Arrrr! Land Ahoy!

Well this is the last post I will probably ever make on this particular blog. The assignment would have gone much more smoother if I didn't have distractions, like other assignments and the internet. Still, I've learnt a lot from this unit.

As you will recall I picked roughly a ten second bit from the Battle of Wits, beginning from "Alright, where is the poison?" and finishing at "And find out who is right, and who is dead". Lets have a watch now.



As always I wish I had more time, less characters to animate and something other than walking aimlessly for Buttercup to do. I didn't have enough time to do a lip sync, but might do it over the summer so I can enter it as a portfolio thing.

Progress

So far I have done the first blocking cycle of the animation. I tried to render it out and create an .avi file but VirtualDub is not really helping me out, as a fellow student recommended. I will ask him to help me with that and hopefully I will be able to post it here.

My blocking technique is the hybrid one. So every 3-5 frames I key frame a pose. Then I change the graph so everything is flat. I don't want Maya to ruin the inbetweens until I have done a few needed ones myself.

Hopefully, when I go through a second time Maya will be nice to my animations and do what I want. If not, I'll have to go through it and manually correct mistakes.

The future is bleak

Here is the animated storyboard.



It's not much, I wanted to put the audio file on it and queue everything up, but After Effects was being annoying about .mp3 and .wav files. Also the quality of the scanner was questionable, but you get the idea.

Week One - It Begins

Okay this is the first of many (I hope) entries for KIB225.
This week I'm writing about a favourite director, their style and which part of The Princess Bride - Battle of the Wits scene.

Edgy and always interesting films are by director Tim Burton.
Now I have chosen him because some of my favourite films are his, in particular his stop motion creations The Nightmare Before Christmas (though sadly not directed) and Corpse Bride. The most particular reason for enjoying his movies are the juxtaposition of various concepts and ideas as well the look and feel of the scenes (lighting, costumes, sets etc).

Now after reading the screenplay of The Princess Bride, I decided to start at the line MAN IN BLACK: All right, where is the poison? until VIZZINI: ... so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me.
I have had several ideas for the scene, most prominently with the Man in Black looking more confused, worried or amused as Vizzini progresses with his suppositions. Eyebrows up and perhaps slanted with his mouth slowly opening/dropping (in the event I go with amused at the end of Vizzini's speech, the Man in Black looks at the camera and shrugs). Meanwhile Vizzini is gestulating with his hands a bit wildly with a serious expression.