Second Year Project - Lunar Studios by Chris Post https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios The production of our short film "A Sunny Day in January" en-us 2020-02-23 12:22:07 UTC 2026-02-25 07:20:23 UTC hello@padlet.com Example #1 iamryanrichards https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/452110565 The Fly : Short Film

When carrying out some research for inspiration for our short VFX film, one of the first films that came to mind was 'The Fly'. This is a short film comedy with a simple concept of a man getting irritated by a fly in a car to such an extent that he eventually ends up destroying the get away car that is supposed to be used for a bank robbery. This was a very simple yet effective piece of storytelling with comedic elements throughout. We thought it would be nice to bring some of these techniques into our short film as we go forward into the Planning/Development and Pre-Production stages.

]]> 2020-02-28 17:25:37 UTC https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/452110565 Example #2 iamryanrichards https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/452112531 Portal No Escape : Short Film

Another short film that inspired us was "Portal no escape". This is a short film based around the game Portal, that most of the team members grew up with during our teenage years. The idea of the story and actions being relatable made us think of new ideas and how else we could relate to our very broad target audience. This particular film is very dependant on VFX and the story, actions and visual effects are very restrictive as it is based on a concept that already exists.

]]> 2020-02-28 17:28:36 UTC https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/452112531 Storyline iamryanrichards https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/452371558 - Wakes up (Weather forecast reports to be sunny)

- Opens curtains to reveal the bad weather (Torrential Rain)

-  Gets ready again (fast) Dressed to survive the bad weather

- Runs out door and straight back in soaked from the rain (feeling defeated)

- Turns Thermostat on to dry clothes ((weather changes))

- Notices it has cleared up and puts clothes on rack to place outside (turns thermostat back off and notices it is changing the weather)

- Plays with thermostat  to see the capabilities (dramatic weather changes)   

- Gets an idea 

- Sat out in garden enjoying nice weather (using the power of the thermostat to their advantage)

- Neighbour notices over there fence, shocked at what they see (Still bad weather from their point of view) ]]> 2020-02-29 11:24:17 UTC https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/452371558 Plot Structure iamryanrichards https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/452372722 This graph demonstrates the structure of our plot from start, middle and end. It visualises the tension and the series of events throughout the story:]]> 2020-02-29 11:36:52 UTC https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/452372722 Trello Page iamryanrichards https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/452373251 All of our planning and development for this project has been completed within our Trello account:]]> 2020-02-29 11:42:14 UTC https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/452373251 Discord iamryanrichards https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/452373550 We chose Discord to communicate as a team online. This is a helpful tool for us to collectively discuss our ideas and visions easily and freely without having to co-ordinate meetings and travel arrangements. ]]> 2020-02-29 11:44:39 UTC https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/452373550 Film Name iamryanrichards https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/452377440 We managed to find some free time and took this opportunity to sit down as a team and mind map a good name for this short film.]]> 2020-02-29 12:24:10 UTC https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/452377440 Cinematography iamryanrichards https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/452377961 We looked into good cinematography techniques. This would help us think of interesting ways to tell our story through the camera lens.

As we researched further into cinematography it was interesting to see that you can convey different emotions and themes just from the positioning and movement of the camera shots. ]]> 2020-02-29 12:28:56 UTC https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/452377961 Director Research - Edgar Wright christopherpost18 https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/452378751 When looking into films we could take inspiration for, one Film Director came to mind. That person being Edgar Wright, the man behind the "Cornetto Trilogy" and other films such as "Baby Driver". He is most known for his use of "quick cuts" within his films to show a passage of time within a few seconds. When considering the length of our film, I thought that using this sort of technique could be effective as we need to keep the film short to about 1 minute.

We'll look further into usage of this style of filming in the Production and Post Production stages of our project]]> 2020-02-29 12:38:26 UTC https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/452378751 Project Director Meetings iamryanrichards https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/452399523 We arranged a number of regular meetings with our project director. These helped us understand our brief more and how best to more forward in the project. 

For each meeting we made sure to bring a list of questions with us each time so we didn't miss anything.]]> 2020-02-29 15:20:44 UTC https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/452399523 Equipment and Prop List iamryanrichards https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/452447200 This is a list presenting all of the necessary props and equipment that are needed to enable us to be prepared moving into the Production stage:]]> 2020-02-29 20:39:01 UTC https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/452447200 Snow Effect iamryanrichards https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/452449425 How we could transform the garden into a blizzard (snowing).]]> 2020-02-29 20:54:51 UTC https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/452449425 Partical Effects iamryanrichards https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/452450348 When doing a bit of research into how to create snow, rain and dust simulations, Adobe After Effects is a good piece of software to use. Particle effects will allow us to have refined and controlled weather effects as it is possible to create a lot of variants such as gravity, speeds as well as a multitude of other settings to refine it further.

]]> 2020-02-29 21:02:02 UTC https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/452450348 After Effects iamryanrichards https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/452453356 Rain On Window tutorial]]> 2020-02-29 21:24:51 UTC https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/452453356 Blender jintilbaby https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/453252966 Blender was one of the software that I drifted to when hearing about a VFX film, it offers many industry leading tools at an unbeatable price. Free. Which is so attractive towards low budget studios. The man in the high castle a tv show aired with amazon prime used blender to create vast array of building depicting Nazi Germany making it very photo realistic which is the very reason I wanted to create environments using blender proving you don’t need very expensive software to create the same outcome 


]]> 2020-03-02 20:40:07 UTC https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/453252966 Desert jintilbaby https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/453256322 In blender I started to model a sandy desert environment although I’ve been successful at creating the wavy ness of the sand dunes I’m having difficulties trying to make it vast and life. With the help of my fellow peers and YouTube I am confident we can make this happen with the knowledge we already know.
with the desert I wanted full control of how the sand feels so I’ve chosen to recreate the textures with nodes instead of textures so by building custom materials I was able to have full control   
  

]]> 2020-03-02 20:47:03 UTC https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/453256322 Lord Of War jintilbaby https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/455313558 One of our inspirations comes from the film lord of war in the opening scene was truly amazing with the use of vfx, the film used the remaining budget to film the opening scene even though they didn’t have a lot they executed it perfectly, for the time the movie blew audiences away with the use of CGI bullets and rotoscoping real hands in front of the lens we wanted to have that level of dedication in out project making sure ever scene is as polished as it can be 

]]> 2020-03-05 19:00:20 UTC https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/455313558 Thermostat jintilbaby https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/455318600 Just to see what I can do, I decided to see if I can model a thermostat just in case we need one or ever need to have a CGI one. Also, just to see how the tools feel so I created this using blender and an array of simple cubes that I stretched and squashed together I have yet to texture it but still getting the hang of uv unwrapping. 

]]> 2020-03-05 19:06:23 UTC https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/455318600 Substance Painter jintilbaby https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/455340995 To texture and get a unique new texture ill be using substance painter to create more life into my objects substance painter allows you to recreate texture from a template or by scratches it allows you to have a dedicated section to create brand new materials you are able to add small details to an objects for example the imperfections and scratches that can be seen on any products. To do this I first needed to UV unwrap properly but I have yet to learn this, so the preview image is a mess even though I have successfully exported the object as a OBJ file. If I was to correctly UV unwrap, I would have the freedom to stop overlapping and create textures properly. 

]]> 2020-03-05 19:31:45 UTC https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/455340995 Models in Maya nadarajahthenu98 https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/503547990 I have started to create models within environments to help match the themes of our changing environments within the film. I have produced a cocktail model, radio, rocks, dead trees and cactus’ all within Maya. I am also working on creating the textures and will be UV mapping these models with the application. The textures for the models will be creating using both Maya and Photoshop.]]> 2020-04-12 14:45:26 UTC https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/503547990 Maya nadarajahthenu98 https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/514417003 For this project, I will be using Auto-desk Maya for my 3D model work. Maya is a 3D computer graphics application that is used to create models, animations and more. It has many features and is one of the best programs within the industry. Containing everything that will be useful for video games such as 3D elements. With the recent push for better modelling tools, I have decided that I will be using Maya for this project.]]> 2020-04-18 15:06:56 UTC https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/514417003 Lighting Research christopherpost18 https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/525903730 When looking to produce an Animatic (and potentially a film), lighting plays an important part. We would need to use the correct light in order to light each scene properly. Deciding on what type of light could be dependant on where the scene takes place, outdoor shots you would mainly use the natural lighting and consider the time of day for shooting. Whereas an indoor shot may require LED lighting mixed with natural light. When using artificial lighting you have to be careful about shadows and making sure the scene looks realistic if its a more realistic setting. The video linked uses pictures taken in an outside setting to create a 360 panorama for lighting purposes. I will be looking into this further and figuring out what kind of lights would be needed for our settings. ]]> 2020-04-23 14:21:58 UTC https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/525903730 UV Mapping & Texture nadarajahthenu98 https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/529422289 When I finished up all my modelling, I realised that the preview images looked quite messy. Therefore I decided to add UV maps to make the texture look clearer on the models. Then I scanned the internet for images I can use as a reference for producing the textures for my models. Below shows an image on how to actually create UV maps. The “before” image represents how messy these maps were, the “after” image shows a tidy version of the UV map which I produced, making the textures much clearer and easier to see.
                  

]]> 2020-04-24 22:39:42 UTC https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/529422289 Models Completed nadarajahthenu98 https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/539365553 The models have now all been completed, these models with a lot of work ended up looking very realistic which I am quite pleased about. They will make up well with our film and look realistic within the setting. Now the next step is for me to give my models to another member of the team who will edit them further within After Effects.]]> 2020-04-29 14:44:57 UTC https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/539365553 Animatic Research christopherpost18 https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/541686468 So when producing an animatic, we need to be able to capture expressions and emotions like you would in a film in order to showcase our characters and the position they are in. Looking through different animatics public on Youtube I came across this one (linked below) which is based on "Heathers the Musical", the creator takes its own unique twist on the scene, portraying the characters through expression and emotion, something we can use as a base point when developing our animatic.]]> 2020-04-30 11:55:07 UTC https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/541686468 COVID-19 iamryanrichards https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/564902297 Due to the recent Covid-19 pandemic we as a team have had to adapt to the situation in order for this project to still go ahead. This has been a very challenging time for us but we have implemented a few things to help our work go as smooth as possible. 

Implementations:

- Regular Discord/Online Meetings
- Delegation of key tasks
- Making sure we stay in contact as much as possible
- focusing on our communication skills. 
-Using online Tools/Software]]> 2020-05-11 13:51:51 UTC https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/564902297 Shot List iamryanrichards https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/564920163 This is a list of all the neccesery shots in order for our film to be complete. Listing key elements such as Location, Camera Angles/Movements and a short description. This is consistent with storyboard and script.]]> 2020-05-11 13:57:52 UTC https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/564920163 Script iamryanrichards https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/564929844 2020-05-11 14:01:11 UTC https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/564929844 Storyboard iamryanrichards https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/564936375 2020-05-11 14:03:27 UTC https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/564936375 Final Report iamryanrichards https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/564950906 For our final report we edited it via google docs, so we can all work collaboratively on it. 

In this report we talk about all of our struggles and weaknesses and how we overcome them.]]> 2020-05-11 14:08:08 UTC https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/564950906 Modelling and Texturing nadarajahthenu98 https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/564951397 When I was doing research into how to create 3D models and textures. I came to the conclusion that Auto-desk Maya and Adobe Photoshop were the best software to use. This also contains some great tools designed for VFX, for example an extremely simple export for your 3D models to import straight into a different program. Also I feel like going with low poly for each model will be the best option as it will make my models look more realistic and smooth. This will be important because we want our short film to look realistic, when including visual effects and models, it can make a scene look unrealistic to the audience, therefore it’s important that we are careful with how we produce these models. ]]> 2020-05-11 14:08:18 UTC https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/564951397 Lighting Development christopherpost18 https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/565054773 As part of the development for the lighting in this film, I followed the video tutorial I found in my lighting research to produce essentially a texture which we can transfer over to Blender/Maya to light up our scenes which use visual effects. Because we are producing realistic environments in an unrealistic setting, for example a desert in a back garden, I took several pictures of my back garden at different angles to then be spliced into a panorama, then editing to create this lighting texture. The pictures below show my progress to creating this panorama. (Click image to view all images in full)]]> 2020-05-11 14:40:19 UTC https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/565054773 Location Scouting christopherpost18 https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/565231290 For our film, we needed a house with an open garden in order to create these flat realistic environments using visual effects. At first we weighed up our options on Campus, seeing what was around however they are all student accommodations, so it was hard to find a house with a flat opening to at least a "field". We then looked into Ryan's friend Ethan's house which was an option, it had a nice garden and the right house to use for our film. However with the pandemic hitting, we needed the social distance and it would be breaking the rules if we went to their house to film. Another option was my House, the picture below showcases my garden which would be perfect for these "environments" because it was flat and open, only problem would be positioning of the camera as we may have to do shots through the backdoor. We have options of where we could film and because we only need a house, it isn't that heavy on the budget, using my house or Ryan's friends would be free. ]]> 2020-05-11 15:36:57 UTC https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/565231290 Final Animatic iamryanrichards https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/565340582 For our Animatic we wanted to present all of the key scenes within our film. Portraying emotions and actions as well as telling the story from start to finish. As I was in charge of this I thought it was my responsibility to gather everyone's work together into one Animatic Storyline, including sounds and effects and all of the ideas we intend to use.]]> 2020-05-11 16:10:56 UTC https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/565340582 How to integrate the model into the shot/video? nadarajahthenu98 https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/568476049 When you complete a model within a program such as Maya, you need to import the model to render and then go into After Effects to composite into the shot/video. 

Before you take it into After Effects, you need to bring the model into the scene in Maya. Place it where you want it then create a ground geometry, also you will need to match the model to the lighting within the shot/video so it looks realistic. Then create multiple render passes and layers which will make compositing easier. After rendering, take it into After Effects and use shadow matching and colour matte usage to match the 3D Render with the shot/video. By the end of this, you should have a final colour corrected shot of your 3D model in a realistic setting. 

The video below is an example of the usage of Maya and After Effects together to integrate a 3D model into a shot/video. This will help us to place our own 3D models into our intended short film.
]]> 2020-05-12 19:16:49 UTC https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/568476049 Risk Assessment Forms iamryanrichards https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/572963695 Before we move ahead into the production stages we thought it would be best to produce some risk assessment forms outlining all the potential risks when filming. This will protect any legal matters in the future if anything was to go wrong eg. someone gets injured on set.]]> 2020-05-14 15:21:14 UTC https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/572963695 SNOW VFX jintilbaby https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/576678436 here is a simple snow effect using after effect just by using a simple tint and cc particle system I was able to turn a green summer forest into a white winter forest. just by adjusting the white and black levels of the tint, you can apply a blending mode which was lighten this overlays the whites onto the original footage. although if I was to change anything it would have been the snow particles as its really hard to imitate the characteristics of snow. snow tends to float a lot instead of plummeting it flotes up and down then drifts this was very hard to imitate. if I had to I have to buy a plugin in called 

Trapcode Particular 4 made by RED GIANT  


Below is a preview of the effect:
]]> 2020-05-16 13:10:26 UTC https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/576678436 RAIN VFX jintilbaby https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/578183427 in our film, we may need to replicate rain this small demo will introduce small details to add for extra immersion for example if we were to have completely fake rain within our screen we would need to add this sort of effect to the windows or any glass surface. 

to do this effect everything was done in After Effects using stock plugins using many distortions and particle effects on top of simple shaps I was able to get the characteristics of rain.]]> 2020-05-17 17:52:27 UTC https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/578183427 Snow V2 jintilbaby https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/579857954 after looking at some references of snow its a lot more flaky and irregular in shape. if we look at the original one I did within the video I made it's so round and unrealistic whereas when we add a turbulence effect it creates more flaky flacks which are more true to life. ]]> 2020-05-18 13:15:20 UTC https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/579857954 Rain jintilbaby https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/579913643 Using CC rain simulation we can add rain to our scene this can be overlayed into a window to show rainfall with green screen or just with an overlay blend option.]]> 2020-05-18 13:34:43 UTC https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/579913643 Legal/Copyright Research christopherpost18 https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/580063719 When producing Models and Textures within programs like Maya or Blender, It's quite easy to take a random photo from the internet and use it as a reference. This is someone that could come under copyright as we don't have permission from the creator. 

Throughout the project we would need to be extremely careful about using photos online from a point of reference as its could cause legal problems. The link below links to the "Terms of Use" for textures.com which is a website known for their high quality textures, which one of the points which explains about commercial use. Taking this into account, we will most likely be producing our own textures and if we do need to use textures from an online source, to read about their "Terms of Use" before moving forwards.]]> 2020-05-18 14:26:58 UTC https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/580063719 Approaches iamryanrichards https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/580082119 Before we continued our project we set about looking at film approaches and what they mean.

This was a great way to understand how to control our film to how the peice would be conveyed to the public.

http://www.math.grinnell.edu/~simpsone/Connections/Film/Approach/index.html]]> 2020-05-18 14:33:32 UTC https://padlet.com/christopherpost18/lunarstudios/wish/580082119