Okay - as discussed, a few pointers distilled from out chat yesterday - and really they all come down to the same thing, which is about consolidating your art direction, because at the moment, you've got a mash-up of techniques & approaches, and the overall result feels a bit lumpy and 'under-art directed'. My basic advice is push the art direction towards something more obviously stylised, and this means re-thinking some of the more 'photo-real' elements - such as the water. I'm sure that Alan has given you lots of pointers in terms of improving the animation/walk-cycles and lip-synching etc, so I'll focus on some of the other bits:
1) Re-consider the 'water' - for me this is KEY. Right now, the fact that we've got this clean, conspicuous water simulation as generated in software is throwing off other elements in your film. My instinct is to approach this element more stylistically, so think about it, not as realistic water, but a job around creating a surface that is black, menacing and more 'for animation'. I got you to look at Night Of The Hunter as a helpful reference:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFzTBPy7nl8
Notice how the water is black and the reflections on its surface are white - this is a black and white film obviously, but it's the contrast I'm talking about and the fact you can 'suggest' water as an asset in Maya, as opposed to reproduce it 'as a water effect in Maya'. We did talk how one way of doing this might be to add the ripples etc as 2D elements in post. Also notice in the river scene, how the landscape is rather more obviously stylised - it feels more like a theatre set than 'real life' and I do think, given the nature of your characters and the book itself, you could take some similar advice for art directing your 'trailer' more purposefully.
2) So - the same goes for the 'fog/mist' elements - I actually like/prefer the 2D more theatrical fog elements over the 'realistic' AE fog filters and effects - again, for me, you've got a clash of two sorts of art direction here, and I'd urge you to pick the former over the latter.
3) editing - avoid cross-dissolves - consider just 'hard edits' to move between shots and to think more in montage terms to create suspense - cutting between a range of shots in this way can create tension and raise the heart rate - take a look at this scene from Psycho for a good example of how the 'feeling' of cutting hard between shots can ramp up the sense of urgency and menace:
Hey Ridge :)
ReplyDeleteOkay - as discussed, a few pointers distilled from out chat yesterday - and really they all come down to the same thing, which is about consolidating your art direction, because at the moment, you've got a mash-up of techniques & approaches, and the overall result feels a bit lumpy and 'under-art directed'. My basic advice is push the art direction towards something more obviously stylised, and this means re-thinking some of the more 'photo-real' elements - such as the water. I'm sure that Alan has given you lots of pointers in terms of improving the animation/walk-cycles and lip-synching etc, so I'll focus on some of the other bits:
1) Re-consider the 'water' - for me this is KEY. Right now, the fact that we've got this clean, conspicuous water simulation as generated in software is throwing off other elements in your film. My instinct is to approach this element more stylistically, so think about it, not as realistic water, but a job around creating a surface that is black, menacing and more 'for animation'. I got you to look at Night Of The Hunter as a helpful reference:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFzTBPy7nl8
Notice how the water is black and the reflections on its surface are white - this is a black and white film obviously, but it's the contrast I'm talking about and the fact you can 'suggest' water as an asset in Maya, as opposed to reproduce it 'as a water effect in Maya'. We did talk how one way of doing this might be to add the ripples etc as 2D elements in post. Also notice in the river scene, how the landscape is rather more obviously stylised - it feels more like a theatre set than 'real life' and I do think, given the nature of your characters and the book itself, you could take some similar advice for art directing your 'trailer' more purposefully.
2) So - the same goes for the 'fog/mist' elements - I actually like/prefer the 2D more theatrical fog elements over the 'realistic' AE fog filters and effects - again, for me, you've got a clash of two sorts of art direction here, and I'd urge you to pick the former over the latter.
3) editing - avoid cross-dissolves - consider just 'hard edits' to move between shots and to think more in montage terms to create suspense - cutting between a range of shots in this way can create tension and raise the heart rate - take a look at this scene from Psycho for a good example of how the 'feeling' of cutting hard between shots can ramp up the sense of urgency and menace:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUFY9c1OMXA