MSC ANIMATION & VFX

 Monday 26th January  I was really busy with work last week so I didn't have much time to make progress before my meeting with Sean unfortunately. Sorting the story is my priority but I have a few ideas to try out.  Even if I prioritise trailer shots I still have to film the entire shot before it gets edited down. I would rather get a percentage of the film done to a high quality (percentage workflow similar to undergrad) than speading myself thin attempting to get a full film done. Until I finish writing and get an animatic done I won't be able to plan around the full length and scope of the project. Sean recommended I start looking at trailer styles (eg a silent film is very different from modern feature films), what tone and genre and editing style do I want? Good news is there's a room available for me from June, Crawford 127 (ground floor of level 1, Live Room 1). Malcolm said he'll get the room code for me and Sean but I'm very excited to see inside it. Since ...

 Monday 19th January  In studio to work and get feedback today. It was good to catch up with people and hear their progress. Sean likes my claymation work a lot, as well as the research from House of Automata (I need to finish doing studies). This week I wanted to focus on environment design because while I still need to figure out the story and exact characters, the settings are staying the same.  I had the idea of adding a big furnace to the underground workshop, with pipes branching off it to power everything in the house; H3LPR has a similar small power core where its heart would be, and 2.0 would have a bigger version taking up a lot of the chest because it needs more power. Then as 2.0 continues evolving it needs a bigger power source, creating a compelling reason for it to need to take over the house. Plus the cinematography of a big glowing red light in a steampunk setting would look really cool Tuesday 20th January Group pitching for the Wild Child ident live bri...

Feedback from Semester 1: Detailed thematic direction for the project and strong visual imagination with engaging sketches. Clearer articulation of design choices would strengthen the conceptual foundation Deeper research of AI and clearer integration into the narrative world. Exploring strengths and limitations of current AI systems could offer meaningful narrative opportunities The final designs do not fully reflect the concepts you described (btw the designs are not finished or final). Reducing human likeness and instead emphasising unnerving, function driven or uncanny qualities may create a stronger contrast between the two robots and better support the narrative Further investigation of industry standard production pipelines would be beneficial. Understand what is technically feasible to help refine workflow and strengthen the practical realisation  Potential narrative elements to explore: Strengths and limitations of current and older AI systems - outputs that initially appe...

 Admittedly I was taking a break over the holidays and didn't really touch my main project. But I did do some research and personal projects that I can carry forward Went to House of Automata in Forres for research, hoping to gain inspiration for mechanics on my robots and the Inventor's workshop. I explained to the owners that I was an animation student on a research trip and they were nice enough to give me a tour of the workshops and storage spaces for free (normally you have to pay for a private tour!) which was extremely useful for environment research, and explainined how different automata mechanisms work. I could really lean into my designs being more automata-based rather than robotic with the steampunk theme. I did a few studies while I was there as well. Also found the original blueprints for the automata from Martin Scorcese's "Hugo" (the designer owns the collection here) which is a really good reference for me Been making my way through Aardman Acade...