A drive through the uncanny valley.

So as I'm sure most of you are aware, there exists a pocket in the creation of cg elements known as the uncanny valley. The best way to describe it is through pictures so take a look at the image below and try to remember what your initial sensory response was.

It's kinda weird isn't it? It's hard to put your finger on what exactly it is about this picture that sets your senses screaming, but whatever it is it's certainly doing a good job. I'm sure others have posted about the uncanny valley before, but seeing as the new fast and furious movie had to have a CG Paul Walker inserted into many of the final film's shots I thought it might be worth it to have a gander at what the modern approach to avoiding the uncanny valley is.
Below are a few shots featuring the Faux Walker:

Fast and Furious 7 was very nearly finished with production before Paul Walker passed away. The studio had already invested too much money in the film so they hired Weta workshop to create a photorealistic CGI duplicate of Paul and use that instead of cutting major scenes. It's a little unsettling knowing that the character you're looking at is not only fake, but also modeled after someone who tragically died during filming.

You can find all of the shots with the Faux Walker in this gallery: http://imgur.com/a/EGj5r also the variety article they linked is a really interesting read if you're at all into VFX. Many of the shots look pretty true to life but there are certainly a few in there that set my uncanny senses off. Have a look and see what you think!

I, Robot

What I really loved about I, Robot was the realistic animation.  Because the robots were made in the image of a human, many of their components look like muscles and human-features.  It's amazing how the animators took the basic structure of the human anatomy and made it robotic, but still organic in a way.  I love watching how the robots move and how they interact with humans throughout the movie.  The real-life aspect of the animation keeps the viewer interested.

Inception

 Inception the movie is one of the most mind bending movies in are life time using dreams and different dimensions  Christopher Nolan used little computer-generated imagery, preferring practical effects whenever possible. Nolan said, "It's always very important to me to do as much as possible in-camera, and then, if necessary, computer graphics are very useful to build on or enhance what you have achieved physically."Paul Franklin visual effects supervisor built a small mountain fortress set and then blew it up for the film. For the fight scene that takes place in zero gravity, he used CGI effects to subtly bend elements like physics, space and time." By creating real models of the cityscapes and the water flowing through the buildings made the special effects have more depth and look more realistic. 

I Can't Think Of Anything Clever

So I was going to think of a clever title, but I got nothing, so here it goes:

I'm going to write about the new Transformers Age Of Extinction trailer that was unveiled during the Super Bowl. To start off I started tearing when I saw it because I love these movies and it looked incredible. So let us begin.

Watching this trailer really made me open my eyes. Now, I know that I wasn't exactly able to pin point specific effects that will be used in class, however, I was able to catch a lot of cool effects in general. The way that the trailer was made utilized a ton of different effects. The use of explosions and particles were made great. Granted the Transformers are always done with such high quality that the amount of detail that is put into them is probably out of this world.

If I relate this post to my last two, I can most definitely imagine that the Transformers movies take much more computing power and many more computers in render farms to create this movie. They are both long movies and EXTREMELY high resolution. Especially with the detail, like I stated above. If you want to watch the trailer, it is right here. If you are as impressed as I am with how this trailer makes the movie look, I am pretty sure no one will be anything less than impressed.

Life of Hulk

In great action movies, such as The Avengers, the effects are larger than life (EX: The Hulk). Have you ever wondered how they make these monsters look so realistic, and how they create a whole location and make it seem real? Through the advancement of technology, CGI characters are broke down to the skeleton, making the creations more believable than ever before. Also, cities and oceans are now just painted on in Post-Production as Green/Blue Screen has become a highly valued location.

In both The Avengers and Life of Pi CGI work is used for more than making an animation, but rather bring a new world, and its creatures in it, alive.

 

 

Lights, Camera,Spinifex!

Spinifex brings motion graphics to a new level by creating graphics at a scale that is larger than life. Ranging from Olympic opening ceremonies to "MOVIE" experiences, Spinifex truly puts entertainment in a different perspective. The team uses their environment around them as a canvas for breath taking designs and incorporate performers to dance across their artwork. Spinifex proves that art is a action, not just an object. 

"Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony" 

"How to Train a Dragon"

"Dr. Who Live Light Show" Sydney Custom house

"Lighting of the Sails" 

"Vivid Festival 2013"

To check out more of their amazing work, go to www.spinifexgroup.com

RWBY "RED" Trailer

RWBY is a new animated web series by Roosterteeth. This is the first trailer promoting the series and has received positive acclaim on the web. The aesthetic at first glance appears to be in the 2D anime style but in reality is rendered in three dimensions giving it a videogame-like quality. Roosterteeth is best known for their decade old machinima series Red vs. Blue and has since then become more and more action oriented in their productions. Also, GUN SCYTHES.

Walking Dead Season 2 Finale

First off, I'd just like to point out how incredible of a show the Walking Dead is... if you haven't started watching it, you're doing yourself a disservice. It is an incredible story of survival from the viewpoints of many diverse characters. Nearly every episode someone is faced with an incredibly difficult situation or mind crippling decision. It causes you to think about life and humanity, and what those high-concepts truly mean. I just finished season 2 and the finale was nothing short of a masterpiece. It begins with everyone's life in jeopardy as a horde of Walkers (the shows pet name for zombies) breaks through the defenses of the farm which the survivors have taken refuge in. From that point; the onslaught begins. The survivors desperately hold down their position, using cars as their cavalry and the farm as their castle. During these gruesome scenes it is easy to see that After Effects was used to simulate the gunshots and the bloody display of projectile brains. Beyond the makeup and acting ability, it seemed relatively simple to replicate using the tools we've learned (i.e. motion tracking, masking, and utilizing layers). The effects were incredibly realistic and made for some really brutal and horrific shots. During the course of the episode, many beloved characters are lost, either to the zombies or separated from the group, and the feeling of desperation skyrockets for the viewer. To add to the drama, some of the characters begin to change their dispositions; from friendly, heroic and righteous to borderline evil. The show definitely makes use of filters through After Effects. In several scenes they use fire to destroy zombies, and in another they sit around a campfire and and discuss their plans. In both scenes you can tell that the actors are not actually in front of fires, but rather they are using filters in After Effects to give the viewer the impression that it is night, and they use special lighting and glow effects to enhance the illusion. In reality, fires would cause too much brightness and would ruin the shot due to the intensity of the light. The closing shot of the episode reveals a fortress in the distance, foreshadowing the plot of the next season. It too appears to have been created using After Effects by superimposing it onto the final frames of the shot; leaving us viewers with a wild cliffhanger. I am incredibly excited to begin the next season, and follow it each week. For anyone who hasn't seen it yet, the first two seasons are on Netflix and I highly recommend them to anyone who claims to be an avid fan of sci-fi, drama, action, or horror.

JP Heroux