Week 2A: Concept Art, Mise En Scene & Filmmaking

15.01.18 - 21.01.18
Jason Ong Ngie Min (0324104)
Part 1: Concept Art, Mise En Scene & Filmmaking 

Lecture 

For this week's lecture, we were shown several videos regarding the blog question which is concept art and how does this process lead to filmmaking that requires handful technique and skills for movies that is CGI related which I found it interesting! 

I then discovered this video to further understand the process and behind the scenes process of concept art to enrich my knowledge, also a deeper understanding for the upcoming blog question as well. 

Later, we were asked by the lecturer to briefly read and understand the term " Mise En Scene" which basically means visual theme or telling a story in French. Mise En Scene has an expression to describe the design aspect of a theatre film in a visually artful ways through storyboarding, cinematography and stage design. 

Key Aspects for Mise En Scene 

• Set design 
• Lighting
• Space
• Composotion
• Costume 
• Make-up and hairstyle 
• Acting 
• Filmstock
• Aspect radio

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Research blog question 

Filmmaking is a craft, what are the stages involved from beginning till end and how does it differ between the live action and animated films?

Live Action

From the videos I watched and articles I read, there are seven stages in the process of filmmaking. There consist with development, pre-production, production, principal photography, wrap, post production and distribution. 

1. Development
It is the start of a particular project where a director or writer pitching an idea to a producer. The production of script, book, and a brief story outline is developed in this process. 

2. Pre-production
This is a phase where options of production is narrowed down and planning takes place before the camera rolls. Also, pre-production includes with working out with casting and selection of shoot location. 

3. Production 
The primary aim of this phase is to make sure that budget is in control and everything is in schedule. 

4. Principal Photography
Shooting begins and this phase is considered as the most expensive phase of the film production, due to actor, director, set crew salaries, etc. Communication is crucial during the shoot to remain a full set of records and remaining the proposed budget. 

5. Wrap
The end of shooting and the process of dismantling of set takes place, also making sure the set is in proper order. 

6. Post Production 
This stage starts when principle photography ends, but they may overlap. The bulk of post-production consist of reviewing the footage and assembling the movie, which is editing. 

7. Distribution 
Once everything is done, the film must be distributed in order for the producers make their money back. The film can be distributed in a variety of platforms like Amazon Prime, Netflix, HBO, etc. 

Animated Films

In contrast, animated films has it's same process as live action but requires a little more detailed process in order for it to be completed. It has three stages but broken down into 20 steps before any animated films is distributed 

a) Pre Production 
  1. Story
At this stage, the creators need to write and develop the script. This is the reference point for all the other elements involved in the production process.

  2. Storyboarding
This is where the script is broken down into scenes and drawn into panels much like a graphic novel.

  3. Editorial = Phase 1 
Once storyboards are finalized, they are sent to the editorial team who will then create an animatic out of the boards.  The reel that the editorial team creates will include the storyboard images, scratch voices, and temporary music and sound effects. It becomes the foundation of the movie.

  

  4. Visual Development 

Visual development and concept artists create what the film will actually look like including fully designing elements such as characters, environments, props, colour pallets and backgrounds. 

  5. Pre Visualisation 

Artists started to work with the script and storyboards to create the film in a 3-dimensional environment on the computer. This is the gateway to animation production and, if the time is put in so that the characters and environments are to scale, this work can often be used to go directly into animation.

b) Production 

  6. Modeling 

Modelers transform the 2D concept art into 3d models. They sculpt the characters, sets and props in 3D and refine them until the director is satisfied.

  7. Surfacing 

Artists from the surfacing department create colours, textures and shaders for the characters, props and sets. They work to ensure the textures match the approved concept art and designs. 

  8. Rigging 

Riggers build and attach skeletons to the characters. This skeleton becomes the “puppet” in resulting for the animators use to bring the characters to life. 

  9. Animation Prep

Animation Preparation are the artists who place the artwork from the other departments into the 3-dimensional environment. Also, they also do set dressing, and stereo composition, if necessary.

  10. Character Animation 

Character Animators are the actors in the animation. Their job is to figure out how to tell the story through movements and expressions. The character animators will often act out scenes via video to use as reference for their animation.

  11. Crowds

The crowds department is responsible for the “extras” in large crowd scenes in the movie. They work to create realistic looking actions for the crowd characters in the movie.

  12. Character Effects 

Character effects artists are responsible for everything that is moving on a character including clothing, hair, fur, or feathers. They also create any interactions of the character with objects. 

  13. FX 

FX artists must ensure that these details provide realism and support to the story. They are the general problem solvers who make the production work as a film.

  14. Technical Director 

Technical directors are the quiet heroes who are responsible for problem solving and troubleshooting any issues that occur in the production pipeline.

  15. Matte Painting 

The matte painting department creates everything outside of the set. They use colour keys created by the art department and models built by the modelers and create paintings that are the images that slide into the background of the animation.

  16. Lighting 

Lighting is a key element that takes the 3D elements and 2D visual development work to create the look and tone. There is a great deal of technical direction that happens in this stage.

c) Post Production

  17. Compositing 

Compositing is where additional elements are brought together with final rendered frames from lighting such as atmospheric elements.This is where the final look of a film really comes together. 

  18. Music and sound design 

Final edit must be locked before these elements are added. Changing things by a few frames will throw sound design and the score off as they work to time things to the frame.

  19. Editorial- Phase 2 (ongoing)

Whenever new animation, lighting or compositing comes in for review this is pulled into the edit by editorial. They work to keep the production in sync with the latest work so that it is as current as possible.

  20. Colour Grading 

The colour graders job is to ensure the picture is consistent throughout each sequence so there are not jarring changes in light or look.

I've made extra research in Youtube as well in regarding the question above. Also, retrieved some infos from the video that the lecturer has shown to us in class. 

References 

No Author. (n.d). The Seven Stages of Film Production. [online]. Available at: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/film-production/0/steps/12304. [Accessed on 17 January 2018].

Beck B. (2017). Animation Production: The Step-by Step Guide to Making a 3D Animated Movie. [online]. Available at : https://blog.artella.com/index.php/2017/09/21/animation-production-step-step-guide-making-3d-animated-movie/. [Accessed on 17 January 2018]. 

Film Production Stages- Five Minute Film School. (2014). [video]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5EoMcoUI2Q. [Accessed on 17 January 2018]. 

Penguins Show us the Pipeline of Dreamworks Animation Studio. (2015). [video]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CbG0d_tnSg. [Accessed on 17 January 2018].