Extra Credit: Lighting a Scene in Maya

1 Point:

2 Point:

3 Point:

I tried what I could but I couldn't really figure out how to get three point light to work, even after I watched the tutorials.

Building a Scene in Maya

Special Effects in Animation and Live-Action

My first two term paper scores were 88 and 90; I will not be writing a third term paper.

Special Effects in Animation and Live-Action

Introduction:

I will be looking into the differences of how streams of lava are used as a visual effect in live action film versus in an animate film. The films that I will be comparing there usage and representation of lava flow between the films Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith versus The Incredibles. I will be comparing them for believability and usage versus to that of actual flows of lava.

Body Paragraphs:

First body paragraph: Star Wars Episode III

Compare certain properties of lava shown in film versus actual lava:

- Color

- Flow

- Overall feel

Explore possibilities as to why was created to be that way

How does having the lava shown this way benefit the film? Does it add to the intensity of the sequence? Was it supposed to evoke a certain kind of emotion?

Second body paragraph: The Incredibles

Compare certain properties of lava shown in film versus actual lava:

- Color

- Flow

- Overall feel

Explore possibilities as to why was created to be that way

How does having the lava shown this way benefit the film? Does it add to the intensity of the sequence? Was it supposed to evoke a certain kind of emotion?

Conclusion:

Lava flow and other special effects in films can be used to add feeling to the scene that the effect is taken from.

Stop-Motion Character Animation

For this video, I shot this using kneaded eraser, my phone camera, my mic stand, and lots of tape. I used the mic stand and tape to make a kind of DIY tripod for my phone so that I could keep it there for the most part in a relatively similar shot. The reason being for using kneaded eraser for my character is that, kneaded eraser can keep its form very well and also has a bit of a stick to it, animating movement is not as difficult as it would seem. I wasn't entirely sure what I wanted my character to be doing, so I kind of just looked right in front of me and thought that it'd be fun if my character discovered that it had the power to make things disappear and then proceeded to clean my cluttered desk. For this animation I decided to take a direct approach and decided to animate this straight ahead, allowing me flexibility to play with my character as I saw fit.