Hill with cave in and tree

I created the hill for my scene and started experimenting with the paint effects trees. (trees rendered with mental ray)

Final concept and colour palette

colour scheme

top view of site to get a sense of placement

Practice with textures

Practice using textures in Maya, produced a simplified tree.

Initial concepts

Some initial concept sketches of two potential settings I could create

Mr Foxes family home in the hill it once sat on. 

Mr Foxes family home on the hill were it was originally with some visible damage to the hill

Movie decision and initilal ideas

I decided to choose the movie, Fantastic Mr Fox. I like this movie because of the interesting use of camera angles, the use of a side scrolling pan across various scenes I found shows off the settings very well. The setting I would like to expand on and create would be a new house, for Mr. Fox and his family. At the end of the movie all the animals are still living in the sewers, so I was thinking of creating a house within a tree, similar to the one early in the film. To expand on the film I would like to use the tree as a base with some kind of tree-house like structure to house rooms, along with this I would like to incorporate an underground basement tunnel area.

Underground cave network

underground rooms

farm yard

flint mine/ underground housing system

hill top where tree house goes

tree house

sewers area

cave

Film Research

Sometime in the future, the city of Metropolis is home to a Utopian society where its wealthy residents live a carefree life. One of those is Freder Fredersen. One day, he spots a beautiful woman with a group of children, she and the children who quickly disappear. Trying to follow her, he, oblivious to such, is horrified to find an underground world of workers, apparently who run the machinery which keeps the above ground Utopian world functioning. One of the few people above ground who knows about the world below is Freder's father, Joh Fredersen, who is the founder and master of Metropolis. Freder learns that the woman is Maria, who espouses the need to join the "hands" - the workers - to the "head" - those in power above - by a mediator or the "heart". Freder wants to help the plight of the workers in the want for a better life. But when Joh learns of what Maria is espousing and that Freder is joining their cause, Joh, with the assistance of an old colleague and now nemesis named Rotwang, an inventor, works toward quashing a supposed uprising, with Maria as the center of their plan. However, Joh is unaware that Rotwang has his own agenda. But if any of these plans includes the shut down of the machines, total anarchy could break loose both above ground and below. Written by Huggo

It is the future, and humans are divided into two groups: the thinkers, who make plans (but don't know how anything works), and the workers, who achieve goals (but don't have the vision). Completely separate, neither group is complete, but together they make a whole. One man from the "thinkers" dares visit the underground where the workers toil, and is astonished by what he sees... Written by Murray Chapman <muzzle@cs.uq.oz.au>

The future. Metropolis is a wonderful city, high above the ground its towers stand. The people prosper, the economy is flourishing, the suspended streets are busy. But Metropolis also has a great secret, so hidden that not even Freder Fredersen, son of founder Joh Fredersen knows about it. He is spending his free time in the Eternal Gardens, when suddenly a woman shows up, with what looks like a class of children. They're from the City of Workers, in the depth, Freder learns. "These are your brothers", she tells the children, before she is forced to leave. Freder is so intrigued he follows them into the depth and doesn't like what he sees. The workers are exploited, they must do labor like robots. Freder tries to convince his father to change, while the woman tries to keep workers' morale high by predicting a man will stand up that will mediate. Someone that will use both hands and head, someone that will be the heart.

When his brother is killed in a robbery, paraplegic Marine Jake Sully decides to take his place in a mission on the distant world of Pandora. There he learns of greedy corporate figurehead Parker Selfridge's intentions of driving off the native humanoid "Na'vi" in order to mine for the precious material scattered throughout their rich woodland. In exchange for the spinal surgery that will fix his legs, Jake gathers intel for the cooperating military unit spearheaded by gung-ho Colonel Quaritch, while simultaneously attempting to infiltrate the Na'vi people with the use of an "avatar" identity. While Jake begins to bond with the native tribe and quickly falls in love with the beautiful alien Neytiri, the restless Colonel moves forward with his ruthless extermination tactics, forcing the soldier to take a stand - and fight back in an epic battle for the fate of Pandora.Written by The Massie Twins

In the future, Jake, a paraplegic war veteran, is brought to another planet, Pandora, which is inhabited by the Na'vi, a humanoid race with their own language and culture. Those from Earth find themselves at odds with each other and the local culture.

It is the story of one Mr. Fox and his wild-ways of hen heckling, turkey taking and cider sipping, nocturnal, instinctive adventures. He has to put his wild days behind him and do what fathers do best: be responsible. He is too rebellious. He is too wild. He is going to try "just one more raid" on the three nastiest, meanest farmers that are Boggis, Bunce and Bean. It is a tale of crossing the line of family responsibilities and midnight adventure and the friendships and awakenings of this country life that is inhabited by Fantastic Mr. Fox and his friends.

When young Victor's pet dog Sparky (who stars in Victor's home-made monster movies) is hit by a car, Victor decides to bring him back to life the only way he knows how. But when the bolt-necked "monster" wreaks havoc and terror in the hearts of Victor's neighbors, he has to convince them (and his parents) that despite his appearance, Sparky's still the good loyal friend he's always been. Written by Kathy Li

In New Holland, the boy Victor Frankenstien is a bright but outcast student without any friend but his dog Sparky. When the newcomer science teacher Mr. Rzykruski challenges the students to participate in the science fair, Victor's father forces him to play baseball otherwise he would not sign the necessary authorization for his son. During the game, Sparky chases the ball and is hit by a car. Victor recalls Mr. Rzykruski's class about the effects of electricity and successfully resuscitates Sparky using lightning. Victor hides Sparky in the attic but the weird Edgar sees the dog on the garden and blackmails Victor to learn how to bring the dead to life. Edgar does not keep the secret and soon Victor's envious schoolmates revive several creatures to win the science fair contest. When the town is invaded by the monsters, Victor and Sparky are the last chance to rescue the girl Elsa van Helsing from the claws of Mr. Whiskers.

In 1982, a massive star ship bearing a bedraggled alien population, nicknamed "The Prawns," appeared over Johannesburg, South Africa. Twenty-eight years later, the initial welcome by the human population has faded. The refugee camp where the aliens were located has deteriorated into a militarized ghetto called District 9, where they are confined and exploited in squalor. In 2010, the munitions corporation, Multi-National United, is contracted to forcibly evict the population with operative Wikus van der Merwe in charge. In this operation, Wikus is exposed to a strange alien chemical and must rely on the help of his only two new 'Prawn' friends.

Long ago up North on the Island of Berk, the young Viking, Hiccup, wants to join his town's fight against the dragons that continually raid their town. However, his macho father and village leader, Stoik the Vast, will not allow his small, clumsy, but inventive son to do so. Regardless, Hiccup ventures out into battle and downs a mysterious Night Fury dragon with his invention, but can't bring himself to kill it. Instead, Hiccup and the dragon, whom he dubs Toothless, begin a friendship that would open up both their worlds as the observant boy learns that his people have misjudged the species. But even as the two each take flight in their own way, they find that they must fight the destructive ignorance plaguing their world.

One day, Horton the elephant hears a cry from help coming from a speck of dust. Even though he can't see anyone on the speck, he decides to help it. As it turns out, the speck of dust is home to the Whos, who live in their city of Whoville. Horton agrees to help protect the Whos and their home, but this gives him nothing but torment from his neighbors, who refuse to believe that anything could survive on the speck. Still, Horton stands by the motto that, "After all, a person is a person, no matter how small." Written by Griffin84

In the jungle of Nool, the elephant Horton hears a voice in a speck; he uses a clover to rescue the speck of dust and he makes contact with the Mayor of Whoville. Horton discovers that in that tiny speck there is a city crowded with creatures and he decides to leave Whoville in a safe place. However, the evil Kangaroo does not believe Horton's story and thinks he's dangerous for the children of Nool, making them believe in what they cannot see, hear, or feel, and incites the animals against Horton.

Rango is a pet chameleon always on the lookout for action and adventure, except the fake kind, where he directs it and acts in it. After a car accident, he winds up in an old western town called Dirt. What this town needs the most is water, but they also need a hero and a sheriff. The thirsty Rango instantly takes on the role of both and selfishly agrees to take on the case of their missing water. Written by napierslogs

A family is crossing the desert by car with their lizard in an aquarium. The driver is forced to an abrupt movement to avoid an accident and the aquarium falls off the car on the road. The female lizard Beans gives a ride to the lizard up to an old western town called Dirt and he goes to the bar expecting to drink water. The braggart lizard tells that he is a dangerous gunslinger called Rango and the impressed locals believe that Rango is a hero and invite him to be the sheriff. Sooner Rango finds that water is missing in town and the Major has a suspicious behavior. But when the evil Rattlesnake Jake arrives in town, Rango assumes that he is a coward and quits his position. He walks to the road but the Spirit of the West convinces him to return and fight for those that had believed in him.

*Plot summaries from http://www.imdb.com

ASSIGNMENT 2

Rationale and final ideo

The nursery rhyme I chose to adapt was Little Miss Muffet. After researching this nursery rhyme, I decided to explore the portrayal of the characters. The antagonist, being the spider, is what I found to be the most interesting. In previous versions of the story the spider has always been portrayed as an evil character with an unknown agenda. I decided to reinterpret the message by swapping the roles of the two characters. I did this by giving the ‘spider’ a purpose to scare Miss Muffet, to protect its child.  This relates to a modern audience, through the portrayal of ‘Miss Muffet’ and the message. I have displayed her as a young human-like character, and removed the role of a helpless damsel in distress. This was replaced with a more curious and adventurous character, corresponding with modern children and the way they are now portrayed.

In terms of style I chose a very dark and eerie atmosphere consisting of silhouettes. I found this really brings out the innocent personality of Muffet. The main character being the innocent protagonist, I wanted the audience to see them as a child on an adventure. To accomplish this I gave Muffet a pot in place of a helmet and a stick instead of a weapon. For the antagonist I wanted him to have an initial sense of evil. I achieved this through the sickly green colour choice and ragged sharp teeth. I gave him a personality with the introduction of its child; the child was given similar features to its parent, but without the teeth and the other frightening features. I chose a monochromatic colour scheme, with one shade of green for the monster. This allowed the main character and environment to remain neutral with the dark setting.

For the type in my animation I displayed what I thought were the most important words from the nursery rhyme. I chose to integrate the type into my settings. “Little Miss Muffet” was written on a sign, to introduce the main character. “Sat on h….. Tuffet, Eating” to show how the main character is gender neutral, and have the audience question the activeness of the character. The final word “Scared” which I find summarizes the entire nursery rhyme, and concludes the main characters personality. 

 

Refined animation with sound and music

Sound effects taken from University shared drive

Thanks to Sampo Kemppainen for the ambient wind music for the background

refined edit

I sorted out the problem with After Effects render settings by changing the video codec on the render settings . I rendered the clips as .mov files instead of .avi files, then edited the clips (this time I incorporated my type) in Sony Vegas.

Intial edit of clips

My first edit of my clips together to get a sense of pacing and timing. I am happy with clips themselves however I think the timing and transitions could be better, particularly to build more tension in the later scenes and climax of the story. I am not entirety sure why, or how there is the static disturbance in the final rendered clip. So I am looking into resolutions for this problem.