LAUAN 603 - Extended Practice Post 8

This week I pushed to finish the first of the paper sets- and I did! I'm really happy with the outcome and it was really well received by my peers and director Devon. Completing this has given me confidence and self assurance to power on with set two: the inside of the theatre.
This week I chose colours and played with creating textures and mark making with paint, sponges and square brushes to make the theatre old and decrepit. I was able to have erected about 1/3 of the shape by Sunday which is pretty good going.
If I were to repeat this process, I would have used thicker paper to paint on, as after layers of paint the paper starts to crinkle. I tried ironing it which helped a little. Luckily the theatre is suppose to look textured and wonky so it almost works in my favour this time.

Next week I aim to have the theatre interior finished mid week, ready to start thinking about shooting with Devon, to wrap up this project. I also aim to have completed half of Tamara's backgrounds by the end of the week, which I think is achievable as they're quite limited.

Completed Theatre Exterior 

Final Lamppost Model in Maya and Paper 

 

Forced Perspective Background Houses

  

Theatre Interior So Far & Textures

  

LAUAN 603 - Extended Practice Post 7

This week began with a bit of a low point so far. I was reminded in a tutorial with Matt that I am behind and he was concerned about me. I agree with him- I realised I have been putting off work for fear of not knowing how to create it or getting it wrong. Namely, Devon's sets which I had very little to show for on Thur.

I used the lampposts to experiment with modelling and unwrapping shapes in Maya only to find that it is no faster/ accurate than doing it by hand. The unwrapping tool doesn't do so precisely and I still had to mentally unwrap the shape. I did eventually manage to make a net but this flow is not at all the 'cure-all' I was hoping it would be. Alternatively, I am quicker and happier making things by hand anyway. 

After my tutorial I dove in with the first set, finishing the texture swatches and starting the make the paper to wrap the cardboard set in. I aim to have be finished early next week. I realised that by procrastinating I wasn't doing myself any favours and will have to double down to catch up. 

Unsuccessful Demo Unwrap: 

Lamppost Model:

Texture Swatches: 

Beginning to make the set: 

LAUAN 603 - Extended Practice Post 6

This week Tamara's project took a back seat while I continued with the paper.

Petra's Backdrop

I completed the laser cutting job this week which by and large was a success. On the downside, I accidentally set the paper on fire a little bit (whoops) which was due to me using rolled paper. From this I learned that I need to take breaks when cutting as it is quite intensive and repetitive. Lesson learned! Another downfall was the enormity of waste paper produced. This does not line up with my sustainability theme at all, so to remedy this issue, I will repurpose the off-cuts by buying a deckle and making my own paper.

After rigging all the trees with wire I erecting the shapes and tested some lighting-which looks really good! After sticking all the trees down to white board, the backdrop was complete. Finishing this task this week was a big plus.

Devon's Sets

As I learned from COP, paper has a naturally graphic and clean cut texture, making Devon's brief quite challenging as the theatre needs to be old, worn and textured. So this week I experimented with creating textures on the paper, using mostly watercolour. The feedback from Devon was very positive and she gave me the go ahead on a few of the swatches. Next, I will make larger swatches before making the final theatre.

Petra's Backdrop Tests 

Rough Lighting Tests 

Completed

Devon's Theatre Base Colour Swatch  

Texture Swatches

LAUAN 603 - Extended Practice Post 5

This week has been super productive. I made a good headway on Tamara's backgrounds, completing her layouts and making a start on colour development. We're working really nicely together and see eye to eye really well on this project, so the work is coming very organically. Her layouts were a priority this week so they could start animating, so I'm on track in keeping up with her- which is great. Both of us are happy with my contribution so far.
The only downside with her project for me is that the backgrounds are not a focal point. This means they may not be as much of a portfolio show piece as I had once thought. However, I know this will be determined by the quality of my work not the brief at hand.

I progressed on Petra's backdrop this week too, visitting to the laser cutter on Thursday. This wasn't a total success. I brought a huge role of paper that took a lot of time to cut as I went. It was curly from being rolled and so didn't always cut properly. I realised the documents were too big for the laser bed so spent another hour the following day chopping everything in half. However! All of this is necessary learning, I now feel much more confident with the machine and have booked three 2hr slots next week to make sure I complete the job asap. I tested ways of making the trees stand up using white board but will try wire next week when I have more cut.

Unfortunately, Devon's project is taking a slight backseat currently because of these internal deadlines for Petra (10th Feb) and Tamara's. However, I have till the end of Feb to complete her sets and will be shifting focus next week.

Tamara Layouts:

Tamara Colour Development: 

Laser cuttings for Petra's Project