Bye bye, until next time

     Well, it is finally that dreaded time again, saying goodbye. Having finished everything, I'm putting it all in a Google Drive for higher quality preserving, which you can access here. Organization is good, which is why I put all components there. Having finished the project still has me wanting to do more, as I still have ideas I can implement, and things to brush up on. Even if I don't resubmit, which I doubt I even can, I'll still save it for the future, and include it in a future portfolio. Either way, here is some more organized links.

Google Drive (includes Instagram, short film, and postcard)

            Front of postcard teehee

            Back of card teehee x2

Instagram:

Wrapping up with inspiration part 1/?

    Things are slowly coming to an end, and while I am still not done, I did watch something that gave me a lot more to reflect on. While it can be counterproductive to get inspiration when wrapping up a project, I have been doing what I can to keep it from affecting me. 

    Either way, I watched Jujutsu Kaisen 0, which gave me a lot of ideas and inspiration in terms of animation work. The movie looks spectacular, not just the animation, but the effects as well, as is the case with anything MAPPA makes. Much like the show (that I have only watched clips and like three episodes of), there was no compromising in animation, as there wasn't really a time limit as much as with serialized releases seen in the first season of the sequel(?). It works well as a prequel, as it embodies a lot of the same charm of the series, condensing it into a single experience. While good for animation, I felt like it hindered the storytelling. Although the pacing was good, I found that I wasn't really invested, and a lot of what the series conveyed either felt bland, or wasn't developed enough to get me invested in it. 

Jujustu Kaisen 0, which deals with the prequel story of Yuta, has again been blessed by MAPPA's dedicated animators. Reception in both Japan and the US were good, as it earned 1st and 2nd box office placement for each respective country. I enjoyed it a lot, and you could too lol

    

    I also watched Thermae Romae Novae, another anime series that also gave me some inspiration. Although it wasn't as visually appealing as Jujutsu Kaisen 0, it still had a charm to it. At the end of every episode, the author of the original manga visits a hot spring that served as inspiration to her. She also makes a drawing relating to the place she visits. The series itself is also a lot simpler, with the plot being fairly redundant, but I still enjoyed it, as every so often I found new or interesting information regarding Ancient Roman and Japanese culture. After watching it, I thought of how having a simpler story doesn't mean bad, as some people can still enjoy it, reinforcing my previous ideas of having a simple story. 

Thermae Romae Novae is a simpler series, that still has it's own charm. I enjoyed quite a lot of it, as it felt sufficiently informational, while still adding humor and interesting visuals.

    Aside from this, I worked on more of my own ideas, streamlining them to my hearts content, even if I never make anything of them. I like watching any sort of content, as I always find something to appreciate or learn from.

More copyright work

     Copyright, who doesn't love it? Everyone should be the answer, except for greedy people. Anyways. I'm again finding ways to work around copyright by showing one specific example I've followed trying to use copyrighted music, that isn't as enforced compared to other songs out there. Some music that has recently being quite a battleground for content creators is the Minecraft soundtrack. Not only is it popular, but many streamers and video makers use YouTube to publish, which has allowed some people to steal content ID, even though this goes against YouTube's terms of service.

    Outlined in not only Minecraft's official page here, but also in Daniel's official website here; the Minecraft soundtrack is very much free to use, so long as it's kept as background music, and other content is made to go over it. There's been many times YouTuber's have used the music to play in the background of their streams, or even played the game and still got content ID by fake companies trying to steal money. To make sure the same doesn't happen to me, I researched a bit more, and even emailed Daniel's agent, which he suggests on his own website.

An email prompt on Daniel's website. Simple and effective we'll see if it works or if he's busy teehee

    It feels pretty nice to reach out in a casual way, and learn about something one of my favorite composers likely has had to deal with constantly. Either way, bye bye!

The dread of every project: Copyright

     One of the most annoying things any creator has had to deal with is copyright. Things are always messy, and even after years of streamlining it is far from perfect. Even if you are given permission to use a work by the copyright holder, a company, or even an individual can swoop in and steal profits or even take down your project. To put it simply, it's complicated, especially when debated in courts, and even across countries. 

    In general, a copyright law is just a protection over a work you've made, entitling that you own any original work you make, whether it's published or unpublished. One type of work, relating precisely to media, is what makes this so much more complicated, music. Although an artist can create music and generally own it, depending on the deal they have with a record label, they may or may not hold the copyright to it.

    Aside from this basic principle, there also exists free use and attributions. Some licenses allow you to use a work freely, so long as the original author is credited, and you don't edit the original; while other uses require the work to not be monetized. Free use laws also fall under this, as they allow you to freely use a copyrighted work so long as you do not claim it as yours, and add your own creative input to warrant its use. Having learned about this in class and by reading terms of service for models and YouTube, things certainly don't seem at all complicated, as just reading a bit helps unsure fair use. However, social media and services convolute everything. 

    One such example is in YouTube, where even if a work (more typically songs) fall under fair use, you can still receive copyright strikes, and have your channel deleted, as YouTube doesn't follow copyright laws, but it's own policies that prevent content stealing. This has happened with movie and show reviewers who used footage of what they were critiquing (something that falls under fair use), who have their channels deleted after a company sends claims to YouTube. More typically this can happen when a critique of something is unfavorable o the company, and so in an attempt to get rid of negative PR, they delete unfavorable content, on grounds that they don't fall under fair use. The same can be used with songs, as some companies allow music to be used in the background, so long as the music alone isn't part of the content. Even then, streamers and video makers can have content deleted for playing a song in the background of a game or other content (without the intent of it). This has gone to extreme lengths, as sometimes even humming or playing a song that sounds too similar to another one can result in banning as bots automatically pick up on it. Even if you manage to get through all that legal mumbo-jumbo, your content can still be claimed, even if it is not copyrighted, as extorters can make a claim based on absolutely nothing, meaning anyone can do it.

    But why is this relevant? Because music. As I want to include and maybe publish my work, I have to make sure it won't be taken down. As such, I've found websites that compile music and scores that can be used by others, without as much danger as just using the first song I see. 

    Aside from websites such as Dova-Syndrome, Chosic, Purple Planet, and even YouTube's own audio library, among other paid and free services, I have browsed a few to find fitting music for my project.

    I'm certainly no legal advisor, so here's some more info on copyright! https://www.baylor.edu/copyright/index

Music research

    I'm enjoying research, even as the project comes to a close, so I decided to delve a bit deeper into music so as to properly introduce it into my film if I do follow through with any music choices. Some fun terminology review is that music can affect productions in two ways, and these are by ways of soundtracks and scores. A score is music specifically composed for a film, while a soundtrack is any music featured in a film. Both can affect films differently, and I'll outline how.

    A soundtrack includes any third party music, from popular songs, to songs made more popular by the film's release. One such example is in Nirvana's Something in the Way. The song wasn't part of many live setlists for the band when they performed, but with the release of The Batman, the song exploded in popularity, topping at number two on Billboard's digital US Rock chart, and being featured in many memes and TikToks. Not to mention a 1200% increase in Spotify streams for the song after the movie's release. As with any preexisting media, movies can affect previous releases, bringing them back from obscurity just by being featured in a soundtrack.

    Similarly, although not so much, scores can also become fairly popular because of a film, or vice verse. Many iconic scores promote the film, as just the first few notes can make you think of the film. Even if the film wasn't well received, a score can live on, and even be alluded to by previous releases. Scores being reused also isn't uncommon, as all three Jurassic Park films either allude or outright include tracks from the original film. Similarly, new film scores can allude to previous incarnations, as is the case with almost every Spider-Man incarnation. In the original Sam Raimi sequel, a woman plays the original 1967 cartoon theme on a violin, and it later returns in Marc Webb's sequel as Peter's ringtone. An orchestral rendition also appears in Spider-Man: Homecoming's Marvel Studios opening. 

    

    Scores are typically made around the time filming is wrapping up, and editing has begun. However, there is nothing that says you can't do otherwise. For Guardians of the Galaxy, director James Gunn had composer Tyler Bates prepare music before the scenes were filmed. Starting with the music can often help give direction to a scene, and can even lead to better flowing stories as music doesn't have to be forced to follow a scene. This also streamlines editing, as following the beats of a song are much easier when you have the beats to begin with, as opposed to finding a part of a song that fits with a scene. 

    Music composers can really be fans of a classic just as much as any fan, and they prove it by incorporating or adapting classical themes into more modern reconditions. Likewise, directors, producers, and music supervisors can also find what modern songs fit with a movie, especially given how most movies take just under a year to release.

    Aside from this, I found a lot of inspiration from other films, like A Silent Voice, which features a very simple score, with piano being the most frequent instrument. The score has very interesting detailing, as some tracks were partly based by Bach's (yes, the 270+ year old composer) Invention No. 1 in C major. One of the big things to me is the amount of effort that goes into creation, especially when so much is left out. For the film, composer Ushio made 82 tracks, of which 61 are featured in the official soundtrack, with 50 of them actually playing in the film. The bland, three letter titles were also an idea of Ushio, who kept these identification codes as they were so they could be interpreted by listeners however they want. The featuring of Bach's songs are also important, as his original work could be split into three, which Ushio used to also split up the movie into thirds. The amount of effort that goes into this soundtrack and film as a whole will always fascinate me, and as I learn about more films and their soundtrack, I appreciate music composing even more.

Obligatory inclusion of tracks and album cover for detailing and ~aesthetic~

Detailing

     Gambling is pretty fun, which is what a lot of detailing comes down to. Sometimes it goes well, and you can fill in the blanks easily with things that make sense, and add more to the scene in more ways than one. Previously with the fire escape, there was nothing else to the scene, but now we'll add a lot more structure to it, using logic.

    Following our city setting, we can choose another piece that helps us out a lot, in some pretty advanced ways, an HDRI. Leaving a lot of details about it for a later entry, they basically provide a 360° image, which we can use for our background (they also stand for High Dynamic Range Imaging, which gives light input to the scene, but that's not the case right now.)

One of the advantages of an HDRI is not needing to model a background, but it doesn't provide the depth you would otherwise have with a full model

    With a background in place, a lot of other things fall into place. However, a disadvantage is that sometimes things don't line up, whether it's due to perspective or size, or anything else that would otherwise be impossible in our simple plane of existence.

   We won't be breaking the laws of physics just yet, which is why we need to attach the ladder to something, in this case a wall. But what type of wall? A brick wall? Glass? Plain concrete? Well, it just comes down to whatever looks best, or sometimes what is within your capabilities.

Just like any other medium, one small change can have drastic effects on your scene

    With those three choices in place, I chose to learn a bit more about realistic texturing, and ended up going with brick, as it adds depth to the scene, while also helping me learn new skills.

    Every choice you make affects your end result, even more so when physically recording something, as such, you have to be even more careful with what you end up choosing, as dedicating yourself to an idea might mean you end up wasting time. 

    Again, using models, or textures, or anything else that someone has previously made as a stand-in example, or even as part of the final product, can help streamline your scene creation process, as you won't have to spend as much time to make something, although at times finding something that works without error might be a bit difficult.

    When putting a lot of details together, scenes can appear more realistic, if that is your end goal. Sometimes, however, you can add too much, which can cause a lot of issues later on, such as file sizes, processing speed, and physics renders (another goodie for another day). As such, it's always good to have an eye on your end product, either by checking on it regularly, or keeping it visible at all times, as is the case with the little camera view on the left panel.

Rendered image teehee

From Scratch

     To me, one of the greatest downsides, and conveniences, of working with 3D is the freedom to make anything from scratch. As a blessing, working from scratch means everything will be exactly how I intend it to be. Scenes can be arranged however I want, with as much depth as needed, and as simplistic as I want if you need to crunch. But this much freedom also hinders, as everything has to be made. Choosing to leave a detail or two out in the first few steps causes a significant lack of detail in the final product. But how do I intend of using this to its fullest potential so as to save time but still make something detailed? By prioritizing what matters. 

An example of what it's like to start a new project in Blender

    Focusing on a few of the most important scenes or sequences I want, I'll be able to fully detail them, without needing to compromise the rest of the film. When outlining a scene, or even a single shot, you need to create a story, otherwise you'll just be padding out time. For example, in the following sequence I'll create a shot, with the intent of introducing a character.

    Starting off with an idea, I want to have the setting be a city, and so I chose a fire escape to start off with. But to link everything together I had to play around with some ideas first. One way to find what works is by starting somewhere, so doing some research helps a lot. I personally like to use models, so I used this model from KnightFallows to start somewhere. Playing around with it helps me think of something that works, as motion helps tell a story better than anything else.

A bit hard to navigate, but this is somewhat the process I go through when coming up with ideas from scratch

    With the main point/s down, you can flll in the rest with whatever makes the most sense. And if things still look a bit too dull, you can add more details to make a scene more dynamic.