Character & Narrative- Week 9- Setting Up the Set and Lighting

Week 9- 

Setting Up the Set, Lighting & Starting to Animate

 Since the elements were finished for my set, all i needed to do was transport it to university. The set up took way longer than expected. It wasn't the tree or headstones or any of the gluing, but the lighting and camera as I didn't know what I was doing so it was all an experiment to try and create enough light for the camera to pick up and the audience understand what was happening and the surroundings.

Here on the right is the tree Belle will be hiding behind. I love how this corner turned out and I am so proud of how the whole thing looks now its all come together.

For the moss and small shrubbery, I was painting cut up sponges in different shades of green and gluing them in different places around the set. This helped the overall look as it came to life as well as not looking so flat and lonely.

Here are the couples headstones next to each other. As you can see the way i have placed them, they look aged and old as they dont stand straight, this adds to the story as it looks like they must have been dead for a while as the tombstones have aged too.

This is also a wider shot showing how I set up the next headstone to also look aged. This helps with what I have been trying to achieve, which is that this section of the graveyard is more abandoned and secluded as everything is old. This placement also adds levels and different camera angles I could do without it looking linear and flat.

 Here are some more angles showing the rest of the scene as a whole. It really came to life when starting to add the different elements all together. It really calmed me as I knew that I could soon start filming and get going with the stop-motion which was exiting.

 Finally finding some bolts, I have been able to add them to the males feet. This was to create a magnetic effect and keep him standing but there was an issue. The set created is too think so even with strong magents it cannot go though the Polystirene. This means I will have to use some initiative and the male wont stand without some supports. This is when I created some dowels so i can stick him into certain spots and keep him from falling over.

 Here were two lighting tests. Setting up lighting took hours to do as it needs to be dark but not so much so the audience cant understand what is happening. This is when my tutor told me that I can darken it in Premier and After Effects after so this let me move on.

 When enquiring about the background and what should be done now that he has seen the set, he said that he doesn't think it even needs one. This made me look at the way it is set up and as it is night, the way the background is so black, it keeps the eye of the audience on the characters and looks more atmospheric. I've been worrying about this since the beginning so it was a big weight off my shoulders as I now only need to edit the animation background to make it darker if it doesn't look solid black which is a lot easier than creating a whole other scene.

 Here I am nearly ready to get started with the first scene. This is image is with the over head lights from the room on.

 This is when they are off. As you can see the two lights are helping to bounce enough light around the set without it being too overpowering and busy with light.

 This is the character as I have been moving him around the set. I wont be able to get much done today as its taken too much time sorting out the lighting but it has been amazing to see the result of small movements all coming together in DragonFrame. The software was complicated when I started but once everything is set up, you can just press a button and take the image through the camera.

Here is a quick test that i did once I got started which let me see how he was moving. I could see it was going too quick so after this point I really slowed the movements down and let myself take my time with it and there was no need to rush.

Here is what I have so far. It isn't much but i'm still very proud of the result. He has really come to life and the body movements show he is looking for someone so I hope by the end to have the audience understand what is happening and why he found the flower.