Reflective practice; examining unconscious themes in design development

Whilst eating a cake in the Grad Centre today, I noticed my research poster on the wall....I was struck by the orange guy on the bottom left of the poster...

I had literally done a material finishes test on my ice man model, about 30 mins before in the 3D lab, using the 'orange reflective' finish to see how it would look...

Interesting to see how many creative ideas from my first film concept (a character trapped in a camera negative, escaping to the light) have translated and adapted into Thaw.

The emotional theme is the same; and fascinating to see how many visual references are similar, and that I have unconcsiously carried through...

I think the Research Poster embedded some deep ideas and challenged me to be deliberate in my creative choices

Orange Reflective finish test in Zbrush

Final film, original concept idea...

Experimenting with Material finishes in Zbrush

Experimenting with materials in Zbrush; to give me some inspiration and some ideas for how this model and it's features will register and look in a glossy reflective finish

Dam_Standard and Move Brushes in Zbrush

Playing with the Dam_Standard and Move brushes in Zbrush.

My ice man material will be similar to transparent glass and I've deliberately avoided using lip sync, dialogue or eyeball animation....the net result being that my model has no internal mouth or eye geometry (as this would show up when the model is transparent) 

Zbrush; Death Star & Gluteus Maximus

Using new software (such as Maya and Zbrush) is like playing a highly technical advanced video game (blindfolded), with a controller that makes the Death Star look like a beach ball - and the game is to figure out which buttons make your character jump, crawl, spin and ultimately level up...and once you figure it out, accidently click a button you didn't know existed and jump into a completely new game/world/scene; freeze your software, loose your tools/emblems/wands/gems/coins and watch your Death Star incinerate....

Not today Zbrush!

Ice man creation....

Import Turbosquid model as an .obj file

Use the sculpt tools (clay build up, move, smooth and Dam Standard) to apply the muscular structure....remembering everything that was taught in Elizabeth Hammond's life drawing anatomy classes at Medway College of Art & Design (Kent Institute)....particularly the structure of Gluteus Maximus

The Accountant - critical review

Within seconds of leaving the certification screen, this film is intense.

The opening sequence is brilliant. Set against a tense soundtrack of gun shots and pleading fear, the first shots focus on extreme close ups of feet walking tentitively along a tenement block corridor; switching momentarily to a close up of the gun...

As the audience, we are given no respite from these intense camera views throughout the opening sequence. It's not until nearly the end of the film that we find out who the feet belong to; and why this opening scene is crucial to the narrative; very similar to how the storyline is engineered in Pulp Fiction.

As a storytelling device, this intense visual 'emotional lock-in' repeats throughout the film;  pounding strobe lighting and intense Radiohead music; whispered chanting; rage attacks; frantic equations and violence.

That said, the acting is actually sensitive and subtle, the characters are fairly well observed and, at odd moments, surprisingly humourous.

Although I found the storyline confusing, and I wasn't entirely clear who the main protagonist was at times, this film was gripping and the editing was great.

Re-sculpting a Turbosquid model in Zbrush

First tests in creating the ice figures...

Using a Turbosquid model, and adapted, shaping and sculpting the geometry in Zbrush...

To be continued!

Turbosquid trees, spotlights and an image plane

Hypershade in Maya, to create a quick image plane of winter trees

Lighting tests using an image plane, two spot lights and a couple of Turbosquid obj tree files...