BFX_CtrlZ_PITCH_DOCUMENT_REDUCE

1.0 THE PROJECT
1.1. Project Name and brief
Our project is called ctrlZ and it is based on The Time Machine by H.G. Wells.
1.2 Medium
We would be executing the project as a live action and CG integration piece. We
have one long continuous shot in the style of the Philips Carousel Commercial which
can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQ3D4CqHbJM
1.3 Treatment
Set in a parallel universe, the piece starts with Z, our agent, starting another day on
the job. He walks onto a crime scene and begins to investigate to get to the bottom of
what happened. He uses his ability to glimpse into past events. What he sees, is that a
humanoid creature burst into an civilian bar and start shooting at innocent people.
This would be the most horrendous act Z has seen on the job yet and he ends up by
reacting in a way he never has before.
1.4 Relating to the brief
In relation to the brief chosen, we are creating a piece set around time travel. We aim
to put a twist on how time travel is usually shown and put time-travel, freezing-time
and even changing the past all into a 30 second piece. We plan to show each event
that happened in the bar at once while the destruction itself plays backwards,
lingering in the air, in bullet time.
The idea is not that he uses a time travel device and magically gets whisked off
somewhere, but that he IS the time travel device and uses it in a professional manner
see past events in the current location and, in this rare case, change them for the
better.
2.0 THE TEAM
We are a team of 6 students and we are called ctrlZ. We are all 3rd year students from
the National Center for Computer Animation, Bournemouth University. The team
members are:
Ross Hildick
Ross is currently studying B.A. Computer Animation Arts
at NCCA and is a pro modeler. He is better known as
“lightning-hands” Hildick and we are referring to the speed
with which he models. He also fancies being the director as
he gets to tell people off. He also likes to take pictures of
himself in a smoky room with a strong backlight so he can
show people and pretend he’s giving a lecture.
Check out his work at:
• http://www.rosshildick3d.wordpress.com
• http://www.YouTube.com/RossHildick3d
Ross’s Profile:
• http://www.linkedin.com/pub/ross-hildick/2b/247/330
Ross’s Roles on the Team:
•
•
Team Leader
Director
•
•
Lead Modeler
Lead Texture Artist
Adam Lowe
Adam is a B.A. Computer Visualization and Animation
student at NCCA. He is an ace programmer and is good
with python and MEL scripting as well. He is also eye
candy for the ladies. He is better known as the “white
avatar” as he looks like the Navi. His roles also include
being the team joker.
Check out his work at:
• http://adamlowecg.blogspot.co.uk/
Ross’s Roles on the Team:
•
•
•
FX TD
Rigger
Generalist TD
•
•
Pipeline support
Software support
Jack Bazilevsky
Jack is studying B.A. Computer Animation Arts. When he
is not making weird faces, he is a very good lighting artist
and can work with an impressive range of rendering
engines. He also is a talent for cinematography. He is a hard
critic and can be a pain with his keen sense of attention to
detail. He is just known as “The Russian”.
Samples of his work are attached as a PDF
Ross’s Roles on the Team:
•
•
•
Lighting
Cinematography
Concept Artist
•
•
•
Rendering
Modeler
Generalist
Lisa Huxstep
Lisa is the token female on the team. She is a Computer
Visualization and Animation student. She is also known as
“Monster Machine” because of her ability to create concept
art at a blinding rate. She also has mad animation skills. She
loves Disney way too much.
Check out her work at:
• http://lhucko.wix.com/hucko#!home/mainPage
Lisa’s Profile:
• uk.linkedin.com/pub/lisa-huxstep/43/584/238
Lisa’s Roles on the Team:
•
•
Art Director
Animator
•
•
Concept Artist
Storyboard Artist
Ryan Nicholas
Also known as “Father Christmas” Ryan is a top notch
compositor. He is studying Computer Animation Arts.
Don’t be fooled by his title, no one messes with Ryan!
Don’t believe us, look at his picture.
Check out his work at:
• https://vimeo.com/user4982931
Ryan’s Profile:
• uk.linkedin.com/pub/ryan-nicholas/43/569/813
Ryan’s Roles on the Team:
•
•
•
Compositing
Tracking
On-set camera handling
•
•
Matte Painting
Generalist
Suryanshu Rai
Here we have a wild male effects TD... If only he spent
more time on socialising as he does blowing things up in
Houdini, he might have a few friends by now...Sury is a
Computer Visualization and Animation student who enjoys
all things technical and has a keen interest in CG lighting
and rendering. He doesn’t have a home so he just scurries
about the labs at night.
Check out his work at:
• www.fxology.co.uk
• http://i7915372.wix.com/suryanshurai
Sury’s Profile:
• uk.linkedin.com/pub/suryanshu-rai/32/3a7/668/
Sury’s Roles on the Team:
•
•
•
VFX Supervisor
FX TD
Pipeline support
•
•
Shader support
Rendering
3.0 STORYBOARD
Shot No: 01
Reference Code: sht_01
Description:
Fade from Black. Close-Up.
Z crouches down looking at something on the floor below him. We see him wearing a detective
badge.
Shot No: 02
Reference Code: sht_02
Description:
Close-Up. Side shot.
Reveals electronic device embedded in his head. Activates the device. We see blinking lights.
Shot No: 03
Reference Code: sht_03_01
Description:
Mid Close-Up.
Girl lies dead and bloody on the floor in front of the Detective.
Camera follows as Z stands up.
Shot No: 03
Reference Code: sht_03_02
Description:
Continued shot. Camera Zooms out from Z, passing over an outstretched arm. Camera reveals a man
frozen in time. A bullet pearcing his face having just shot through his hand.
Shot No: 03
Reference Code: sht_03_03
Description:
Continued Camera Pan. Mid Close-Up.
The glasses and drinks behind the bar are in suspended shattering having been hit by a spray of
bullets.
Shot No: 03
Reference Code: sht_03_04
Description:
Continued Camera Pan. Mid Close-Up.
A man falls across the bar. Bullet holes are clearly visible across his torso.
Shot No: 03
Reference Code: sht_03_05
Description:
Continued Camera Pan.
Waitress is seen screaming in the background, the tray of food and drink suspended in the air. A man
sits wounded and clearly in pain.
Shot No: 03
Reference Code: sht_03_06
Description:
Continued Camera Pan. Close-Up.
Camera focuses on the beginnings of an explosion. Camera rotates a few degrees around this point.
Shot No: 03
Reference Code: sht_03_07
Description:
Close-Up.
As the camera rotates, the explosion reverses. A grenade appears and travels backwards along with
the rest of the scene.
Shot No: 03
Reference Code: sht_03_08
Description:
Continued Camera Track. Close-Up.
Bullet moves backwards steadily. Characters in background are frozen in a different pose. Man
sitting is no longer wounded. Waitress is walking casually holding the tray.
Shot No: 03
Reference Code: sht_03_09
Description:
Continued Camera Track. Close-Up. Side shot of bullet.
Bullet passes the Detective who is now standing by the bar.
Shot No: 03
Reference Code: sht_03_10
Description:
Continued Camera Track. Close-Up. Side shot of bullet.
He watches as the bullet moves by his face.
Shot No: 03
Reference Code: sht_03_11
Description:
Continued Camera Track. Close-Up.
Bullet still reversing. Man sits at bar.
Shot No: 03
Reference Code: sht_03_12
Description:
Continued Camera Track. Mid shot.
Carmera reveals large, angry alien monster standing frozen while the bullet flies backwards into the
gun which fired it.
Shot No: 03
Reference Code: sht_03_13
Description:
Mid shot.
Once bullet re-enters the gun, the alien comes to life, reversing his actions backwards , firing bullets,
reverse kicking open the door, leaving the scene.
Shot No: 03
Reference Code: sht_03_14
Description:
Mid shot.
Slight pause once the alien has left the scene.
Shot No: 03
Reference Code: sht_03_15
Description:
Mid shot.
The alien re-enters the scene in real time. Kicking open the door.
Shot No: 03
Reference Code: sht_03_16
Description:
Mid shot.
The alien takes his position, about to begin his shooting rampage.
Shot No: 03
Reference Code: sht_03_17
Description:
Mid shot.
Sound: BANG
The alien his suddenly shot in the head.
Shot No: 03
Reference Code: sht_03_18
Description:
Mid shot.
The alien slides down to the floor, dead.
Shot No: 03
Reference Code: sht_03_19
Description:
Cut. Mid shot.
The Detective stands heroically holding a smoking pistol. The characters in the scene look
bewildered and frightened.
Fade to black.
4.0 SHOT BREAKDOWN
The piece starts with an establishing shot of Agent Z
bending down and looking at something (unphased
expression).
You then see a close up profile shot of him tilting his
hat and activating his ability.
Here begins our main part of the piece, now about 5
seconds in, which is one continuous shot. With
everything now hanging in the air, frozen in time, We
see a close up of a dead girl's face on the floor with
blood that VERY slowly starts to trickle backwards up
into the wound. The idea here is that all gore and
destruction is in slow-motion-bullet-time and all of the
people themselves are perfectly still and frozen.
The camera moves up revealing Z crouching over the
dead girl (revealing to the audience that this is what he
was looking at in the first establishing shot) and
another(older male) victim who is receiving a bullet to
a vital area. The camera starts to track backwards as Z
now walks more centrally into the shot.
The camera passes the bar which has shattered bottles.
We pass a man frozen in time thrown back by bullets.
The camera then tilts left and pans along the bar
revealing an explosion which is harming a staff
member and a waitress getting shot in the background.
The camera (still rolling) then continues left onto a
seating area which is also being blown up by the
shooter's mounted grenade-launcher.
At this point Agent Z speeds up the time reversal
(unknown to the audience at this point, is something
he is not allowed to do) watching the explosion in the
seating area quickly reverse.
We see the final explosive-round fly from within the
explosion, backwards through the air.
The camera closely follows into the chamber of the
killer's gun.
This is the first time we see the alien.
The villain, still in reverse, kick himself back out the
door from where he came.
Time stops and proceeds to play forwards this time
having the villain kicks himself back into the room.
Instead of reeking death and destruction, receives a
sudden death sentence (by headshot) from our very
own Agent Z
The contrast in character from the professional &
unphased Agent at the start to the (slightly) shaking
hate-filled man wielding the gun in the last shot, will
hopefully tell the audience that this is not a usual time
travel for him and on this rare occasion, felt compelled
to take matters into his own hands and prevent the
disaster.
5.0 VFX BREAKDOWN
6.0 ASSET LIST
Name
Description
Type
Z circuitry
The circuitry on Z’s face
Character
Smashed Face
Face of the guy in background behind
the girl
Character
Broken Finger
The finger of the guy at the bar
Character
Man’s Face
The face of the guy at the bar being
penetrated by the bullet
Character
Rubble
General rubble in the environment.
Comprising of glass, broken furniture,
concrete from the walls, wires etc
Environment
Wooden
Partition
The partition between two stalls to be
blown up
Environment
Bar
The Bar needs to be reconstructed and
destroyed
Environment
Wall Sections
2 Wall sections need to be built to
Environment
cover up the open spaces at the location
Grenade
The grenade from the monster’s gun
Prop
Food Tray
The tray of food and drink for the
waitress
Prop
Bullet
From the monster’s gun
Prop
Blood
From the wounds of the victims
Character
Gun
The gun of the monster
Prop
Monster
The main alien
Character
Door
The door monster kicks in
Environment
7.0 ANIMATIC
The animatic can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dN227R_QA0
8.0 REQUIREMENTS
8.1 Software
Here is an exhaustive list of software we would be requiring for the project. It would
be nice to have access to all of these. However, we are open to working around if the
software can’t be made available.
Autodesk Maya
Autodesk 3ds Max
SideFX Houdini
Autodesk Mudbox
The Foundry Mari
The Foundry Nuke
Pixel Farm PFTrack
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Aftereffects
HDR Shop
Chaos Group V-Ray
Pixar RenderMan
Headus UV-Layout
Crazybump
Next Limit Realflow
Autodesk Motionbuilder
Shotgun Studio
Eclipse
8.2 Production Requirements
8.2.1. Health & safety
We will have to make sure that all the health & safety rules are applied and respected,
especially in terms of safety of actors, extras and crew and potential risks related to
the equipment. A risk assessment will be completed including possible risks related to
the shooting location, the equipment and transports. Regarding emergency
requirements a safety/first aid officer will be nominated and we will make sure to
identify the closest hospital and police station to the location.
8.2.2. Equipment
We are listing here more options for the equipment items, due to possible issues with
the availability from SISO.
8.2.2.1. Filming Equipment
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•
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Cameras: Canon 5D Camera with Lense, Panasonic 101 Camera & Lens Kit
Lenses: Canon DSLR 50mm Lens, Canon DSLR 28-105mm Lens, DSLR
Fisheye Lens, DSLR 19-35mm Lens
Camera supports: Tripod, Camera Jib, Camera Dolly, VR Tripod
Lighting set: Light Probe set, Animation Lighting Kit, Reflector, Generator
Other: Survey Kit, Measuring tape
8.2.2.2. VFX Equipment
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•
•
•
•
•
•
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Green screen (large)
Portable Green/Blue screen
Tracking markers
Motion capture studio
Wacom tablets
Smoke machine for acquisition
Green sticks
Extension Wires
8.3. Transport
We will need at least one van, which we should be able to rent from Bournemouth
University, to transport equipment, crew and probably local actors on set.
8.4. Actors and extras
We will need seven main actors and around 15 extras. We will have auditions for
local actors or video auditions if the actors are from the same location as the set one.
8.5. Make up & Costumes
It would be good to have a make up artist and a costume designer if possible. Main
work for make up will be blood on the victims; whilst costume supervision would
mainly be needed for Z character.
9.0 SWOT ANALYSIS
Strengths
• Visual and technical potential of the project.
• Very skilled and various team. Each member of the group excels in a
particular aspect on Animation/VFX, which enhances the quality of the
production.
• Opportunity for research and development of new methods and solutions.
• Highly motivated and competitive students, who are up for challenge and for
confronting themselves with other VFX/animation artists.
Weaknesses
• The main weakness is the low budget of the production, which affects the
following aspects:
o Limitations in equipment renting;
o Limitations in quality and availability of actors;
o Shorter shooting times on location;
o Limitations in make up, costumes and props;
• Lack of experience in shooting live action
• High level of complexity of the overall project
Opportunities
• Good material for our show-reel
• Chance to win an internship
• Possibility to develop new skills and techniques
• Chance to experience a bigger scale live action production taking CG
requirements into account on set.
• Opportunity to be evaluated by industry judges
• Opportunity to have our own project to be screened in a known VFX Festival
Threats
• Highly prepared and brilliant students competing in this challenge
• Being not aware of the judges does not allow us to know what kind of style
and story is expected
10.0 LOCATION
We have already done location scouting and would be shooting in Cornwall in a pub
called The Old Shire Inn. The address of the pub is:
The Old Shire Inn, Pendarves,
Camborne, Cornwall, TR14 0RT
We have all the permissions we require to shoot there. Our storyboards for the project
are based on the location. We went in to the pub a couple of weeks ago and did a
survey and measurement of the location. The shoot will probably last 2 days so we
also have accommodation for roughly 8-12 people.
The location is nearly 180 miles, a 3 and half hour drive from Bournemouth
University.
We took measurements of the whole area. Here is the layout from the survey:
A Higher quality picture has been included in the submission folder.
For the purpose of pre-visualization, we also modeled the location in Maya. Here are
some clips of the file:
Pictures from the survey shoot:
11.0 CONCEPT ART
We haven’t gone into pre-production yet, but we did make a few initial concepts.
Here is the glimpse of the overall feel of the design.
12.0 PIPELINE
We have developed a rough pipeline for the project. Here is the screenshot of the
pipeline:
For a better look at it, you can access it here:
Link: www.bubbl.us
Username: suryanshu.rai.anim8@gmail.com
Password: Sugarfly1
13.0 PRODUCTION SCHEDULE
We have chalked out a preliminary production schedule, the screenshot of which has
been presented below:
The production schedule can be accessed here:
Link: www.tomsplanner.com
Username: i7915372@bournemouth.ac.uk
Password: BFX_festival