Short neo noir film, I need some help! :)

#5

Hi again,

I don’t want to start another topic for this since this one is so recent, however I have another project for anyone interested which will be sooner than this one, and a lot less work. DVXuser.com is hosting another short film competition/festival, the theme being “Quest fest” this time. The films have to be under six minutes in length.

I am currently talking to a writer about ideas – and I thought there might be someone (or a few people) interested in doing some matte painting to enhance the New Zealand landscape!

If anyone was looking for practice on LOTR, Indiana Jones type background stuff - this is your chance! Realistically we’re probably looking at a few paintings max - set extention type stuff. Your work will be seen by a fair amount of people so this could be good exposure for future jobs, etc.

While I would mainly be looking for someone who can do this for credit/experience/ and exposure, others are still encouraged to send rates etc. Good matte painting will really enhance the film and take it to a new level.

If anyone is interested, let me know here, or email me - chrishurn [at] gmail [.com]

Yona/Rich, would you be interested in this as well?

Cheers,
Chris

#6

Hi again :slight_smile:

Your other project seems interesting as well, Id be happy to jump in if you need any help…

Yona

#7

I love neo noir films - especially the style and feel of them - such as Blade Runner, Dark City, Sin City etc.

  I'm in the process of creating my demo reel, and I need a city scene in it. Maybe I could create a city matte that would also be suited for your needs. And if you decide not to use it, hey, no harm, no foul.
  
  It'd be great to have some details on your project, though. Are you going for a futuristic noir (e.g. Blade Runner) look, old art deco, over-the-top gothic, or possibly something else? I assume it'd be a sci-fi cityscape from your opening post, but I'm asking just to be sure. Is it going to be a day or night shot (or dawn or dusk or whatever)? Are there going to be FX & compositing work like rain, snow, smoke, or live-action plates provided or needed? Is the shot to be static or moving?
  
  Also, what are the technical specs of your project? Are doing this on DV, HD, or film? What is your frame rate and aspect ratio?. It'd be good to know well in advance to figure out the painting resolution, for possible camera mapping details and so on.
#8

Wizdoc,

Thanks for coming in. It will be DV, Widescreen PAL. (Shot using the DVX100 in case anyone is interested) - 25fps.

At the moment I have been toying with ideas and more on the technical side of things. Before I put together a script my goal is to really find out as much as I can about all the post production things - even if I won’t be doing them myself. I have been spending a few months in After Effects, tried out 3ds max, etc. just to get an understanding on the process. I still have a way to go.

Things like snow or rain etc. I had planned on getting stock footage shot over a black background and composting it in, using a mixture of that and something like Particular to create a stylized feel - not necessarily going for realism. But not cartoony, either. I love snow and rain, fog, anything that creates an experience and mood.

This is a project that I want to spend a lot of time in pre production with, months and months. Even though it’s a 10 minute film I want it to look a million bucks and I don’t think independant filmmakers spend anywhere near as much time in pre production as they can – not only that but I don’t want to just hand something to an artist and say “Do this” - I want to be able to understand exactly what they will be doing, in what program and how they do it, so I can accomodate their needs as well as mine.

So I can’t be too specific with you at this point as I am still researching.

However what I can tell you is I am going to definitely aim for a Blade runner sort of feel - with an even more run down city - destoryed old art deco buildings mixed with sky skrapers that look like they may have been modern once, but the rubble has made them look so ancient, bits missing, real end of the world kind of thing. Like Morder from LOTR in a city. That dark kind of feel.

However, I love dusk, sunsets, I want to mix that run down feel with beautiful city skies with amazing clouds and breathtaking scenery. Even though the city is a deadzone, the skies are amazing - the red sun kind of covers it’s rays over the whole city to give it a warm feel.

So it’s in a dark, future. That’s the kind of cyber punk vibe I like - deep future but it’s destroyed, people have moved on to other planets, cities, etc.

One thing I always loved was the setting in Final Fantasy VII. The fact that the place is split up into all these different sectors and slums, and there’s this big plate covering all of them with reactors etc.

So on this, more of a Blade Runner feel visually.

I would absolutely love to have you put something together. Mould it to your needs - at this point I am very flexible as I have yet to write a script. I will probably be getting to a script early next month, and will spend a few weeks refining it, storyboarding, then shot planning, etc.

I am very grateful for any help I can get, and I have already been getting emails from people interested - so this is fantastic, thank you!

As for the exact shot -

I am not big big fan of green screen work. I like matte stuff that extends out the original shot, as apose to completely creating a work from scratch and then green screening actors, etc.

However - I understand you want to get your portfolio and you don’t want to be waiting around for months for me to get my act together to send you a shot. If you create a matte from scratch, there are a lot of things I could use it for - of course to establish the world, I can shoot my scenes indoors with windows as green screens and have it be a part of that, I could do a lot with it.

The original plan was to shoot this film as much live action as possible and use matte work to enhance it but I will definitely have use for matte plates that I can composite other stuff info, etc.

Sorry about the long post - I am very grateful of your offer and would love to work with you on this. Again I am very flexible - mould it to your liking - show off your best skills, and I’ll definitely find a use for it.

We can talk more via email (Chrishurn @ gmail.com) or, I can check this thread for anything.

Thanks again!

And thanks to everyone who has sent me emails for either of my projects, it is great being able to collaborate with people like this.

Chris

#9

Emh… May be i can be helpful in here. 0_o

#10

Dimms,

Wow, your work is quite something. :slight_smile: You would be interested in participating?

Just so everyone knows, the “Quest” film will be shot in May - so I will be actually able to show you some footage then. At the moment we are doing tests. :slight_smile: The Noir film will come shortly after this one, as we will have a much better understanding of the process.

If you are interested please let me know! It’d be great to have you.

#11

Oki:)
Stick my e-mail address somewhere around of your screen then, and let me know as soon as you will get something to work with.
dimms1@gmail.com

#12

Thank you very much. I will stick it on my computer screen to remind myself to get to work! :slight_smile:

Chris

#13

Here’s a quick concept I did:

 [img]http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/8706/neonoircityscapeconcept.jpg[/img]

I'm not sure if you're looking for a run-down, desolate post-apocalyptic sort of mood, or an overpopulated buzzing-with-people and overload of neon and billboards Blade Runner type city scene.

Also, you mentioned that this is going to be a futuristic noir short film. I have hard time reconciling the idea of a rain-soaked, dark and oppressive noir city and the atmosphere pretty clouds and golden sunsets create. I know Blade Runner had a few shots lit like the concept above, but they were a minority. Could you be a bit more specific on what kind of mood you’re aiming for?

And about the architecture - right now the city is pretty flat with bigger buildings protruding here and there. Is that what you are after, or maybe a more busier, Coruscant-type of crowds of tall skyscrapers?

#14

Hi Chris, :slight_smile:

I’m interested in your short film too! :buttrock:

#15

Wizdoc,

I can’t tell you how grateful I am for you doing this. That concept looks beautiful.

I’m not sure if you’re looking for a run-down, desolate post-apocalyptic sort of mood, or an overpopulated buzzing-with-people and overload of neon and billboards Blade Runner type city scene.

Also, you mentioned that this is going to be a futuristic noir short film. I have hard time reconciling the idea of a rain-soaked, dark and oppressive noir city and the atmosphere pretty clouds and golden sunsets create. I know Blade Runner had a few shots lit like the concept above, but they were a minority. Could you be a bit more specific on what kind of mood you’re aiming for?

Mood wise the above is very close to what I had in mind. Think run-down, desolate post-apocalyptic, but with more high buildings - they can still be really damaged – bits hanging out, wires, that sort of thing.

So kind of like some of those Blade runner shots of the city that you mentioned, but more destroyed – more post-apocalyptic. The direction you are going in is exactly the kind of thing I had in mind, just more high rises, maybe some neon signs – you can be a little more “techy” with it.

So let’s say something a little bit more busy, more tall skyskrapers. But everything still quite damaged. Perhaps even half of some sort of high rise bridge going right over the city thats been completely destroyed with wires and lose bits and pieces hanging out.

Hope that clears a few things up, feel free to ask anything else, I’ll keep my eye on the thread. Thanks for doing this, looks great so far.

@everyone else - Thanks for your continued emails, we now have a small team of people who have offered their support for both the Quest project and the Neo Noir project. The script for the “quest” film is being written right now, the idea we are going with is the story of a cultral anthrapologist who travels into an “otherworld” – so there will be lots of fun to be had with working on that. Anyone else who wants to contribute send me an email or post here, anyone is welcome.

Talk soon,
Chris

#16

Here’s what I have so far:

 There's still plenty of stuff to do, of course.
 
 I still need to add a building(s) to the center background, add the huge bridge you mentioned, destroy/modify more of those buildings and add more lights, logos & billboards.
 
 Of course, I'd love to hear comments.
#17

Alright!

I love the direction you’re going in. This looks wonderful, and with the addition of the things you have mentioned in your post it will be perfect. I love the terrain in the distance, I love the little island at the back right, the city looks great - the sky is great, I like the colours. Great combination of red sky and clouds, creates a nice mood. Lights on the buildings are really nice, the buildings have a nice look about them.

I think the neon lights are really going to add a huge element (the one in here so far looks really cool), so look forward to seeing that and what you come up with the bridge, too.

But yeah, this is exactly what I had in mind - you have really done a great piece of work and I look forward to seeing your next installment.

Chris

#18

as far as you credit me by putting up my name money will not be an issue…lol
i will love to help who is passionate about work.here is the link to my matte painting “the haunted”. see if i can be of any help(i love doing photography too)

http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=196&t=755998

volumelight@gmail.com

#19

I am free at this moment, so if u find this interesting, i’ll be glad to help.

M

#20

MatejaPetkovic - that’s fantastic. I’d love to talk about that shot, and thanks for your offer to help. I’ll send you an email through your profile, cheers.

You too volumelight! Cheers.

For anyone interested, the “Quest” film has a script, we are now in the final draft. It is called “otherworld”. We have secured one of the locations from Lord of the Rings (the sequence from the Army of the dead!) and this will be a really fun project for anyone wanting to join. You will have 3-4 weeks to do the paintings, at this stage I already have had quite a few people put their names forward of course…the more people the better so we can split up the workload! We shoot in one months time. After that we have a month of post production. So for the people interested, I will send you the shots and we’ll talk about them on the day of the shoot so work can be started.

After this project comes the Neo Noir one, which will take much more pre production work but will be equally exciting. The finished products will look sweet and I think this will produce some great stuff to show off in your reels. Of course we will be submitting the films to festivals internationally, taking them very seriously so the people who worked on them have the right amount of exosure!

Chris

#21

Hey man, I don’t know if you still have room, but I’d be willing to take on a shot if you still need people. Pm me and let me know.

#22

waiting for the shots chris…
best of luck anyways

#23

A new version:

I added the central building, and made numerous small tweaks and paintwork to the piece. I also took out the neon signs out of the foreground as I think without them, the composition works much better, and I still have hard time reconciling the two aspects of the city - the busy Blade Runner neon-filled city and a blasted out post-apocalyptic wasteland. It would really help if you’d have a more detailed explanation of the storyline.

And yeah, I added a lens flare as a comp test. Got to have one of those. :slight_smile:

#24

This thread has been automatically closed as it remained inactive for 12 months. If you wish to continue the discussion, please create a new thread in the appropriate forum.