Guanze Wu – Page 8 – Guanze Wu (Greg)

20th December 202113th January 2022

Research 02: The ironic nature of mockumentary and how mockumentary challenges audience’s ideas

The ironic nature of mockumentary:

It can be argued that the seemingly credible characteristic of mockumentary provides favorable conditions for its satire on other things. Compared with traditional narrative, mockumentaries often allow for more absurd and ridiculous narrative situations to be more readily accepted by audiences than if the same narrative situations appear in a film produced more in a tradition form. Gary D Rhodes’ mockumentary film Chair (2001), using a realistic narrative and shooting method to tell about various cases that happened to the actor Bela Lugosi’s favorite piece of furniture after his death. According to Rhodes (2002, p.47), “Despite the ridiculousness of the faked story and fictitious characters, some audiences still believe that what they just witnessed was true until the director exposes the scam at the end of the film.” Apparently, such characteristic not only brings mockumentary a great sense of ridiculousness and humor but also exaggerate the degree of satire to the real world.

Through the projection of fictional stories, mockumentary criticizes and satirizes the documentary form and the real world. Apparently, The mimic of specific subjects allows mockumentary to blur the boundary between reality and fiction, which leads to a discussion of documentary’s authenticity. Hight (2014) argues that mockumentary shows audience the possibility of fabricating nonfictional works, which challenges the audiences’ common expectations toward these forms. In the book Faking it: mock-documentary and the subversion of factuality (Roscoe & Hight, 2001), writers separate mockumentaries into three levels depending on the degrees of their satire to documentary: parody, critique and hoax, and deconstruction. Parody mockumentary is more like a comedy film, which contains little satire to documentary. For example, This is Spinal Tap (1984), which critically comment the hyper-masculinity in heavy metal rock area. Deconstruction mockumentary, however, aggressively deconstructs the foundation of documentary and focus more on critiques rather than humor.

**This is Spinal Tap** (1984) critically comment the hyper-masculinity in heavy metal rock area

Mockumentary also criticizes the reality by creating a new world which is almost close to the one people lives in. It uses parody and mimicry to challenge people’s basic understandings of their country, faith, collective history, and their sense of identity(Genter, 2013). American mockumentary Zelig (1983), for example, uses forged pictures, characters and footage to tell the story of an almost real character, Leonard Zelig, who can change his identity and even appearance depending on his surrounding environment. Through the description of Zelig’s story and people’s reaction to his life, film satirizes the public’s psychology of seeking novelty and some ugly nature of humanity. The design of narrative not only enhances the authenticity of Zelig’s world but also create a strong intimation of the irony of real world.

Mockumentary form enables **Zelig** (1983) to build up a realistic world, which reflects the dark side of real world

How mockumentary challenges audience’s ideas:

Mockumentary also challenges viewer’s ideas by changing their experience and status. Such statement can be found in book F is for Phoney (Juhasz and Lerner, 2012), which points out that mockumentary aims to link audience and the fictional world together. “Fake documentaries are most compelling and productive when they double back and multiply the traditional documentary object……All of these elements shift and refocus in their reverberation, allowing the viewer, in the process of such seeing, to also become a stake holder in this lively system.” To sum up, the connection between audience and mockumentary is designed into two levels. Normally, mockumentary talks directly to viewers, which seeks to build up a relationship with a knowing audience who through being in on the joke can appreciate both the humor and the inherent critical reflexivity of the form(Lipkin et.al 2006). This characteristic can be easily found in most of fake documentary comedies like Zelig, The Rutles (1978) and This is Spinal Tap. As for more critical and serious mockumentaries, however, they even let viewers to become part of them. Take film Man Bites Dog (1992) as an example. Man Bites Dog tells a story that several filmmakers following a serial killer and recording his crime for a documentary production. At first filmmakers are observers and just simply recording the crime. However, they gradually become accomplices after they get involved into these violence and chaotic. The subjective shot makes audience become the witness of these crimes and even become part of the production team. When camera records the moments of killing or even participates into these violence, the film is actually questioning audience’s fascination with the macabre and their feelings as accomplices.

References:

Books

Campbell, M. (2007) “The Mocking Mockumentary and the Ethics of Irony”, Taboo, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 53-62.

Genter, R. (2013) “Book Reviews: “Too Bold for the Box Office: The Mockumentary from Big Screen to Small” ed. by Cynthia J. Miller”, Film & History, vol. 43, no. 2, pp. 95-97.

Hight, C. (2014) “Mockumentary.”, in Salvatore Attardo (ed.), Encyclopedia of Humor Studies. Thousand Oaks, CA and London: Sage, pp. 515-516.

Juhasz, A. and Lerner, J. (2012) F is for phony : fake documentary and truth’s undoing. Minneapolis: University Of Minnesota Press, p. 16.

Lipkin, Steven N., Paget, Derek & Roscoe, Jane. (2006) “Docudrama and Mock-Documentary: Defining Terms, Proposing Canons.”, Docufictions: Essays on the Intersection of Documentary and Fictional Filmmaking. Jefferson, N.C.: Mcfarland, p. 11-26.

Rhodes, G.D. (2002) “Mockumentaries and the Production of Realistic Horror”, Post Script – Essays in Film and the Humanities, vol. 21, no. 3, pp. 46-60.

Roscoe, J. and Hight, C. (2001) Faking it: mock-documentary and the subversion of factuality. Manchester, Manchester University Press.

Films

Bad News Tour [film]. 1983. SANDY JOHNSON dir. UK: Unknown.

Chair [film]. 2001. GARY D RHODES and BOB STOVALL dir. USA: Unknown.

Man Bites Dog [film]. 1992. REMY BELVAUX, ANDRE BONZEL and BENOIT POELVOORDE dir. Belgium: Palisades Tartan.

Rec [film]. 2007. JAUME BALAGUERO and PACO PLAZA dir. Spain: Filmax International.

The Blair Witch Project [film]. 1999. DANIEL MYRICK and EDUARDO SANCHEZ dir. USA: Artisan Entertainment.

This is Spinal Tap [film]. 1984. ROB REINER dir. USA: Embassy Pictures Corporation.

Zelig [film]. 1983. WOODY ALLEN dir. USA: Warner Bros.

TV Series

The Office. 2001. Capital United Nations. 9 July. 76 hrs.

10th December 202113th January 2022

Research 01: The impact of hand-held camera and subjective shot on mockumentary filming

The impact of hand-held camera on mockumentary filming:

One of the most unique elements in mockumentary is its shooting style, which mimics the shooting process of documentary to build up an illusion of reality and authenticity. But how does it work? A review of the available literature provides some examples, which shows that mockumentary filming can significantly enhance audiences’ experience of engagement by using hand-held camera and subjective shot.

Issari, M. A. and Paul, D. A.(1979) mention that the recorded footage from a hand-held device reflects more tactile and visual human characteristics. Jean-Pierre Geuens (2015) points out that the placement of hand-held camera humanized the view, making it more personal. “The shot no longer appeared to originate from the eye or the mind of the storyteller, but became rather the direct expression of the holder’s body.” Both of these views emphasize the humanized property of hand held camera. Geuens also uses a war scene of The Anderson Platoon (1967) to emphasize an idea: the viewer is made to experience what the cameraman went through so that viewer can feel how difficult the cameraman’s circumstances are. This idea is demonstrated clearly in a scene of another film Man Bites Dog (1992), in which the camera shakes violently when the cameraman is being hunted by killers. The camera finally rolls on the ground and stops, which implies the death of cameraman. Such characteristics of hand held camera build up a relationship among audience, characters and the fictional world.

The stopped camera reveals the death of cameraman（Man Bites Dog, 1992）

The impact of subjective shot on mockumentary filming:

It is believed that subjective shot is another important element of mockumentary shooting, which has a great impact on visual and mental experience of viewers. Briefly, subjective shot means shooting in first personal view. Gustavo Mercado discusses subjective shot in his book The Filmmaker’s Eye (2011, p.83). He mentions that a well designed subjective shot matches both the character’s emotional and psychological subjectivity and the physical attributes of character’s perspective. He also notices that subjective shots enhance the level of interactions between other characters and audience, which helps them builds up powerful relationships. It is clear that subjective shot has its unique functions, but is it suitable to replace traditional shots? Eugeni, R. (2012) compared first person shot with traditional point of view shot, and argues that the first person shot breaks the rules and grammatical constructions of point of view shot, which also extends (and partially manifests) the principle of subjectivity implied by point of view shot.

However, the use of subjective shot in mockumentary should also be careful. Audience might find it difficult to identify with the character whose subjectivity they are experiencing in a long subjective shot because of the lack of reaction shots (Mercado, 2011). Additionally, it has been widely criticized that the overuse of hand held camera causes too much shake and blur to image area, which make audience feels uncomfortable.

The shake and blur of hand held camera image is always a pain in mockumentary

Ideally, the first problem can be solved by setting camera man as an unimportant character, adding monologue recordings or changing the user of camera frequently. Spanish horror film Rec (2007), for example, set protagonist’s assistant as the cameraman so that protagonist’s nervous facial reactions can be recorded clearly, which reinforces the thrilling atmosphere. As for the second problem, several works suggest that the combination of mockumentary filming and traditional filming can overcome it to some degree. A convincing example is film District 9 (2009), which uses varied kinds of cinematic modes – a corporate promotional film, hand-held documentary film and traditional narrative shots to demonstrate the society and life of people after alien refugees arrived on Earth. The blending of documentary and traditional filming successfully creates a convincing air of authenticity in the first 15 minutes of the film.

References:

Books

Branigan, E. and Rauh, R. (1975) Formal permutations of the point-of-view shot. S.L., Erscheinungsdatum Nicht Ermittelbar. pp 54–64.

Eugeni, R. (2012) “First person shot. New Forms of Subjectivity between Cinema and Intermedia Networks / El pla en primera persona. Noves formes de subjectivitat entre el cinema i les xarxes intermèdia / El plano en primera persona. Nuevas formas de subjetividad entre el cine y las redes intermedia”, Anàlisi : Quaderns de Comunicació i Cultura, , pp. 19-31.

Geuens, J. (2015) “The dismantling of the fourth wall”, Quarterly Review of Film and Video, vol. XXXII, no. 4, pp. 314-328.

Issari, M. A. & Paul, D. A. (1979) What is cinéma vérité? Metuchen, N.J: Scarecrow Press, p. 172.

Mercado, G. (2010) The Filmmaker’s Eye: Learning (and Breaking) the Rules of Cinematic Composition, Taylor & Francis Group, Oxford, p. 83.

Films

District 9 [film]. 2009. NEILL BLOMKAMP dir. USA: Sony Pictures.

Man Bites Dog [film]. 1992. REMY BELVAUX, ANDRE BONZEL and BENOIT POELVOORDE dir. Belgium: Palisades Tartan.

Rec [film]. 2007. JAUME BALAGUERO and PACO PLAZA dir. Spain: Filmax International.

The Anderson Platoon [film]. 1967. PIERRE SCHOENDOERFFER dir. France: Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française.

This is Spinal Tap [film]. 1984. ROB REINER dir. USA: Embassy Pictures Corporation.

9th December 20214th January 2022

Week_10: Camera Rig & Gimbal Lock Research & Performance & Camera Animation

Camera Rig

This week we learned how to rig a camera which can be controled more precisely than the original one. The main idea is data transfer, inherit and attribute connection.

Firstly, set up camera and groups(create+rename):

Create attributes on controler. Use connection editor to connect translation attributes and controler attributes:

Create nurbs plane, set materials, using driven key to connect focal length attribute and plane’s translation:

Remember, set the graph editor line to linear.

Final result:

Gimbal Lock

I also did a further research of gimbal lock. The reason why gimbal lock happens is quite easy to be understand: two rotation plane coincide with each other. But what will happen in animation when there is a gimbal lock?

I find a great video, which solves my problem:

This video mentioned several things, which are quite important:

In maya, local object rotation mode is just a visual guide to demonstrate rotation more clearly, under the hood the software is still using Euler System to calculate data.
Gimbal lock always exist, we can just change the layer of x, y and z axis to decrease its probability.
In maya, Z-X-Y is a better axis arrangement, which can effectively prevent gimbal lock from happening.

From the video we can know that when gimbal lock happens, the rotation of object will have some problem. When people using local rotation to animate one of the demensions(for example, rotate 40 degrees in local z axis from frame 0 to 20 when gimbal z is locked), object will rotate not in a straight direction but a strange arc because the system has no access to the real z axis. Therefore, all axis need to change to fit the animation requirement, which causes the strange arc. That’s why preventing gimbal lock is important.

So how to prevent gimbal lock?

The answer is, find the direction the object is least likely to face and put this axis in the middle layer. For example, in maya ZXY or YXZ are recommended for cameras, since cameras seldom rotate 90 degrees on x axis.

This theory can also be applied on character rigging. When the rigging system used XYZ as the principle, people should use Y axis as the limb bones direction, since human body never rotate his arms or legs in 90 degrees (or the body will hurt itself). by setting Y axis as the limb bones direction, the rigging can avoid gimbal lock.

Camera Animation

Pan Shot:

Roll Shot:

Pitch Shot:

Dolly (and Pan) Shot:

Crane Shot:

Focal Length (Contra Zoom):

Performance & Pre-Viz

Since I did some of my character performance last week. This week I focused more on the details of character performance.

I showed my animation to my classmates and they suggested me to add some breathing animations to the character so his body movements can be more realistic. I also talked with Alan and he suggested me to add more variations on the weight, or the body controler. Their suggestions are quite important and accurate because normally human chest should keep moving because they need to breathe all the time. Also, when people talking or just standing on the ground, the centre of they weight should keep changing, which can make people feel more relax.

Therefore, I used animation layer to add a infinite breathing cycle animation on character’s chest controler. I adjust few times to make sure breathing animation can be noticed but still not quite apparent.

Then I added more variation to the body controler. When character’s upperbody moving forward, the body controler moving forward, too. The weight centre of character also keep changing when character is talking.

I finally checked my mouth animation one more time and find out that some of the mouth movements are too fast. Therefore, I deleted several keyframes on jaw controls and optimized the whole animation to make it looks more natural.

Here is the final result:

4th December 20215th January 2022

Week_09: Phonemes and performance

Research:

Facial animation can be one of the most important parts of 3D animation. Unlike body performance, facial animation focus more on details and emotions rather than body mechanics. How to accurately express character’s emotional feelings and match the shape of mouth with lines are facial animation’s targets.

Facial expressions:

To create organic facial expressions, one of the most important things is to keep all parts of face moving. Sometimes animaters just focus on animating one part of character’s face when they are making facial animations. However, each part of character’s face should affect each other. For example, character’s eyebrows, nose and ears should also move when it’s mouth moving.

Another important thing is paying attention to the shapes, especially the shapes of mouth and eyebrows. Good shapes can clearly express the feeling of characters.

Some other techniques are also useful. For example, exaggeration, squash and stretch, etc.

Reading Lines:

Animating lines is also an important part of facial performance.

There are two ways to animate lines:

Animate by layers (step by step): starting with jaw, then the corner of mouth, then the open or close of lips, then tongue and teeth, then other parts of face.
Animate by parts (finish the whole shape and then turn to another one).

Some tips on animating lines:

Analysis the dialogue before animating. Breakdown the line, trying to find the most apparent changes of mouth shape. For example, the shape of sound “Oh” or “Ah”
Do not breakdown the line by “words” (For example, A, O, I), focus on the “sound”.
Don’t make mouth moving crazy. Do not simply make every shape of sound and then connect them together, mouth is lazy when people talking. Find the transtions between each words and animate them naturally.

The relationship between mouth shapes and words

Challenge 10: Phonemes & Performance (Lip Syncing & Facial Animation)

Part 01: Find audio clip

To make the lip syncing and facial animation, I recorded the audio clip of a line from game The Last of Us. The audio and acting performance in this game is great, which can be a good reference for practice.

The Last of Us (2013) by NaughtyDog Studio

Here is the audio reference:

Below is the original performance, great facial animation (Naughty Dog does all facial animation by hand)

Part 02: Audio clip breakdown

I tried to breakdown the line and analyse it before I make the animation, which can help me to find out what result I want in this animation.

The line is:

Do you even realize what your life means? Huh? Running off like that. Putting yourself at risk… it’s pretty goddamn stupid.

I listen the audio clip for several times and stratify the emotional statement of this character:

Do you even realize what your life means? Huh? Running off like that. Putting yourself at risk… it’s pretty goddamn stupid.

First layer: Angry, but trying to control his emotion

Second layer: Let off some steam

Third layer: Quite angry

Fourth layer: Angry, and slightly mocking

This can be a guidance for me to record reference footage and adjust my animation.

Part 03: Jaw animation

I firstly add the Jaw Bounce animation to build up the framework for this animation, which can help me to get the rhythm of it.

Jaw_animation:

Part 04: Animate mouth shape

After that, I spend more time to animate the shape of character’s mouth to strengthen the emotion of him. When the character speaks angrily, his mouth should move more obviously.

Part 05: Animate nose & tongue & teeth

Then I add some details to my facial animation. For example, add tongue actions, teeth animations and nose animations. This part of animation can make the whole mouth animation look more natural.

Part 06: Animate eyebrows and eyeballs

After jaw and mouth are animated, I start to focus on eyebrows. From the audio clip we can realize that the speaking person is quite angry. Therefore, eyebrows animation should demonstrate this mental statement.

I record an acting video by myself based on the audio reference.

Bad performance actrually,

Anyway, it is still quite useful as a reference.

By using this visual reference, I add more details to character’s eyybrows and mouth. Then I animate some small movements to the eyeballs to make the character more realistic.

Part 07: Animate eye blink and adjustment

Then I add eyes blink to make the character looks more natural. Setting blink attribute to 0.7 can get a good result. However, it seems that the character’s eyeballs and his eyelids clips when the character is blinking. In order to fix that problem, I use the crash correction attribute on eye_head control to adjust the radius of eyeball.

Here is the final result of facial animation:

I also animate the upper body of this character to make the animation more interesting.

Version_01 (still need to be polished):

Recent problems: I think the second half of the mouth animation still has some problem. The jaw animation, which is the fundamental of this animation, is still need to be adjusted. As Alan said in his recordings, jaw animation is really important, which is the guidance of the whole animation. I will check my animation this week and spend more time to practise making jaw animation in the following weeks.

Update01 (09/12/2021):

I add the final part of the animation and adjust a little of the mouth animation. Here is the Version02 video:

Version02:

28th November 202128th November 2021

Week_08: Character Appeal Notes

Character Appeal

Appeal in animation characters is a similar parallel with actors having charisma

A character who is appealing can still be unsympathetic, a villain or monster.
Appeal is critical in the audience association with the character creating interest and concern.
Appeal lies not oonlt in the design of the character but the action and deed of the character within the storyline.

What creates appeal: essentially the character feels real and convincing

Design, Performance and Role

What visual componets or aspects of a character might achieve this?
What performance traits might endear us?
Why do we forgive and ultimately care for a character?
How do we establish trust and empathy with a character?

Exaggeration

Uncanny valley

Concept: In aesthetics, the uncanny valley is a hypothesized relation between an object’s degree of resemblance to a human being and the emotional response to the object. The concept suggests that humanoid objects that imperfectly resemble actual human beings provoke uncanny or strangely familiar feelings of eeriness and revulsion in observers. “Valley” denotes a dip in the human observer’s affinity for the replica, a relation that otherwise increases with the replica’s human likeness. (From wikipedia)

Links:

28th November 202113th January 2022

Week_08: IK FK Switch & Advanced Body Mechanics

Research:

Advance body mechanics can be an upgrade of body mechanics, which covers more complex animations. Characters need to interact with the surrounding environment more frequently, and a more flent actions is required.

It seems quite difficult to animate an advanced body mechanic animation (I will call it ADV animation in later parts of this research). However, the methodology of ADV animation is almost the same of body mechanic animation. We should also follow the steps like:

1: Find or record video reference
2: Blocking the animation
3: Polishing the animation

When making ADV animation, people should spend more time to adjust their blockings to make sure each part of the character moves correctly.

Sometimes poeple need to switch Ik and FK to get a better result of their animation. Remember to duplicate the body as a guidance so that people can match character’s body after switching IK and FK. Some characters may have seamless IK&FK switching attributes, which may accerlerate the process that I mentioned above. However, in most of situations, Ik&Fk seamless switching is achieved by using plugins or scripting (expression nodes, mel or python), which is too complex for us to learn. Therefore, mastering the first solution can be a better choice.

To sum up, ADV animation is more like a summary of foundamental animation, which requires us to use all the techniqes that we learned in the past few weeks. It is more challenging. However, it can also take our techniques to another level if we learned something from it.

IK&FK Switch

This week we learned how to rig an IK&FK switch system. The main idea is using parent constrain, creating new control parameters and then using driven key to transfer data.

I used to rig the IK&FK switch system and I find out a better way to rig this system. The main idea of this new method is transfering data by using the node editor in maya instead of setting driven keys.

Firstly, rig and blend skin, then using parent constrain to blend main skeleton, IK system and FK system.

Secondly, build out controlers, then using group to store tranfer and rotation data. Keep the controller data clean.

add group and controller, locate position

After that, adding IK&FK switching parameter, using node editor to transfer the output of switching data(0 or 1) to the input nodes of parent constrains and IK&FK controllers visibility node. Inverse node is applied to reverse 0 or 1.

Therefore, when switching the switch node, the visibility of IK&FK controllers and the statement of constrains will change. By using this method we can even add IK or FK font to the switch controller and control their visibilities, which can make the switch system more handy.

I also did a leg rig practice, which covers ik fk switch, 360 degrees foot controler, a followed knee controler (which let knee controler to follow when the foot is moving upward or downward) and basic skinning. You can see the final result in this short clip:

P.S.

Another common ik&fk blending rigging is using blend color node in maya, which is faster than parent constrain in calculation.

Just connect the rotation and translation information of ik and fk to the blend color RGB channel inputs and then output them to the main skeleton system. Then connect the output of ik&fk switching attribute to the input of blending to control the bias. It is a quite simple way to achieve ik&fk switching, which is much faster and easier to be understood.

Challenge 9 : Advanced Body Mechanics

This week we did advanced body mechanics, which means that the animation covers at least two actions. For example, a run&jump animation or a walk&sit animation.

I searched reference online and finally decided to make a run&jump animation. Below is my reference video:

reference video

I firstly added keyframes inside maya, then I blocked out the animation to make the animation more detailed. After that I started to smooth the animation in graphic editor and then added more details to it.

Version01: after smooth

Camera01

Camera02

However, I realize Version01 still has some problem. When one of the character’s foot touches the ground, the action is not quite right. I adjust the foot movements of these frames and get a second result, which is a little better:

Version02:

Version02

Atfer that I added some environment(cliff, fog, sky) in the scene to make a better rendered video. I used Redshift Render to render the final animation and added motion vector layer in AOV, which can help me add motion blur in After Effect later.

Here is the final result:

Final Render

18th November 202124th December 2021

Week_07: Body Mechanics: Challenge 8 (Part 2) & Match Moving

Challenge 8 (Part 2): Body Mechanics

Add breakdown&smooth

After I added the throwing ball animation breakdown I realized that character(Ray)’s controllers are too complexed to be controlled (too many secondary controllers). What’s more, the complexity of character controllers make the adjustment of knees’ shaking quite difficult. Therefore, I turned to animate the default weightlifting animation.

I added breakdown to the character, increased some arm stretch and then adjusted the graph editor to make the actions smoother. I also added a little bit of shaking when the body stays still. Then I added some lights and ground plane to help demonstrate the animation better.

Problems: I think the weight of animation still need to be improved. The action is not power enough when the character is raising the barbell, which looks a little bit unnatural.

Render&Motion Blur

I used Redshift Render to render the final animation and added motion vector layer in AOV, which can help me add motion blur in After Effect later.

After rendered the EXR files, I put them into After Effect and adjust the timing and color balance. Here is the result without motion blur:

Then I added the motion vector layer to RSMB, which is a motion blur plugin for AE:

Here is the final result:

Match Moving

This week Dom taught us how to track the scene to build a camera and then let a 3D model follow the character in the scene. The main idea is build a camera by tracking the background and then track the character to get data of movements.

As usual, we rebuild the camera by using tracking points. We firstly added several tracking points to the background. At first tracking the static objects is quite easy. However, there are some people walking in the background, which adda some difficulties to tracking. We used another tracking method to solve this problem, which is forward and backward tracking .

After optimized the background tracking points, I then focus on the head tracking. I added another point group and rename it to “Obj_points” to seperate it to the camera points group. When adding points to the head, I focus on man’s forehead, ears and nose. Tracking head really takes plenty of time and energy. Finally, I got something like this:

After that I optimized the scene again and then loaded ironman mask model into the scene. Firstly I turn to frame 1 to match the mask with man’s head in 3D space. Then I clicked the buttom on the top slide, ironman mask automatically matched the points on man’s face. There is no shaking when mask is moving. I’m satisfied with the result.

Then I export Mel file and sequence to Maya. When the Mel file loaded, a camera with animation and a tracked ironman mask has already been added in Maya. After loading sequence as image plane and adding some materials to the ironman mask, we get the final result.

Here is the final result:

16th November 202128th December 2021

Week_07: Research Areas: Mockumentary shooting and narrative

Theme:

The impact of mockumentary shooting and narrative on traditional film production

Mockumentary refers to a fictitious story filmed with the technique and form of documentary. Mockumentary shooting technique and narrative method has gradually become familiar in the early years of 21th century, its impact on traditional film shooting and narrative methods are controversial. Some people say that mockumentary improves the feeling of reality by using realistic shooting and sound, others think that the making and result of mockumentary shooting and narrative have too many limitations. This thesis will investigate, evaluate and measure the impact of mockumentary filming techniques on modern film narratives, and draw relevant conclusions.

Keywords: Mockumentary, film shooting, film narrative.

Outline Structure:

Introduction

Part1: Background of mockumentary shooting and narrative. (techniques, form and applied areas) + my argument + the organisation of essay

Main Body

Part2: Methodology

Part3: Argument1: Properly using mockumentary shooting and narrative techniques can help film makers enhance the atmosphere of the film and the reality of the world view.

Positive view: Subjective shooting, Breaking the Fourth Wall. Voyeuristic view

Nagative view: Camera shaking, Shooting limitations,

Refutation: citations&analysis

Part4: Argument2: Using mockumentary filming and narrative techniques can be a better way to enhance the criticism of reality than traditional film narrative.

Positive view: The blending of reality and fiction, Identity transfer.

Nagative view: Traditional film criticism techniques

Part5: Draw a conclusion. Suggestions. Talk about the future of mockumentary shooting and narrative.

References

Part6: References

Questions to research:

What is mockumentary?

Mockumentary is a kind of film works which shows audience the fiction stories in a documentary way. Mockumentary often shot with untraditional methods. For example, shooting with hand held camera devices or using interview perspective to tell story.

How many kinds of mockumentary shooting and narrative?

Based on the difference of narratives, mockumentary shooting and narrative can be separated into several forms:

Fantasy stories made in a realistic style based on a purely fictional worldview. Example: The Blair Witch Project (1999), This is Spinal Tap (1984), District 9 (2009), Zelig (1983)
The reproduction of scenes and characters based on real events. Example: JFK (1991)
Artistic creation of characters and scenes based on one or more real events. Example: 24 City (2008), Death of a President (2006)

What is the difference between mockumentary, documentary and traditional film making?

The main difference between mockumentary and documentary is the authenticity. Documentary films record something really happened in the real world. However, what mockumentaries record are fictional settings and stories which are designed by directors and film makers. However, both mockumentary and documentary have same general characteristics of style which constructs the feeling of factuality. For example, poor lighting, unstable sound quality and minimum editing style. By mimicking the style of documentary, mockcumentary raises questions about the factual discourse of documentary.

What is the advantage of mockumentary shooting and narrative? Why?

One of the most important elements of mockumentary is its feeling of authenticity. Mockumentaries often allow for crazier narrative situations to be more readily accepted by audiences than if the same narrative situation appears in a film made more in the tradition of the classical Hollywood style. Gary D Rhodes’ mockumentary film Chair (Rhodes, 2001), using a realistic narrative and shooting method to tell about various cases that happened to the actor Bela Lugosi’s favorite piece of furniture after his death. Despite the ridiculousness of the faked story and fictitious characters, some audiences still believe that what they just witnessed was true until the director exposes the scam at the end of the film.

Another advantage of mockumentary is its nature of satire. By mimicking the style of documentary, mockcumentary raises questions about the factual discourse of documentary. Additionally, mockumentary narrative and shooting is a perfect way to reflect and question the social problems in real world. District 9 (2009), a science fiction mockumentary film directed by Neill Blomkamp in 2009, tells the story of alien refugee on earth to satirize the apartheid, which is a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa in South Africa from 1948 until the early 1990s. This is Spinal Tap (1984), a rock and roll mockumentary, satirizes the rollercoaster lifestyles of rock stars by creating and recording the life of a fake rock and roll band called Spinal Tap. The combination of real and fake brings mockumentary a great sense of humor and satire.

What is the disadvantage of mockumentary? Why?

One of the shortages of mockumentary is its visual experience. The shaking of hand held camera and the low quality of sound can make audience feel uncomfortable. It is hard for people to feel the location of characters in some situations because the shooting style of mockumentary limits its camera language. The lack of color correction and proper editing may make people feel confused and a sense of insecurity. However, this shortage can also become one of the adventages when director is shooting a horror topic mockumentary. The uncomfortable, unstable and messy camera shooting style can significantly increase the sense of fear and reveal the mental statement of characters.

Most of mockumentaries are horror and comedy, can it be applied in other themes or areas?

Science fiction. Disaster films. Serious topics like politics or social problems.

What is the realistic elements in mockumentary films? Examples?

Without question, the form of mockumentary shooting is totally fake because film makers use fake settings and fictional characters to build up the story. However, the theme of mockumentary narrative and social problems which mockumentary reflects really exist in real world. 24 City(2008), a mockumentary film shot by Jia Zhangke, follows three generations of characters in Chengdu (in the 1950s, the 1970s and the present) as a state-owned factory gives way to a modern apartment complex. The film

References:

Rhodes, G.D. 2002, “Mockumentaries and the Production of Realistic Horror”, Post Script – Essays in Film and the Humanities, vol. 21, no. 3, pp. 46-60.

Özge Akoğlu. 2010. Mock-documentary: questioning of factual discourse of documentary. M.S. – Master of Science. Middle East Technical University.

ROYAL, D.P., 2012. FALSIFYING THE FRAGMENTS: NARRATOLOGICAL USES OF THE MOCKUMENTARY IN HUSBANDS AND WIVES AND SWEET AND LOWDOWN. Post Script, 31(2), pp. 54-66,120.

DOSSER, M., 2020. Music in Comedy Television: Notes on Laughs. Music, Sound and the Moving Image, 14(1), pp. 79-82,91.

ANDERSON, K.T., 2009. Tickling and Teasing the Real: Mocking Reality TV in the Film “Series 7”. Post Script – Essays in Film and the Humanities, 28(3), pp. 108-122.

TAYLOR, H.M., 2007. More than a Hoax: William Karel’s Critical Mockumentary “Dark Side of the Moon”. Post Script – Essays in Film and the Humanities, 26(3), pp. 88-101.

CAMPBELL, M., 2007. The Mocking Mockumentary and the Ethics of Irony. Taboo, 11(1), pp. 53-62.

Allen, K. & Jensen, T. (2021, August 3). Mockumentary and the Sociological Imagination [Online]. The Sociological Review.

[1]赵禹平.纪录片与伪纪录片的辨析:符号叙述分析[J].大舞台,2017,(5):74-80.

Nenad Jovanovic (2021) Mockumentary between Factual and Poetic Truth: The Case of Tehran Has No More Pomegranates, Quarterly Review of Film and Video, DOI: 10.1080/10509208.2021.1948313

DAVIS, W., 2012. THE REALITY ANATOMIST: CHRIS LILLEY AND THE MOCKUMENTARY FORM. Screen Education, (67), pp. 94-102.

ROSCOE, J., 2000. Mock-Documentary Goes Mainstream: “The Blair Witch Project”. Jump Cut, , pp. 3-8.

SICINSKI, M., 2007. F Is for Phony: Fake Documentary and Truth’s Undoing. Cineaste, 32(3), pp. 87-89,75.

Geuens, J.-P. (2015) ‘The Dismantling of the Fourth Wall’, Quarterly Review of Film & Video, 32(4), pp. 314–328. doi: 10.1080/10509208.2014.968761.

Eugeni, R. 2012, “First person shot. New Forms of Subjectivity between Cinema and Intermedia Networks / El pla en primera persona. Noves formes de subjectivitat entre el cinema i les xarxes intermèdia / El plano en primera persona. Nuevas formas de subjetividad entre el cine y las redes intermedia”, Anàlisi : Quaderns de Comunicació i Cultura, , pp. 19-31.

Mercado, G. 2010, The Filmmaker’s Eye: Learning (and Breaking) the Rules of Cinematic Composition, Taylor & Francis Group, Oxford, p.83.

Albright, M. 2011, The Visible Camera: Hand-Held Camera Movement and Cinematograpohic Embodiment in Autobiographical Documentary, University of Southern California, Division of Critical Studies, Spectator, Los Angeles.

Film Reference:

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

This is Spinal Tap (1984)

District 9 (2009)

Man Bites Dog (1992)

JFK (1991)

24 City (2008)

Rec（2007）

Zelig (1983)

13th November 202124th December 2021

Week_06: Tracking shots and Render farms

Tracking shots

This week we turned to learn tracking shots with Dom. The main target of this class is to track a scene and then rebuild the original camera with moving data on it, which can help people adding other 3D models to do VFX in the future.

We used another software to finish this challenge, which is 3D-Equalizer, a professional industry leading tracking solution.

I firstly loaded the sequence that we need into this software. Then I start to track the scene by adding tracking points. Tracking points can automatically calculate the scene and then build a camera in 3D space, which almost matches the same camera that we used in real life.

To track the scene more accurately, I adjusted the color of the scene to make sure there is more contrast. We only track the part of scene which has great contrast.

After we tracked the whole scene, we got a lot of points in the scene, then we moved to calculate and rebuild the camera.

After I entered the data of lens, I started to calculate the distortion of lens. The software will automatically calculate the data of distortion and add it on the camera. After all of the calculations we can get an accurate camera. We can even add some box to the scene, which will stay still in the scene without shaking or shifting.

After we built the camera, we can export a Mel file to Maya, which will help us build the tracked camera in a scene and load these points as locators. Therefore, we can use these locators as reference to rebuild the whole scene by modeling.

Here is final result:

10th November 202116th November 2021

Week_06: Film Character&Story Development Breakdown

Take 2 films you enjoy and break down the character development and story development throughout the film:
Analyse how the main characters evolve
Analyse how the characters drive the story
If there are similarities between your films point this out and why you think they are following a similar structure if so.

SE7EN

SE7EN’s opening, one of the best film opening ever

Seven is a 1995 American neo-noir psychological crime thriller film directed by David Fincher. The film tells the story of David Mills (Pitt), a detective who partners with the retiring William Somerset (Freeman) to track down a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as a motif in his murders.

Main Characters: David Mills, William Somerset, John Doe.

Story Development:

Detective Lieutenant William Somerset is a man who will retire in the next week. Before his retirement, he partnered with short-tempered Detective David Mills, who has recently moved to an unnamed large city with his wife Tracy.

Somerset and Mills investigate a set of murders inspired by the seven deadly sins: pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony and sloth. The first victim is a super fat man who was fed to death, which relates to the sin of gluttony. At first Mills thinks the murder is just a anti-social madman. However, as the second case released, in which a criminal defense attorney killed after being forced to cut a pound of flesh from himself, representing greed, Somerset realizes that the murder is a serial killer and there will be more victims in the future.

Clues at the murder scenes lead Somerset and Mills to a suspect’s apartment, where they find a third victim, a drug dealer and child molester, strapped to a bed and barely alive, representing sloth.

The detectives use library records to identify a man named John Doe and track him to his apartment, where they have a gunfight with Doe. Doe then hurt Mills badly, but for some unknown reason he doesn’t kill him. After Doe escaped, Mills and Somerset checked his apartment and find out that Doe is the one who took a picture of Mills yesterday. They also find a clue to another murder by searching Doe’s notebooks.

The detectives arrive too late to stop a man forced by Doe at gunpoint to kill a prostitute by raping her with a custom-made, bladed strap-on, representing lust. The following day, they attend the scene of a fifth victim, a model whose nose has been cut off by Doe. She was given the option to call for help and live disfigured or commit suicide by taking pills. The woman chose the latter option and died, representing pride.

As Somerset and Mills return to the police station, Doe unexpectedly turns himself in, covered in the blood. Doe offers to confess to his crimes, but only on the condition that he escort Somerset and Mills to a secret location where the victims representing envy and wrath are presumably buried, otherwise he will plead insanity. Somerset and Mills agree with Doe’s idea and followed him to a place, where they see a delivery man driving to them. Somerset stops the car and the delivery man gives a package.

Somerset opens the box and, in a sudden panic, tells Mills to stay back. Doe reveals that he himself represents the sin of envy, as he envied Mills’ life with Tracy. He says that the box contains Tracy’s head, telling Mills that Tracy begged for her life and the life of her unborn child. Despite of Somerset’s warning, an enraged Mills fulfills his own role as wrath and kills Doe, completing Doe’s plan. Finally Somerset watches as Mills is taken away.

Character Development:

David Mills:

Mills is a young detective who is passionate, bad-tempered and impetuous. At first Mills dislikes Somerset because Somerset thinks he is naive and ridiculous. After they had a dinner together with his wife Tracy, their relationship becomes closer, which helps them to focuse on cases. David gained much experience with Somerset and both of them find the murder. However, the death of Tracy lits the raging fire inside Mills. He kills the murder and finally pays a price for his outrage.

William Somerset:

Detective Somerset is an experienced old police officer who lives alone. He was once passionate about his work like Mills is, probably as passionate as Doe is for what he considers to be “work.” However, after living in the city of crime for years, Somerset loses his passion and is tired of working in this depressing place. Somerset’s similarities to John Doe ultimately help him catch him. His intelligence helps him to find Doe’s address and finally catches him. He originally wanted to escape the hatred in the city but after the events with Doe he has changed his mind and decided that he can make an impact by continuing his detective work.

John Doe:

Doe’s characteristic is quite like Somerset. They are both clever but lonely, feeling sick of crimines in the city. However, instead of helping people Doe decided to punish them in the most gruesome way possible, which forced him to go on an opposite way. He is evil, bad but also tragic.

Analysis:

How characters drive this story:

Most part of the story is driven by Mills and Somerset’s investigation. At first both characters’ comflicts make the investigation hard to continue. However, Tracy’s dinner helps the relationships between two characters become closer, which let the story keep going. After Mills and Somerset find John Doe’s apartment, story starts to go in another direction. When the suspect John Doe caught by the police, story seems to go to the end. However, the death of Tracy pushes the story to the climax, Mills and Somerset fall into a passive position and Doe is in the driving seat . After Mills kills Doe, story goes to the end quickly, which makes the final ending more impressive.

Zodiac

Zodiac is a 2007 American mystery thriller film directed by David Fincher, based on true story. The film tells the case of the manhunt for the Zodiac Killer, a serial murderer who terrorized the San Francisco Bay Area during the late 1960s and early 1970s, sneering at police by sending letters and ciphers mailed to newspapers. The case remains one of the United States’ most infamous unsolved crimes.

*Wanted poster* for Zodiac Killer & *Zodiac*‘s Cipher

Main Characters: Robert Graysmith, Paul Avery, David Toschi, Arthur Leigh Allen, etc.

Story Development:

July 4, 1969,

An unknown man attacks Darlene Ferrin and Mike Mageau with a handgun at a lovers’ lane in Vallejo, California. Mike survives.

One month later,

The San Francisco Chronicle receives several letters written by the killer calling himself the “Zodiac,” who threatens to kill a dozen people unless his cipher containing his identity is published. Robert Graysmith, who is political cartoonist at that time, gaines great interest in this case. When the newspaper publishes the letters, a married couple deciphers one. However, no identity exist in this letter.

September,

The killer stabs law student Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard at Lake Berryessa in Napa County. Cecelia dies two days later.

Paul Avery, who is a crime reporter, begins sharing information with Graysmith. Graysmith finds out that the line which Zodiac mentioned in his letter, “man is the most dangerous animal of all” is a reference to the film The Most Dangerous Game.

Two weeks later,

San Francisco taxicab driver Paul Stine is shot and killed in the city’s Presidio Heights district. The Zodiac killer mails pieces of Stine’s bloody shirt to the Chronicle along with a letter. San Francisco police inspectors David Toschi and his partner Bill Armstrong start to investigate the case.

In 1971,

Detectives Toschi, Armstrong, and Mulanax question Arthur Leigh Allen, a suspect in the Vallejo case. After a brief talking Toschi heavily considers Leigh as the prime suspect. Unfortunately, a handwriting expert insists that Leigh’s handwriting doesn’t match with Zodiac’s one, even though Allen is said to be ambidextrous. After received the threatening letter, Paul Avery shares information with the Riverside Police Department and finds out that Zodiac might have been active before the initial killings.

In 1978,

Avery moves to the Sacramento Bee. Graysmith contacts Toschi about the Zodiac murders and eventually impresses him with his passion of that case. With the help of Toschi, Graysmith gaines more imformation after he searched high number of files. Toschi then received a letter from Zodiac which causes his demotion.

Graysmith continues his own investigation. He gathers tons of circumstantial evidence, which points out that Arthur Leigh Allen is the most suspicious suspect. Toschi is impressed by his investigation and asks Graysmith to finish his book.

In 1983,

Graysmith tracks Allen to a Vallejo Ace Hardware store. They stare at each other before Graysmith leaves.

Eight years later,

After Graysmith’s book, Zodiac, has become a bestseller, Mike Mageau identifies Arthur Leigh Allen from a police mugshot. Leigh’s DNA test is negative and he died of heart disease before police could question him. The Zodiac cases recently still remains open.

Character Development:

Robert Graysmith:

At first, Graysmith is just a cartoonist who has no relationship with Zodiac cases. However, the sense of justice and his perseverance drive him to focus on this case. When Zodiac cases become yesterday’s news, Graysmith keeps searching and finds out similarity and relationships among all those cases. He then become an expert of Zodiac cases, finishes his book and share his research conclusions to people around the world.

David Toschi:

David Toschi is a good detective. He has smelled the trace of Zodiac killer. However, because of the lack of evidence and terrible cooperation between police departments, he and his colleagues lose the best chance to catch the criminal. After years his colleagues feel exhausted of Zodiac cases and quit, but Toschi still keep searching. Toschi can be considered as a tragedy character, for he devoted himself into Zodiac cases for years but stil cannot catch him. Finally he has to follow with his colleagues and leave these cases for later ages.

Analysis:

How characters drive this story:

The story can be seperated to two lines. One is Graysmith’s investigation and the other is the offical investigation(Toschi’s investigation). At first, Toschi and his colleagues take a long time to investigate and find out several suspect like Rick Marshall and Arthur Leigh Allen. Leigh becomes the top suspect, which push the story to the first climax. However, no evidence is found and story suddenly come to a deadlock. In this part Garysmith is more like a bystander, showing audience the influence and horror that Zodiac killer has brought to people at that time.

After years police still don’t know who Zodiac is, Graysmith takes the place and starts to investigate by himself, the story becomes more interesting. His research is hindered by environmental factors several times, which adds twists and turns to the story. After all of Graysmith’s evidence points to Leigh, the story goes to the second climax. Finally, Leigh’s DNA is unmatched and the story ends.