317 Days. Three hundred and seventeen days since my last post. Hard to imagine, considering that when I first began this blog my goal was to update you, the reader, about my journey for this film each month. Today it’s become an afterthought because honestly, I’m hitting my stride in accomplishing so much work and my excitement continues to grow in completing this project. Unfortunately I haven’t set the time aside to create more blogs, so I hope you understand. But let’s get to it and show you where I’m at as we begin 2018.
VFX
Mask creation, bow and arrow construction out of energy, explosions, portal animation and human eye VFX are just a few achievements that happened last year in my visual effects realm. I used a plethora of plug-ins from third party companies like VideoCopilot, Red Giant, and Trapcode, along with incredible After Effect scripts from AEscripts.com. These additional tools not only achieved my desired effect, but it also helped me in the time it took to create it. It’s amazing on how far I’ve come since the beginning of my first post where I was thrilled that I created an exploding title. Now? Well, take a gander at the gallery below and you be the judge.
3D Rendering
I feel comfortable openly admitting that this particular area has been lax as far as productivity goes. If anything, my appreciation and respect to the wizards at Industrial Light and Magic and Weta Digital has exponentially increased. I knew going into this great odyssey that 3D modeling would have the highest learning curve to conquer. I’m still learning and am in the thick of it, but I can look back on 2017 and be proud of the steps I achieved.
I’ve successfully created two 3D sets from scratch from two different programs: Autodesk Maya and Maxon’s Cinema 4D. The Coke and Pepsi of 3D graphics. My first set is a 1920’s speakeasy with a stage and grand ballroom, of which I began creating back in 2015 (Log 19). The set was tackled in Maya and it was my first experience using the software doing 3D modeling work. Because of my “maiden voyage”, I experienced major pitfalls that gave me headaches and heartaches. However I stuck with it, created solutions, and ultimately achieved compositing one of the many scenes that needed a 3D set.
The next 3D set I created was in Cinema 4D, which I called a Power Grid. It is essentially a huge power supply unit inside of your computer. Using the knowledge and experience I gained from working on the previous set, I cut my time spent in half. Getting comfortable in understanding the pipeline in how these sets are created from start to finish has been the major key in helping me to achieve my goals. 2018 will pave the way for completing my largest set in the entire film: the Gauntlet Arena. A gladiatorial stadium seating amphitheater where almost one third of my film takes place.
Motion Design
Riding the momentum from last year’s successes in designing and animating Pixel’s Tower (Log 26), I began tackling the design for the multiple scoreboards that are displayed during the game/film. Our main inspiration came from professional basketball scoreboards in the 1980’s mixed with 80’s video game design layouts and color schemes. The two I focused on this year were the Agility Challenge scoreboard and the Gauntlet Arena scoreboard. After finalizing the Gauntlet Arena look, I took that and created a quick character introduction for our gladiators before they do battle.
Since the beginning stages of the film, I always knew that my characters needed a shield to protect themselves. However I didn’t know what that would look like, especially considering that the shield itself is created from energy, instead of metal or copper. So taking the overall design theme that I’ve already established, I created a hexagon shield that constructs from the character’s hand. I am very happy with the end result and after seeing it composited in my shots, I look forward in seeing the characters in action.
Production
Yes, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but “production” is on this list. When production completed back in 2013 (Log 12), I didn’t have a clear idea on how to shoot certain action scenes that were to take place. Instead, my main focus was to capture all of the scenes where you saw the actors’ faces, as opposed to the shots where a mask was worn. I completed that in 2013, but I was left with this immense question mark of “what to do” or “how to” go about completing the rest of the film.
In November 2017, I decided to take a risk and film the action scenes of an actor on green screen as oppose to my first option, all 3D character animation. Even though it limited my camera angles doing the green screen route, I chose this simply because of time: the time it would take to do character animation would have been astronomical! Plus I’m already six years deep in this project, I want to see it completed. In seven production days that spanned over two months, I’ve completed an additional 400 shots covering nineteen different scenes out of seventy two. What’s more impressive than that is the chance to officially say, “Principal photography is wrapped!” Time for a happy dance.
Happy Dance!
As I teased at the end of Log 26, composer Kyle Smith was brought on board to score the film. After numerous meetings and pitched concepts of song ideas, I can proudly announce that Kyle has completed the first 20 minutes of the film. I am THRILLED! Not only is Kyle an exceptional musician, but he’s bringing the film’s authenticity to a whole new level. I personally chose NOT to share some of the song concepts he created because honestly, I want to have some mystery left for you to actually watch the finished product. Take my word for it, it’s well worth the wait.
To close, 2017 was the first year I decided to solely focus my efforts on Gauntlet and to not partake in any other freelancing opportunities. Because of that decision, my progress has been incredible. It’s now at the point of asking ‘when is going to be completed’, instead of ‘how is it going to be completed’ or ‘will it ever be completed’. I’m very thankful on where I’m at going into 2018 and most importantly, the unconditional support from the cast, the crew and my family encouraging me to continue to go the distance.
Can’t wait to see what 2018 brings!
“If there’s a resistance to women making movies, I just choose to ignore that as an obstacle for two reasons: I can’t change my gender, and I refuse to stop making movies.”
– Katheryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty, Detroit)
