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Part 1:
Making Movies
Part 2:
From Idea to "Birth of
the
Film"
Part 3:
Planning the Project
Part 4:
The Shot Pipeline
Part 5:
Putting the Pieces Together |
Where did you get the idea
for Arrest Assured?
Rob: The inspiration really came from a character
that Mike designed.
Mike: He was actually one of three lead characters
from another story we’ve been developing, and was intended to be a
fisherman, of sorts. But, we both thought he looked more like a cliché
old-school burglar … but a bumbling, goofy sort of burglar.
Rob: That gave us the idea for a heist story – with
a comedic twist. We had brainstorming sessions where we’d just throw
out gags and laugh (or shriek unpleasantly!) until we came up with a story
that worked.
What did you do once you
had the story?
Rob: After designing character and environment layout
sheets we went straight to storyboarding. We drew all the shots by hand,
and then scanned in each cell. Once we had the entire storyboard
digitized we started our “Leica Reel”, or 2D Animatic.
Mike: We imported all the story board frames into Final
Cut, and created a full-length edit of the film. In Final Cut we timed
the shots, created transitions, simple camera moves and added sound ─
even if some were just mimicked with our own voices!
So you have a complete
mock-up of the film...
Rob: That’s right. Once we had that, we built
elementary 3D environments and props for each shot. With these “virtual
sets,” we finalized timing using a low resolution version of our burglar
to block out the entire film. This is how we created our 3D Animatics:
camera placement, composition, whether to pan or dolly the camera, and
so on…
all the elements that allow for good storytelling. We consider this
stage the real birth of the film.
A film is born!
Mike: This is where proper planning can save a lot
of headaches later! We began by creating a shot database for the entire
film. Every piece of information we had for each shot was stored in the
database: the story board(s), props, notes, time of day the shot is
supposed to be happening, etc.
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Mike McCormick
On top of being the team's lead animator, Mike runs 3D production at Pendulum,
with a special interest in creating unique
technical solutions and engaging character animation. |
