Archive for June, 2011
New Reference Images from the new Amazing Teaser for Pixar’s Brave
As many of you know, Pixar released the first real animated teaser trailer for their new production, titled “Brave” (due for release in 2012). I’m very excited about the style of the film, and also the fact that the story takes place in medieval Scotland is also really great, with me being of Scottish descent and all. : )
Although the design of the main character is gorgeous (the red hair is amazing!), the character design is not in line with my plans for this project, as I’m aiming for a little more photorealistic. What I can use as a reference or “gold standard” is the environment design for some of the shots in the trailer. They are simply stunning, and also very similar in setting and landscape to some of the shots in my project. So I’ve gone ahead and taken some screen shots from the trailer to post here in my image reference collection.
Again, for those who haven’t caught the trailer yet, you can watch it here:
Test planking with mesh objects instead of curves
So based on Martin’s (aka Loramel – Ara’s Tale) advice regarding using mesh objects for later UV texturing, I decided to stop playing around with the original curve set up and try doing it with meshes. I opted for using a mirrored plane object using the solidify mod for thickness, and subsurf to smooth out the curved surfaces. This works quite well, however the real issue is the amount of fiddling that is required to get the planks to fit the hull framing and appear as a single smooth surface. As you can see by the screen shots attached, it’s very difficult to get it all looking smooth like a real boat would, I may have to try again with the curve solution instead.
A Major Update to the Screenplay
After receiving some feedback about the original script and storyboard that the story was too “been there, done that, vikings, carnage, blah, blah, blah”, I decided to take another look. This project will end up taking many hundreds of hours of production time, and I really want to have something that is mildly interesting, and not just purely a technical exercise.
The format of the piece is still going to be mostly the same, basically an extended movie trailer. But I needed to flesh out the storyline a little more, so that it was not so one-dimensional.
To that end I’ve re-written the script to play up more of the Irish monk characters, and introducing a new plot point, a priceless illuminated book that must be saved at all costs. It’s not a huge leap from the last script, but it does contain some changes that I had already made while working on the animatic (which is yet unfinished).
I know it is usually the custom of film projects to not reveal the storyline to the public before the release of the film, but the point of this production is self-education, and sharing the things I’m learning about the production process as I go. So here it is, enjoy!
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