In order to really sell the mockbuster idea, I had to imitate the Cloverfield logo.
Conviently it was simply a case of copying the font and playing layers and motion blur in Pshop.
With the editing, i probably overdid the static and interference effect, but i think overall it works, and the editing tries to roll with the B-movie idea.
I'm happy with the ending, as the dead tone does what it needs to, abrupty ends the peice in a suitable manner.
One of the considerations, is trying to keep the static out of the way so the VFX are not obscured, while trying to keep it true to the idea of recovered footage.
this was achieved through affecting the start and end of the shots, where little happens.
over all im happy how it came out, the small touches of re-jigging the lights inside the toaster, and applying a very subtle noise to the beauty layer did alot of good for the peice?
things to improve?
perhaps make the toaster glow red right before it attacks?
-while it would look good, i think it would need to glow beforehand.
- the others would need to as well; and i think that may have been distracting.
sound is not a quick job!
I had definately under estimated how much sound both played a part in the selling of the peice, and in how hard it would be.
I either had to heavily edit the sounds, or create them myself of scratch.
the sound as the toaster hops about in the last shot was a cut and modded footstep in mud, which i used to give the impression they were "cute" as it hopped about.
the sound of them attacking was a mix of an engine, a cat growl and a scratching sound, pitchshifted and mixed together.
back in the second shot where the toaster pops out a baby, the original sound was titled "chopping pork" and again, that was modified for use.
the mic sound right at the end was done by me simply shaking my headset against my leg while recording, as the original landing in the footage was nearly silent, and lacked any impact.
the Dead Tone right at the end was a loop of a much shorter beep.
And of course; no film would be complete without a wilhelm scream :D
I either had to heavily edit the sounds, or create them myself of scratch.
the sound as the toaster hops about in the last shot was a cut and modded footstep in mud, which i used to give the impression they were "cute" as it hopped about.
the sound of them attacking was a mix of an engine, a cat growl and a scratching sound, pitchshifted and mixed together.
back in the second shot where the toaster pops out a baby, the original sound was titled "chopping pork" and again, that was modified for use.
the mic sound right at the end was done by me simply shaking my headset against my leg while recording, as the original landing in the footage was nearly silent, and lacked any impact.
the Dead Tone right at the end was a loop of a much shorter beep.
And of course; no film would be complete without a wilhelm scream :D
Vandalising my work.
One of the issues with the matchmove was that the CG elements looked too good (arrogance!)
they were far too crisp and clean, comapared to the footage, which has a grain to it.
This made it stand out too much, so the solution was to reduce the quality of the render through applying a noise filter to the beauty pass.
i think this turned out well for the peice.
they were far too crisp and clean, comapared to the footage, which has a grain to it.
This made it stand out too much, so the solution was to reduce the quality of the render through applying a noise filter to the beauty pass.
i think this turned out well for the peice.
What choo' know about visual editing software?
Finally got around to fixing the lighting issue inside the toaster, albeit in a forced manner...
the issue was with the light disappearing duing the composite, so to get around this, what i did was apply a white surface to the entire exterior of the toaster, and a custom material inside the slots.
i then set up and keyframed the lights. (strangley enough there was alot of light leakage and i only needed 3 lights to illuminate the whole object, despite it being 4 seperate slots all sealed off at the bottom)
What i then did was render out the shot, imported into vegas and chroma Keyed out the white, rather than composite through the alpha or multiplication.
This left only the Black and red of the lights, which gave me the effect i was after.
the issue was with the light disappearing duing the composite, so to get around this, what i did was apply a white surface to the entire exterior of the toaster, and a custom material inside the slots.
i then set up and keyframed the lights. (strangley enough there was alot of light leakage and i only needed 3 lights to illuminate the whole object, despite it being 4 seperate slots all sealed off at the bottom)
What i then did was render out the shot, imported into vegas and chroma Keyed out the white, rather than composite through the alpha or multiplication.
This left only the Black and red of the lights, which gave me the effect i was after.
Death by toaster
The work in progress of the last matchmoved shot in the peice. i tried to combine the goals of moving the objects around the scene, with them jumping behind the counter, and having the actor touch them (or be touched...painfully). i've also continued on the giving them personality angle...with the second toaster spreading his 'wings' as he jumps off the table.
Toasters with personality...
While animating the second shot, where the actor pokes the toaster and it "pops" another one out.
i've tried to give them a small amount of personality, i.e the 'baby' toaster comes out of the bread slot, and it curls up before popping it out.
i've tried to give them a small amount of personality, i.e the 'baby' toaster comes out of the bread slot, and it curls up before popping it out.
A rare artistic consideration.
im not one for focusing on the artistic area of work, but i wanted to mention one of the few times i have. while animating the toaster's moving, ive made an effort find the balance between them being metal, and being alive.
So while they may wriggle, their movements often create very metallic "bends" in their surface.
While back on the more technical side, in order to create the wriggling of the toasters, i originally tried to get the affext using jiggle deformers, and wasted an incredibley long time trying to make that work. in the end i gave up with that plan used a latice, keyframing the animations by hand.
So while they may wriggle, their movements often create very metallic "bends" in their surface.
While back on the more technical side, in order to create the wriggling of the toasters, i originally tried to get the affext using jiggle deformers, and wasted an incredibley long time trying to make that work. in the end i gave up with that plan used a latice, keyframing the animations by hand.
creating the damned glow!
A problem i have been having has been getting the toaster to "glow" as mentioned in the footage...
Had i known it was hard i would have said it was doing something else unusual.
It would technically be easy for me to simply re record myself saying something else, as im behind the camera there would be no dubbing issues etc.
But im a glutton for punishment so i will keep at it. here is one of my terrible attempts.
I want the effect to appear as a light, not just a flashing section. so the light needs to orginate at the bottom and glow...
Had i known it was hard i would have said it was doing something else unusual.
It would technically be easy for me to simply re record myself saying something else, as im behind the camera there would be no dubbing issues etc.
But im a glutton for punishment so i will keep at it. here is one of my terrible attempts.
I want the effect to appear as a light, not just a flashing section. so the light needs to orginate at the bottom and glow...
Lack of blog planning.
should have mentioned in the previous post (before actually). some comments on the filming process.
Going back to my philosophy of "if you cant hide it, make it a feature" when doing some initial test shots inside my kitchen, the surfaces were too reflective and both looked bad in the footage, and would have no doubt proved difficult to track. So i used a tablecloth in order to both eliminate the reflection, and to provide the software with something very good for tracking; that didnt have to be removed in post.
I also used a coiled up cable as both a visual aid for my actor, and the first attempt to have him interact with the object.
The final bit i'd like to mention is that the shots used were planned around having the same focal point, and (nearly) the same lighting, of course as i was using both natural and artificial light there would be some varience but i kept it as close as possible.
What this achieved, was allowing me to switch scenes with relative ease, as once i had set up the scene for the first shot (as mentioned in the last post) i'm able to delete the boujou import, and import the new scene's camera and locators, and by shifting and scaling, i have the scene 3/4 lit and set up for the next shot.
Lazy or genius? i think the latter.
Going back to my philosophy of "if you cant hide it, make it a feature" when doing some initial test shots inside my kitchen, the surfaces were too reflective and both looked bad in the footage, and would have no doubt proved difficult to track. So i used a tablecloth in order to both eliminate the reflection, and to provide the software with something very good for tracking; that didnt have to be removed in post.
I also used a coiled up cable as both a visual aid for my actor, and the first attempt to have him interact with the object.
The final bit i'd like to mention is that the shots used were planned around having the same focal point, and (nearly) the same lighting, of course as i was using both natural and artificial light there would be some varience but i kept it as close as possible.
What this achieved, was allowing me to switch scenes with relative ease, as once i had set up the scene for the first shot (as mentioned in the last post) i'm able to delete the boujou import, and import the new scene's camera and locators, and by shifting and scaling, i have the scene 3/4 lit and set up for the next shot.
Lazy or genius? i think the latter.
More chrome than pimp my ride,
ive found HDRI to be slow, limiting and a general pain. so ive decided to hook up the following solution, which looks a mess...
what i have, is the scene exported from boujou, with a shadow plane directly under it.
level with the shadow plane i have another plane, which has a pattern on it that matches the tablecloth.
I then set up some other planes that had pictures of the corresponding sections of the kitchen on them, these were then moved and rotated into place.
these planes all had their primary visibility turned off, and only displayed in reflections.
side note, alot of the time the planes had to be placed in a place that didnt correspond with their real life place to get the correct reflection effect.
The obvious problem with making a chrome toaster is having the reflections on it. as just using chrome itself ended up with this result.
That is still a reflection rather than being transparent, but it in no way looks sufficient.
I then thought to try something completely different, and went for a may software approach to create a brushed metal, that didnt have visible reflections in it.
this is done with a blinn going through an env ball, with a noise attached to it. but again, did not surfice.
So i went back to the drawingboard, and played about a bit more, to find a balance between reflection and distortion. and ended up with a material based off chrome, but heavily edited in the attribute editor. The result was, in my opinion, very good
(All similarities to Apple adverts are entirely coincidental)
Obvious problem with the result...im not there! but i think trying to put myself in it would be near impossible so i'll try and hide the fact.
level with the shadow plane i have another plane, which has a pattern on it that matches the tablecloth.
I then set up some other planes that had pictures of the corresponding sections of the kitchen on them, these were then moved and rotated into place.
these planes all had their primary visibility turned off, and only displayed in reflections.
side note, alot of the time the planes had to be placed in a place that didnt correspond with their real life place to get the correct reflection effect.
The obvious problem with making a chrome toaster is having the reflections on it. as just using chrome itself ended up with this result.
I then thought to try something completely different, and went for a may software approach to create a brushed metal, that didnt have visible reflections in it.
So i went back to the drawingboard, and played about a bit more, to find a balance between reflection and distortion. and ended up with a material based off chrome, but heavily edited in the attribute editor. The result was, in my opinion, very good
Obvious problem with the result...im not there! but i think trying to put myself in it would be near impossible so i'll try and hide the fact.
More thinking behind the peice...
To back up my previous post, as to what im doing, and why, I wanted to add some more thoughts.
As far as im concerned, once an object has been placed into the scene, and the lighting is okay, it doesnt matter what it does, if it's just staying on the spot.
So what I want to try is to have the object interact with the actors/scene.
Try and have an object in a cupboard for example, and have an actor touch it.
So the current plan is to have the Toaster duplicate itself when touched, and eventually have loads of them, all about the room.
As far as im concerned, once an object has been placed into the scene, and the lighting is okay, it doesnt matter what it does, if it's just staying on the spot.
So what I want to try is to have the object interact with the actors/scene.
Try and have an object in a cupboard for example, and have an actor touch it.
So the current plan is to have the Toaster duplicate itself when touched, and eventually have loads of them, all about the room.
Contextualise this!
I guess I need to discuss the contex for my peice, and I think the best way would be to start with my original idea, i've now scrapped...
the original plan was to do something very much in vein of Robjn taylor
with the intention of making a quirky off the wall peice. But thats as far as that idea went, it seemed to be a long build up to a "meh" punchline.
The Matchmoving would consist of the toaster floating around the room, then out the door.
I felt that having an object floating about, with little visual cues to it's location would simply look "floaty" and wouldnt sell very well.
So after thinking about how I could change it, I came up with changing the idea almost completely, while being able to add more context to the peice.
So the new plan is to make a zero budget "mock buster", a mockbuster is a peice that attempts to copy a much higher budget peice both in story and visual effects. Examples of this can be found in:
TransMorphers
Snakes on a train
Shark attack
So the plan is to make a knock-off of Cloverfield...
The reason i chose to go for cloverfield, is that it takes a "hand held" shot approach to the films, with some jarring motion. Because, as ive mentioned before ive struggled to get smooth shots that don't look hand held, I thought that if i cant hide the fact im shooting by hand, I should try and make it a feature.
This enables me to worry slightly less about the smoothness of the shots, from a cinematography standpoint...
Though obviously, I need smooth footage to enable the software to track.
the original plan was to do something very much in vein of Robjn taylor
with the intention of making a quirky off the wall peice. But thats as far as that idea went, it seemed to be a long build up to a "meh" punchline.
The Matchmoving would consist of the toaster floating around the room, then out the door.
I felt that having an object floating about, with little visual cues to it's location would simply look "floaty" and wouldnt sell very well.
So after thinking about how I could change it, I came up with changing the idea almost completely, while being able to add more context to the peice.
So the new plan is to make a zero budget "mock buster", a mockbuster is a peice that attempts to copy a much higher budget peice both in story and visual effects. Examples of this can be found in:
TransMorphers
Snakes on a train
Shark attack
So the plan is to make a knock-off of Cloverfield...
The reason i chose to go for cloverfield, is that it takes a "hand held" shot approach to the films, with some jarring motion. Because, as ive mentioned before ive struggled to get smooth shots that don't look hand held, I thought that if i cant hide the fact im shooting by hand, I should try and make it a feature.
This enables me to worry slightly less about the smoothness of the shots, from a cinematography standpoint...
Though obviously, I need smooth footage to enable the software to track.
learnings
Somethings we have learnt attempting to create usable footage for matchmoving.
Motion blur is the devil, and makes tracking hard.
Adjusting the shutter speed helps rememedy this, the trade-off being that the footage looks slightlu stuttery.
Having no access to Dollys/Tracks/Steadycams makes getting smooth shots hard.
One option that works, is using a tripod as a counter weight when moving, This stops the movements being so jerky, the flip side is it creates more movement, merely smoother movement.
Motion blur is the devil, and makes tracking hard.
Adjusting the shutter speed helps rememedy this, the trade-off being that the footage looks slightlu stuttery.
Having no access to Dollys/Tracks/Steadycams makes getting smooth shots hard.
One option that works, is using a tripod as a counter weight when moving, This stops the movements being so jerky, the flip side is it creates more movement, merely smoother movement.
Update
Computer hard drive has packed up, so while i still have the raw test footage, the work done on it has been lost. For now until i get my new one tomorrow and attempt data recovery
lessons learned:
In order to get 3D data for the main static shot. I'll have to move the camera slowly through the 3d Environment and into position, then film the shot, all in one shot on the camera. That is the case at least if i want to be sure to have the same locators when using Auto tracking.
the camera movements also have be very slow, and very very stable, when moving backwards, else match mover seems to bug out, and cant understand the data.
Also, match mover can handle many more frames than we were told, which makes shots of a reasonable length possible.
Also, script and shot list is feeling more ironed out, will update the blog with it soon i guess.
lessons learned:
In order to get 3D data for the main static shot. I'll have to move the camera slowly through the 3d Environment and into position, then film the shot, all in one shot on the camera. That is the case at least if i want to be sure to have the same locators when using Auto tracking.
the camera movements also have be very slow, and very very stable, when moving backwards, else match mover seems to bug out, and cant understand the data.
Also, match mover can handle many more frames than we were told, which makes shots of a reasonable length possible.
Also, script and shot list is feeling more ironed out, will update the blog with it soon i guess.
"script" for the piece
Camera is above doorway looking into the kitchen, which is long and narrow.
man walks in, under the camera, to the breakfast bar.
Toaster is in background in clear view.
cut to cereal being poured.
back to original shot, man eating.
toaster takes off, wobbling as it rises.
sways side to side and hovers around the room, passing between the man and the camera.
proceeds to fly out the window, while the man proceeds to eat cereal.
Friend runs in, looking amazed.
cut to convosation shot
"did you see that?!"
"yea?"
"what the hell man? that's freakin' crazy!"
"Really? That's crazy? coming from the guy wearing socks, AND sandles?!..."
*cut to shot of socks and sandles, then to friend's now sad face, then back to original man*
"....Weird!"
last shot of man crossing off "laugh at the expense of someone else" in this "todo list for today"
man walks in, under the camera, to the breakfast bar.
Toaster is in background in clear view.
cut to cereal being poured.
back to original shot, man eating.
toaster takes off, wobbling as it rises.
sways side to side and hovers around the room, passing between the man and the camera.
proceeds to fly out the window, while the man proceeds to eat cereal.
Friend runs in, looking amazed.
cut to convosation shot
"did you see that?!"
"yea?"
"what the hell man? that's freakin' crazy!"
"Really? That's crazy? coming from the guy wearing socks, AND sandles?!..."
*cut to shot of socks and sandles, then to friend's now sad face, then back to original man*
"....Weird!"
last shot of man crossing off "laugh at the expense of someone else" in this "todo list for today"
First Matchmoving Post
Delay on the first post but here it is.
The Aim of the Module is to create a filmed peice, involving a real object, replacing it with an identical CG copy of itself, and having that copy do something the real one is not capable of.
my original idea was to have someone walk into the kitchen, sit down eating a bowl of cereal, and have the toaster take off , flying around the room, and then out of it. while the character is oblivious to it.
the obvious problem, is that unless i buy a new toaster, the real toaster will be chrome, which has alot of reflections that have to be worked out in order for it to look believeable; i think HDRI lighting would be the best way to deal with that.
When the idea was mentioned, it was suggested i find/buy a completely green suit, and have someone wear it, pick up the toaster, and wave it around the room...
This idea poses many problems.:
1. finding the suit
2. finding someone to wear the suit. http://img2.doitstyle.com/big/4b56ad84638d2.jpg
3. being able to key them out of the scene, if they moved infront of anything that is moving itself, i.e the actor eating, or movement in windows. this would create really obvious faults.
4. shadows cast by the person in the suit would have to be keyed out somehow.
5. It creates a piece with no actual matchmoving or CG in it.
this takes me back to my original idea.
the cameras are currently booked out, so i will have a camera over the weekend to see what kind of shots they can do with their narrow lens'
The Aim of the Module is to create a filmed peice, involving a real object, replacing it with an identical CG copy of itself, and having that copy do something the real one is not capable of.
my original idea was to have someone walk into the kitchen, sit down eating a bowl of cereal, and have the toaster take off , flying around the room, and then out of it. while the character is oblivious to it.
the obvious problem, is that unless i buy a new toaster, the real toaster will be chrome, which has alot of reflections that have to be worked out in order for it to look believeable; i think HDRI lighting would be the best way to deal with that.
When the idea was mentioned, it was suggested i find/buy a completely green suit, and have someone wear it, pick up the toaster, and wave it around the room...
This idea poses many problems.:
1. finding the suit
2. finding someone to wear the suit. http://img2.doitstyle.com/big/4b56ad84638d2.jpg
3. being able to key them out of the scene, if they moved infront of anything that is moving itself, i.e the actor eating, or movement in windows. this would create really obvious faults.
4. shadows cast by the person in the suit would have to be keyed out somehow.
5. It creates a piece with no actual matchmoving or CG in it.
this takes me back to my original idea.
the cameras are currently booked out, so i will have a camera over the weekend to see what kind of shots they can do with their narrow lens'
Wordpress Failure.
Due to wordpress blocking me out, and not letting me log in, i'm copying all of my posts over to this fancy new blog.
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