Maya Schmaya

So I've been testing out some nurbs modeling, only basic stuff but I thought I'd post it up here anyway. Im not sure if I'll end up modeling the final in nurbs or stick with polys? Perhaps a mixture of both...who knows. Anyway heres a screen shot of some columns based on ones photographed up ye olde London town.

From left to right, original nurbs column modeled using the CV curve tool, then converted to polys and finally smoothed:

And as if that wasn't enough to blow your mind (haha) I've completed a basic model and rig of a spider we want to incorporate in our project. The model is basically the same as the one in the Tate exhibition, and from modelling it I can tell it will need developing. As you can see from the screen shot, the rig has affected the body of the creature as its started to bend at the corners. We'd either have to paint weights or change the model to give space round the joints which would save us painting weights. At this stage in the project, I'm sure we dont want to be losing time on the animation modelling when we could be working on the environment. I shall show the team my work and we can develop the design further. From doing this test I can also say without a doubt I do not wish to animate a creature with 6 legs! Im still learning a bipedal walk cycle so this is just putting unnessessary pressure on us. I would suggest the creature having no more than 4 legs. This will still allow for creative animation but not hinder the project. We will therefore need to research 4 legged walk cycles and do further testing from there. Overall a very worth while experiment and Im pleased with my findings.

There's no place liiiiiiiike Lon-DON

I was looking back through my Art of Sweeney Todd book and came across several images I think are relevant for the project. I realise I've referenced Burton before for the story boarding project in year 1, however, the dark, gothic style of London in Sweeney Todd is something useful to take reference from. The lighting in the film is also something I think we could take inspiration from/incorporate in our piece. The films use of filters which heighten the depressive, darker mood of london which is also something we should consider. The book also details some wonderful production stills that might be of some inspiration for us when designing our street/houses. Im also posting some structure models and layout drawings used in the film to visualise the GC modeling. Hopefully this will help the team when thinking of planning their model layouts for our final piece.

Photographed not screenshot (damn mac doesnt allow you to whilst DVDs playing) Nice use of blue tones tp empahsize the gothic atmosphere of the film.

Another screenshot from the film. Theres a lot of similarities to John Virtue's style here in terms of high contrast between the shadows and lit areas of the film. The environemnt does have a painted look to it even if its a little more realistic then what were aiming for.

Concept design for the streets of London. I like this image for showing the simplicity of the building shapes, we dont have to go over the top with our modelling.

Model of the court house. It was be nice if we had time to make a model of our street. Again a good example of incorporating simple designs to our buildings.
Ok I did mention simplicity but just incase anyone wants to add any further structural details such as gargoyles/busts this may be of use to you.

Some example street layouts...

I know we mentioned we were going to include any bridges but agian I think this image shows a lot of similarities to John Virtue. Good example of how effective the use of black and white is. Further examples of building plans. I like the use of fog here which makes the street lighting seem to haze through the clouds.

Smog, murky, run down, dark and dingy, related to our work? course it is!





Further examples of building gargoyles, again not sure if we will use these on our structure, but its worth considering.

Street layout drawing, again reminding me to keep it simple!

Capturing John Virtue

Not literally! i haven't been wandering round with a great big net waiting for him to walk round the corner *gotcha*

Heres some sketches I've completed trying to work the Virtue artistic style using charcoals, chalks, biro and inks:

Whilst in Barcelona, the idea was debated to introduce more animated elements into our concept. Perhaps we have shot ourselves in the foot by choosing a concept thats is dead, so we want to bring some life and narrative drive into our work. I mentioned the Tate exhibition's surveillance spiders. We then discussed if they could be wandering around and interacting with the destroyed city. We would mention this to the other group members when we returned to England and they seemed happy to incorporate it into our work. Our previous idea of a voice over of a woman phoning a loved one would leave us concentrating all our efforts into an aspect thats not going to be marked for this project: sound, hence why we decided to change direction.  These are just some initial sketches, the design needs to be finalised and research needs to begin on how spiders walk and how they are rigged. 

Im pleased with these concept sketches. I feel with a bit more experimentation, we'll certainly be able to apply this artistic style to our textures and really make the destroyed city look different then if we applied more realistic textures. I love the dark style of John Virtue and think it compliments our theme really well, it was such a good suggestion of Dans.

Harty House

Over the Easter holidays, I'd gone on a location shoot with Mr. Grigsby to a house I came across on the internet. A friend of mine had placed some photos on facebook of a house her father used to play in when he was a child. However, when they had revisited this place, they discovered the building had come under some serious wear and tear over the years. In fact its fair to say, the majority of it had collapsed and was deemed as unsafe.

Unsafe, yes i did say that, but that didn't stop me and Dan hunting out the place on the Isle of Sheppey (known for its class - NOT) and taking some photographs. This was for a music project, but the images are defiantly worth posting up on here as visual reference to a destroyed building as well as interiors which are worth considering. The lighting is something i also like in these shots which we might be able to incorporate in our own project.

All analog pictures were taken by me and the digital images by Dan on my SLR:

Shot depicts examples of rubble dotted around one of the houses' rooms

Looking above - holes, patchy ceiling but a great example of light leaks from the damaged structure

Windows - glass is shattered, only part of the windows that remain are the framework now accompanied by barbed wire to stop people getting into the house (oops)
Welcome - the scene entering the front door of the house, which literally is a welcome matt on the floor. Example of extreme ceiling damage, rubble as well as the floor which has collapsed.

Up close and personal - the layers of the walls which have started to separate from one another. Another look at the extent of the damaged floor and walls.


Good example of how the light leaks through a damaged structure, nice highlights and shadows depicted here
It was amazing to see the extent of the damage that had occurred to the building, and yet how it still remained intact in terms of differing rooms. This room in particular had lost the majority of the roof, hence the beautiful light flooding in onto the walls on the right. Structure comes complete with bear.

A closer look at the destroyed roof

Another example of a decaying room. Even after we'd left we'd caused more damage to the building as the floor caved in under mine and Dan's feet (basically where the huge hole is over by the far wall) The wallpaper emphasizes the grimy/decaying quality. This room has excellent examples of cracked walls and plaster.




I love the lighting in this shot. There's such a high contrast between the shadows and lit areas (which i find you get more of if you experiment with film rather than digital) It would be great to transfer some of the lighting from this into our final piece. When collated along with the adopted John Virtue style I feel we could have a very high quality final product which conveys our post apocalyptic theme
Here are some digital shots photographed by Dan. You do lose some of the lighting but these are great for referencing the whole of the building:

Exposed electrics, wires, taps, you name it the house literally stripped down to its bare necessities. 
A close up of the cracked plaster



Mouldy brickwork indicating the damage from the weather where damp has gotten in to the structure. Natural elements also add to the decay/modification to the structure




Exposed beams - elements that hold together the structure but are usually hidden remain the lasting features after the years of ruin
Brilliant shot for depicting the extreme state of the floors the building had. You literally had to play hop scotch to find a safe bit of flooring.

The trip to Harty House (as named by myself and Dan) was a great experience at seeing the extreme state a decaying building could get. As we didn't know the story of the building or know exactly what each of the rooms were, it was great to see the kind of stories our minds were coming up with at what could have happened here. The ambiguous nature of this place made our creative minds race ideas. Ok we were a bit naughty sneaking on in, but that's the risk we took I suppose and I don't regret it when I have a fantastic set of photographs that I can use a reference for projects like this. Hopefully these will prove beneficial in some way in terms of lighting as well as destroyed elements we can incorporate in our project.

Bar-ce-lona

We left for Barcelona at the end of week 2, returning back to England for the beginning of week 3. This was my first time to Spain so I was very excited to be visiting a new country, experiencing a new culture and taking in the surroundings. Although we only had 5 days in the city, we never stopped (apart from the odd siesta!) There was so much to see and I still don't feel I've seen half of what Barcelona has to offer. 

During my time in the city I managed to take a few photos (ok about 550 odd!) and complete some sketches of the places we visited. I found it hard to sit and sketch as we had very little time in a specific place, so it was hard to warm up sketching wise, as well as take in the environment, catalogue it and not bump into the masses of people around. However, I was pleased with what I came away with as you can see from the posted items below:

• Boqueria Market - located near the hotel, this was our first visit in Barcelona. I was overwhelmed at the sheer amount of produce in such a small space. It's as if the stalls were constructed out of there produce! There was such an amazing variety as well from sweets and chocolate to fish, spices and even a stall that just sold eggs. The smells were also quiet incredible as they lead you round the market place you knew what was coming up before you got there. When I was standing from the outside looking in on the busy market i noticed it had a glow about it, the low lighting provided a warm, friendly and inviting atmosphere which was great to be apart of (even if my foot did get run over by someone's trolley and i had the tyre mark on my skin all day to prove it!) I digress...have a look for yourselves at this fantastic environment:

these are some of my quick sketches i completed of a few stalls in the market place, i particularly like my use of line work here as i think it emphasizes the hubbub of the environment.

abundantly stocked and brightly coloured



Davy Jones' beard: i like this photo as it makes everyone screw up their face in disgust :)

Big fish, little fish...dead fish. 


Colour and abundance is what I would mainly describe the market atmosphere, most of my photographs focussed on this and Im proud of the majority of shots I was captured that day. The market certainly draws me in a customer, therefore showing how an environment works as a business. As I mentioned I have so many wonderful photos, so here are just a couple of my favorites.

• Walking around Barcelona - like any city, Barcelona has a variety of styles and classes of streets. Our hotel was located in the gothic district of the city which it made it quiet easy to get to the different areas we wished to visit. The main streets are home to more tourist places whilst the back streets provided more character in terms of dingy shops and peoples homes as these images show:

This was an advertisement we found depicting a destroyed street, very relevant to our project.

There were many examples of houses that were just inviting you to peak in. This one is relevant to our project as it looks slightly destroyed or is in the process of being redecorated.

Another "happy accident" discovery. This building was such a contrast to the other buildings around it. Had a wonderful use of mosiacs which gave it its brilliant colour. 

Alley ways would provide a lot character just by the variety of personal belongings and way home owners would decorate their balconys such as washing, flower boxes and other colourful decorations. All these add to an environment that is lived in.
The variation of lampposts to ours. Their streets would also come complete with public drinking areas, showing and environment thats provides due to its climate perhaps?
Smart, neat looking house. Barcelona has greatly uses flat painted textures to create the look of its buildings, something our group is aiming for, no maybe not this colourful for post apocalyptic!

• Temple de la Sagrada Familia - This is the last project Gaudi would ever work on, spending 40 years working on this construction before he died, and even now the structure remains incomplete. No they're not lazy, for the sheer size of the cathedral is astounding. The bell towers which reach 100 metres make this structure tower over and dominate its surroundings, its almost quite intimidating, though as if it were reaching for the heavens

The front of the cathedral is covered in squared off figures such as jesus depicted here. Not the traditional jesus on a cross, Gaudi has created his vision of a religious environment
The structure inside - again depicts an array of detailed designs yet the inside is still covered in scafolding. Its estimated that the structure wont be finished for another 60 years!

Its nice to see some colour in the structure as it seemed so pale from the outside, the stained glass gave a nice contrast. When it rains, the stone work of the cathedral changes colour and becomes darker and in the sunlight it looks bleached. This structure seems ever changing

Walking round the towers you realise its covered in graffiti which is slightly disheartning as firstly: its a place for religion, and secondly its not even complete. It seems no one will wait to scrawl their tag on the walls, not even for Gaudi

Even when you leave the cathedral, the back of the building is completely differnet from the front. Every square inch of the structure is covered in Gaudi's designs.

i couldnt believe the sheer scale of this place and the amount of structural detail and variety of design that was going into its creation. The views from the bell tower were amazing but the walk back down the stair case was another experience in its own right! It seemed never ending and when collated with the narrow towers and limited lighting, created a feeling of disorientation. Gaudi, you messed with my mind! He certainly created an environment that left a lasting impression on you.

• Down the Docks - We spent a bit of our time down at Barcelona's docks, which were again located near by the hotel. I found the location quite tranquil and it was lovely to be there at night when the water was so still it looked like glass. Although it was more of a modern structure compared to other parts of Barcelona, it was definatly a contrast the busy streets we had been walking down so felt like a place to escape and relax.

• Montserrat Monastery - This was quite a journey to get to but was defiantly worth the travel. It was nice to be away from the busy streets we'd been used to in Barcelona and as soon as you stepped off the train, the space was so open and untouched. The mountains themselves had a lot of character as they looked like faces were carved into the rocks yet were completely natural forms. We were lucky to have a nice sunny day as well which lit the surroundings in warm light emphasizing the amount of natural colour around. It seems like something out of film to have a monastery hidden away up a mountain so it was quite special to visit this environment. 

up up and away! we hopped on the cable car up to the top of the mountain. Of course you can drive up the winding roads, take the funicular railway or if you have the time and energy walk it. Again the views are spectacular, and theres a sense of being pulled away to see the vast scope of this natural area.

The courtyard leading to the monestry. Again depicting the use of flat painted textures yet which give the buildings a beautiful detail
The mix of textures gave a rich variety to the buldings with a mixture of natural stone and painted.

I went off on my own to have a further wander round the area and found a section devoted to prayer. The area ran round the back of the monastery and was a narrow winding tunnel filled with colourful candles. You could pay to have a candle lit and placed amongst the others. As with the monastery, it was very quiet, a place for reflection. Im not religious in the slightest but the abundance of candles created a warm atmosphere which made me feel safe and protected.  The place was very beautiful, calm and tranquil. I feel very privileged to have seen this part of the trip as no one else seemed to have found it when I asked.

Here are my sketches i completed in the monastery. It was a shame that you weren't allowed to take photos but obviously i respect the reasoning behind this. Again, the place was beautiful with an array of bronze lamps and tapestry like backgrounds. Like the candle lit pathways, the monastery was quiet, a place for reflection. I always get a cold feeling when Im in churches which i find quite spooky, as if there's more than what you see present.

• La Pedrera - This is last project Gaudi completed before he spending his remaining years on the Segrada Familia (incidently what killed the so called creative genius who i reckon was verging on madness was a humble tram) This apartment block is open for public viewing 

Gaudi is no stranger to colour, texture, pattern and shape. He's expressive and bold in his design, making his creations unique and extrodinary to view. Spot the bear by the way :)
Upstairs, the attic acts like the brain of Gaudi, holding a catalogue of his inspirations from tortoiuse shells to corn on the cobs. It seems there are no limits to what you can be inspired by in order to create an original environment.
The roof top is another splendor in its own right. The contrast of orange stone against the blue summer sky we were fortunate to have created another worldly look. The sculptures dotted around were ambiguous yet the use of pattern created interesting highlights and shadows to these three dimensional forms (p.s I don't know who this man is, but he seemed to stay there posing!)

The roof top itself was not a flat plane either. Stairs led you up and down around the area making you see each of the sculptures from a variety of different heights and angles. Again, Gaudi seems be a true architect in terms of making you experience what you are seeing, he seems to consider every possibility. The 


Stone mosiacs also covered some of the statues dotted around the roof top, again giving interesting shadows and highlights. The mix of textures and colours gave a very Mediterranean feel to this part of the environment. 
Inside the apartment. One of the apartments is open to public viewing. I was surprised to see how traditional the setting was compared to the rest of the contemporary structure. This setting had beautiful daylight flooding through and it seemed homely and classy. 



On our way out - its unfortunate we couldnt go visit the Casa Batllo but when approaching, it was clear we were in the presence of another fantastic example of Gaudi's work. The roof of this building is styled to look like a dragons back with the colourful tiles representing the scales and points. Its a great example of how a building can take on another form, indeed the persona of a character: an environment can be so much more than a building.

I have enjoyed my time in Barcelona. We managed to see all that we had set out to do yet there still seemed so much more of the city we hadn't fully discovered. If I get the opportunity to return here, I would like to learn more about Gaudi as he seemed a crazed genius in my opinion. I love the way he has no limitations and builds what is his vision. The fact his cathedral is still being built years after his death is a credit to how respected an artist/architect he is. I would also visit the monastery again as i felt i didn't have enough time to take in all the splendor. I would say this is true of a lot of the visits we did, 4 days really isn't enough to take in the atmosphere of each environment. It was difficult to sketch, photograph and take in the new surroundings, not to mention how tiring each day was due to how much walking we did (i am after all only blessed with tree stumps for legs and usually drive a smaller car to a bigger car to get around) However, I had a brilliant time taking the colourful atmosphere, experiencing the culture and broadening my mind to new creative concepts and ideas. Im very fortunate to have had the opportunity to go on this trip.