SFX 2018

October 15, 2018, Filed Under: Horned King, SFX 2018

Stepping Into Fear (And Our New Silicone Nightmares)

Take a moment to fall back into your childhood days where the dark shadows under your bed and in the deep corner by your closet held a sinister nightmare of malicious intent upon your sweet dreams.

Now, imagine that old fear you believed was extinguished walking towards you on the street today. Its dark cloak billowing in the wind, horns cutting into the starry night sky, rotting, clawed hands reaching out towards you as its eyes begin to glow with an ember of rage that will never burn out. Feel the shiver crawl up your spine as your breath quickens and your eyes search the shadows in paranoia.

This is the fear you thought you lost as you grew older. This is the fear that we plan to reignite within those who grew up fearing the Horned King would pay them a visit with his un-dead army in tow.

Adapting an Old Fear

**Original Concept Art by Walt Disney Feature Animation**

Originally based on The Chronicles of Prydain, Disney’s The Black Cauldron brought a darker edge to their usually musical and fairy godmother filled worlds by introducing frightening elements and a most notable skeletal, Horned King to cinemas with the hopes that the experiment would expand their audience to a wider demographic. Although it was not one of Disney’s large successes, the Horned King remains a horrific figure haunting those who witnessed his villainous ways when they were younger.

In order to recreate fear for the illusions of film making, we will be using a mixture of artistry and engineering to build multiple pieces of prosthetic makeup and costuming that an actor will be able to wear comfortably and without large limitations to their ability to become the Horned King.

Our goal is to build from the old fear that Disney’s animated film pressed into its audiences with the Horned King and establish a new fear that will take the dark creature out of the 2D world and into reality using special FX makeup and prosthetics.

Creating a New Fear

Our Goals:

16 individual prosthetic makeup pieces that will be sculpted in clay, molded into reusable plaster trays, and cast in silicone to be applied to the performer’s face and hands.
A set of large, unique horns that will have an intimidating presence on screen.
One large, hooded cloak of deep red that “pools” around the performer.
A pair of brightly glowing eyes

Our New Nightmares:

Putting our sculpting and painting abilities to the test with a new medium, silicone prosthetic makeup!
Considering all elements in regards to the actor’s level of comfortable mobility and visibility
Creating “multiple wear” makeup pieces
Working with the actor’s overall performance to ensure that the Horned King effects are truly terrifying
Understanding what should be done practically and what should be left for post VFX work

With our actress lined up, measurements secured, concepts drawn, and the recent arrival of our main materials, we are ready to step into the fear that is the Horned King!

Will you join us?

October 15, 2018, Filed Under: progress report, SFX 2018, student experience, Warbringer

Come Hull or High Water

Since joining this class and diving head first into the amazing challenges and lessons it has to offer, I have had one thing on my mind: “Oh good lord, what have I done.”

My name is Kyle Cordova and I am the artistic lead for the WARBRINGERS project. As a brief introduction, I pitched to our class a project from a recent World of Warcraft cinematic called Warbringers: Jaina, in which Jaina Proudmoore uses her magic to raise the sunken remains of the ship of her father, who she had betrayed long ago. The video below starts at the point when the effect happens (though the whole cinematic definitely deserves a watch!)

So yeah. We are going to dredge a massive ship from the ocean. And it’s going to look awesome.

The Team and The Mission

Our team, which consists of myself, Kaan Toy, Julie Zuniga, and Darshan Desai, decided that we want to make this effect as a pitch for practical use in an amusement park which means a few things:

The effect must be reasonably practical for large scale use.
The effect must make the audience feel small.
The final reel we shoot in this class would be the ‘Trailer’ video we would use to sell the idea to a large theme park.

To break it down further, part one necessitates us to put some thought into how the mechanisms used for our small scale product would work in the real world, such as the lift system and the size of the boat. Part two reminds us of the look and feel of the original cinematic, we need to inspire wonder and awe above all else. And lastly part three holds us accountable; in spite of parts one and two, our primary objective is to make it look great!

What We’ve Been Up To So Far

We began our project with a maquette and design brief so that we could explain our idea in 3D space and have a plan for our concept going forward. After deciding on scale, we started prototyping away! Our first week we were still getting our bearings so it definitely was not the most efficient we could be, we all worked together on the same prototype for our mast, which we need to telescope down to a smaller size when the ship is underwater.

First maquette, “hydraulic” lift with telescoping masts

Learning from this, we decided to branch out and have our own individual prototypes due for the next Monday! Julie is taking care of the look and feel of our ship by researching into possible paint and texture treatments and making samples. Kaan is working on designing a model for our hull by combining skills like kit-bashing and 3D modeling. Darshan in tackling the lift system, how are we going to raise this thing? And I have been dipping my toes into 3D modeling and printing for the Masts version 2 which has been a LOT to learn.

Image from iOS — Telescoping masts attempt no. 1

We have a great challenge ahead of us, we need to build our boat and our mechanisms by our filming date on November 12th. So much to do, so little time. In spite of this, I know we will succeed. We are the Warbringers team, and we will bring in the navy.

October 15, 2018, Filed Under: Bat Camcorder, progress report, SFX 2018, student experience

Bat-Camcorder: #Technologically Challenged…?

Before we get into the specifics of the Bat-Cam, I want to make sure that we get to know this little guy. The Bat-Camcorder lives in the Underworld and is used by the students of Refund High School (read the story here.) The Bat-Cam, even though we are calling him a bat, has no set animal origins and operates within the comic as though it was always an underworld creature AND a camcorder, never just one or the other. To my team, that means that the Bat-Camcorder embodies a blend of organic and mechanical features that function together in harmony. Now into what that means for this project!

My team’s goal is to create all the functions for the Bat-Cam as depicted in the comic strip above, primarily focusing on the on button that makes the eye open, the wing open, and produces a sound effect. While those are the bare minimum functions, there is so much more to the Camcorder. He also blinks, has very distinct features, can be held in one hand, and has a distinct color. Because of the unique shapes and interlocking pieces, this project will be primarily 3-D printed until we get to the aesthetic details, but for the modeling to begin our team needed detailed drawings and concept plans, which can be seen here (Camera Details.) Nothing too crazy, just some drawings based off the comic and then measurements that felt right for the scale and all of the interior needs.

Lets break down all the different features and problems that will be addressed in this project:

The Eye Shutter – this is the physical shutter that will cover up the eyeball when the Bat-Camcorder is turned off and then will jump open when the on button is pressed. For this portion we are using this tutorial for insight.
The Digital Eye – this will be the eye that is seen when the shutter is open and will also include the blinking effect and maybe some pupil dilatation if we are feeling ambitious. For this portion we are using this tutorial for insight.
The Wing Release – the wing will need a way to release and clasp back into place. Our current plan is have a spring hinge to hold the wing under tension while it is held in place by a clasp. Then a mini solenoid will activate to push the clasp out of place and release the wing.
The “WHAANG!” Noise – there will be a small speaker and amp within the frame of the camcorder that will be cued with the button. This part still needs some thinking and planning, maybe another tutorial.
The Looks – the Bat-Cam will have a thin skin to give it an organic feeling. To save on costs because of all the mechanics, we are using this tutorial to cast our skin.