B-Movie Entry: Ralph Eggers

#21

Hello

Well I think that for this kind of robot is a quite dynamic pose, you can’t do too much about it, and the gun gives him an energic aspect.
I like also the idea of grayscale mode, it has a 50’s smart point.

Bye.

#22

Thanks for commenting!
I liked the black&white look, too. I will try some minor adjustments to the pose, but I’ll focus on improving composition, lighting and environment to make the image more dramatic. Unfortunately I don’t have too much time for this challenge. Well, there are still some days (nights) left. But I don’t think I’ll manage to modell any undead attackers on the robot…

#23

I worked on the robot some more and added some details, like slits in the helmet (beneath the robot eyes) for the actor to look through. Any comments are welcome!

#24

This gives you an idea of the final scene. The blue light comes from the opening graves. This is going to be volumetric light (for dramatic effect) in the final, but I’ll render a seperate volume lights pass. I wanted to give the impression that the robot moves (or lumbers) towards you, I’m not sure if I succeeded.

#25

Just a small preview of the image with the volume lights pass (mr Parti_Volume shader).
Still detailing, texturing and shading work to do, especially the graves need to be more interesting. But maybe there are more problems? I’ve been staring at this for so long that I’m not sure about anything.
So please help me improve this image! Any input is appreciated!

#26

Hello

I’m afraid 3D is not my speciality, but I like the lighting. Perhaps there is not too clear where the background character comes from, you could iluminate the mausoleum a bit more, or put a rear light beside it.
About the graves I suppose is important the names, and some dirty texture.
Hope it will serve you

Good work anyway, see you.

B entry

#27

Thanks, davidramonilustracion! I’ve added a background light for the mausoleum, I hope to render and post it later. Thanks for pointing it out.
Unless someone has some more suggestions I think that modelling and lighting are about finished. Today I’ll do the textures for the graves and mausoleum. So little time left!
cheers, archaeotect!

#28

Is this a production still or the start of a poster? This looks like a production still to me. I think it would look great in B&W, with graininess added and scratches maybe to make it look like a still capture from a film.

#29

Thank you, mdmodeler! Yes, it is supposed to be a production still. Mainly because I wanted to include filmmaking mistakes (like the shadow of the UFOs on the background) that you wouldn’t find in a poster.
I like the black and white look, too, but some things like the robot’s colourful lights will of course get lost. I’m not sure yet. I’ll try to post a comparison for you guys later!
Thanks for the input!

#30

Damn, that volume light renders slow. And I thought I’d get something done tonight :banghead:

#31

Hey Ralph,

Looking good, like the blue light, puts a nice mood on the image. Maybe I like a bit mor the image on post #24, with not blue hard lights, a bit subtle blue lighting. Seeing that image, I think you can add a man (or the man that is in the blue ) turning off the stage lights, with a big switch, something like “the end of the production” :smiley: Only a silly Idea. :slight_smile:

#32

Hey Ralph, Not too often I meet into a fellow Ralph. What you have is very B-movie rich. To me the Robot is fine, I still am looking at the underlining story. Telling a B-movie story is big part of this contest. Is the robot chasing someone? Do you have another 3D model that would add more another B-movie element, such as a women or man dressed in Si-fi cloths or a large insect the robot could be fighting, or even something odd like a mushroom and add a eyeball to it? Best of luck fellow Ralph.

Ralph King

#33

Hi Ralph :beer: Maybe I’m not another Ralph, maybe we’re both just schizophrenic :smiley:

Thanks for the feedback. You’re absolutely right, I found it difficult to express the story. The image lacks the human factor, a hero or victim you can identify with. The truth is that there simply wasn’t (and isn’t) time to model one… So I had to try to subtly hint at what’s happening here: a visitor from outer space (suggested by the UFOs) walks across a cemetary. Suddenly the graves begin to open and a figure emerges from a mausoleum… Seemed like something Ed Wood would’ve directed if he could have afforded a robot suit.
In fact the only reason I ever thought about making this into a movie poster was to slap title and tagline on it so everything becomes understandable!

#34

Rendered the volume lights pass yesterday (not shown here) and added textures. Apart from minor changes this is what I’ll render for my final tonight - unless you have any suggestions or tips??? Thanks to everyone who has posted here so far.

#35

Does the uploader resize or compress the images? If so, it does a bad job - sorry about the poor image quality.
Anyway, for your amusement and as homage to these heroes of b-movie robot history the names on the graves are:

[ul]
[li]Frankie Darro, the actor inside Robby the Robot (“Forbidden Planet”).[/li][li] George Barrows, the actor inside Ro-Man (“Robot Monster”), who happened to own his own gorilla suit.[/li][li] Phil Tucker, the director of Robot Monster, who couldn’t afford a robot suit but only a helmet, so he teamed up with George Barrows above to create the least robot-like robot of them all (a gorilla body suit with a divers helmet).[/li][li] Lock Martin, the actor inside the robot Gort (“The Day the Earth Stood Still”).[/li][li] Albert Arnold Gillespie &[/li][li] Mentor Huebner, the designers of Robby the Robot.[/li][li] Ed Wood, who merged the cliches of alien space invasion and flying saucers with the horror genre standard of the undead rising from their graves in “Plan 9 From Outer Space” and therefore was a major inspiration for my image.[/li][/ul]These guys had so much experience with robot threats, that they might as well be our only hope now!
I also gave the guy in the background little red electric glowing eyes, as a homage to the much smaller Jawas in the first Star Wars movie, because they were after robots, too.

    PS: Except for Ed Wood I didn't know any of these names before this challenge. I'm not always such a nerd :)
#36

this is one of the most bizarre images here. A robot in a cemetery, great idea!
Lets see the final render, good luck

#37

All the render passes are done and only compositing and some finetuning left before the final upload tomorow. Here is a quick compositing test.

#38

The same compositing test in black and white. I really like the 50s feeling here, but on the other hand I think it would be such a pity to lose all the colourful lights. What do you guys think?

#39

Hi Ralph,

Color or B&W a very hard call, but I think I give B&W a slight edge, but this should link to your story. The drama of the robot in a graveyard with lights coming from the graves and death himself in the background, yes that is good B-movie material. Would it work to make one of the flying saucers ships larger to add to the story, maybe the robot just got off a flying saucer? The lights coming from the graves are so strong they are becoming shapes in their own right, so consider toning them down. Ground fog would be a nice touch. Just a few days left. Best of luck fellow Ralph!

#40

Hi Ralph,
yeah I had been thinking about artificial fog from the beginning. But to look good it would have to interact with the volumetric light and the render times are simply unmanageable. On this last night I will focus on compositing and minor tweaks!