Shadows by LMaddison95 on Scribd

Laughing Shadows Script

Whilst working on other design work I figured id upload this draft of my script. It still needs some work doing to it.

Laughing Shadows Script Draft

INT. BEDROOM

We’re at the base of a large wooden bed, looking up at the long wooden beams of the ceiling. A foot slip’s out from underneath the sheets, towards the camera. A young girl, sleeping peacefully in her bed, twists and turns under the covers.

The narrators voice slowly comes into the scene

NARRATOR

I was never afraid of the dark as a child. Monsters in the shadows, creatures under my bed. It was all fantasy…

A shadow slips past the camera, low sounding laughs echo around the room.  Bleary eyed, the young girl sits up in her bed. Confusion on her face as she scans the room contemplating what she heard.

The room stays silent, slowly slipping back into bed the girl falls back into a deep sleep.

NARRATOR

That night changed the way I saw the dark for many years.

Another laugh comes out of the darkness, more shadows flit past the camera. Around the room shadows begin to move in the corners, spinning and dancing around the walls. The laughing gets higher and higher.

The girl jumps up in her bed, wide awake now, eyes darting from one side of the room to the other. We get a first person perspective of the room, illuminated by a small nightlight in the corner. Nothing is seen at first. Then the shadows start to move, dancing along the walls, the laughing getting higher and louder.

NARRATOR

The shadows started off slow at first, circling me, their large grins and sharp eyes piercing through me.

The shadows stop, eyes begin to appear in their soft black forms, large open and close, taunting the girl, as they stare. No longer moving, just staring. The young girl pulls the covers up to her chest, hiding herself from the creatures surrounding her. She closes her eyes. The laughing stops once again.

NARRATOR

The shadows taunted me, as I hid behind my sheet the laughing came to a stop

Slowly opening her eyes, the girl slowly looks around the room. Seeing nothing and hearing nothing. She lightly steps out of bed and walks to the middle of the room, blanket in hand. Concealing herself as much as possible. Standing in the centre of the bedroom she slowly spins. Holding up the nightlight she investigates the dark corners of the room.

She backs off into the middle of the room once again, shadows crept from behind the furniture. The room begins grow and morph with the darkness. Becoming large, unfamiliar shapes. The young girl hides underneath her blanket. Watching the shadows dance around her through the thin layer of sheet. They begin to play with the sheet, pulling and pushing it around as the young girl wraps herself tighter and tighter under it.

The laughter getting louder and louder, the shadows continue to spin and move around the room.

EXT. BEDROOM WINDOW

Tree branches slowly batter the window, dull shapes can be seen moving through the fogged glass, illuminated by the faint glow of the nightlight.

NARRATOR

I was never afraid of the dark. Not until that night.

INT.BEDROOM

Under the sheets the young girl sits, eyes closed, faced wrought with terror. Tears being to stream down her face. The shadows continuing to circle her. In a panic she jumps up and runs for the bed, now twisted and dark. Clambering up the sheets, she buries herself underneath. Hiding away from the shadows.

From above we see the shadows circle the small shape hidden beneath the covers, getting closer and closer. The laughing getting even stronger and louder.

A bright light illuminates the room; the girl slips out from under the covers to see a room, completely silent and ordinary. With a look of relief and confusion on her face, the girl leaps out of bed and leaves the room. Shutting the door behind her.

NARRATOR

I was never afraid of the dark.

The room settles into the darkness, shadows once again emerge. Their smiles fill the room as the camera cuts to black.

END.

Laughing Shadows First Hand Account

After discussing with Alan in my first Tutorial, it was suggested that I look for a poem to help solidify my story idea and give me something to work with, he also suggested that I email Phil and see if he could recommend and poems that could be of use.

Phil’s reply to this was that maybe I should ask my sister about her experience that night and use that instead. A first-hand account of the event and maybe get her to narrate it after I have written it into something more useful for an animation. So here is my sisters rough account of the night and what she can remember.

“Before this experience I was never afraid of the dark. That was something my brother was coping with at the time, constantly waking me up, terrified of things moving around the room which I always knew were just shadows from the lamp post outside.

This event took place when I was around 7 years old. After being put to bed and falling asleep, I woke up to what I heard to be really faint laughter. Looking around the room I noticed all of the shadows in our room had begun to smile or grin, staring at me as they moved with the light around the shelves and wardrobe. The laughter began to get louder and louder, somehow to waking my brother who was an incredibly light sleeper at the time.

Shadows got louder and louder, moving around the room until I couldn’t handle it anymore and burst into tears and began screaming at them to go away, causing my parents to come running into the room, trying to calm me down. I didn’t sleep for the rest of the night, or a few nights after that. Since that day I have always had a slight fear of shadows and the dark, even when my brother grew out of his fear. Although I can safely say I have never encountered the shadows since this event. Lewis has seen things since this time but none where ever as bad as that night”.

My next step will be to turn this account into an actual story and try and convince my sister to narrate it for my final piece, if not ill find a V/A to do it for me. I love this story as it has always stuck with me and I think that it will work really well with what I am trying to convey. 

Shadows Board

A quick influence for different shadows and styles that I would like to look at for my animation. Completed while waiting for my sister to write up a small account of her experience that I would like to use.

Minor/Major Project Slight Dump

Over the past week, I have mainly been focusing on getting my dissertation sorted and ready to go, however I have also been throwing some ideas around for my minor/major project. These are my initial Ideas and thoughts on what I want to do, along with some reference links and study pieces. There is not too much to go on at the moment as I am still refining ideas. 

Minor/Major Project Ideas

                                       

 Initial Notes

After the slight failure of my final first year project I really wanted to create an animation that nails a creepy, horror aesthetic. Originally I had an idea of conveying a child’s fear of the dark and how things are seen differently at a young age. The story would focus on how the room around the character warps and changes into a more menacing environment.

After doing some research around this topic I remembered a story from when I was very young. My sister woke up screaming in the night as apparently the shadows in our room where laughing at her. With my fear of the dark at that age it was an incredibly terrifying moment that I now feel could become a fairly interesting animation to create.

I started by creating a quick mood board to try and show what types of environments and characters that I wanted to use as sources or inspiration for my animation.

The character's shown in this image are from a fairly new game called Little Nightmares, a game which looks like something Tim Burton would create if he was a video game designer. I love the style and point of view of the child, where everything is much larger then yourself.

After completing this I went and started working on a style for my Sisters character. This is still and ongoing thing and at the moment I am not too happy with what I have created. The weekend will be nailing down my style and working on a script, after having a chat with Alan on Friday.

Maya Submission: Term 3

http://lewismaddison.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/modelling-part-1-low-resolution.html
http://lewismaddison.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/modelling-part-2-uv-layout.html
http://lewismaddison.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/modelling-part-3-high-resolution.html



http://lewismaddison.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/maps-part-1-base-normal-maps.html
http://lewismaddison.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/maps-part-2-rope-normal-map.html
http://lewismaddison.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/maps-part-3-ambient-occlusion-maps.html



http://lewismaddison.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/shader-fx-part-1-intro-to-shader-fx.html
http://lewismaddison.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/shader-fx-part-2-displacement.html
http://lewismaddison.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/shader-fx-part-3-lighting.html
http://lewismaddison.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/shader-fx-part-3-lighting.html
http://lewismaddison.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/shader-fx-part-4-transparency.html
http://lewismaddison.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/shader-fx-part-5-reflection.html
http://lewismaddison.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/shader-fx-part-6-uvs-animation.html



http://lewismaddison.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/dynamics-part-1-sketching-particles.html
http://lewismaddison.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/dynamics-part-3-omni-emitters.html
http://lewismaddison.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/dynamics-part-4-directional-emitters.html
http://lewismaddison.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/dynamics-part-5-volume-emitters.html
http://lewismaddison.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/dynamics-part-7-per-point-emission.html
http://lewismaddison.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/dynamics-part-9-curve-flow.html
http://lewismaddison.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/dynamics-part-10-emit-from-particles.html
http://lewismaddison.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/dynamics-part-11-collision-events.html
http://lewismaddison.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/dynamics-part-12-instancing-objects.html
http://lewismaddison.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/dynamics-part-13-instance-rotations.html
http://lewismaddison.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/dynamics-part-14-animated-instances.html
http://lewismaddison.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/dynamics-part-15-goal-weights.html



http://lewismaddison.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/mental-ray-part-1-samples-quality.html
http://lewismaddison.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/mental-ray-part-2-final-gather.html
http://lewismaddison.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/mental-ray-part-4-physical-sun-sky.html
http://lewismaddison.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/mental-ray-part-5-portal-lights-updated.html
http://lewismaddison.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/mental-ray-part-6-mia-metarial-x-shader.html

Mental Ray Part 6: Mia Metarial X Shader

Mental Ray Part 5: Portal Lights (Updated for 2016)

Mental Ray Part 4: Physical Sun & Sky (Updated for Maya 2016)

Some of the houses look dark, I forgot to save out the color managed image when I was saving the render's.

Mental Ray Part 2: Final Gather

Mental Ray Part 1: Samples & Quality Control

Shader FX Part 6: Uv's & Animation

Shader FX Animation from Lewis Maddison on Vimeo.

Shader FX Part 5: Reflection

Shader FX Part 4: Transparency

Shader FX Part 3: Lighting

Shader FX Part 2: Displacement

Shader FX Part 1: Intro to Shader FX Networks

Maps Part 3: Ambient Occlusion Maps

Maps Part 2: Rope Normal Map

Maps Part 1: Base Normal Maps

Modelling Part 3: High Resolution

Modelling Part 2: UV Layout

Modelling Part 1: Low Resolution

Adaptation B Final Submission

CELIA RENDER 10001 from Lewis Maddison on Vimeo<
CELIA RENDER Pana 0001 from Lewis Maddison on Vimeo.
/a>.

Presentation 22 by LewisMaddison

Adaptation Celia Work so far

be making it in today, thanks to a run in with some raw meat that now has a huge grudge with me. So if anyone see's this please let Alan know. I sent in an email a while ago but just to be safe.

As I am not there to speak, the last slide will have a text description of what is going on in each slide. Tomorrow I will be dragging myself in to speak to either Alan or Phil.

(also ignore the crappy paintjob on the character's body, it was just a rough so I knew where to put parts of the clothing)

Adaptation Design Work v3

Adaptation: Celia Bowen work

Just a quick presentation to catch up on what Ive been doing recently. Over the past 2 or so weeks I have been finishing off my book for the Adaptation project and watching a few of Terry Gilliams Movies, to get an idea of the style of the clothes and world I want to create.  

The powerpoint below shows all of the little design pieces I have for Celia.

I am working on the costume designs now and will be uploading more tonight so I can hopefully have a finished design by tomorrow afternoon.

 

Adaptation Design Work v2

Dynamics Part 14: Animated Instances

Dynamics Part 15: Goal Weights

Dynamics Part 13: Instance Rotations

Adaptation B: World Influences part 1

World Design

Adaptation B: Character References

Character References

Adaptation A: Info graphic and Art of

(Just noticed I spelt Medieval wrong in the opening scene, I will amend it when I have a minute to spare)


Finally got it finished. Took me a while with my limited knowledge of after effects so hopefully it turned out
well enough :)

I was originally going for a more modern style, however as I was making assets I felt myself leaning more towards a simpler design, similar to presentation's I was exposed to as a child.



Infographic (Adaptation) from Lewis Maddison on Vimeo.

A Brief History of Medieval Medicine

Dynamics Part 12: Instancing Objects

Dynamics Part 11: Collision Events

Dynamics Part 10: Emit From Particles

Dynamics Part 9: Curve Flow

Ill probably return to this tutorial a little further down the line to clean it up. Some of the glow effects weren't working properly which is why it looks a little off right now.

Infographic style research

Through some fairly light research on medical Info graphics, it seems that most of them adopt a fairly simple style. Using small icons to convey organs and medicine, also incorporating motion through the use of arrows/ heart rate monitors and dna strands.

 

This type of style could come in very handy when trying to convey things like bloodletting and the many different divine influences that are included in the Medieval medical practices.

 

Ill be doing some more research after the tutorial and experimenting in After Effects to see what I can come up with.

Dynamics Part 7: Per Point Emission

Dynamics Part 5: Volume Emitters

Dynamics Part 4: Directional Emitters

Dynamics Part 3: Omni Emitters

Night Circus Character Descriptions with come environment added.

The Characters that I will be looking to adapt from Erin Morgenstern's "The Night Circus" are the two main characters of the book. Celia Bowen and Marco Alisdair. Each have there own unique traits and forms of magic which will aid me in creating a hopefully unique design for them both. I will also include some descriptions of the environment so that I can try and form an idea of the world that these two characters reside in. 

Celia Bowen: As a child, Celia is described as having long, curly brown hair and large dark eyes, whose color is unspecified, but match those of her father. During her childhood, Hector dresses her up in beautiful gowns and she is made to appear like a doll. However, this stops after she grows too old for frilly dresses, and by the time she is a teenager, he father takes a different route: during her time as a spiritual medium, Hector makes Celia wear ragged dresses and his control over her diet causes her to almost starve - eventually, she is allowed to gain weight and become much more healthy.

When Celia auditions for the circus, her face is described as "maintaining a semblance of girlishness", even though she is nearly eighteen by this point. However, it is suggested that nobody knows how old she is. When she speaks during the auditions, her voice is described as calm and low, which echoes the low whisper that she had as a child Her hair is still curly,but after Tante Padva suggests that her hair is too light for the black-and-white color scheme of the circus, Celia darkens her hair color so that it is almost black and it is assumed that this color remains for the duration of the circus.

Celia Bowen is said to retain her age from when she first joined the circus, which is around 18. However due to the slowing enchantments of the circus she would actually be around 34.

Marco Alisdair: When Marco is first introduced, he is described as having badly cut dark hair and grey-green eyes. Due to his life in a orphanage, he is also introduced in extremely ragged clothes. However, after Alexander "adopts" him as his student, Marco's appearance improves; he is treated to private hairdressers and tailors, and his wardrobe consists of expensive, fashionable suits.

However, one of Marco's specialties is the ability to manipulate his appearance, and he uses this skill throughout much of his adult life. Even though the changes are subtle, they are noticeable to Celia Bowen, and are enough to attract the attentions of Isabel and the Burgess sisters upon sight; when using the enchantment, his features become sharper, a goatee appears and his eyes turn to a bright green - the general effect makes Marco appear older than he really is. When Marco and Celia are alone for the first time, she mentions that his "mask"is handsome, but consciously so, and for her the sentiment is off putting. Marco proceeds to drop his guard afterwards, and Celia notes that he is still handsome - from this point on wards,  it is suggested that he only reverts to his normal face when he is in the company of Celia; however, the manipulated face is still visible to everybody else.

Because of Marco's studies and his habit of keeping notebooks, he fingers are constantly stained with ink. Marco also resembles that of a 21 year old, and due to the magic would actually be around 37 by the time of the novel ending. 

Similarities: Both Celia and Marco both share a permanent scar on their ring fingers, which bind them to the challenge they are competing against each other in. 

Environment Descriptions:

"People marvel at the staggering height of the tallest tents.They stare at the clock that sits just inside the gates that no one can properly describe."

"The whole of Le Cirque des Reves (The circus of dreams) is formed by series of circles.....Rather then a single tent with rings enclosed within, this circus contains clusters of tents like pyramids, some large and others quite small. They are set within circular paths, contained within a circular fence. Looping and continuous. 

I need to get further into the book so I will be updating these descriptions as I go along. 

Paprika Movie review

Paprika

2006

Satoshi Kon

Somewhat similar to the 2011 movie Inception. Paprika is a story revolved around the idea of dreamscapes and implanting dreams into other people's subconscious. All of this is achieved through the "DC Mini" a device that permits therapists to enter the dreams of their patients to try and identify what is happening in their minds.

The synopsis of the film is incredibly simple at its base level. A device is created that allows therapists to delve into the dreams of their patients. A device that is still in development. Before its final coding could be completed the device is stolen, allowing the thief entry into anyone's mind, implanting ideas that can result in often deadly outcomes.

Paprika's stongest feature is the wealth of interesting characters that Kon has managed to bring to life, with the help of the amazing animation by Madhouse, the studio behind the critically acclaimed Death Note series and the more recent One Punch Man anime. Each character is complex, multi dimensional and extremely realistic. There are no tall, confident heroes or cute princesses here, just somewhat normal people with very real problems.

The lead character Dr Chiba Atsuko displays the main properties of many anime lead characters. Beautiful and talented in their fields (whatever they may be) however she is portrayed as a cold, narrow minded individual with a strict no nonsense code. Although she has another personality that is shown throughout the Movie, The personality that the film itself is named after. Paprika is everything that Chiba isn't. A fun energetic women who acts as the opposite to Chiba's coldness. Creating every thing that is fun and exciting in the world. The transition between these two character's isn't that obvious at first, although later on in the movie we see the two converse and switch between their personalities.

The other main character's are just as colorful. Dr Tokita, Chiba's fellow researcher is a genius with a child like mind, a mind that is often hidden by his extensive weight. Detective Konakawa is our intro into the world and presents our first encounter with Paprika. He is a character with very real worries and issues that he has to overcome throughout the events of the story. Almost as a separate plot to the main one of the film but towards the end it is weaved into the overall story incredibly nicely and fulfilling for the character himself.

The world that Kon has created is one of vibrancy and color. Being brought to life by the amazing animation skills of Mad House. Each frame is beautifully drawn, immersing the audience into the world.

To conclude this review. Paprika is an incredibly immersive movie with a wealth of Interesting character's environments and stories. All tied together in a beautiful world that will enchant audiences who are both familiar with Anime and also those who are not. A great movie to watch but will require multiple viewings or further research to fully understand.

   

Adaptation Updates

Adaptation B:

After Friday's tutorial, I will be focusing on adapting the Night Circus (Erin Morgenstern) with main focus on the characters. It was advised that I look into the work's of Terry Gilliam, and Jan svankmajer for my inspiration. To create a world that has its dirt and color turned up to 11. A world that is disjointed and colorful.  

The two main characters in this book are somewhat interesting thanks to there use of different types of magics. One being more into illusion's and the other is more of a Ward, protective caster. These could really define the looks and attitudes of the characters into something that would fit well into Gilliam's worlds. Worlds that I am not that familiar with, having only seen The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009).

I am fairly familiar with Svankmajer's work so the next few days will be reading the Night Circus to get a better understanding of the characters and their world, and researching Gilliam some more to get a better feel of the worlds he creates, then seeing how I can mesh the two together into something Coherent. 

Adaptation A:

I need to continue researching some of the facts around the particular area of medicine I am looking at, as the information will be the critical part of the Info graphic. In terms of style it was suggested that a more modern approach would be interesting. Keeping the outdated practices but basing them all in a much more modern style to give the idea of an underlying, sinister feel to the whole project. Whilst also trying to project a little Horrible Histories or comedy into it.