luciayaya

[luciayaya]

The invitation I sent out on Saturday morning to the participants

[luciayaya]

compiling more videos and seeing how I feel about the documentation all playing together. less interesting to watch but definitely clearer.

[luciayaya]

experimenting more with the AR - used a different file type and exported my keyframes so this file has the animations from my original film. I tried two versions, one where I tried to really emphasise the fact this was digitally installed and not just overlaid. Due to the program I’m using being a beta, I consistently get small issues with the models being flipped of incorrectly textured. I found info on the web about going into the code and manually adjusting the names to correct this, but do not have the experience to do so unfortunately! Found this experiment really intresting but it obscures the visuals for the film a lot so I might leave this experiment here. Attached below is the QR for this model and a screenshot from a earlier experiment, where the texture for one of my shells was totally gone. 

[luciayaya]

I received a portion of my documentations videos late last night. although I only have about 40% not the videos, I decided to start experimenting with the footage and laid them over each other here in a similar style to the original video. Before the rest come in I will try some other formats and to make my final cut as efficient as possible

[luciayaya]

Final cut of my video,

cleaned up some of the shots and added some pitched-down chewing sounds. I was struggling with the idea of an installation so chatted to Claire about it for a bit. Definitely didn't want to just project it and have it shown in a clean exhibition space. Ideally I wanted people to see it in their bedrooms and kitchens, where you eat meals alone out of pans or dirty plates. Decided to reach out to people I know with an invitation to view the film on their laptops at 10pm tonight. I included a dress code but tried to make it clear that the option to break this rule existed. I would be interested to know how many people followed through. The final piece feels intimate and vulnerable and I would love for some people to identify with those qualities in it. I asked people to record themselves viewing it as the documentation of my final piece - Expecting some low quality shots and a variety of angles!

[luciayaya]

More inspiration for my short film - Emile Cohl created Fantasmagorie in 1908 by drawing onto glass! - the way the bodies move by shifting the glass reminds me of how location keyframe work!

[luciayaya]

An old video that uses 3D models that I loved. Abstracting complicated ideas and then using simple visual metaphors to explain them is both beautiful and educational 

[luciayaya]

another 1-off blend experiment

been try to make 1 new render every morning where I try out something new - today I used an HDRI for the first time and also when back to modelling basics with extruding and insetting. I think this is most clear in the space I marked out for the face where I managed to get a cool effect with he grass. Also tried to experiment with the UV wrapping :) This really stressed out my computer because of the high resolution textures, so I couldn't re-open the file to adjust, but if possible I would want to change the shadows over the face and make the sun’s surface smoother (no idea why its freaking out near the top :0)

[luciayaya]

current draft of my short film, plus some peer and tutor feedback

This was the version of the short film I installed yesterday (installation pics pending) on the projector. From the feedback I got an idea of which imagery in it is the most effective and what I can lean into a little more, as well as potential ideas for a more effective installation.

The colours in it seem to work well. The heavy use of purple drew some connections in the audience between wealth and power. The heavy velvet purple curtain I installed around it helped to consolidate this I think because it was so much darker and richer, which I think are a little bit more regal than the pale pastels I use in the film. The dissonance between the simple low poly images and disturbing subject matter was discussed a lot. One person pointed out that some of the effects could have existed in a commercial which I hadn't considered earlier! That entire tone might have contributed to other people identifying it with dystopias. Dystopian tropes often rely on there being some glossy veneer over something horrifying or disturbing so this also aligns with some of the messages I wanted to come through. I also really appreciated that some people just enjoyed looking at the visuals and letting it be a surreal viewing experience - to me this confirms that some of my earlier visual experiments paid off!! :) We also flagged up the sounds, installation and text as things to adjust. Text being on screen for longer periods of time and generally making it easier to read should be an easy fix. For sounds, I agree with my tutors that some textual sounds to accompany the teeth might help blend the audio and video together better. Installation will still be tough - got some great ideas form everyone.

Claire suggested I try to have this video installed on a table somehow? I would love to try this out but have literally no clue where to get started. Might start off by making a simple AR that is related to the video but stands alone - could include a link to the youtube video this way.

Aside from that I have a couple of technical adjustments to make and some research to put on the blog. feeling a lot better about the activation of my outcome :)

[luciayaya]

Another texture study in blender. Slowly learning how to use node trees and add materials - I also experimented with some depth of field in this

[luciayaya]

Using this poem as inspiration for dialogue - how might a shell address it’s oyster?

[luciayaya]

Screenshots from what I’m editing together. still struggling with text! Happy with some of the blend effects I’m using to overlay animations though 

[luciayaya]

Building and animating a character

I wanted to include some more ambitious animation in my short film so I tried learning how to rig a character. It took a while to build the model and learn how to add an armature but now I know the basics, I’m gonna try to have him interact with some of my other objects. it’s far from perfect, but i’m happy with it for a first attempt

[luciayaya]

Lots to catch the blogs up on :0

Experimenting with different styles on blender to create organic shapes. Made these after experimenting with the solidify modifier and backface culling :) These are a lot of work for my Laptop to run, so I might return to the lower poly models though

[luciayaya]

More sample renders

experimenting with a softer, low poly style. It’s a lot easier on the computer (and the eyes) and I think it works better for some of the more tender dialogue I’m working on. Planning to include some text and try and give the whole thing more narrative. 

[luciayaya]

testing how some of my digital work interacts with one another. Really happy with the floating text effect and the teeth look but they drew attention to the asymmetry of the shot. Really unhappy with the pearls dropping - I think I messed up the physics of it early on so I might scrap it going forward? 

[luciayaya]

After my group tutorial with Jala, I wanted to focus a little bit on ways to blend my digital work with the real world and potentially having them interact with real sculptures. This was a first attempt at exporting blender files to adobe aero! None of the reflective materials were able to convert correctly so I lost some mother-of-pearl textures, which is worth noting. Might try one of my animations next