3D style test

Stills

First look at 3D

A sneak peek at a render preview, after messing with UV's all day. Things are starting to look like things, which is exciting! Still have some smoothing to do on some polygon edges but all in all it's been a successful day and my workflow nailed down. Excited!

Casting

A casting decision has been made, the main character will be played by the lovely Jacklyn Collier. New drawings are being drafted now to reflect her look and personality.

Reference Time: Part 3: The Forest Scene Lars von Trier's Antichrist

The footage for this scene feels very comped,  things feel slightly "off" but in a good way. In some of the wide shots, she has an almost stop motion feel to her movements. I suspect that this look was achieved by adding green screened footage of her walking into stills of a forest. Fog was probably added with particles. In Fallen, when Sarah enters the forest, bits and pieces of the animated hell she'll fall into begin to appear in the forest. There are a few ways that I can demonstrate this turning point in the story; either with adding paper elements to live footage, or by deconstructing live footage and photography and puppeting/animating the deconstructed elements in a similar way to the animated portion.

Reference Time: Part 2: This Random Video That Looks Super Cool

Perfect example of using multiple cutout "cards" to layer and create depth. Objects in the foreground come in and out of focus. The drawings are simple, boring on their own, but the overall effect is very successful. There is a clear depth of field (certain cards come in and out of focus depending on their distance from the camera) and the cutouts feel very tactile. There is a thickness to the edge of the paper, and the shadows they cast feel very organic.

Reference Time: Part 1: Stacey Rozich

Some choice frames from the video that demonstrate the puppeted, cut out paper look:

The geometric lines of the character's bodies create poses that already feel puppeted and rigid. Maintaining this sense of minimalism in form is crucial to pulling off the puppeted paper look in After Effects. She uses both the texture of the paint and intricate, overlapping patterns to add interest to otherwise minimalistic forms.

*Disclaimer: the work in this particular blog post is neither owned or created by me. No copyright infringement is intended. The intention of this blog is to explore stylistic and technical choices made by people before me, so that I can fully realize my own artistic vision.