Nelly Luckett : BA (Hons) Computer Animation Arts, UCA Rochester

While I have been drawing, I have come to realise that there are two "categories" for Brancusi's sculptures. They are either rounded, grand merged shapes, or a number of shapes piled on top of each other. This began to get me thinking about how these shapes could have been formed when found in an environment; whether they were caused by the habitat they were in or whether it was a stylistic choice. Whilst doing research into how weather conditions can effect buildings, I came across two astonishing examples that have really caught my imagination, and are taking me on quite an interesting journey. The one with the most information is: The sunken city of Thonis-Heracleion, Egypt One of the statues discovered Statue of a Queen Recovered Recovering the Pharo's statue A huge, engraved tablet discovered in the city's ruins. What it is believed that the city looked like before it was lost. It is really unknown what actually made the city

Brancusi's Influences by Eleanor 'Nelly' Luckett on Scribd

To what extent is "The Curse of the Sad Mummy" influenced by Film Noir and Expressionism? by Eleanor 'Nelly' Luckett on Scribd

Today we got our creative partners for the What If? Metropolis project. So I did some very early initial research. Constantin Brancusi Information by Eleanor 'Nelly' Luckett on Scribd

So this week we began our first digital set, an old alley. This has yet to be textured, so the images are a little rough and difficult to understand in places, but here is where we are so far. This is the current state of the main digital set, the basics of the Old Alley This is how the lamp currently looks. And this is the beginning of a crate. Its only got basics at the moment to make it easier when it comes to UV mapping and texturing. Watch this space for a fully completed digital set coming soon!

So, we have come to the end of the Invisible Cities project, and it is time to reflect on the process of the work production and my feelings on the project in general. I have learnt a very large amount about using Photoshop and technical drawing through this project. My increased understanding of perspective, proportion and colour use and management has hugely improved, however I am also aware that I still need to work on perspective. I have a funny feeling that it is one of those techniques you never stop learning. Generally, when developing work, I focus on a narrative or character, so found that I had to imagine the city as a living organism in order to be able to properly develop it. One of the things I found most challenging was how to include everything. I found that some things naturally put themselves in certain thumbnails, and realised that not everything needed to be in every thumbnail. I could pick and choose what was in which images, bearing in mind that some features

Below is my presentation for the Invisible Cities Crit. Crit Presentation - Invisible Cities by Eleanor 'Nelly' Luckett on Scribd Here are the GIFs of the pieces in progress:

Here is the Art of document for my concept art of Phyllis. Art Of Phyllis by Eleanor 'Nelly' Luckett on Scribd

As part of my development and refinement process in the lead up to our final drawings, I did a lot of research into architectural and visual aspects of my designs. Below is the presentation that collates all of those aspects. Researched Influences by Eleanor 'Nelly' Luckett on Scribd

Our most recent project in Maya is modelling a scooter. We are yet to texture the model, but this is it in its basic form. I've had a number of issues building this model, ending up with weird shapes and odd corners. I don't really know where I went wrong, but I got there in the end.

The 1927 film Metropolis is the quintessential expressionist Sci-Fi film. Complete with a maiden in distress, a mad professor and an insane robot on the loose, this film set the trope for many films that would come. As stated by Roger Ebert; Metropolis does what many great films do, creating a time, place and characters so striking that they become part of our arsenal of images for imagining the world. Lang filmed for nearly a year, driven by obsession, often cruel to his colleagues, a perfectionist madman, and the result is one of those films without which many others cannot be fully appreciated The director, Fritz Lang (who also directed another trail blazing movie, The Cabinet of Dr Caligari ), uses several innovative techniques to create this timeless and hugely influential film; including be the first film to use a true mix of camera angles and shots. Previous films such as Dr Caligari had only used a static camera, with actors and actresses waling in front of the camera

Today was focusing on using the Squash and Stretch cartoon style bounce we created last week, and discovering how adding elements to a character can complicate and enhance the appearance and timing of the bounce. For this I created three characters; a ghost, a fox and a spider.  I decided that the Ghost had to move at a reduced movement rate to emphasise its airiness and lack of weight. The others however moved at the normal rate.

Today we completed our orthographic drawings for our Monster characters. They don't look terribly impressive in themselves, but they are really important for modelling in Maya. This is the origional drawing: And these are the Orthographic views Front view Side view Rear view Hopefully a Maya model of her coming soon! Watch this space!

Following the OGR, I was advised to do a load more research, so I began finding detailed imagery and making some sketches of those elements as well some of my own ideas from the style. I have also begun to form in my head who the three queens in the statues are. I think they are going to be the same long-lasting monarch who has three very distinct roles; the warrior, the royal and the carer, and each statue represents one of these. Here are the rest of my drawings:

Today we focused on three more key principles for animation, Arcs, Squash and Stretch and Weight as well as revisiting timing and space. Our focus today was bouncing balls. We began today with an exercise animating a cartoon bouncing ball using squash and stretch. This isn't really realistic, however it is commonly used in animation.  We then animated a highly bouncy object such as a Ping Pong ball.  This was followed by a Tennis ball. And a Bowling ball And just for fun, here's the Chaos GIF

So the first few weeks have definitely been challenging but I have learnt so much. At this half way point through the project, we take time to reflect and receive feedback on our processes and intended way forward. In that stead, here is my OGR presentation for Invisible Cities. Invisible cities OGR presentation by Eleanor 'Nelly' Luckett on Scribd

So I have decided that the city I want to portray through my work is Phyllis. This has caused me to start exploring through a combination of media (Pintrest boards, drawing and collage) the way that I wish my city to look. So here are my influence boards for my version of Phyllis.

Today in our digital drawing session with Jordan, we discussed the importance of key compositional rules. Key terms Diminuation - objects get smaller as they get further away from viewer Foreshortening - lines or surface parallel to the observer's face show their maximum size Convergence - lines or edges of objects that are parallel appear to come together (converge) as they recede from the observer Overlapping objects - help define distance Shadows - show situation of object Value/tonal range - bright and clear when closer to obsever, hazy as further away Perspective 1 point perspective - horizontals and verticals stay 2 point perspective - verticals stay 3 point perspective = extreme shots - height Composition Ideas Points of interest Rule of 3  Leading lines - push viewers' eyes Depth and framing Balanced/stability Tonal value Perspective Symmetry/one point perspective  These are the perspective activities that we did as practice

I found this tutorial a little more challenging to follow than the egg cups, however I am ultimately very please with my Ray Gun. I decided to change the colours to make it more me, but here you go. And here is the final render image.