Still Alive

Hi Everyone,

This is just a quick note to let you know that we are still alive and working on MOTA. I wish we were updating you with some recent news, but the fact is that we are still working on the animatic. And, because the whole crew has been busy this summer, we have been working at a snail's pace. So be patient with us.

We are still looking for animators who would like to contribute some of their time and talent to help us make this film. Contact us if you would like some more information on the project.

Hopefully we'll have some more stuff up soon. Keep checking!

Animatic

Once the storyboarding and concept art is completed for a film, it’s time to move on to the animatic. An animatic is basically a very rough version of the film to give the animators a better idea of the camera angles and action than the storyboard can communicate. Although CG animatics were originally used only for animated films (such as ours), they are now created for almost any major production, animated or live action. Below is a rendered shot from the Masters of the Antarctic animatic, which includes a first look at a rough version of one of our main characters!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZywZInrwYuE

The motion of the characters and the detail of the sets are kept very simple, as the final props and sets are not yet finished. The subsurfing modifier, which makes the meshes smooth, is set to a low setting, so that rendering time is saved, while keeping the characters recognizable. The lighting is also very simple. The camera angles are very close to the final version, but still have room for improvement.Once all the shots in the animatic are finished, they will be edited together into a rough cut of the film, which the director will fine tune to match his vision of the film. The final version will be given to the animators. This will ensure that the director’s vision of the film will be preserved.

- Sam Klejwa (Sam is our character and props modeler. He is also working as animator on the animatic)

Simple Underwater Scene

This image, an underwater shot of some icebergs, consists of three main elements: The large icebergs, the smaller icebergs, and the water surface. Each was created to be as time-efficient as possible.

The lager icebergs are distorted and bumpy, but without harsh edges. This was accomplished quickly by first creating a simple mesh of the basic shape of the iceberg, which you see in the “basic mesh” side of the image. I then used Blender's modifier system to turn these basic objects into the icebergs in the final render. A subsurf modifier smoothed out the mesh and added more vertexes. A displace modifier combined with a cloud texture added the bumpy feel to the icebergs.

The small icebergs began as a few simple cubes. I used the fractal tool a few times to distort them and add some detail before duplicating them and scattering them along the surface of the water.

The water surface is similar to the large icebergs: a simple plane with a subsurf modifier as well as a displace modifier combined with a cloud texture to give the water surface shape.

Before the render, I used Blender's mist setting to add to the underwater effect. Some post-production also helped with this as well.

- Jordan Harris (Jordan is our compositor for the penguin project. He also contributed by creating some pre-production images for the use of establishing the look of the film.)

We're not dead, yet!

Things are going slowly around here. Because the crew and I have regular jobs, we're forced to work on this project at a snails pace. One of the only things remaining in the pre-production stage is completing an animatic that will lay out the way the characters and camera moves in the film. Once this is completed, I believe we will get a better response from animators, showing them that we are serious and committed to this project.

Word to our blog viewers: Please feel free to comment on our work. Maybe you have suggestions or ideas (or negative feedback) for Masters of the Antarctic. Even if you can't find anything wrong with our perfect project (*wink*), we'd love to hear from you anyway. Just write out a shout out to tell us that you are watching the film's progress.

Storyboard

I'm not very good at sketching, but I love to have go at it anyway. Drawing out the storyboard was a bit daunting, because I had all these shots in my head that I wasn't sure I would be able to convey on paper. Yet, some how, I was able to sketch out a basic guideline that we could follow for the animatic. It's a bit rough, but it serves its purpose.

Inspirations

So I thought I would share some 3D animated projects that have inspired us over the years to create our short film.

RUSTBOY

It's a shame, but this project seems to be defunct. The website hasn't been updated since '06. But I love the look of this movie, which was created by one guy, Brian Taylor, mostly using a piece of 3D software I forgot the name of but which doesn't exist anymore. Hopefully, Rustboy will be resurrected someday.


PIGEON IMPOSSIBLE

Pigeon Impossible is a work by Lucas Martell, a freelance artist from Texas, which also happens to be my home state. This project has taken Martell four years to complete. Can't wait for it's release. Also check out the informative and entertaining podcasts.



BIG BUCK BUNNY

Big Buck Bunny (aka Project Peach) shows what is possible when using Blender 3D. Go watch it here. You can also download the production files at the site (over 200gb worth).


PIXAR SHORTS

I love all of them. The guys at Pixar are pure genius. Head on over to their iTunes store and check them out now, in case you have been living under a rock and have never heard of them before...

My First 3D Video...Years Ago

Right now I am learning to use Blender so that I will have more knowledge of 3D animation for our project, and so that I can help in the animatic. I am not totally unlearned in the 3D world. I once learned the basics in a 3D software called Carrara Studio. Roughly five years ago I started an animatic for a sci-fi film I wrote, featuring robot fighter pilots. I was able to find a scene that I rendered for the opening shot in the film - with stick men repesenting the robots. Have a look!

Here are a few of the clay models we made for reference. Enjoy!

MOTA Sreenplay (Part One)

I have been playing around with Masters of the Antarctic for more than two years now. Major changes have been made from the original idea of creating a fifteen minute film that told the story of three penguins making a journey across the Antarctic in search of their leader, the Emperor Penguin (then titled "Master of the Antarctic"). This version would have had an epic ocean battle involving frigate warships, an ice monster that threatened our heroes, and a huge seige on the rockhopper castle.

...To be continued.

- Parker W. Starnes (Screenwriter/Director)

Casting Call!

We are looking for people to offer their time and skills on a part time, volunteer basis right now. If you are interested in working on this project, please contact us with your resume and demo reel or website. We especially need some more 3d animators and modelers. You can contact me at hunter(dot)starnes(at)take4studio(dot)com, or Parker at parker(dot)starnes(at)gmail(dot)com.

More progress reports on the movie coming soon!