Architecture Matte Paintings

The fourth and final required realistic matte painting.  I had chosen Art Nouveau style architecture.  The assignment was to practice geometric structure and convincing perspective.

I decided to use a different method as before; I started with a sketch, again, but moved onto a grayscale value piece, rather than jump in color.  After I decided enough of the image was completed, I added color to the grayscale, and drew over the necessary sections to add texture and variations in color.  I couldn't decide if the method was an improvement, or simply another option.  The piece took around 16 hours.

Suprise Teapot Animation

The point of this animation was to use a cycle (the pot shaking) and anticipation of the next action.  The ending was to be an unexpected event.  This project was interesting for me, as I generated a larger quantity of test frames than I used in my final shooting.

Though I fulfilled all of the requirements and received good marks, I was less content with the mundane and not-particularly-unique teapot in this project.

Foliage Matte Paintings

The third required matte painting.  Instructions were a little more clear.  I altered my workflow to start with a basic sketch and establish a pallete before beginning color.  From there, I lay down a quick base, and went from section to section, adding detail.  I hand-drew most of the leaves, but also created special "leaf" brushes to create a base for the large areas.  The piece took over 20 hours to finish.

This piece was well received by my instructor.

Beat Boards for Elephantal Disaster

WHAT AM I LOOKING AT?

These are beatboards for Elephantal Disaster.  It is a storyboard that describes important beats in the story, or important moments throughout.  This quantity of images could also pass as an early storyboard.

I was thumbnailing for character interaction, location, and environment (and changes that happen to them in relation to the story.)  I tried to consider interesting camera perspectives, and I made some comic-like frame breaking in some of the shots.  Some of these boards were to be re-purposed later as storyboard roughs.

WHAT IS ELEPHANTAL DISASTER?

Early in the program, we all wrote stories, and among 28 great stories, we collectively picked our seven favorites and split into groups.  The group I joined worked on Elephantal Disaster, a story written by Anthony Fariello.

The story was originally about two elephants who come across a peanut on the road.  They begin to fight over the peanut, but towards the end, they forget about the peanut while fighting.  The ending involved one elephant running away, and the other, having won the battle, exits the scene, having forgotten about the peanut.

Anthony had written in some creative effects, as the elephant's outfits would change as the battle progressed, and the location they were in (a forest next to a city) would become more and more feral, in relation to the elephant's reckless abandon. The environment would become more and more destroyed during the fight, hence the name, Elephantal Disaster.

Cloud Matte Painting

The first required matte painting.  The instructions were vague, except we were to go from a reference photo.  Given little instruction, I used a technique I had learned in the past to start with a rough base, and slowly work up details evenly throughout.  The "sketchy" lines were intentionally added in towards the end.

After a project like this, I've started to notice clouds in day-to-day life.  Clouds really do look unreal.

Bouncing Ball Animations

The bouncing ball, the quintessential first pencil-test for a beginning animation.  We had strict guidelines for our first bouncing ball, and then were given free reign to try different materials and bouncing surfaces.

 

Regular ball bounce on Ones, Twos, and Threes

Ball bounce off of a wall with contrasting materials

Ball bounce with more organic materials