Full film coming soon! See trailer below:
'Something Spectacular' is my final major project for my animation degree marking the end of my time at the University of Brighton. It is a compilation of the skills I have developed during my time here and takes narrative and aesthetic elements from all the projects I have worked over my three year course. This was truly a passion project and I continue to work on it even after my final submission - to fulfil the aspirations I had for it.
I began the project with exploring the visual language and design of the London Underground. This was already a huge inspiration for me even before I started thinking about this film. I took plenty of pictures some of which I have featured on the right. I also did some research online - particularly looking for old signage and posters. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway in the world and the visual language reflects a really interesting aesthetic.
One of my aims for this film was to incorporate this aesthetic and use both modern and vintage styles. Since my film takes place in a dystopian future, I felt that having a mix of these styles would add to the intrigue of the world and further highlight the clash between a world set in the future but being limited to the resources of the past.
Modern London Underground photographed by Haniyyah Nauzeer
Old Underground photos and signage found on Nicholas Lyster's London Undeground Project
Initial Storyboards for Something Spectacular
On the left is my storyboard for the film. I always start my projects in paper - my passion for animation began with my love for drawing so beginning my projects with drawing feels important to me.
I use my initial storyboards to help figure out the more complicated and prominent shots in my animations. I also cater them to help me think about whichever part of the animation requires more thinking for me. For example, my storyboard for Marcasite was more focused on the transitions and movement because this was my main focus for that animation. Whereas in Something Spectacular, the environments and composition were my main focus so my initial storyboard was catered towards figuring that out more than the movement of the character, which I then clarified in my final storyboards and animatic.
Test Renders of Abandoned Station
Final Render of the Abandoned Station
On the left is a series of test renders I did for the Abandoned Station environment I made in Blender. I was experimenting with this painterly style and how much depth I wanted with the brush strokes. I messed around with different colours too and since this was the first environment I was building for the film. I was experimenting with different node set ups too to see what kind of effects I could create and how all the components of the scenes would work together! Using the styles I settled on in this environment I got to work building the others.
Three Variations of the Main Character's Bedroom
