of this writing, we have just reached our first location, The Unknown.

Monday, March 16, 2020

Storyboard Practice

Preferences Button

Render Settings

From Left To Right, Grid, Film Gate, Resolution Gate, Gate Mask, Field Chart, Safe Action, Safe Title
At this moment in time I can't even model a simple block house, I need to go and look at the recordings of the class cause i'm very behind right now. For unexplainable reasons I'm struggling to model anything. The Constant freezing of the Maya doesn't help.
At thsi moment I am watching how camera movement works in Maya, which is very interesting. In my animation I have to make some interesting pan shots.
Holding Shift on you character increases the speed of an object.

Update, I made the house finally
Tis Basic




Some Notes for Audio

Hold alt an audio selection to nudge
Arrow-keys on video show every frame
Merge clips... its good for locking
Synchronising is also a button
Alt drag: grasp audio or video.
Drag(Select)+alt: copy
Ctrl+shift+D is cross fade
window effect controls

Also 118bpm was the beat per minute of the songs I was listening too. (No Credit Card by Neil Cicierega).

Monday, March 9, 2020

Dogme 95


Image result for dogme 95
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogme_95


Films to note:
Breaking The Waves (1996)  Lars Von Trier
The Idiots (1998)  Lars Von Trier
The Celebration (1998) Thomas Vinterberg
Mifune (1999) Soren Krag-Jacobsen
The King is Alive (2000) Kristian Levring
Lovers
Julien Donkey-boy
  • Dogma 95, a summary: A group of danish people making films with cam-corders, They had a vow of Chastisy. The director must not be credited, no special effect, no genres and no special title sequences. No sfx. only on 35mm film. every camera must be handheld. must be in colour must be natural. No sets or props. No soundtrack.
  • Who were the directors involved in the movement: Lars Von Trier, Thomas Vinterberg , Soren Krag-Jacobsen, Christian Levering
  • When did the movement end?: 2005
  • Do you feel that an imposed set of rules on film making would help in making a more “pure” film that improves the focus on story and character?: It is raw Story and Character. there is no background music or effects to really boost development. But I disagree with the genre and lack of props rule. That's just being picky.
  • Research Lars von Trier’s “Dancer in the Dark” (2000).  Did von Trier follow his own Dogme 95 rules?  Where did he break them?  Someone uses a gun a shoot a person Dead This violates the rules of the manifesto. as It is a Prop and the would of used a sound effect. It stipulates Violence, Non-diegetic music and period pieces.




Airplane

Here is how the references look like in Maya

Use this window on the top right in channel box / layer editor

Side view

Top view

Front View

Add this reference to a layer so you can make it disappear and re-appear.

Make a cube and then stretch the cube to the reference.


The Goal is to make you shape with little resolution as possible.

Press the x-ray button to see through the shape.

When using the Multi cut tool, press ctrl when using it.








Sunday, March 8, 2020

Proposal Slideshow























Speech

1. Hello Everybody, Today I propose to you my research question, How can I recreate the style and nostalgia of a Pulp Science Fiction Paper Novel. For those of you who don't know my main genre this year is Retro Futurism. "The use of a style or aesthetic considered futuristic in an earlier era". Before I get into what I am going to do, let me show you what the many artist models I will be referencing.

2. My main Artist Models are Frank R. Paul, Grant Duncan, Chris Foss, Peter Elson, Chris Moore and Angus Mckie. Other artist are included but these are the main six.

3. Frank R. Paul is the first proper Science Fiction Artist. I think the one that really started the genre. He illustrated the Covers of Amazing Stories, Air Wonder Stories, Science Wonder Stories and Wonder Stories. Pulp Science Fiction Magazines that were released in 1926. Frank's art consisted scenes of bright colours caught mid action, as you can see here.

4. Grant Duncan is Hello Games Art Director. His work features in No Man's Sky, a video game about discovery. One thing that does make this game special is its art design, It has Bright Colours and contrasting landscapes. This Modern take on Retro Futurism keeps true to the original art style of the early 70's.

5. Chris Foss is an Illustrator for many science fiction book covers. He's done work with many authors including Issac Asimov. E.E Doc Smith, Arthur C. Clarke, A.E Van Vogt and Philip K. Dick. His covers are darker, but he does have an eye for architecture and spaceship designs.

6. Peter Elson is an Illustrator, He has almost the same style of Chris Foss, But Elson does have a little more variety and does tend to use gradients.

7. Chris Moore is also an Illustrator and has many art books under his name including Journeyman - The art of Chris Moore, Parallel Lines and Fantasy art of the New Millennium. His artwork is much darker, and he tends to experiment with multiple camera angles, with his dark colours, there is also his vibrant colours to contrast.

8. Last but not least we have Angus Mckie. With work in The Terrian Trade Authority collection and The Dome: Ground Zero, He has pretty much the same style to Elson and Foss, but he has more lighting effects.

9. So, how can I recreate the style and nostalgia of a Pulp Science Fiction Paper Novel? First, I have to find the right Medium to do this. The most common medium is to use paints, make a large canvas and create an artwork. Scan it then print it on the cover. The other alternative is to recreate it digitally.

10. One opportunity I have been given is to try out airbrushing which is very exciting. Here is the airbrushing kit, and it came with a variety of inks.

11. The experimentation with the Retro futurism genre started way back in 2017 back when I was doing digital in Certificate of Applied Arts and continued in 2019 when I was doing the Diploma of Animation last year.

12. This artwork is the first experimentation. Most of this was painted digitally but I started by sketching out a rough drawing then Inking the outlines. I scanned the drawing the filled the image with solid colour. The image turned out nice, but I knew that I could do better. I captured the colours and the gradients but the picture to me looks a bit rough on the edges.

13. In 2019 for BSA142 Diploma of Screen Arts I made Retro Science Fiction my digital subject and produced a variety of artworks on Photoshop. Here is the best works in my opinion, all used different colours and styles. This is Entering a strange world, a work inspired by Casper David Friedrich’s Wanderer above the Sea. Here I experimented with silhouettes and very light colours as I wanted to replicate a foggy atmosphere. What I learned from this work was I need to work on backgrounds, make rocks look more like rocks. Here they look a little smudgy and of course I need to work on depth. As here there is none.

14. Red falcon was an experiment on drawing vehicles. For a reference I used a 3d model. This image taught me that I need to get better a drawing shape and vehicles at perspectives, also got to work on atmosphere.

15. The beacon is simple, but I do like it because of it. But the world is very flat. Got to work on that background as there is a lack of one. Frank R. Paul may have had plain backgrounds but one thing that made it work was that everything in front of that was moving, there was action. In this piece it quite static.

16. Another favourite of mine is Max the Astronaut. Its got an angle, its got a nice colour scheme. But for this current project I want to steer a little away from the dark blue and black colour scheme. I want to have bright colours that pop.

17. The last one here, ‘Crash Landing’ is a continuation of the artwork I created in 2016. I learnt here that Outlines don’t need to be used. My art style mostly has black outlines. And this work doesn’t. Again, still need to work on backgrounds.

18. Now here is my current experimentation. This is Layla Travis, My character for 3D animation this year. For this project I am planning to have at least one artwork featuring her. I am starting to design a spaceship which will also feature on one of the works. For my Character Board for 3D I practiced and tried to recreate the style and I believe that I have done well and am ready to create maximum 3 works of art to scan, print and stick onto an old paperback. Then I will display the book on a plinth for all to see.

19. Timing is important when it comes to this assignment. So, in the next few weeks I will have to practice with mediums other than digital, create more concepts and get the best way to make a new paperback cover. I will be putting all my findings onto my blog post.

20. Here are my references for this proposal and thank you for listening.

References in speech:
Amazing Stories archives. (n.d.). The Online Books Page. https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/serial?id=amazingstories

Nerdwriter1. (2018, May 18). The Art Of Sci-Fi Book Covers [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7Qm_UJML54

Retrofuturism | Meaning of Retrofuturism by Lexico. (n.d.). Lexico Dictionaries | English. https://www.lexico.com/definition/retrofuturism




APA References for Mood Boards

NASA testing an early space suit design in the Mojave Desert. [Online image]. (1962). Reddit.
https://www.reddit.com/r/OldSchoolCool/comments/8rixet/nasa_testing_an_early_space_suit_design_in_the/

Vaughan J. (2011). ... early space suit design! [Online image]. Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/x-ray_delta_one/29058353468

[Fig. 1.1 The 1957 ILC XMC Suit]. NASA. https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/ILC-SpaceSuits-RevA.pdf

[Fig. 1.2 ILC SPD-117 Mercury Competition Suit (Courtesy Mr. Gary Harris)]. NASA. https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/ILC-SpaceSuits-RevA.pdf

[Fig. 2.1 ILC’s George Durney & ILC SPD-117 Suit In A 1959 or 1960 Promotional Picture]. NASA. https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/ILC-SpaceSuits-RevA.pdf

[Fig. 2.2 ILC’s 1960 SOA Suit (George Durney in suit)]. NASA. https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/ILC-SpaceSuits-RevA.pdf

[Fig. 2.3 1962 ILC AX1L Suit with Westinghouse PLSS Mockup (Courtesy Gary Harris)]. NASA. https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/ILC-SpaceSuits-RevA.pdf

[sloth unleashed]. Pinterest. https://www.pinterest.nz/pin/742953269762969905/

[+ martian cumbia +]. Pinterest. https://www.pinterest.nz/pin/742953269762964230/

[Frank Westphal]. Pinterest. https://www.pinterest.nz/pin/742953269762964226/

[... more Space Man]. Pinterest. https://www.pinterest.nz/pin/742953269762827103/

[Retro Sci-fi]. Pinterest. https://www.pinterest.nz/pin/742953269762826817/

[Vintage Sci Fi Poster Thrilling Wonder Stories]. Pinterest. https://www.pinterest.nz/pin/742953269762826853/

[Enoceraptor]. Pinterest. https://www.pinterest.nz/pin/742953269762826864/

[This item is unavalable]. Pinterest. https://www.pinterest.nz/pin/742953269762826910/

[Forgotten Tommorow]. Pinterest. https://www.pinterest.nz/pin/742953269762826945/

Stevens P. (N/D). Woman Astronaut. [Online image]. Pinterest. https://www.pinterest.nz/pin/742953269762826862/

Chen Z. (2015). Retro #scifi space girl. [Online Image].
Pinterest. https://www.pinterest.nz/pin/742953269765617861/

[sloth unleashed]. Pinterest. https://www.pinterest.nz/pin/742953269765617857/

References for Proposal

References
Conditt, J. (2016, April 22). Step inside the artistic algorithms of 'No Man's Sky'. Engadget. https://www.engadget.com/2016/04/22/no-mans-sky-art-video/

Elson, P. (n.d.). Biography. Science Fiction Illustrator | Peter Elson. https://www.peterelson.co.uk/biography/index.php

Elson, P. (n.d.). Get Out Of My Sky by Peter Elson, Science Fiction Illustrator. Science Fiction Illustrator | Peter Elson. https://www.peterelson.co.uk/gallery/image.php?cat=11&id=70

Elson, P. (n.d.). Planet Of No Return by Peter Elson, Science Fiction Illustrator. Science Fiction Illustrator | Peter Elson. https://www.peterelson.co.uk/gallery/image.php?cat=10&id=120

Elson, P. (n.d.). Reach For The Stars by Peter Elson, Science Fiction Illustrator. Science Fiction Illustrator | Peter Elson. https://www.peterelson.co.uk/gallery/image.php?cat=9&id=127

Foss, C. (2011, March 26). Chris Foss - Artist. https://www.chrisfossart.com/

Foss, C. (2013, May 28). Mindbridge. Chris Foss - Artist. https://www.chrisfossart.com/2013/02/mindbridge/

Foss, C. (n.d.). Asimov Foundation [Painting]. Pinterest. https://www.pinterest.nz/pin/293156256966418854/

Foss, C. (n.d.). Midsummer Century [Painting]. Pinterest. https://www.pinterest.nz/pin/511440101415032574/

FRANK R. PAUL [Photograph]. (n.d.). Field Guide To Wild American PULP ARTISTS. https://www.pulpartists.com/PF.html

Homenko - ART. (2018, January 26). Sci-fi painting, Retro art painting with spray paint by Homenko [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89KJvpx4wMU&t=570s

Kieran. (2009, February 22). Sci-Fi-O-Rama. Sci-Fi-O-Rama. https://www.sci-fi-o-rama.com/category/artist/angus-mckie/

Mont Marte Art. (2015, November 26). Art Lesson: How to Paint a Sci Fi Space Craft [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCf7zCLB7GI

Moore, C. (n.d.). Millenium. Chris Moore Art | Commercial illustration and art by Chris Moore. https://www.chrismooreillustration.co.uk/illustration/science-fiction/millenium/

Moore, C. (n.d.). Publications. Chris Moore Art | Commercial illustration and art by Chris Moore. https://www.chrismooreillustration.co.uk/publications/

Moore, C. (n.d.). The Legacy Of Heorot. Chris Moore Art | Commercial illustration and art by Chris Moore. https://www.chrismooreillustration.co.uk/illustration/science-fiction/the-legacy-of-heorot/

Moore, C. (n.d.). We Can Remember It For You Wholesale. Chris Moore Art | Commercial illustration and art by Chris Moore. https://www.chrismooreillustration.co.uk/illustration/science-fiction/we-can-remember-it-for-you-wholesale/

No Man's Sky Concept Art Wallpaper [1920x1080] [Photograph]. (n.d.). Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/wallpapers/comments/39v879/no_mans_sky_concept_art_wallpaper_1920x1080/

No Man’s Sky broadens its horizons with new update. (2018, July 17). Autosave.tv. https://www.autosave.tv/2018/07/17/no-mans-sky-broadens-horizons-with-new-update/

Participating Artists. (2011, November 11). Renovation - Home. https://renosf.org/art-gallery.php?artist=moore

Ruff, A. V. (n.d.). Summary Bibliography: Angus McKie. The Internet Speculative Fiction Database. https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?Angus_McKie

Tennevin, Y. (2014, October 30). Chris Foss at the 2014 edition of the Utopiales in Nantes [Photograph]. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Foss#/media/File:Chris_Foss_-_Utopiales_2014_-_P960138.jpg

Wu, F. (n.d.). Frank R. Paul Gallery. frankwu.com. https://www.frankwu.com/paul1.html

Wu, F. (n.d.). Frank R. Paul Gallery. frankwu.com. https://www.frankwu.com/paul2.html

Thursday, March 5, 2020

Stop Motion Animation Artists



We watched a documentary Narrated by Tom Baker about Ray Harryhausen.
His favourite thing was to animate dinosaurs. 
King Kong played an important part in his carrier. He saw it in 1933.
He made models as a hobby in his back garden his first model was a Brontosaurus at the age of 13 years old.
He made an animation about Hanzel and Gretel.
He worked with the creator of King Kong on movie.
He animated on The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, It came from Beneath the Sea and other B movie sci-fi films.
After being tired on working on monster movies, he moved on to the genre of Mythology and Fantasy.
There were plans to,,,, do more films but he decided to retire.






Phil Tippet is a man who likes LSD, He talked to his cat Brian once while on the trip.

What films have Ray Harryhausen and Phil Tippett done stop-motion effects for?

Ray Harryhausen
Clash of the Titans
Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger
The Golden Voyage of Sinbad
The Valley of Gwangi
One Million Years B.C.
First Men in the Moon
Jason and the Argonauts
Mysterious Island
The 3 Worlds of Gulliver
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad
The Strange World of Planet X
20 Million Miles to Earth
Earth vs. the Flying Saucers
It Came from Beneath the Sea
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms

Phil Tippett
Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi
Dragonslayer
Prehistoric Beasts
Dinosaur!
Howard the Duck
RoboCop
RoboCop 2
RoboCop 3
Starship Troopers
Willow

Phil Tippett developed the Go Motion technique. What is the technique and how was it an 
improvement on standard stop-motion?
It has motion blur from models that actually move. Thus making less stop motion jitter.

What caused Phil Tippett to move away from stop-motion / Go-motion techniques and into 
CGI?
Jurassic Park. While filming this, Stephen Spielberg decided he wanted to try out CGI instead of 
stop-motion. Phil Tippet moved away from stop-motion because CGI was becoming more popular;

What is “Dynamation” and how did Ray Harryhausen develop it?
Dynamation is considered a split screen process, The way the screen appears to be split while the
animation is being put into practice in the middle layer. Dynamation used a model in between a 
matte and a background image to create a three layered image. Dynamation needed planning to be 
developed correctly .


Whose work do you prefer?  Why?
Ray Harryhausen. A much as I like Phil Tippett and all of his work, Including Star Wars. 
I got to give it  to Ray because he usually worked on his own. He was a Stop Motion machine and 
his visual effects were pulled off very well.