Category: Collaborative

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.

Subjects

– Social and/or Racial Justice

– Physical and Emotional Awareness & Well-being

– Factual Theme (based on a true event/history/myth)

– Utopia and Dystopia

– Causality (Cause and Effect)

– From an everyday object to a fantastical object

– Ephemeral – A fleeting moment

– From static inspirations to dynamic projects

– Make Physical Things

– VR Dynamic Interactions Game

– Cyberpunk, Costumes and AI

In all the subjects I am interested in and have some ideas for the following subjects:

– Utopia and Dystopia

– Causality (Cause and Effect)

– From an everyday object to a fantastical object

– Ephemeral – A fleeting moment

All of them can be great vessels to show the truth or something we often ignore for people. And I plan to use a simple expression, not a dramatic setting.

I found two students in our major, and they also think those topics sound great. And then, we shared our ideas and combined with a group at first. So we think ‘Ephemeral – A fleeting moment’ is a nice subject.

In my daily life, a fleeting moment, maybe a word, an action of a person, or a sound, often brings me the most profound memory without warning in the shortest time. This moment is brief, but the power is mighty. And we usually don’t have time to take photos or videos with our mobile phones to record this fleeting moment. In other words, the feeling this moment brings me cannot be simply recorded. Thus, I want to reproduce this moment and maximize show the feelings I get.

And one of my teammates (Yuhan Lin) thinks there are many unforgettable moments in life. Feeling happy moments and feeling sad moments are all part of life. Sometimes I wish time would stop at a beautiful moment.

Another teammate(Jiaruo Zhang) wants to try to show a scene with contrasting images briefly, such as the intriguing idea of something moving from one world to another, and so on.