war of the worlds

2005 movie

after finishing my concept i designed to watch the film and write a review of the war of the worlds  to see how my design might fit into the world me design being an organic blood harvesting tripod.

my opinion on the film may be abit bi est from being one of my favorite childhood films so im goin try to be open about the film, from the get go i enjoyed i think the way the characters were introduced instantly showed of there personalty which i think is important in this kind of film .the main character tom cruise instantly comes of as bit of wise ass but in charismatic way even threw some of the bad times in the film he still manged to be abit funny but as the films evolves i thing u get abit more of grasp of his personalty bit lazy bit realy does love his family and throw himself straight into danger without a second thought but i think maybe in the film they mad a little to smart an very level headed in his reactions to what was going on around him not just a panic craze for example when the tripods find him an the deluded stranger hes very good at sneaking about an he pulls out a mirror to distracted the alien and the way he new to grab grenede before the tripods took him .but i can see how this is a speilberg film an how it made the film alot more epic, apart from that i think tom cruise did a great job of acting an playing several diffrent emotion like a strong father who brakes down under presure an overcoming it an letting go. roby is obviusly anoyed  with his father about the divorce always acting abit of pratt almost an winding up his father by calling him by his first name but he also very carrying for his mother an sister ,but he has alot of fight in him always trying to join the fight an get revenge on the aliens after destroying some of there world . the daughter played by dakota fanning who i think did amazing job in the film is obviusly a mommy's girl an mabye abit spoilt with ensiety issuse but i think she did very well considering the situation i think dakota did a great job from a young age understanding the level of what what was goin on an being able to act around pretend dead bodies and death people blood an dust. i chose to write about the characters idivudly because i think its good to know an read characters and being able to show there traits an personalty through design work .

steven speilberg obviously a great director i realy enjoyed the way this film was shot making simple things look more epic with dynamic filming like 360 spins showing the chacter emotions an flying through house in an interesting way, which brings out the best thinks in the characters an i think his most creative scene was when the alein find them in the house an shooting the footage from intersting angles making the scene look allot more sneaky an more complex making it seem a few times that they were very close to being caugth.

normally when i watch films that are a while back an early twenty first century the cgi and special effects annoy me because i think my mind has bein ruined by awesome cgi like avater an transforms but i think the special effect were very good in this not just the cgi but the camera tricks an the way it was shot really pulled of i know its only done in 2005 but still think it was great obviously some good design work behind the scenes an aliens.

overall i would rate this film a 7 defiantly worth a watch 

war of the worlds project brief 

war of the worlds project our project is to design one of the war of the worlds tripods in own style so straight away i thought because of the last vehicle project i would go for something organic an i know i based my vehicle project on animals like bats so this time i wanted to designs something from organic plants so i went of an found some refence images that gave me a strong idea of shape and form.

  

 i really like the shapes but i wasn't a fan of the colour they looked to happy where as i wanted mine to be aggressive terrifying monster              

i think especially the head peice was strongly infulenced by plants but i dont think the face is good enough yet or scary enough i think it looks to generic so i went into more detail  but i try ed design the head after i designed  the humanoid foot soilder slash/pilot so they look like the same species#

i really think the humanoid helped push my design forward i think im ready for my orthographic images 

      an then i decide to do some quick sketches once i had my design nailed down did some little concepts  

finished my design that im happy with and ready to get my sculpting  on the go

Elements of game design part six : visual composition

William wu’s concept art on assains creed who I thought would be a great master to base my blog about visual composition because he seems to have an immense understanding of composition . the main thing that in these paintings he’s trying to convey is different weather . in the first painting called taking flight I thought was amazing not necessarily very hard composition or in depth in the in essence it’s a simple layout just a diagonal composition but if you silhouetted the character an the bird you would still have a very clear understanding of what was happening Connor the main character realizing his bird into flight but I think the little things in the image show what the artist was going for in the way that the trees bring the image forward an light bouncing of the inner side an behind the eagle reflecting Connor head to make it stand out .a quote from the art director “ the snow covers everything to is basic shapes. It makes it unique to compose a scene because all you see is silhouette, the plain surface. less is more on ac3 “I think the key words from that quote would be silhouette and less is more that’s the main reason I chose this artist because he doesn’t have to put in mass detail but has a clear composition and shape .

the second paint is one of the more classic painting of ac of Connor from a height looking down on a scene planning his attack the artist would have a good understanding of how the game plays an how strategically u need to be but the way the composition is awesome but what I think brings it to life is the backdrop an the minute simple details of the mist and the made made fires and the smoke coming up from the heat but again if u brake down the image very clear silhouette.

This image called white light , white heat which I think just from the title gives you instantly more knowledge into the image I think this painting show how much of a master concept artist William wu’s really is without having to go into to masses of detail it look very realistic an he dint even have to paint an of the faces because the speed thatches trying to convey and the white breath flowing out there faces showing lots of cold an exasperation from exercise an adrenaline and you can get all that just from the angle of the heat an how much witch I think is incredible also the mist covering people in the foreground of his chasers everything seems empty white but nothing is empty at the same time everything has information going through it almost looks like single point perspective going backwards from Connor foot.

In conclusion I think knowing your environments inspires your composition whether its big white trees making composition or damaged buildings going of into the distance. an knowing different reactions in the paint like speed blur and heat smoke fire mist 

planning an concepting 

planning and concepting in its simple is form is properly the only way to produce great image. 

reading through the essay on planning an concepting  is very clear what you should be doing an alot of these things ive already been doin but reading through make me laugh because in his rants i know ive done some of these things hes talking about, mabye not recently but for example just starting with a head design an throwing a boddy underneath it an asking a friend to look at it, an saying things like arms are too long, try giving it an awesome weapon ,even the the bits i have been doing doesn't add upto the depth that is shown an what i shud be doing.but before i even got into the final touches i should of organised my time. reading through the essay i realse how much knowledge some of these artist before he had even started his piece he know a huge amount about what he was looking for an what he would like to achive " a moment a very specific moment the moment before action the moment of instinct and decsion" he knew alot more about his piece what he wanted to achieve then i would near the end of my design sometimes this is something i really need to work on an i think that is a huge help to his image from reading that an then looking at his image i can instantly tell what he was going for an comes of. then he goes looking for inspiration which ive always know was key i always find it one of the best ways to motivate myself to produce an image seeing some work that is amazing makes you want to create something as well  reading on think it would be a good idea to write my ideas down straight away in titles an in question just from readings thing ideas pop into my head so from now on when im designing a concept write a breif if i wont have one and some of the things i would like to achieve in my image. iv been realizing for a while now thumnailing is key to design a good image especially the higher level art you want to produce the more effident it is that you need more planning.
realism is key not necessarily photo realism but giving the audience something they can relate lighting scenery realistic composition  atmosphere from reading the essay that's one of the things that shout out to me.
after this assignment ide hope ive learnt not to forget the most important part of concepting the planning and process that take you to your final image an not just going straight into the final image starting in the center of the page with the eye

I really enjoyed last year I struggled at times but I think nothing worth doing comes easy, In the first year I think with intensity of the course I improved a lot in what I can achieve opened up all my skills to a new world of designs etc. 3d painting digi concepting. Also one of the main thinks the first year gave me is everything I make or draw being more 3dimensial in drawings in sculpting in everything which I thing is key in drawing, but I think all these fundamentals I think I’ve learned need a lot of honeying.

wesly burt

last of us 

Year two aspirations made it to year two now I this year what I would really like to get better at and achieve is my concepting skills an my ability to really smash ideas an great concepts out espialy in my character art. to be able to throw down really interesting composition an characters and not just basic designs interesting ideas not just in the face but all over body and make my characters blend together on a whole also,this year ide like to try really define my style in original fashion an keep working on it,an be able to transfer my stylised characters into 3d ide like it be stylised realism prime reference for what kind of artwork I would like achieve someday is the level concept art from, the last of us being able to paint a highley realistic people an express there character through little thinks making them come to life like the way the girls legs are pushed out like a child neck craned with big smile clearly laughing­ an little appliance around like bags empty cans camp fire shows what kind of a game it is survival , but doing an making it look awesome without having to pump hours an hours into a painting rendering each think which is something I highly admire this work also reminds me of Andrew Loomis advertisement  work. Another artist in slightly different style which ide love to achieve  Wesley Burt work taken from his Kane an lynch project I really enjoyed how he can change a character just by adapting little things, which I think will be hugely important if I ever brake into the industry ­being able to get down quick sketches showing different character s just by tweaking aspects. is what I would very much like to work at this year .away from just the art side of this year ide like to become a better writer, in my blogs an self-analysis because I think that will help me all round being able to look my own work an critic better an make descions on where to go with it will help me if I have better knowledge of how to write about what I’m doing an to explain to others my thought proses so im not the only person who knows what im thinking espialy if was working with art director.

First year summary

Don’t have much bad to say about the course ive enjoyed all the aspects and thought its run very well and is hard but you can really see results throughout the class from start to end

My progress : I think my 3d skill has improved loads but I think it’s a lot easier to judge from knowing nothing to what I know now but the first couple 3d projects could literally do in half an hour now not to bragg as most people in the class I think would agree but they were very hard at the time  but I hope keep improving at the same rate.  I think my critical studies writing skills have improved , still trying to find my style of writing but I hope that will develop because I haven’t realy done much of this style of writing let alone what im interested in . I think watching the critical studies lectures had broadened my design skills because after doing my research throughout the first year I know what style of game art I want to go for rather then just bog standard realistic plain characters  I do still really like realistic games but stylised game have intrigued me a lot this year.

I personally find critical studies hard because of dyslexia I find the huge amount of links hard to take in and then rember and write about them  but I think the lectures are layed out very well quite simple we now what we’ve got to do and just get on with it I really enjoyed watching the films every week and looking at them for there artist values and direction styles and characters not just to watch a good film an assessing them in blogs I thing this helped me understand more  how development of stories work and how there shown across through media etc. films and games and I find them a lot easier to write about then some of the other tasks also what I think would be good is more game reviews maybe if we all had to write about the same game or a demo that you could have a quick go on in the labs or an internet game to see everyone’s opions not just to play on games instead of working .

I think the game production lectures are hard to follow and a lot of people feel the same but that’s what blackboards tutorials for I think maybe could be eased into 3d abit better but I think what progress everybody is how hard it is how fast it goes also the way the labs are set up is very helpful and if ever your realy stuck there’s lots of people who can help second years thirds years which for me is one of the best things about the course that if anyone gets overwhelmed or stuck all you need to do is just ask someone . I have really liked learning about 3d and has open a lot more doors and option to my original art skills and huge amount of places that I can improve on

I really enjoyed vd this year I think it’s good that were doing something different every week so cant really get bored and I thing the short week by projects are good espialy for building speed in drawings work and getting ideas down fast  which I think will help later being used to short snappy deadlines and moving very fast. The only think bad I could say about vd is not enough life models!! but I think it has improved my skills in anatomy drawings just hard to draw the same person and keep the attention span going

I think its very important to keep all the aspects of the course the desing drawings and 3d work and crit but I think the projects could integrate better and run along with each other better like when we go out to draw vehicles for example would of gone well with building them in 3d at the same time.

But overall I have enjoyed the course and am very glad I chose this course very clear to me it was the right choice  

enviroment

Environment

my concept art piece, environment design I’m starting by building mood board from great concept artist already out primarily for games i have some initial ideas of what i want to design so from the mood boards and ideas i have going round my head made a simple spider diagram getting all my ideas written down but also to help narrow down my ideas i had to think which one is least likely other people would thing of and what i know personally and to narrow down do something I know and have primary research i think with my boxing background design a boxing environment for a game would work well I think its important with this type of painting is  to no what style I’m going for and how realistic I want it so I think because it boxing and its  real thing not an abstract concept very realistic as I can get in proportion would work and maybe some stylization in the characters .


After i have the idea i looked into further mood boards primarily about boxing gyms like English gyms and American and rich an poor gyms

Thought ide try figure out the rules an boundaries around environment design and what i can figure out by looking at environment pieces before starting the piece

1)      firstly the environment pieces with characters in you can get a strong feel for what type of game it is adventure game or shooter action all different types of games but as far as i can tell what grounds an image and lets you know what type of game it is the character or characters or just civilians walking around for example or people running round with guns firing

2)      thumnailing is a big design rule for concept art you must make thumbnails instead of diving straight into a design without having any idea how the composition will work or where lights coming from and by doing several thumbnails you’ll have more interesting images to choose from an a better outcome .

3)      having a clear idea in your head and the style your going for like realistic or styilised .

4)      Reference the more reference you gather to build an image the more substance it should have espialy if you’re creating a very realistic image.

5)      knowing the the world making everything fit it together even if its not realistic keeping it real but abstract elements that fit into the surrounding because you believe in the idea of the game for example and apocalypse town with plants everywhere the people would be dirty an carry rucksacks and weapons and be dirty to help them cope with this new world where as wouldn’t make sense if everybody was walking around in tailored suits all polished and clean.

 

6)      leading on from thumbnails composition checking everything is proportions using perspective lines depending on how you’re looking at your image like this image above from a two point perspective view were looking into a scene fading away  and it looks realistic because its in proportion but also they break it up with things extruding in the scene like the trees and the van the characters are standing on .

7)      lighting having a strong lightings source or lack of one in a dark image lighting certain areas realy pull together an image and helps draw the views eyes to the most importants parts of an image.

My final outcome

I think my image came out well the mix between stylised and realistic which what I was after I think it could of done with a lot more detail thought but I was trying to paint it in a blocky way like team fortress concept art edge of simplicity but descriptive witch I think I could of needed more of also I think more lighting would of boosted the image as well I think the characters blend in well and leave a believable image