The City in the Sea - Making of...
Content
The Making of…
The City in the Sea
Contents
Introduction: - Foreword Pre-Production: - Branding Development - The Poem - Research - Sketches - Concept Art - Storyboards Production: - Modelling - Texturing - Lighting Post-Production: - Render Layers
-1-
Foreword
“This task required transcribing a piece of text, imagery or sound for the purpose of creating a 3D environment, character or animation based on the content. My immediate reaction was to aim for an animation in a bid to develop and learn as many new skills as possible throughout my pipeline; from pre-production to postproduction. These new skills I learned could then be applied to my future projects. However, I had a reality check realising that it wouldn’t be possible for me to complete a full animation with characters and environments in a 10 week time period, instead opting to create an animation based on an environment as this would be my stronger area of choice, in oppose to a character based animation. Thus the research commenced, eventually reaching a point where I had many paths to go down, but ultimately choosing to work on Edgar Allan Poe’s, ‘The City in the Sea’ for the creative freedom and gothic style I could approach the project with. Thus the pipeline began and the pages here-on-in document the whole process from beginning to end…” - Ethan Clements CG Artist
-2-
Branding Development
Morethan.Art needed a rebranding to achieve recognition and present my work in a professional and organised manner. The methods I used included a new logo, blog design and business cards to make people aware of my work and to brand everything I produce. I think this new clean cut, bold and professional look will give a good impression and the colour can be adapted to suit each piece of work I produce if needed. Future developments could mean further improvements to the brand…
-3-
The City in the Sea by Edgar Allan Poe
Lo! Death has reared himself a throne In a strange city lying alone Far down within the dim West, Where the good and the bad and the worst and the best Have gone to their eternal rest. There shrines and palaces and towers (Time-eaten towers that tremble not!) Resemble nothing that is ours. Around, by lifting winds forgot, Resignedly beneath the sky The melancholy waters lie. No rays from the holy heaven come down On the long night-time of that town; But light from out the lurid sea Streams up the turrets silentlyGleams up the pinnacles far and freeUp domes- up spires- up kingly hallsUp fanes- up Babylon-like wallsUp shadowy long-forgotten bowers Of sculptured ivy and stone flowersUp many and many a marvelous shrine Whose wreathed friezes intertwine The viol, the violet, and the vine. Resignedly beneath the sky The melancholy waters lie. So blend the turrets and shadows there That all seem pendulous in air, While from a proud tower in the town Death looks gigantically down. There open fanes and gaping graves Yawn level with the luminous waves; But not the riches there that lie In each idol's diamond eyeNot the gaily-jeweled dead Tempt the waters from their bed; For no ripples curl, alas! Along that wilderness of glassNo swellings tell that winds may be Upon some far-off happier seaNo heavings hint that winds have been On seas less hideously serene. But lo, a stir is in the air! The wave- there is a movement there! As if the towers had thrust aside, In slightly sinking, the dull tideAs if their tops had feebly given A void within the filmy Heaven. The waves have now a redder glowThe hours are breathing faint and lowAnd when, amid no earthly moans, Down, down that town shall settle hence, Hell, rising from a thousand thrones, Shall do it reverence.
-4-
Research
The research stage for ‘The City in the Sea’ involved gathering reference images firstly referring to the gothic revival architecture that I’d need to replicate in my scenes and then underwater reference images concerning underwater lighting, sea creatures and growths among other elements. I also looked at interesting camera angles, compositions and shots to help create a filmic response to the text by Edgar Allan Poe. I was then able to begin devising some sketches of different camera angles and scene elements that I would be interested in using in my scene and developing into concepts.
-5-
Sketches
-6-
Concept Art
My approach to concept art didn’t involve your typical use of digital painting/matte painting your concepts from scratch. Instead, I layered different images together to create the mood and tone of the type of animation I was aiming to achieve. This technique also allowed me to have a clear idea of the kind of detail I would need in the architecture of the buildings and structures. From an early stage it became obvious to me that I would use a green/blue colour palette in order to further imply the idea that the city was in the depths of the sea. The final images I chose worked well in presenting the different kinds of creepy and eerie compositions I was looking at this stage in my reference images.
-7-
Storyboarding
Storyboarding was used to establish the cuts and shot structure for production and editing. The storyboarding process was an opportunity to pen the filmic camera movements, compositions and shot types I would aim to achieve in terms of cinematography. After looking at so many various reference images, I had a fairly clear idea of the camera movements I wanted to achieve, mainly opting for slow pans or zooms to create an epic feel to the piece. I was then able to identify the kind of transitions I would be using, in this case there would be no cross dissolves, just cutting a constant pace.
-8-
Storyboarding
-9-
Modelling
The modelling process began with the basic pre-vis models, allowing myself to see a rough version of the animation with the camera movements in, before I took these basic models and added more detail and geometry for the final models. A lot of gothic revival architecture uses similar shapes in the buildings, so in some cases I was able to duplicate the shapes and adhere any of the changes I required. The modelling process became more tedious as I got towards the end, constantly finding myself cleaning up geometry that wasn’t smoothing properly.
- 10 -
Modelling
- 11 -
Texturing
The texturing for this project was more of an experimental process for me, finding a style I liked and trying to push that throughout the animation. I found this etching shader on the internet for Autodesk Maya and quickly found that despite it’s ability to produce some impressively stylised renders, the shader was limited with its capabilities and after much thought, I went against the idea of keeping this shader. In the end, I decided to use layered images in Photoshop to produce textures based on my UV’s.
- 12 -
Texturing
- 13 -
Lighting
- 14 -
Lighting
- 15 -
Render Layers
Ambient Occlusion
Final Render
Z Depth
- 16 -
Render Layers
Ambient Occlusion
Final Render
Z Depth
- 17 -
Render Layers
Ambient Occlusion
Final Render
Z Depth
- 18 -
Render Layers
Ambient Occlusion
Final Render
Z Depth
- 19 -
The City in the Sea
Contents
Introduction: - Foreword Pre-Production: - Branding Development - The Poem - Research - Sketches - Concept Art - Storyboards Production: - Modelling - Texturing - Lighting Post-Production: - Render Layers
-1-
Foreword
“This task required transcribing a piece of text, imagery or sound for the purpose of creating a 3D environment, character or animation based on the content. My immediate reaction was to aim for an animation in a bid to develop and learn as many new skills as possible throughout my pipeline; from pre-production to postproduction. These new skills I learned could then be applied to my future projects. However, I had a reality check realising that it wouldn’t be possible for me to complete a full animation with characters and environments in a 10 week time period, instead opting to create an animation based on an environment as this would be my stronger area of choice, in oppose to a character based animation. Thus the research commenced, eventually reaching a point where I had many paths to go down, but ultimately choosing to work on Edgar Allan Poe’s, ‘The City in the Sea’ for the creative freedom and gothic style I could approach the project with. Thus the pipeline began and the pages here-on-in document the whole process from beginning to end…” - Ethan Clements CG Artist
-2-
Branding Development
Morethan.Art needed a rebranding to achieve recognition and present my work in a professional and organised manner. The methods I used included a new logo, blog design and business cards to make people aware of my work and to brand everything I produce. I think this new clean cut, bold and professional look will give a good impression and the colour can be adapted to suit each piece of work I produce if needed. Future developments could mean further improvements to the brand…
-3-
The City in the Sea by Edgar Allan Poe
Lo! Death has reared himself a throne In a strange city lying alone Far down within the dim West, Where the good and the bad and the worst and the best Have gone to their eternal rest. There shrines and palaces and towers (Time-eaten towers that tremble not!) Resemble nothing that is ours. Around, by lifting winds forgot, Resignedly beneath the sky The melancholy waters lie. No rays from the holy heaven come down On the long night-time of that town; But light from out the lurid sea Streams up the turrets silentlyGleams up the pinnacles far and freeUp domes- up spires- up kingly hallsUp fanes- up Babylon-like wallsUp shadowy long-forgotten bowers Of sculptured ivy and stone flowersUp many and many a marvelous shrine Whose wreathed friezes intertwine The viol, the violet, and the vine. Resignedly beneath the sky The melancholy waters lie. So blend the turrets and shadows there That all seem pendulous in air, While from a proud tower in the town Death looks gigantically down. There open fanes and gaping graves Yawn level with the luminous waves; But not the riches there that lie In each idol's diamond eyeNot the gaily-jeweled dead Tempt the waters from their bed; For no ripples curl, alas! Along that wilderness of glassNo swellings tell that winds may be Upon some far-off happier seaNo heavings hint that winds have been On seas less hideously serene. But lo, a stir is in the air! The wave- there is a movement there! As if the towers had thrust aside, In slightly sinking, the dull tideAs if their tops had feebly given A void within the filmy Heaven. The waves have now a redder glowThe hours are breathing faint and lowAnd when, amid no earthly moans, Down, down that town shall settle hence, Hell, rising from a thousand thrones, Shall do it reverence.
-4-
Research
The research stage for ‘The City in the Sea’ involved gathering reference images firstly referring to the gothic revival architecture that I’d need to replicate in my scenes and then underwater reference images concerning underwater lighting, sea creatures and growths among other elements. I also looked at interesting camera angles, compositions and shots to help create a filmic response to the text by Edgar Allan Poe. I was then able to begin devising some sketches of different camera angles and scene elements that I would be interested in using in my scene and developing into concepts.
-5-
Sketches
-6-
Concept Art
My approach to concept art didn’t involve your typical use of digital painting/matte painting your concepts from scratch. Instead, I layered different images together to create the mood and tone of the type of animation I was aiming to achieve. This technique also allowed me to have a clear idea of the kind of detail I would need in the architecture of the buildings and structures. From an early stage it became obvious to me that I would use a green/blue colour palette in order to further imply the idea that the city was in the depths of the sea. The final images I chose worked well in presenting the different kinds of creepy and eerie compositions I was looking at this stage in my reference images.
-7-
Storyboarding
Storyboarding was used to establish the cuts and shot structure for production and editing. The storyboarding process was an opportunity to pen the filmic camera movements, compositions and shot types I would aim to achieve in terms of cinematography. After looking at so many various reference images, I had a fairly clear idea of the camera movements I wanted to achieve, mainly opting for slow pans or zooms to create an epic feel to the piece. I was then able to identify the kind of transitions I would be using, in this case there would be no cross dissolves, just cutting a constant pace.
-8-
Storyboarding
-9-
Modelling
The modelling process began with the basic pre-vis models, allowing myself to see a rough version of the animation with the camera movements in, before I took these basic models and added more detail and geometry for the final models. A lot of gothic revival architecture uses similar shapes in the buildings, so in some cases I was able to duplicate the shapes and adhere any of the changes I required. The modelling process became more tedious as I got towards the end, constantly finding myself cleaning up geometry that wasn’t smoothing properly.
- 10 -
Modelling
- 11 -
Texturing
The texturing for this project was more of an experimental process for me, finding a style I liked and trying to push that throughout the animation. I found this etching shader on the internet for Autodesk Maya and quickly found that despite it’s ability to produce some impressively stylised renders, the shader was limited with its capabilities and after much thought, I went against the idea of keeping this shader. In the end, I decided to use layered images in Photoshop to produce textures based on my UV’s.
- 12 -
Texturing
- 13 -
Lighting
- 14 -
Lighting
- 15 -
Render Layers
Ambient Occlusion
Final Render
Z Depth
- 16 -
Render Layers
Ambient Occlusion
Final Render
Z Depth
- 17 -
Render Layers
Ambient Occlusion
Final Render
Z Depth
- 18 -
Render Layers
Ambient Occlusion
Final Render
Z Depth
- 19 -
