3D World Mood-Board & Inspiration

Work in Progress….

I had a blast modelling and enjoyed using the tool- “bevel” repeatedly. Bevelling allowed me to smoothen out any shape or object that I desire, so that the objects like the toaster, fences…etc., have a more realistic look without the roughness that tends to destroy the apperance of it.

Later on, I decided to replace the flat, boring and ordinary surface/ floor into something atypical- three slices of bread. I desire to uplift unconventionality and that quirkiness could spark intriguing ideas that make heads turn.

As you can see, even the trees are made up of mouth-watering bread. The table is a rich and slightly sweet slice of creamy butter that we all adore. I heavily made everything bread related to emphasize my fondness towards bread through my eyes, presenting how the doughy goodness of it is such a huge blessing to humans- at least to me!

During the process of applying colour to the surfaces, I considered sticking heavily to a warm colour pallet. I want the colours to explain itself, that it offers an atmosphere that’s warm, calming and a bit of tranquility too.

To give the bread pieces a grainy texture, I embedded a noise texture to make them look more convincing.

Design of Signs!

I also did some illustrations of signs on the app Procreate so I could insert them as pictures and turn them into signs in Maya. I used the function- UV.

Character Design

Something seemed to be lacking as I peered at my 3D environment. Perhaps a character or two could compensate for the void. Because my universe is about bread, I thought some birds would be appropriate. The yellow buddy is composed of basic shapes. Yellow is used to represent its peaceful and joyful demeanour.

Close-up of birds

Oh to be the birds just enjoying cups of coffee and loafs of bread : )

Final Product (Three final shots) +extra shots

After rendering the three shots:

It was genuinely quite interesting to shoot my final shots at different angles and how they’d feel in certain perspectives.

The narrative: I awoke one day with a chilly shudder running from my head to toe. I instantly discovered I’d mysteriously transformed into a bird! I stood up and took in my surroundings while being very puzzled how this bizarre situation had come about. From a distance, I notice a platter with a couple pieces of bread. I walked closer to it, desperate for nourishment. It was then that I discovered the three toasts were not regular bread! They were heaped together to make a little habitat with a café for other small birds. I dashed inside the café for a bite after noticing the comfortable ambiance it provided. I went through the menu and decided on a slice of bread and a cup of steaming coffee. A euphoric sensation came over me as I chewed on my slice, and I thought to myself, ‘Gosh, it feels so nice to finally be able to eat bread again!’ I don’t have to worry about my gluten allergy now that I’m a bird, as I did when I was a person!’ I grinned because I could live here forever and eat bread or toast pieces! Seeing other birds that enjoy bread too helped me feel understood as well. But was it all just a pleasant dream? Or was it actually a nightmare or trap when the café was placed on a plate… ready to be consumed by someone else one day? … x_x

Extra shots:

After the first two intense yet informative lessons of the introduction and basics of Maya, I mustered up the courage to crafting up my 3D world from scratch. During the introductory lessons, I had a painfully hard time trying to keep up with the stressful pace the class had. The pressure grew as my peers were able to demonstrate their understandings towards 3D modelling effortlessly, while I was drenched in my own sweat, struggling to figure Maya out. It was a challenge to remember all of the details and the functions here and there in Maya, especially when i had absolute zilch background knowledge of the compositions of 3D art. There was a lot of trial and error during the process, but that didn’t stop me from reifying my grand ideas in the form of a low poly 3D world!

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Week 2: Learning about camera Shots/ Narrative Elements

Plot strcutures

In week two, I was taught what the structure of the narrive typically consists of:

• Expostion
• Rising action
• Climax
• Falling action
• Denouement

The understanding of plot patterns allowed me to think on the art of storytelling. Reflectively, the audience’s ability to take something away from the experience or to feel something later indicates that they have connected with the story/film. I also believe that the teachings or purpose behind a narrative are helpful for creating the storyline of the story and enabling the artist to interact, and connect with the audience in an indirect way. However, whatever the artist wishes to express through the tale is ultimately subjective to the audience.

Styles

In class, I was introduced to notable artists with well-known art styles such as Tim Burton, Wes Anderson, and others. Their styles are so unique that it’s difficult not to notice them. People could identify which mastermind was behind the scenes developing a finger-licking excellent narrative by their distinct visual style. An art style also aids the viewer in determining how to perceive a film. But one question that sprang in my mind was if people, or we as artists, would become bored if we used our individual styles in our works over and over again. Is too much of a good thing… a bad thing?

The essentials of composition

I was also taught the many ways of shooting a film or particular scenes and they include:

• The rule of thirds
• Depth
• Leading lines
• Creating movement and interest

It certainly takes time to understand why some scenes are diliberately chosen to be composed in a particular way. Some camera angles could control the mood of the narrative, whereas some has the ability to lure viewers to pay attention to certain points in the film that has great amount of importance. It could be a character, what they say or the little details that the diretor wants us to notice.

A trial on film compositions

In one of the small activities we were instructed to perform was to choose three particular shots from a movie of our desire and to figure out the film composition used in that scene for a better understanding of the rules of it. I chose the scene- “Planetarium” from La La Land and tried my best to sketch out the leading lines in this beautifully shot scene.

Chosen scenes:

With leading composition lines:

These leading composition lines are often imaginary. They hint to us where the eye is usually led to in a specific scene and they are the key elements that draw one’s attention. This rule of composition that artists and film makers use is quite handy when it comes to associating a specific character with the atmosphere, certain objects, feelings, colours, situations and sometimes even secondary objects.

I struggled a little with drawing out the leading lines from the scenes. I wasn’t sure if my responses or interpretations were accurate. I kept reminding and asking myself where I would glance first in the scene, where my eyes would be drawn. The inner query allowed me to clarify my response. Understanding many different camera shots with composition principles is difficult, but I agree on their utility when we want to express our tale in a certain way. I’m still wondering if those fictitious composition lines are subjective because we all view things differently. Is it true that there are correct and incorrect answers?