The next scene is finished, yayy!
I am moving forward slowly but steadily, and I am very happy with how it turned out.
It took a little bit of experimenting to edit the shadow onto the character and make it look like she is disappearing into it. I digitally drew a matte layer with the shadow and then keyframed it to move downwards as the character walks away from the camera. It was important to adjust the colours so that it would blend in with the background nicely. I didn't quite know how to make the transition of the character 'disappearing' into the forest more smooth, as the walk cycle ends very abruptly. Mike was very helpful as he told me to repeat the layer where the shadow traces the walk cycle to give the impression that it just continues, which works really well as it suggests that she moves further into the trees without me having to animate it all. Another small detail which worked really well was adjusting the colours as she walks into the forest!
It's those little details when editing that make it so time consuming (as it involves a lot of experimenting around) but also have such a big effect.
Here is the scene:
- to be uploaded
I got an update on the music from Enya, and I am very happy with it!! This second draft she really implemented everything I said in my feedback and I think it's very close now. I need to listen to it a few more times to see if it needs any fine tuning.
I have also been contacted by a sound design student from Napier who is interested in working with me on "Leaf the City", which is amazing. I am excited to get some foley sound for the film and to see how that can complement the music. Especially for the first part in the city I think Enya's version could need some more drama and then the part in the forest I think would really benefit from some rustling noises and creaking tree bark and such sounds. I will set up a teams meeting with Andrew to discuss the project and our collaboration in more detail.