VFX and 3D

VFX Showreel Report:

Link to showreel

Link to Playlist with individual videos

Showreels are short videos of digital artists' work which essentially perform as their portfolios. They showcase the different levels of work they can do.

VFX artists role: 

VFX specialists utilize the most recent technology to integrate digitally created imagery into live action films. The quintessence of their work is to convince the viewers that what they’re seeing on screen is real.

Progression of VFX through time: 

Some important names that are responsible for the progression of VFX through history are Oscar Rejlander, John Whitney, George Mellies and Alfred Clarke. I will further elaborate on their contributions. In 1857, Oscar Rejlander is said to have pioneered the first sfx image. He is said to have merged multiple sections of film negatives into a single picture, making a montage of sorts. 

In the film, Vertigo (1958), the first notable use of computer animation is recorded, according to sources, John Whitney used a WWII anti-aircraft targeting computer to make parts of the opening sequence. In August of 1895, Alfred Clarke substituted a dummy for the body of an on-screen character while filming a biopic depicting the decapitating of Mary Queen of Scots, also known as Bloody Mary.

Lastly, George Mellies. He is known to have pioneered a vast variety of VFX techniques and was an important member of the European movement that were aiding the progression of the quality and experimentation with film at the time.

By 1910, production houses in the United states started developing the onscreen effects and cinematography of their productions by adding in varying shot transitions and multiple sorts of zoom's for setting the films tone and general ambiance. There was a giant leap in the 30's for the progression of VFX specifically as on location filming was difficult to do due to the addition of audio to the moving pictures. From there, there has been nothing but jumps in  quality and technology, which led to disney creating one of the first combined CGI and live-action film in the 80s and further continuing to create completely computer animated films such as Toy Story. The rest is all history.

I would like to pursue a future in animation as my favorite animation studio is studio Ghibli and I am a huge fan of Hayao Miyazaki’s works. I adore how he makes each of his worlds so beautiful and how his stories are so simple when they’re broken down but are told in a way that all ages can resonate with them.  My favorite editor is Andrew Weisblum who worked on the French Dispatch with Wes Anderson, but more notably for his work in Black Swan (2011) the main character, Nina, struggles with her inner self as she is given the role of Odette in the Swan Lake ballet, although the plot and cinematography was amazing, Weisblum's editing was what truly completed the film. I adore the way Nina transitions into the black swan slowly through the film, with one scene where she is seen pulling a feather out of her shoulder blade which was gruesome yet so well done and then the finale where Nina’s transformation is completed mid dance.

Masking

The process of masking involves layering videos on top of each other and basically cropping out a section of the top video so that the lower video can show to create a sort of visual manipulation.

Position Keyframe Animation

Keyframe animation was quite simple, it required us to slowly change the positions of the png files we had put into our compositions while marking the movement with the stopwatch on different parts of the video’s timeline.

Scribble Animation

This process involved using the pen/brush tool in after effects to hand draw scribbles on multiple frames and create a short animation.

Rotoscoping

In the simplest of words, the process involves separating a certain object in a video from the background. This allows space for replacing the background with something else or even just adding something as simple as a layer of text so that it does not cover the subject’s face.

For my rotoscoping clip, I decided to use an excerpt of a live session and first, add the artist's name behind her, then slowly change the background to ocean waves behind her.

3D Camera Tracking

The process involved scanning footage with some sort of moving motion happing throughout and adding in either a video or any images into it to make it look 3d. The process was relatively easy to understand.

I chose to create a Star Wars scene where a Jawa can be seen with models/holograms of ships it is selling in an alleyway. I further decided to add in a bit of music in the background to make the scene more complete.

Greenscreen and Logo

I made the logo for a biscuit advertisement and further added a runner. Then I looked for stock greenscreen video that fit the theme.

Ad

For my Ad, I decided to use something that everyone has lying in their homes, Coffee. 

I began by making the animation of the Nescafe logo to add to the video. I made a png format of it in Adobe Illustrator and then used After Effects to edit it and bring it to life. 

I added in a couple of points where the camera tracks into the glass, this was because some of the scenes I wanted did not come out properly in the takes. Notably, I applied the masking technique I learnt in class for the milk pouring scene to cover up a mistake, the milk actually spilt outside of the glass but the take I had of the coffee was the only one worth using, so I decided to mask the right side of the glass to get rid of the spillage and zoomed in so that the upper half of the milk pour being cut in half does not show.

I further decided to add in more animated text using the stroke effect in After Effects to make a chalkboard wipe effect as the outro.

Behind the Scenes

I definitely did struggle with a lot of scenes because I was working alone for most part and there were only a certain amount of takes I was able to do when factoring in the perishable parts of the ad.

Showreel Feedback

I am quite satisfied with the feedback but personally I feel that in some aspects I could have done a lot better. I feel I should have experimented more. I really enjoyed working on each assignment, but I did let the mindset of “Let's just get it over with” stop me from trying to make something a lot more creative.