1. Growing Up Sux

   1. Jennifer Kwang, Melody Ting, Ricardo Tucker, Sam Stark
   2. 5/3/17

2. Abstract

   The goal of this project was to create a short film with every shot being a fully realized image created by the group. The result is a short film referencing the joys and creativity of childhood while comparing it to the struggles of adulthood.

3. Objectives

   Our goal for this project was to create a story that played on nostalgia and a kid’s misconception of adulthood. Our group found it funny how a child so often wants to grow up to be an adult, while an adult is envying the child’s position themselves. This resulted in a simple, quick story where a child travels to the future so they can be an adult themselves, only to find themselves in an office cubicle.

4. Implementation

   Our story led us to think about child pop-up/sliding books. We really enjoyed the look and texture of simple construction paper scenes that begin to be layered to create a sense of depth that would otherwise not be there. Effects were added in post to create page turning effects and so that the book opens to the scenes.

5. Outcomes

   1. Successes – Every shot is created based on the team’s artistic vision, no pre-fabricated objects were used for visuals. All motion was visual and works with the aesthetic of the video.
   2. Failures – Timeline of project became overextended due to intense craft in each scene. Bottle neck work flow made it difficult to proceed at times and to create a multitude of scenes.

6. Contribution

   1. Jen Kwang – Space craft design, Origami Space Backdrop, set construction, film/puppetry
   2. Melody Ting – Story board, concept art, illustrator drawings, set construction, film/puppetry
   3. Ricardo Tucker – Sound sourcing, set construction, film/puppetry, editing
   4. Sam Stark – Sound sourcing, illustrator/rhino3d drawings, laser cutting, film/puppetry
7. Photo Documentation
   

   Sketch/Concept Art

   

   Sketch/Concept Art

   

   Illustrator layout

   

   Character pieces cut out

   

   Hand cut spaceships/crafts

   

   Scene assembly

   

   Preliminary scene layout.

   

   Rough shot of first scene

   

   Camera setup

   

   Camera Setup

   
   
   

8. Citations

   All sound used in project was either created by the group or found on Freesound.org: http://freesound.org/

Drive Link to Download Video

Project Title: Y0R1CK

Andrew Chang, Maddie Duque, Nitesh Sridhar, Sydney Ayers

Submission Date: 5/3/2017

Abstract:

Our goal was to tell a story capturing a cyberpunk aesthetic using older scrap electronics and colorful futuristic lighting.  The film takes place in a cyberpunk future, following the main character of a skeleton hand which becomes animated by electronic detritus.  The hand escapes the garbage and begins to infect a skull with its technology virus.

Objectives:

Our main goal was to capture a dark and dystopian-futuristic  aesthetic sensibility without creating something overly serious. We also wanted to continue using cheap, easy to make props and filming tricks that used the low-budget look of our props to their best advantage.

The colors of our scenes and the look of our robotic glove prop add to the cyberpunk sensibilities of the film while still leaning into the grungy look of electronic waste. Additionally the ending nod to Shakespeare helps position the film in a more comedic light. The sound effects and music helped accentuate both the idea of robotic sci-fi and cyberpunk.

Implementation:
We started by picking our aesthetic and coming up with an overall color scheme involving more intense blues, reds, and purples.

The first prop made was the robotic glove which was created using scrap old electronic parts including ribbon cables and pieces of an old computer mouse. The glove was then populated with several small colored LEDs that flickered and turned on at different points, giving the glove a glitchy but functional look.

Our other major prop was the skeleton hand in conjunction with a gelatine hand mold. By taking the mold and covering parts of the skeleton hand with it, we were able to get a grisly look, and melting the gelatine with a heat gun created even more visceral movement. Additionally, by filming a shot of us puppeting the skeleton hand out of a pile of electronic debris and playing it in reverse we were able to suggest the idea of the debris coming to life and pulling the hand underneath.

Outcomes:

• Successes – Achieving our original vision for an otherworldly “junkheap” aesthetic. Making the robot hand metamorphosis from organic to electronic very visceral feeling.
• Failures – Some trouble with the jello, so the hand could look less “skeletal”. Some footage ended up being underexposed.

Contribution:

• Andrew – Props – Acquired the Skeleton Hand and Skull and helped disassemble our old electronics so they could be attached onto the robotic glove. He also assembled gobo with light gels and worked with the skull to puppet it.
• Maddie – Project Manager and Editor – Helped keep group focused on direction of the movie and keep our narrative and aesthetic moving forward. Also edited our footage in Adobe Premiere and wove in the music and sound effects.
• Nitesh – Sound Design and General Lighting – Created music using GarageBand and edited sound effects to match the scenes we filmed. He also set up the lighting for most of our shots including gels and filters.
• Sydney – Hand Model and Electronics – Wore the robotic glove in most of our scenes and actuated the fingers. Additionally wired up LEDs to give the illusion that portions of the hand could function.  She was also instrumental in creating the hand mold for the gelatine hand prop.
• We all worked together on acquiring old electronics, determining the plot, narrative, and aesthetics of the movie, and working with the gelatine mold to use in the film.

Citations:

Please provide references or links to related work.
– Tetsuo: The Iron Man – Film by Shinya Tsukamoto
– Ghost in the Shell – Series by Masamune Shirow
– “Mayday” – Song by Osamu Sato
– Serial Experiments Lain OST  – Soundtrack by Reichi “Chabo” Nakaido

Photo Documentation:

First articulation of robot hand!

Skull wired up with lights and ribbon cable and ready to be puppeted

Original look of the skeleton hand within the gelatine mold

Nitesh becoming the mold for the gelatine hand

Sydney actuating and puppeting robotic glove to make it leave is trash bag

Lighting set up and Maddie zooming in on robotic glove in the trash

Authors: Haobo Wang, Katherine Wang, Rebecca Marcus, and Xavier Apostol

Submission Date: May 3, 2017

Abstract:

• Our final project took the form of animation. Using stagnant images of slime texture we created, we cut out “characters” and animated them over a physical environment. Through the  development of a “slime society”, we aimed to recreate some of the power-structure problems evident in history and in today’s world.

Objectives:

• The main goal was to recreate some world issues concerning power (i.e. – one community wanting the entirety of a good/resource without regarding the effects on other communities).
• We knew the initial tone of the video would feel light-hearted as our main characters were slimes. We aimed to combat this by creating darker toned audio.

Implementation:

• In order to achieve these goals, we decided to animate over a physical set. Animating our characters would give us the most control over their movement/emotions – we could continue to make adjustments on the fly. Additionally, adding these animations on top of a physical background would allow for more depth.
• Filming: we used the standard Sony a6000 with a Laowa Macro Lens. The lens allowed us to get more depth with our 4×5 ft. set.
• Physical Props/Set:
• Audio: using Garage Band, we were able to manipulate folly sounds, mainly developed through mouth, into monstrous roars and screams.

Outcomes:

• Success: As a group, we did a  good job at creating a light, yet serious atmosphere. Additionally, the animation of our characters came out pretty good. Animation was not a strong fit for any of us, but we learned a lot through practice.
• Failure: Although you can follow the general outline of the story, some shots disrupt the flow. This is due to the complex nature of the environment (i.e. – animations over a physical environment). Our initial plan was to film more scenes that involved camera movement, however, it was difficult for us to stabilize our animated slimes onto the background. Due to the lacking camera movement in the final video, we found that we lost some clarity for the direction in which slimes were traveling, the layout of the set and how the slimes operated within it, etc. If one of us had more experience with After Effects and general animation, this wouldn’t have been as much of a problem.

Contribution:

• Story: Haobo Wang, Katherine Wang, Rebecca Marcus, Xavier Apostol
• Set Design: Katherine Wang and Rebecca Marcus
• Videographer: Xavier Apostol
• Slime Animation: Katherine Wang
• Footage Compositing/Editing: Xavier Apostol
• Sound Production: Haobo Wang
• Sound Design/Editing: Rebecca Marcus
• Final Edits: Katherine Wang, Rebecca Marcus, Xavier Apostol

Photo Documentation:

Citations:

• Rumbling Sound Effect (Creative Commons)
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqBJatlDoS0
• Explosion Sound Effect (Creative Commons)
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FaSDt94cEY

Related Works:

• Neighbours – Norman McLaren (1952)
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YAYGi8rQag

People: John Choi, Paul Calhoun, Toya Rosuello, Justin Abel, Samuel Day

Submission Date: May 4, 2017

Abstract

Our final project takes the form of a short film that reveals a shocking yet comedic potential past where large scale food corporations and government military involvement have gone too far. In a remote government research laboratory in the Appalachian Mountains, a pair of mysterious hands are shown attempting to create a hamburger to completely sustain a human lifespan. Instead, their culinary work produces a highly radioactive burger that will shake society to its core. A loose rat discovers the contaminated specimen and the transformation begins. What once was a small innocent test rat in the government facility is now a colossal, confused monster that wreaks havoc on the nearby city. Government officials act quickly and unleash an equally sized robot to take down the giant rat. What follows is a humorous and destructive battle sequence that ends in an unexpected twist that leaves the audience thinking even after the credits roll.

• Provide a brief paragraph summarizing the overall goals and results.

1. 1. 1. Goal: Production of a B-movie style monster movie in the approximate type of Star Warp’d (heavily reference laden homage with personal touches based on the medium – Claymation for Star Warp’d, and Small Studio live filming for us)
      2. Result: Somewhat mixed, as the tone became unclear.  We unfortunately may have been more influenced by outside factors than was optimal and so the tone shifted depending on where in the process those influences occurred.  Our references are also obscure due to none of team being conversant both in comedic writing and contemporary references.

• Discuss what specific features are within scope for the project.

Our team’s goal was to produce a cheesy giant monster fight film reminiscent of the Japanese and American giant monster movie genre of the 1950s-1960s. We accomplished our objectives with the following features:

1. 1. 1. Lab Scene introduces the origin of the Giant Rat Monster, where a lab rat eats an experimental hamburger containing lots of unknown chemicals designed by secretive food scientists, subsequently transforming into a giant monster rat.
      2. Fight Scene introduces the transformed giant monster rat attacking the city, destroying buildings and cars. Also introduces a giant robot commissioned by the military to destroy the giant rat. The giant rat and giant robot engage in a duel of epic proportions.
      3. The boardroom scenes shows council of powerful government officials decrying the outright silliness of it all, arguing about where everything is going, before subsequently being destroyed by the giant rat.

• Implementation

In order to create the illusion of a laboratory for the opening scene, the actors wore blue rubber gloves as they “assembled” the burger on top of an aluminium foil sheet. A toy rat was used as a puppet to represent the original rat before it became giant. For the city set, we built a foreground made of laser-cut cardboard buildings and cars. These were made in a scale relative to the rat and robot costumes we used. The buildings created a forced perspective that made the characters seem larger than they are. Most filming was done against a green screen (or blue wall) to facilitate keying in post-production. The boardroom scene was filmed in a meeting room on campus with each of the actors wearing business attire.

• Discuss your design choices.

    An overall vintage style was used as a baseline for design decisions. This was not necessarily a singular vision but an intended plethora of film references and genres merged to create a film of its own. Accepting the look of cheap materials like cardboard and campy costumes generated the style, merging 3D and 2D styles as well (costume characters vs cardboard cutouts). The design choices overall were inconsistent, but the urge to pay homage to “the campy classics” through pure absurdity by design, such Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla or Mothra, remained intact.

• Outcomes

The outcome of this project resulted in a visual experiment of film references more than clearly structured narrative. The story itself became a nonsensical attribute to the overall campiness of the project, with a variety of influences and ideas clashing together. Most importantly, more humor should have been added to help detract from the narrative itself, helping the viewer simply enjoy the ride rather than over analyze intent.

• Discuss the successes and failures of your choices.

1. 1. 1. Successes: Our choice to film using a rubber rat and a hamburger in the lab scenes was quite effective in any of our progressive tones (going from B-movie homage to tongue-in-cheek to outright comedy).  The dialogue works on some levels, as do the edits to the footage of the costumed character fight.  The boardroom scene is similarly flexible and so worked no matter what our tone by the expedient of redubbing (since it was too dark to see any lips).  In the end the cardboard city was a success though difficult to key.

• Failures: The fight scene was made specifically for a serious B-movie type tone, and so when we were pushed towards a less serious tone we had to do a lot of work which may not have been overly effective in shifting the tone.  In addition, the tone changed after a lot of scripting had been done, so there were only so many jokes that could be added.  Our scriptwriter is strongest in surreal, slapstick, and Mark Twain style monologues, so snappy reference-based humor with enough low tones to keep a casual audience engaged was a challenge given that the monster scenes could not be re-filmed to heighten the parody (ex. slapfights, strange objects entering and leaving, monsters going off for a break on camera, and other amusing asides, including a scene in which we tell the editor to ‘watch the lip sync’ followed by a pair of oversized rubber lips slowly sinking into a pool of water in both a reference to Freakazoid and visual humor).

• Contribution

Set Design

• City – John Choi
• Lab – Paul Calhoun, John Choi
• Boardroom – Justin Abel, Sam Day

Post-Production – Toya Rosuello, Paul Calhoun, Justin Abel

• Audio
  • Procurement: John Choi, Paul Calhoun
  • Mixing – Justin Abel, Paul Calhoun
• Scenery
  • John Choi
• Fight Scene
  • Toya Rosuello, John Choi, Paul Calhoun
• Hamburger Scene
  • Justin Abel, Paul Calhoun
• Boardroom
  • Paul Calhoun

Animation – Sam Day

Script – Paul Calhoun

Actors

• General – John Choi
• Advisor – Paul Calhoun
• Councillors  – John Choi, Paul Calhoun, Toya Rosuello, Justin Abel
• Radio Announcer – John Choi
• Narrator – Paul Calhoun
• Fight commentators – Paul Calhoun, John Choi
• Robot – John Choi
• Giant Rat – Paul Calhoun

• Citations

• US Office of War Information Music (Public Domain)

1. 1. 1. 1. Troop Train, 1943 https://archive.org/details/TroopTra1943
         2. Wartime Nutrition, 1943 https://archive.org/details/WartimeN1943

• Freesound.org: http://freesound.org/

1. 1. 1. 1. Mecha from user Syna-Max http://freesound.org/people/Syna-Max/sounds/54984/
         2. Monster from user Sea Fury http://freesound.org/people/Sea%20Fury/sounds/48674/
         3. Robot destruction from user nsstudios https://www.freesound.org/people/nsstudios/sounds/321107/download/321107__nsstudios__robot-or-machine-destroy.wav
         4. Shockwave explosion from user benjaminharveydesign https://www.freesound.org/people/benjaminharveydesign/sounds/366091/download/366091__benjaminharveydesign__huge-explosion-part-1-shockwave.aiff

• Pixabay Backgrounds (Licensed CC0): https://pixabay.com/

1. 1. 1. 1. Cityscape from user muellers https://pixabay.com/en/pittsburgh-bridge-cityscape-yellow-477768/
         2. Cityscape from user muellers  https://pixabay.com/en/pittsburgh-cityscape-bridge-477769/
         3. Cityscape from user Roselie https://pixabay.com/en/america-pittsburgh-bridge-holiday-2053302/

• Detonation Films (Royalty free):

• Free explosion effects: https://www.detonationfilms.com/

• Incompetech.com (purchased rights)

1. 1. 1. 1. Pippin the Hunchback https://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/mp3-royaltyfree/Pippin%20the%20Hunchback.mp3

• YouTube (royalty free and creative commons)

1. 1. 1. Boxing bell https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI1sE70qrKU
      2. Crashes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qms2piYk5uQ
      3. Explosions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Yh-f_i9BTo
      4. City Ambience https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYDz1-CXhFc
      5. Footsteps https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5lUCUwPmaQ
      6. Missile Launch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGgvuDyIm6g
      7. Fireworks 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EF8G1VdKCCg
      8. Fireworks 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mB0bDgCirnY
      9. Blasters and Lasers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ve3onyNifVw
      10. Laser https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuOc3wQB4Aw
      11. Sci Fi Ray Gun https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9DnXEGDGj4
      12. Geiger Counter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BVckjdZlK4
      13. Neon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8H47JD476sY
      14. Hum https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpa4KKQddWw
   2. Piper: Augustin von Moersperg

• Please provide references or links to related work.

1. Star Warp’d Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoF74ikT6_Y
2. Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla (1974): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dafz_dW2bY
3. Invasion Day, CG Short Film (2016): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qO7Hniz3e4

1. From 1 to 5, how much do you agree with this statement: “I believe that my partners contributed fairly to the workload of the project.”
2. From 1 to 5: “I believe that my partners and I communicated effectively over the course of the project.”
3. In a sentence or two: What could you do to improve the effectiveness of this collaboration?

Please use the following 5-point scale for the Likert queries:

1. Strongly Disagree
2. Disagree
3. Neither Agree or Disagree
4. Agree
5. Strongly Agree

1. Video. Please embed the video directly at the top of the page, then follow it with the text. Please make sure you provide us with a downloadable final video file using a H.264 codec, square pixels (e.g. 1920×1080), at around 15 mbps. You may bring it to us on a hard drive or via a download URL.

2. Project Title

   1. Authors..
   2. Submission Date

3. Abstract

   Provide a brief paragraph summarizing the overall goals and results.

4. Objectives

   State your goals, and discuss what specific features are within scope for the project.

5. Implementation

   Discuss your design choices.

6. Outcomes

   Discuss the successes and failures of your choices.

7. Contribution

   Please provide a clear statement of each author’s individual contribution to the outcomes.

8. Photo Documentation
   Provide captioned photos which highlight notable elements of production process . Please consider the purpose of each photo and write a caption which helps the reader understand your intent.

9. Citations

   Please provide references or links to related work.

A very rough draft of our final video. The final video will be about 5 minutes – cleaning up some animated scenes.

Note: The quality of the rough draft may be low, in order to save space for the final.

Key tests on shots so far