Just like Unit 7, Unit 8 was in two parts. During the first part, we collaborated with Wimbledon's Acting and performance students. This project aimed to teach us how to use motion capture technology, save and fix the data and apply it to a character. We also learned how to create stylized animations using Blender's compositing and rendering tools.
We spoke to the acting and performance students and discussed how we could best collaborate. We looked through seven comics and eventually agreed on Episode 0, The Prologue. This comic provided enough information on the main characters to allow them to create a performance and also had interesting enough visuals to assist me with designing a set.
This was a very design-focused unit in the sense that before I started building and creating my environment and character I had to know what I wanted the final product to look like. This is common sense in the world of design, have a set plan you're going to follow to create your final product. Unfortunately, this is still a major flaw in my current creative practice. I often start my projects without effective planning which means my work always has a particular unfinished look about it.
I wanted to create a stylized comic book look for my video. I looked up other comic book syles and what filters give it the effect that I desire. I found that most comics use Halftone and Ben-Day dots. These filters/effects make the images look printed on paper. The vignette filter also gives extra atmosphere and mood effects. For reference, I looked at existing games, movies and posters
In the second part, we had to create digital doubles of ourselves using photogrammetry technology and taking our scans into Blender. We were tasked with turning ourselves into futuristic characters from Shakespeare's "The Tempest". The main learning outcomes were to create a photo-realistic 3D head mesh. This unit built on the skills we learned in unit 7 on the importance of correct topology. If we wanted our characters to move properly we need to ensure the mesh can fold and bend just like our skin naturally does.
I started off by creating mood boards to better understand what I wanted my final character to look like. I always use Pinterest boards because it is easier to find images and collect them on a pinboard. I like interest because it also suggests similar images. Initially, I wanted to create very natural modifications to my digital double. This is reflected in my mood boards. I have reference images for elf-like creatures with elongated and pointy ears and this is reflected in my first concept art. I really wanted to make my character a mythical creature just like most Shakespeare interpretations of Ariel. However, due to time limitations, it was easier to look for other sources of inspiration. I really value my peers and we all have a very honest and close bond as it relates to our creative work due to the fact that our class is very small. I expressed my concerns about figuring out what I was going to do for my Sci-fi element, and we discussed what they found easier with their projects and I adapted that to fit mine.
In the end, I made my character more robotic. I decided to combine the idea I had for my double bing ariel with one of the final scenes from the movie Ex Machina. I wanted to show what it might look like if my character was Ariel but instead of escaping a tree I had been imprisoned in, I would be escaping a research facility / sterile lab just like Ava escapes in Ex Machina.
I am rather dissatisfied with my final product just because I am such a perfectionist when it comes to my design work. I wasn't able to dedicate as much time to this project as I would have liked because I had extenuating circumstances that made it difficult to focus and maintain a normal standard of work but given the circumstances, I still think what I produced, in the end, it was a good reflection of the skills that I learnt. I learned how to use the stamp tool to add skin textures to my model. I used shrink wrapping for the first time in my studies to retain detail from my original scan. Even though I was introduced to the concept of clean topology in an earlier unit, I really got a better understanding of how to create an organic mesh that worked very well for facial expressions
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