The last weekend of classes I created a 3D animatic (moving the camera around in the environment to make a really rough version of the film, even though there's little or no animation yet). This animatic ended up being drastically different than the 2D one I did in Concept Development. I kept a few things that worked, but I've known for a while that it needed work.
I discovered around Thanksgiving/Christmas that the film "Meet Joe Black" has a lot of good cinematography, and a story which, in part, is almost perfectly similar to Nebuchadnezzar's situation. This film shows a powerful man who comes face to face with Death, and has to come to terms with it as the one thing he can't control. Anyway, so with this film as reference, I chose to cut out all the narration and just head straight into the heart of the story without introduction. I figured if that's what worked in a 3 hour movie, that'd work in a 60-90 second short.
I discovered around Thanksgiving/Christmas that the film "Meet Joe Black" has a lot of good cinematography, and a story which, in part, is almost perfectly similar to Nebuchadnezzar's situation. This film shows a powerful man who comes face to face with Death, and has to come to terms with it as the one thing he can't control. Anyway, so with this film as reference, I chose to cut out all the narration and just head straight into the heart of the story without introduction. I figured if that's what worked in a 3 hour movie, that'd work in a 60-90 second short.
So the animatic starts with the camera entering Neb's bedroom, where he is sleeping. The camera creeps up to him, and somehow, unconsciously, he senses the camera's presence and turns away from it. The camera gets obnoxious, breaks the "180 rule" and jumps to the other side--to get back in his face. This happens again, and finally, the camera climbs over him, and looks down from above. He opens his eyes, and as he does so, you find that you are in his dream with him. The massive statue shimmers in the sunlight, as Neb is blown away by its splendor. Then Nebuchadnezzar sees something in the distance--a stone, cut out without hands, rolling towards the statue at a fast pace. The stone strikes the statue at its feet and the whole statue is crushed to dust. Neb is utterly overwhelmed as he witnesses all of this, and then the stone begins to grow. He braces himself as it swells to become a great mountain....and then he wakes up--film ends.
I ended up cutting out every character other than Nebuchadnezzar himself. That makes things easier, though I kind of feel weird having done all of that work on the other characters. The film in its current state is the best case scenario. I had hoped that I could make it so it acts as a complete short in and of itself, a trailer for a bigger piece, and a scene in that potential bigger piece, and that is exactly what I've got. Praise the Lord! He has done some much on this project, and it has been a blessing to me just to be working on it.
These images are examples of how the lighting will look; the final lighting will be better, but this at least shows where things are headed. I am also going to texture the models, so that will enhance the look even further.
These images are examples of how the lighting will look; the final lighting will be better, but this at least shows where things are headed. I am also going to texture the models, so that will enhance the look even further.
