Here is an initial Photoshop paint test of Jed's clothing. It took me a couple of hours to blend in creases and folds, but I really enjoyed doing this.

Since the second pitch, Phil and I have remained committed to finding a fitting ending to the story, so the storyboard can be completed and then we can begin actual production as soon as possible. We won't be making another animatic at this stage, as it will cost too much time.

I think it was clear to everyone that the visual style had been nailed, we had moved away from colour into monochromatic territory. We felt this was a natural transition, yet it was something that we always kept coming back to. The stark contast of black and white will enable us to be more experimental with story development, in terms of mood and character.

We have literally spent hours upon hours discussing all possible ways of ending the film - some ideas were simply awful, while others more promising. We had to go through this exhausting process of eliminating ideas to get to the really good ones. In some cases, we would find an idea we were happy with then decide to go with it, yet after some time to let it sink in, we would then go back and scrap it or alter it in some way. We were drawing a little closer, bit by bit, but there were always minute details that were bugging us, and unfortunately they couldn't be overlooked.

It's difficult to put into words how frustrating this was becoming and we both agreed that we needed a pair of fresh eyes on the case.

So we sought advice from our former Lens Based Media tutor Tom Hooper. He always had an eccentric outlook on storytelling, something that was ideal in this instance. We described the story and characters, using imagery as reference to give him a much clearer idea. He gave us a very positive response - as for the ending, well no luck there, we would have to find that ending ourselves, but it was certainly within our reach. He gave suggestions as to the right ingredients for a fitting conclusion for SPLAY, i.e, emotion - we have to feel what we want the audience to feel, drama - don't be afraid to push yourself and definitely don't play 'safe', be unexpected and push the audience to the limit, or you will not keep them engrossed. I don't think we literally want to make people cry, nor do I think the story has that level of punch to do so, yet we want to tug at the heartstrings and have a very memorable story.

Tom also suggested to be far more innovative with the soundtrack; again we shouldn't remain in the comfort zone of using orchestral music as it could soften the gritty, stark look of the visuals. Lots of experimentation with mechanical sound effects and music to give more of an industrial feel to the world of SPLAY. This is something we will most definitely consider.

Overall it was a productive meeting, and we felt more confident with how progress was going, yet an ending still had to be found.

I could ramble on for ages on how we came up with the right ending, but all I will say was that it was a challenge. There are loose ends to tie up (as there always is) but we feel far more relived to have something we are content with that doesn't seem rushed or contrived. Phil will now continue storyboarding the rest of the story, while I will continue lighting tests within Maya, as well as work on Polished Off, as I have neglected it.

A quick texture test for Jed's clothing, using a simple linen texture from google:






I've made a few variations, with different values of bump, also adding in backlighting to give that nice rim light. The texture looks pretty awful, more like material for a cardigan than a (Jed's trendy) janitor suit. I will need to add detail and tone to bring this to life, as well as alter the initial texture. I will search for textures of boiler suit/shirt type fabric on google, as well as photograph clothing if need be.

Spotlight Test.2

Experimenting further with spotlights. After lots of trial and error, I am finally pleased with some of these results. The light appears as it is emanating rather than a solid object. I also have reduced the size and amount of specks in the texture of the light. The intensity of the light of the ground still needs adjusting.


In addition, I have added a backdrop, quickly editing a photo of a sky, as well a few buildings in the distance to add some depth to the scene. I referred to Phil's recent concept he made. I'm not sure if the background should be too dark or slightly lighter, let me know what you think..

Spotlight Test.1

Now that Splay is taking a darker route, visually, it will be interesting to light and texture (not that it wasn't before though). Spotlights can be moody, atmospheric and very theatrical:



I have started to experiment with a spotlight in Maya, changing the values of the light, as well as adding fog to get a look which works. I have not incorporated a model of a character, as I wanted to remain with a simple environment at the moment.


One of my biggest concerns was how to achieve the effect of dust particles floating through the air? I considered using Maya dynamics or creating these in after effects in post, but a Gnomon Workshop tutorial suggested a better idea - apply a 3D granite texture to the density attribute of the light fog. I can then animate this texture to make it appear they are moving through the air.