Film, Animation and Machinima

Hi All,

Below are a few videos to inspire your animated sections this week:

1. This clip shows you some of the editing techniques used in feature films. Kill Bill was directed by Quentin Tarantino who worked for a long time in a video rental store (which became DVD rental stores and now Netflix) and developed an encyclopedic knowledge of popular films. This might explain why he uses so many editing techniques, and consequently why his scenes are useful to film students for demonstrating how each technique might be used.  It's wise to consider the point of view shown in your animated sections because, as you can see below, point of view can radically transform our appreciation of the space.



2. The making of the animated film The Third and The Seventh. This clip shows the different layers that go into creating a photo-realistic digitally created scene. The take away point here is that you should think about post processing your still images and even videos captured from Sketchup to give them more richness in terms of materials and atmosphere.



3. The game Red Faction Guerrilla is famous for its in game destruction. It's still a classic today. In this clip you'll hear one of the developers talking about the levels of material/structural realism and making the observation that their level designers are becoming "less and less a 3d structure artist and more and more an Architect". This says two things ... visual realism is increasingly supported by physical realism in virtual environments ... and, you might think about a career in designing Architecture in a virtual world.



4. Extending the notion of real time physics interactions, see the clip below by Nvidia. It shows their FleX system and asks you to imagine how you might use it in the future. The air flow around the sports car makes us think about air flows around and through buildings; a key ingredient for comfortable and sustainable Architecture. Obviously the applications for real time design in Civil Engineering are also very exciting.