Author: Zhuolin Feng

Modeled assets in passed days

Street view

Balloons

References

Bike

References

Second time’s green screen shooting

We modified the ending. The protagonist in the last scene came to the world in his head.

Other peoples’ modeled assets

Jiaruo Zhang

Yuhan Lin

Yafang Zheng

Cat character modelling finished.

References

Green screen studio

Shot for characters walking around for lab scenes and people walking on the street.

Storyboard draft

Utopia street scene concept modeling

References

Reference

Dystopian world:

Utopian world:

Characters(shot real people and add materials):

Concept: Utopia is the dream of humans when they nap in their miserable lives.

Cut-scene: Reflection cut-scene

Dystopia: lab, brain, vessel, vessel = house, brain = person

Depressed and numb work, a group of people work, mirror to the brain, and the brain is in the vessel (depressed tone). Transition to the Utopian world through reflective objects.

Utopia (including real shots): On the street, someone is drinking a cup of coffee on the side of the road, and a couple is watching a movie at home (the human body makes the effect of poor TV contact, which is more illusory). A cat plays with her feline friends next to a liquid-mapped dystopian world.

Ending: stepping on a puddle Both worlds appear, then the box closes (Schrodinger’s cat)

Script:

-A group of human beings each stand in their positions to work,

-The camera goes to the end (the big screen on the wall is the trajectory of neurons, with flashing dots like a map)

-The camera looks to the sides of the scene, where rows of brains are arranged on a table, surrounded by neurons.

-The camera shot to the left side of the brain, close-up with throbbing blood vessels.

-The lens zoomed out slightly, and the reflection of the brain on the smooth table could be seen. (It can be a vague feeling from the thought of the brain to a couple)

-In the reflection is a couple watching a movie at home (close-up of the face of the couple (family), taking over the shape of the brain)

-The camera zooms out to the complete scene of the couple (family) watching a movie, and the kitten is sleeping or running on the ground.

-The owner gets up and feeds the cat

-Cat eating

-The cat went out to the street (three people on the street)

-Cat finds his friends

-Cats chasing and fighting with friends (making a mess)

-The puddles on the side of the road print their clump together and transform into the brain of the dystopian world (the blood vessels on the brain are throbbing). The worlds on both sides can be seen (medium shot, the puddle and the world account for half and half)

-Both worlds present

-The world closes

Story Setting Discussion:

Utopian world:

Show the beautiful moments in people’s daily life. For example: laughing with friends, calling family, hugging when lovers meet, etc. The world is brighter in tone. The body colour of people in this world will change. When people’s mood improves and their body temperature rises, their body colour will change to warmer tones.

Dystopian world:

People have no physical body, and their minds are all bound. The human brain is in a petri dish, and the material of each brain is different to show that it is another person. These brains are connected to a computer for real-time prosecution.

The two worlds transitions method:

The main character drills into a TV or other electronic device and teleports to another world via data.

After the past days’ discussion, we decided to try some more experimental things. So we finally picked “Utopia and Dystopia” as our working subject because this one can give us more thought compared to other subjects. When people talk about Utopia and Dystopia, many people will associate cyberpunk. Some films or novels might influence it. But how to define utopia or dystopia should decide by everyone. The principal likes, “There are a thousand Hamlets in a thousand people’s eyes.” So I prefer to show two opposite worlds in work. Which world is a utopia or dystopia? The audience can define themselves after watching the movie, and there will have a different answer. So I shared my thoughts with my teammates, who agreed with this setting. After that, we started to find our other teammates studying in another major.

We think the work can be shown in two styles. One is combined with a game, and people can experience and visit the two words. Another is to tell a story; the work will be more visually appealing, unlike a classic animated film. So we talked with four groups of students whose majors are Game, VR, and VFX. Finally, we decided to work with VFX’s students. And we also want to work work with some 2D animation students so that they can help us to make some assets in 2D styles, but sadly we have yet to find who is interested in this topic.