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Week 12 – Virtual Preproduction for Se7en

Week 12 – Virtual Preproduction for Se7en

PREPRODUCTION WORKS

This week, Shera came up with a color palette to use for the overall visualization. This palette is designed specific for the se7en script but she’s working on a a broader general color palette with variations that we can use for different scenes or scripts. 

The team worked on coming up with a list of story and detail elements. Arnav worked on creating 3D models for them along with textures that are at a level sufficient to identify and provide visual detail. We found when trying to block out shots, a plane with 2 characters didn’t make for a very compelling visualization and it helped to have elements like electric towers (as mentioned in the script) and visual interest elements like cacti that can help with framing and giving a sense of space. Going forward, we’re going to try making a stylized shader that gives a sketch like quality to the overall visualization. At the same time, Varun is working on character model topology modification for better deformation.

Story Elements:

Detail Elements:

Meanwhile, Angela finished the first draft of shot list for the sequence to give a general idea of shot number and key shots. The main idea of all the cinematography choices is to address the power change between the characters. To approach this, she made some decisions like:

  • Divide the sequence into 4 smaller “acts” and the shot styles distinctly vary in different acts;
  • Use closer shot size to address main characters, which should be Mills and Doe – since the sequence is mostly about the power twist between these two guys;
  • Use the switching between high angle shots and low angle shots to show the power difference;
  • When characters are struggling, the camera should be moving; when characters are making decisions (Mills decided to kill Doe), the camera should be static.

TOOL DEVELOPMENT

As for tool development, Kevin started developing the Depth of Filed feature in the camera system. Here is the demo video:

The new feature bring new possibilities to the shots in which we can show dynamic space and experience more interesting shot design like racking focus. The feature will be used in our new script.

The new episode coming soon…