Establishing My Narrative & Research

Now that I've broken down the brief and have a solid understanding of what's required from me in terms of deliverables, it's time to nail down my final narrative idea and begin pre-production.

Out of the three ideas I discussed in the previous post, I've done some further investigation into the characters, animations & environments available to me, and have concluded that the following idea makes the most sense:

• Post-apocalyptic monster horror - I found some great assets to assist in post-apocalyptic environment creation, as well as characters that come pre-rigged (both human and monsters). Plus, there's a plethora of action animations on Mixamo that I could incorporate!

For the narrative itself, I want to adopt the fact that the camera will be handled in VCAM into the story as much as I can. I envision perhaps a character trying to do research on the monsters roaming this post-apocalyptic environment, so they could be using a hand held camera to record them? Though I wouldn't want to over-saturate this and have that take up the entirety of the scenes. That would result in the animation being one continuous shot, and I'd really like to experiment with VCAM as much as possible. Either way, I do like the idea of at least one of the shots being a handheld camera type angle!

So, taking the idea of a human researching a monster, something could drop nearby while he's recording them and then he has to escape. Running through the environment whilst being chased, the monster hot on his heels, before settling out of sight as it passes him. From there we could have the camera look at the human as he sighs in relief, before a second monster appears from behind him and attacks. This final shot could even be another handheld camera one, spiraling and falling to the ground so I could use audio rather than visuals to handle the ending?

I really like this idea, and I'm excited to explore it further! But for now I need to move on to establishing some references I can draw inspiration from to evolve my narrative.

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References

When it comes to references for this idea, I already have several in mind. I actually picture the aesthetic clearly as mimicking a mixture of the Last of Us (a hit video game and, more recently, a TV show) and Aliens. The world being distinctly human, but reclaimed by nature, and covered in alien tendrils and insect-like biomass.

For the characters, a similar list of references, but leaning more into a military/sci-fi theme. For the human, perhaps something like the video game series The Division, where soldiers cannibalize gear they can find around them to arm themselves after the collapse of society. For the monsters, I'm thinking more Tremors & Starship Troopers. Insect-like in appearance, but overgrown and distinctly alien!

Either way, a picture says a thousand words, so I've compiled galleries below of reference images for the environment, human character & monster characters respectively.

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Environment:

As I mentioned above, I was mainly leaning on The Last of Us and the Alien series for inspiration when it came to the environment design. Though I did throw a few curve-balls in there by considering the Halo series, which features a parasitic enemy called the Flood. the flood causes fleshy biomass to grow wherever they can be found as a form of terraforming a location, and I feel adding areas like this among familiar human construction would be a great contrast!

I've added a gallery below of reference images I compiled based on the franchises I mentioned above:

Environment Ref #1

Environment Ref #2

Environment Ref #3

Environment Ref #4

Environment Ref #5

Environment Ref #6

Environment Ref #7

Environment Ref #8

Environment Ref #9

Environment Ref #10

Environment Ref #11

Environment Ref #12

Environment Ref #13

Environment Ref #14

Environment Ref #15

Environment Ref #16

Environment Ref #17

Environment Ref #18

Environment Ref #19

Environment Ref #20

These are some wonderful references and I can't wait to adapt them to influence the design of my final environment! I'm beginning to see a tonal pattern when it comes to colour palette and mood as well, but I'll wait until after I've located references for my characters before delving into that.

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Human Character:

For the human character references, I'm sticking with a similar theme in terms of existing media. What I need to remember is that I'm not modelling a character from scratch for this assignment, rather I need to locate one online or via the Unreal Marketplace to use in my animation. This means that rather than use elements from my references to produce a brand new character as I've done previously, this will instead just give an idea of the kind of character I want to find.

To that end; I've compiled the following gallery of human characters to narrow down the aesthetic of the asset I need to source:

Human Reference #1

Human Reference #2

Human Reference #3

Human Reference #4

Human Reference #5

Human Reference #6

Human Reference #7

Human Reference #8

Human Reference #9

Human Reference #10

So there's a few points I can take from these as it's exactly the kind of references I was looking for: the gas mask, the trench coat, backpack and ammunition etc. All generic traits of the post apocalyptic survivor look. I should be easily able to source an existing, rigged character model from the marketplace with this overall look!

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Monster Character(s):

For the monster character, I've decided to keep my options open and go for two distinctive types: a stalker type monster which will hunt the human character, and another humanoid infected character which will be lying in wait to attack the survivor at the end of the sequence. I've therefore spread my reference material across these two types and have compiled the following gallery to use as inspiration for locating suitable models:

Insect Monster Reference #1

Insect Monster Reference #2

Insect Monster Reference #3

Insect Monster Reference #4

Insect Monster Reference #5

Alien/Bug Zombie Reference #1

Alien/Bug Zombie Reference #2

Alien/Bug Zombie Reference #3

Alien/Bug Zombie Reference #4

Alien/Bug Zombie Reference #5

I appreciate these aren't a lot of reference images compared to my usual amount, but as I said previously, I'll need to source this character from the marketplace so only require these to point me in the right direction. That being said, they have served this purpose perfectly! I love the idea of a fast moving 'stalker' enemy, with several legs and deadly pincers. I think the audio element of this assignment can be greatly enhanced here, using the clicking of the monsters feet, mandibles, some chattering noises as it searches the environment etc.

As for the humanoid monster; I love the idea of this zombie like creature where nature has taken control. Either by way of plants or insect life, ideally if I could find a mixture of the two that would be ideal! Keeping it as a humanoid character will work wonders for environmental storytelling, subverting the audiences perception of the threat. Thinking initially that the 'bugs' hunt the survivors for food, when in reality they're turning them to serve a hive mind structure. I'm quite limited in terms of time for this animation, with the brief stating a 30 second maximum, so any additional story that can be told via design is key for narrative. Either way, I feel I now have a good idea on the kind of assets I need to locate for my animation, so just need to take some time to develop a mood-board and colour pallet to better establish that aesthetic I'm going for.

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Mood-Board & Colour Pallet

A rather simple part to round of this post before I begin production proper, but no less important than reference gathering! I'd like to use the reference images I've obtained to establish a general mood-board and colour pallet for my animation. In doing so I'll further narrow down the kind of assets I need to locate to add to my scene (both environmental and characters), while ensuring they will fit the general theme of my narrative. I've therefore compiled my reference images below into a mood-board that I can use going forward:

Assignment 2 Mood-Board

With the mood-board now established, it's really easy to decipher the aesthetic I plan to use for this animation. However, just to make it even clearer for myself going forward, I used the eyedrop sampler of Photoshop to establish the most prevalent colours within the board to create a general colour pallet for my scene:

Assignment 2 Colour Pallet

The colour pallet essentially matches what I expected: a lot of greens and the contrast of the shades of blue being the standout. This leads me to the conclusion that I will have shades of green as the prevailing colours throughout the animation, but also by setting the scene on an overcast day, possibly entering nighttime or with rainfall, I'll be able to get that great offset blue hue that I love in this pallet!

This may have been a very simple set in the pre-production pipeline, but it's worked wonders for establishing an overall design for my scene. I can't wait to start scouring the marketplace and grabbing assets to use, but for now I need to nail down a script for my narrative that I can begin building from.

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Establishing My Narrative

So if we go back to some of the ideas I thought aloud at the beginning of this post, we can establish a few key points for my narrative:

• It follows a human-survivor character in a world that's been both reclaimed by nature, but also contains horrifying alien biomass components glowing and pulsating around the environment.

• The survivor is looking for something and doesn't realize they're being hunted by a giant alien/insect that's just out of view.

• The survivor catches sight of the monster and flees. They think they've reached safety, but then meet a grizzly end at the hands of a humanoid/insect/plant/zombie monster in the final shot of the animation.

This already gives me a solid starting point for a scene flow, so I've compiled my initial idea for a narrative into 9 shots which I've listed below, as well as a brief description of my initial ideas on how VCAM can be utilized for each shot:

1. The survivor is seen searching files/boxes/crates for something. - This shot could be done from the point of view of the survivor, allowing me to utilize VCAM for realistic head movements. Alternately, they could have a handheld camera, making a video diary of their hunt for whatever item they're searching for. This could then be utilized in further shots.

2. An unseen creatures runs quickly past the camera in the background. The VCAM could be applied here for a form of 'camera shake' as the creature runs past the camera. The camera could wobble about as it passes, giving the audience an indication of it's size and speed.

3. The survivor scans the environment searching for the source of the noise. - Again, the handheld camera system could be utilized. Having the survivor exclaim with a "huh?" as they point their camera at the source of the noise.

4. The monster is seen in slightly more detail from behind as they observe their prey from afar. - Following the idea of shot 2; the camera could shake about as the monster steps into view, further implying how imposing this creature is.

5. The survivor senses the danger and hides. - The handheld camera could be useful again here, but I'd worry about over-reliance on this cliche'. Another option would be to simply utilize the VCAM to make the general moves of a character more cinematic. Have the camera follow the character as they hide. Perhaps the act of hiding isn't simply crouching behind a desk, but vaulting over it?

6. The monster is seen clearly for the first time and we get a shot from their POV as they search the hiding place for the survivor but find it empty. - This is rather self explanatory; I'll use VCAM for accurately communicating the movement of the monster through camera movement given it's a POV shot.

7. Cut to a new location where the survivor is seen out of breath but sighing in relief at loosing the monster. - The camera could follow the survivor, matching his frantic pace as he runs into view, then slowing as he stops. Using VCAM to record the movement of my own footsteps that mirror the survivor's could be really effective here!

8. The survivor sits down and breathes deeply, clearly confident they're free from danger. - The camera could potentially 'slump' down with the survivor as they set, allowing the audience to feel the weight of the characters relief through the camera movements.

9. Another creature looms into view in the background and attacks the survivor before cutting to black. - There's a few ways VCAM could be effectively applied to this shot: I could have the camera go from smooth, simple movements to a frantic pace in order to match the sudden tonal shift as the survivor is attacked. Alternately, if I stick with the handheld camera idea, it could free fall as the survivor is attacked, then remaining perfectly still aiming at a wall as the audience hears the sounds of the conflict.

As you can see, the final idea isn't quite there yet, but this certainly gives me a lot to play with. I'm sure it will go through several iterations before a final structure is nailed down, especially the use of VCAM in the shots, but I'm very excited to begin working on it!

The next phase will be establishing the shot timings, what shot types and camera movements I'll use (although these will be mainly be established during the VCAM recording segment), camera lens types, sourcing assets for my environment and characters, then creating a pre-visualization to build upon. I'll be covering all of these points in the next post.

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