Simulacrum Project

Brief and Initial Research

Simulacrum Project Brief:

The simulacrum is an individually produced presentation that encapsulates a reinterpretation or innovatory development of an object. The presentation of the object should be in the form of a 90 second animation / video.

Through the lecture series you will develop an understanding of what 'object' may represent and your simulacrum will be the vessel in which you present it.Whatever your chosen object is, it's design, soundtrack, visual presentation and physical packaging of your project should all be derived from the properties held within your object and its history.

 

Briefly: you need to make a simulated object. This can be any object – new or existing. You should think carefully about how you portray your object: the materials you use to represent it, it's form, use of light, colour, motion (weight / momentum)... and any other physical attributes you consider would make your object appear real. The idea is to use the sessions you have with Musaab to develop this object in 3D – you are welcome to stray from this, or use these sessions to develop something other than the object – for example, the environment.

You need to contextualise your object within a short film (90 seconds). This could be done by wrapping the object into a narrative, making associations through various media components, perhaps consider it in terms of branding or emotive connections. You may interpret this anyway you choose – it could be a mock advertisement, a pan of a scene, linear animated story etc. Your film should pay careful attention to the use of multimedia to create a cohesive experience: sound and imagery that is appropriate to the context of your object.

Part of keeping the brief open is to give you room to exercise your imagination and creativity. It might be that your object does not have any physical properties that make it appear real – instead you embed ‘realness’ into your object through behaviours. Anthropomorphising the object so it appears to have characteristics, and therefore is alive. Perhaps I only see part of the object – alluding to what it might be, and allowing the audience’s imagination to make up the rest. There are many ways to approach this – it doesn’t need to be overcomplicated, some of the best pieces of work are simple ideas well executed.

 

Sketches

A small amount of sketching towards forming a plant or fungus-like lifeform.

(24th September)

My Simulacrum Plant

 

Growing quite innocently in our back garden are two spindly yellow tomato plants that produce slightly translucent yellow tomatoes. I think I've found the basis for forming my own plant.

 

 

Wasteland

Decided to begin by choosing a spot of very old plympton wasteland, an area that used to be used as a cattle market, as initial inspiration for my simulacrum's landscape.

Searching for music

Of course, the alternative is silence but somehow motion picture just doesn't work in silence anymore.

You Never Know - Goldfrapp

I sought this particular piece out having heard it a few times used for the TV trailer to Prime Suspect.

What is particularly good about this piece is that it forms quite a good crescendo, that releases the main refrain last of all in an almost burst of energy fashion but then quietly fades away again (representative of the fading glow) as each of the individual elements lose power to form the coda.

 

 

Unfortunately this 3 and a half minute piece needs to be edited and cut in such a way that it both fits the 90 second piece and is choreographed so that it suits the major camera and scene direction changes.

(21st October)

Looking for Lanterns

(28th October)

Narrative

Overview

The camera starts off looking upon a typical dystopic landscape, barren, burnt and ruined and in particular lowers down to view a number of scorched and withered plants. Then the view changes to a much closer shot of a dying fruit on a branch that sheds its seeds down. Now either the seeds are collected and cultivated or just grow on their own but a new plant grows, becomes black and withered but new fruits are created. When matured they glow brightly out into the darkness and are collected by the inhabitants of this world, who begin off by sitting huddled in the darkness around a pale fire. The fruit are placed in lanterns that provide a brilliant warm light. The final shot of this narrative will be of the fruit slowly losing its glow and perhaps shedding more seed, then fading to total darkness.

(blogged 14th Nov.)

Storyboard

Fades in to view a barren darkened landscape. Heavy black clouds hang oppressively above a huddled group in the far distance surrounding a hidden fire. Perhaps grey snow can be gently falling to portray a bitter, motionless cold.

Camera slowly pans both downwards and inwards towards the debris and the black and withered plants immediately in front.

A new shot is taken much closer to a branch of the plant, still keeping the distant figures in the aspect.

Centre of the view is an old withered fruit, consisting of only its shell and the seeds within.

blown by a slight wind, the shell shatters and drops the seeds one of which falls and floats a short way into the shelter of a rusty bucket.

In an almost time lapse framed fashion, this seed becomes a new plant which does not exactly flourish into life, but grows brand new fruit which begin to glow brightly in the dark of the bucket.

 

(20th November)

 

The Cast

Plant Seed

To create a sense of reality in my 3D models the texture was highly important. For my seed I used the following photo below and then a 3D bump map in order to produce its textured effect.

The photo came from my garden pond!

 

The Rusty Bucket

(30th November)

 

The Background Environment

 

An important aspect of this piece was getting the atmosphere right. My chosen photo taken of moody rainclouds seemed to fit the bill after having some photoshop tweaking.

(2nd December)

 

Glowing Fruit Model

Rendering the final video, scene by scene, to be assembled in premiere.

(7th December)