LUCKY BREAK
The first third year film at Escape Studios, I had the amazing opportunity to direct and lead a team of 3D animators and VFX artists. Lead animator, storyboard artist, groom artist, and rigger were roles that fell under my responsibilities.
Lucky Break tells the story of a stone dinosaur who comes to life to rescue a baby bird.
Watch it here on Youtube: https://youtu.be/JyyG9loM6qo
ABOVE - My final shots in the film, sadly the quality of the animation was compromised by the extent of my responsibilities and the urge to meet deadlines.
ABOVE - Progress of shots from storyboard, to layout to final product. Some of the biggest changes were made when we began working with the live action footage since there was not going to be a true 1:1 replica of the digital set or the movement of the camera.
It was extremely helpful that we had a strong understanding of the story and the value of each individual shot as it sped up preproduction and kept everything consistent.
ABOVE - With the exception of 3 shots I created the storyboard for the film, one key aspect I was particular about was the dinosaur's eyes. When framing the shots I made sure to keep them either out of focus or excluded from the camera's view until the climax of the film when we learn about the true nature of the dinosaur.
ABOVE - The feather was a fun addition to figure out, we didn't have access to Yeti - a software that specialises in grooming - so we decided on using a geometry plane and a Alpha to create the shape. Feather_RIG_03 was a attempt to separate the bristles of the feather however it cause some issues when we tried to apply the textures over it.
The final rig used a single joint chain alongside several deformers to give the animator more flexibility.
ABOVE - Sadly the groom had to be cut from the film due to time constraints however I learnt a lot from developing the bird's fluff, I gave myself the extra challenge of making it dynamic so it would react to external forces such as the dinosaurs breath.
CHECK OUT SOME OF THE BREAKDOWNS FOR THE VFX SIDE OF THINGS ON THE OFFICIAL ROOKIE PAGE!