VFX Blog

While designing the space, I considered what would make a visually pleasing interior that would reinforce the plot of the project. A circular building with a curving path that doesn’t reveal what’s at the end (and creates an atmosphere of mystery). Furniture, especially ornamental pieces, moved away from the walls to create dramatic shadows. Ornate details on the walls and windows which fragment the light. Architectural details and various shapes in the room could help the eye bounce around the scene.

Throughout the project, I experimented with various design approaches and styles to guarantee that the final interior is aesthetically pleasing. I believe that a basic square room would diminish the artistic value of the project, and the audience would be less interested in it. Therefore, I wanted to ensure that the viewer’s eyes are drawn to numerous intriguing shapes within the simple structure, guiding their gaze around the space.

After much consideration, I ultimately decided to combine the second and third versions. The curved walls of building two were visually appealing to me, but it was too narrow to be practical. On the other hand, while asset three had some positive aspects, such as its spaciousness, it lacked the unique niches that I was hoping for. By merging the two versions, I was able to create a space that had both the aesthetic appeal and practical functionality that I was looking for.

When creating 3D models, I used sculpting tools to achieve more unique and organic shapes. To further enhance the appearance of the assets, I dramatise the shapes to make them more visually appealing and interesting. I briefly considered scanning real-world objects and incorporating them into the scene but it would be too time-consuming.

For assembling the building model, I paid a lot of attention to real-world dimensions. This is especially important when designing interiors, as there are many objects in the space that viewers can use to understand the scale of the place. To model the shop, I took inspiration from old European tenement houses, with high curved ceilings measuring 3.6 meters. I used a human figure from Maya’s library, scaled down by a factor of ten, as my starting point. Since Maya’s real-world measurements work on a scale of 1/10 and treat centimetres as meters, this allowed me to accurately model the space. I placed the figure in multiple spots to check the dimensions of the imported furniture models and establish the scale of architectural details such as steps, stairs, and door frames.

During the project, I encountered a challenge with this particular part where I spent too much time trying to perfect the model instead of moving on. I focused too much on coming up with the concept of the building, which led to a rushed process for the following steps. As a result, I wasted a lot of time and could have managed my time better.

I also faced challenges with the topology of the building. I had to redo it several times to get it right. I followed various guides and attempted to retopologize the structure in Maya and also tried using the remesh tool in ZBrush. However, I found that for this specific project, retopologizing the structure in Maya, and at times completely rebuilding it from scratch, proved to be the most effective approach.

Retopologising:

1. Retopologising tool in Maya.
2. Export as obj from Maya, put in Zbrush and use ZRemesher in geometry (Target Polygons Count under 1).
3. Live Mesh, target weld and hand draw, or pick vertices, use soft selection and adjust it.

After much consideration, I have ultimately decided on a design concept that I believe adequately meets my requirements. The design comprises of smooth curves that have been carefully crafted to guide the eye in a fluid motion. Additionally, circular and organic shapes have been incorporated to create an Art Nouveau style that is visually appealing and unique. I am confident that this design will fulfill the desired outcome and provide a positive and memorable experience for the end-users.

Bibliography

Blender (2023) Retopology. Available at: https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/modeling/meshes/retopology.html (Accessed: 20 October 2023).

Render GPU (2022) Awesome Blender Addons for Retopology. Available at: https://irendering.net/awesome-blender-addons-for-retopology/#:~:text=1.,Instant (Accessed: 20 October 2023).

Shutterstock (2021) 3D Modeling Part 1: The Basics of Building a Clean 3D Model. Available at: https://www.shutterstock.com/blog/building-clean-3d-models (Accessed: 20 October 2023).

Sketchfab (2016) How to retopologize 3D scans into low poly game assets. Available at: https://sketchfab.com/blogs/community/retopologise-3d-scans-low-poly-game-assets/ (Accessed: 20 October 2023).

Stylized Station (2021) The 3D Artist’s Guide to Modular Environments – Unreal Engine Environment Breakdown. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJnAuVtwxPI&t=1295s (Accessed: 20 October 2023).

Topology Guides (2023) Archive. Available at: https://topologyguides.com/ (Accessed: 20 October 2023).

Storytelling in the FMP

To created a project that leaves an impact on the viewer, I knew I had to embed a more structured story rather than just loose concepts. I did not aim to make a detailed animation but more of a short video that would bring out emotions out of the audience. I would compare this idea to the opening credits of a show. To achieve it, I started with the narrative structure of a basic story, shaping it into a 3 act structure:

• Beginning: Introduction of the scene, shots of the interior.
• Middle: Simulation of bursting bubble, change in the scenery.
• End: Reveal of the dream-like circumstances.

It is important to differentiate between plot and theme in story telling. The plot describes what is the story about, whereas the theme describes context of the story (time frame, aesthetic, etc). It is also useful to differentiate between text and sub-text. The text is the narrative or the actions that take place in the story, and the sub-text is how the audience identifies with the story (no need to be shown in the actions of the story but what it is interpreted from what is shown).

I tried to include the following in order to be engaging and interesting:

• Suspension of disbelieve. Audience is willing to accept anything that is happening in the story (e.g. talking fish).
• Inciting incident. This is an incident that confronts the protagonist with a major dramatic question that makes the story to move forward (plot points).

Plot development

After developing a few mood boards, I decided to work on the plot of the animation, hoping it would help me create more well-thought-out concepts.

The scene opens with a charming cottage core witch shop, surrounded by trees and a street. As the door opens and the bell rings, viewers see a cat’s tail moving, introducing them to the inside of the building. Following it, the audience sees different objects moving in close-up shots, providing a better understanding of the place’s interior. After that, the lighting drastically changes, signalling the change of the atmosphere. The cat meows and its eyes start glowing, adding a touch of mystery to the scene. More special effects are showcased inside the shop, with multiple deformations, and growing shadows, creating a visually appealing effect. The final shot is of the transformed outside, with the shop standing in the middle of the ocean.

During the development of the plot, I considered the special effects that I would like to include in the animation. After gathering inspiration from the moodboards, I decided that I liked the idea of bird cages featuring abstract particles or string simulations. To reflect the ‘lack of control’ aspect of the dream world, I thought about adding strings or cobwebs around the space, similar to puppet shows or spider threads. I believe that appearing and disappearing objects would add to the mysterious atmosphere of the space, while firefly and cat animations would introduce an aspect of vitality. I also want to include particles floating around as it always adds a nice visual effect, especially in stylised animations. To differentiate the lighting in the scene, I am planning to add multiple reflecting and translucent materials.

I will need to ensure that the composition and lighting balance out the busy environment, but I hope that this vision will help to create cinematic shots. I would also like to add symbols of the dream world around the interior to deepen the scene’s context.

Reference work

While searching for inspiration, I sifted through stylized animations and dynamic VFX trailers. Throughout the process, I focused on identifying cool colour palettes, convincing storytelling, and engaging close-ups of details that helped create an atmosphere. Below are the works that resonated with me the most.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDjVH8cxrCQ

Bibliography

DIM Entertainment (2021) Arcane Intro | League of Legends Series. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDjVH8cxrCQ (Accessed: 05 August 2023).

Emilyamiao (2022) Under This Luminous Sky | Animated Short Film 2022. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgyJ0Uj2Xg0 (Accessed: 05 August 2023).

GOBELINS Paris (2023) MADRE – Annecy Festival 2023. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7O02w3_J9mQ (Accessed: 05 August 2023).

Just The Titles (2022) The Wheel of Time – Title Sequence. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCY-i1feaEo (Accessed: 05 August 2023).

THE LINE (2023) Heavenly Vessel. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWvSL813obk (Accessed: 05 August 2023).

To achieve stylization in 3D, I’m focusing on textures and render exaggeration, with a particular emphasis on lighting. My primary goal is to create cinematic and dramatic lighting that will help me hone my skills as a Lighting Artist, and hopefully lead to job opportunities in this field. To save time on the modelling process, I plan to use kitbashing and modular environments from Sketchfab.

Developing the overall concept

Michel Foucault posits that dreams are the starting point of the imagination.

As part of developing the overall concept, I explored dream art which is based on materials from one’s dreams or materials that resemble dreams, but not necessarily directly based on them. Throughout the history of art, the theme of dreams has been very common, particularly the idea of dreams and their meaning in paintings. Paintings that depict dreams are mysterious and elusive, and they challenge, disturb, and fascinate us all at once.

Qualities of Dream Worlds:

• Characters typically gain important knowledge while in the dream world.
• Time may not run the same way in dream worlds as the real world, allowing months to pass in the dream realm while only moments have passed in reality (or no time at all).
• In some stories, characters move in and out of the dream world. In these, the storyline moves forward as they alternate between overcoming obstacles there and in real life.

Dream art has been in existence since the 12th century when Charles Cooper Brown discovered a new approach to art. However, the concept of dreams as art, without a “real” frame story, developed later. During the Renaissance, artists often portrayed the subject of the Biblical dream – the divine vision communicated by God. Meanwhile, the Symbolists of the 19th century chose to express subjective psychological and spiritual states through dreams, and the Romantics expressed feelings verging on the mystical, often through visions and dreams. The Surrealists, on the other hand, used images and stories from their dreams to create wild, bizarre artworks that reflected their subconscious states, as a window into their deepest selves. I find the approaches of the Symbolists and Romantics most intriguing and would like to use them in the FMP.

Dream Art Artworks:

Albrecht Dürer, Dream Vision, 1525

Hieronymous Bosch, The Vision of Tundale, ca. 1520–30

James Whistler, Nocturne in Black and Gold, 1877

Jean Lecomte du Nouÿ, A Eunuch’s Dream, 1874

Johann Heinrich Füssli, The Nightmare, 1781

Salvador Dalí, Dream caused by the Flight of a Bee around a Pomegranate a Second before Waking up, 1944

The painting “Nocturne in Black and Gold” inspired me with the feeling of wonder it evokes. The artist, Whistler, used colouristic effects to create a particular sensation and a sense of spatial ambiguity which is set against a structure of line and form. The Nocturnes series is a collection of paintings that depict varied night-time scenes. The focus was not on creating pictures but rather scenes or moments. Whistler believed that certain experiences are best expressed through nuance and implication. A Nocturne aims to depict a sense of void that arises only in the night-time and is particularly concerned with its representation of space.

I also strongly took from the Onirysm; a tendency in literature, fine arts and film to create reality in the image of a dream and to refer in the structure of the work to the rules governing dreams. Usually, the work is irrational, absurd, and contrary to the principles of probability. Cause-and-effect relationships and logical consequences of events are blurred. Like literary works, dreamlike film works (L. Buñuel, C. Saura, I. Bergman, K. Russell) are characterized by freedom of imagination, vision, disruption of the time-spatial and cause-and-effect order, discontinuity of the plot, and sophisticated symbolism; the mysteriousness of the dark atmosphere is often reinforced by the punch line.

When it comes to the symbolism in the scene, I plan to use floral and elemental objects together with painterly textures.

1. Water frequently represents our emotions or our unconscious minds. In a dream it often has something important to communicate, just as it does in waking life. Dreams about deep water may represent the unknown or unconscious depths of the mind, while shallow water may indicate superficiality or a lack of depth in one’s thoughts or actions.
2. Cats can represent femininity, intuition, and independence.
3. The Odyssey locates a “land of dreams” past the streams of Oceanus, close to Asphodel Meadows, where the spirits of the dead reside. In another passage of the , truthful dreams are said to come through a gate made of horn, while deceitful dreams come through a gate made of ivory.
4. Morpheus, the personification of Sleep and the god of Dreams. His name reflects his role in Greek mythology: the Greek μεταμόρφωσις (metamorphosis) translates as “transformation”. The cave where Morpheus slept was filled with poppy seeds.

Architectural Style

Art Nouveau is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and flowers. Other characteristics of Art Nouveau were a sense of dynamism and movement, often given by asymmetry or whiplash lines, and the use of modern materials, particularly iron, glass, ceramics and later concrete, to create unusual forms and larger open spaces.

When designing the interior, I took inspiration from the Art Nouveau. This complex international style in architecture and design is similar to symbolism in fine art, making it easier to incorporate hidden allegories throughout the scene. I aim to create a unified and cohesive space that utilized every surface by using harmonious design across several disciplines. By emphasizing the fluidity of the line, I hope to reinforce the idea of a dream-like environment with a mysterious atmosphere. The use of stained glass materials, which were prevalent during Art Nouveau, plays a large part in this project. I started by creating a combination of structure and ornamentation, incorporating geometric forms and asymmetrical compositions in the scene. Then, I focused on architectural details and textures to enhance the overall design.

Ornamental characteristic of Art Nouveau:

• Undulating asymmetrical line, often taking the form of flower stalks and buds, vine tendrils, insect wings, and other delicate and sinuous natural objects.
• Architecture showing synthesis of ornament and structure; a liberal combination of materials: ironwork, glass, ceramic, and brickwork.
• Furniture design dominating, especially in the fabrication of carved wood with sharp, asymmetrical forms, often made by hand.
• The designs’ sinuous curves frequently being installed as wall panelling and moulding, often utilizing the wood’s inherent grain.

Colour Palettes:

As I started working on my colour palettes, I delved into the process of creating a visual narrative. The mood I wanted to evoke was an essential part of this, and I brainstormed the tones that could help me achieve it. I wanted to showcase a transformation in the scene, so I decided on a contrast between warm orange tones and cool blue/violet hues that would highlight the progression. To take this a step further, I researched Ghibli colour palettes and drew inspiration from them to craft a stylised colour art that would stand out.

Bibliography

Britannica (2023) Art Nouveau. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/art/Art-Nouveau (Accessed: 15 July 2023).

Encyklopedia PWN (2023) Oniryzm. Available at: https://encyklopedia.pwn.pl/haslo/oniryzm;3951139.html (Accessed: 11 July 2023).

Tate (2023) Art Nouveau. Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/a/art-nouveau (Accessed: 20 July 2023).

V&A (2023) Art Nouveau. Available at: https://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/art-nouveau (Accessed: 20 July 2023).

Wikipedia (2023) Art Nouveau. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Nouveau (Accessed: 11 July 2023).

Wikipedia (2023) Land of dreams. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_of_dreams_(mythology) (Accessed: 03 July 2023).

Art References

Chen, A. (2023) Portfolio. Available at: https://www.artstation.com/aliyachen (Accessed: 03 July 2023).

Chen, F. (2021) Personal. Available at: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/DAYJNG (Accessed: 03 July 2023).

Ernault, G. (2023) Portfolio. Available at: https://www.artstation.com/exphrasis (Accessed: 03 July 2023).

Gomez, G. (2023) Portfolio. Available at: https://www.artstation.com/beagle (Accessed: 03 July 2023).

kleinerHai (2019) Hierophant. Available at: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/3oOqVE (Accessed: 03 July 2023).

Romanovsky, D. (2023) Portfolio. Available at: https://www.artstation.com/formlanguage (Accessed: 03 July 2023).

Smith, T. (2018) Butterfly Field. Available at: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/L24JaR (Accessed: 03 July 2023).

Tobi 泳 (2022) 轩窗惊鸿. Available at: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/NGdDGq (Accessed: 03 July 2023).

My goal for the Final Major Project is to create a stylised interior of a witch shop. The main objective of this project is to further enhance my skills in lighting and rendering. In the previous term, I started to explore the role of the Lighting Artist and I would like to add to my portfolio another piece of work. Last time, my render from UE5 had technical issues so I am also hoping to resolve them and learn more about using Unreal Engine as rendering software.

As I am aiming for career in the animation industry, I plan to achieve a stylised look by creating hand painted textures and using the custom PostProcessVolume material. I would like to work with textures and backgrounds in the future, so I intend to use FMP as an opportunity to focus on them.

Work process:

1. Creating concept art, storyboards, keyframes, and moodboards.
2. Using Maya to model 3D assets.
3. Outsourcing 3D assets on Sketchfab/UE Marketplace.
4. Hand painting textures using Photoshop/Substance Painter.
5. Lighting in Houdini/UE5.
6. Creating special effects in Houdini/UE5.
7. Rendering the project in Houdini/UE5.
8. Creating a matte painting of the background using Photoshop.
9. Compositing and colour correcting in Nuke.

Presentation:

Bibliography

80lv (2022) Creating a Cozy Ghibli-Inspired Scene in Unreal Engine 5. Available at: https://80.lv/articles/creating-a-cozy-ghibli-inspired-scene-in-unreal-engine-5/ (Accessed: 03 July 2023).

CG Spectrum (2023) How to became a 3D Lighting Artist. Available at: https://www.cgspectrum.com/blog/become-a-3d-lighting-artist (Accessed: 15 July 2023).

Stylized Station (2022) Creating a Ghibli-Inspired Environment in Unreal Engine. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adBbCdu7D_U (Accessed: 03 July 2023).

Zahariev, O. (2022) Kuker’s house in the style of Ghibli – Unreal Engine 5. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzaaqOawqbA (Accessed: 03 July 2023).