Alright guys, here's where we are and where we go from here: I'm making some minor modifications to the holodeck set (I've decided that we're going to see Reyf insert the isolinear chip and give the computer his command codes before he activates the program, which requires the cover to be off the panel in the arch--problem is my arch was neither designed to be seen up close nor was it meant to show its internal circuitry, so I'm rebuilding one side of it to work for closer-up shots).
As for the set representing the holosimulation, this is going to be tricky no matter how I approach it, and I'm still not quite sure what to do about it. Every single shot of the holosimulated set is going to require a 16-frame animation, and I'm planning to do the same thing as I did with Garr's office, which is to do a series of shots from Reyf's perspective as he looks around. What I may wind up doing is the same as I did before, creating "test shots" at Bryce's most basic render settings, and then filling those in with fully rendered shots as they become available. This may well mean that the scene that goes up onto YouTube will be composed of fully rendered still-camera shots and (by comparison) crappy-looking test renders. Offhand though, given the render time this particular set requires, I don't see any other way to do it.
So, as before, just be patient and stay tuned, and I'll have something for your viewing pleasure as soon as I possibly can
What, specifically requires the animation; maybe you can fake something with After Effects (or whatever you use)? And for doing walk-throughs of tricky animation; render some 3x stills of the "filmed" portion of the set, and just pan the camera along the pre-rendered path. Or something like that. (i have no idea what im talking about, but i know what im trying to say!)
@homer: believe me when I say that Adobe AfterEffects is not an option given what I've got planned I get what you're saying about the larger still image, I actually faked the Voyager bridge that way a few years back in some early tests, but it just doesn't work for what I've got in mind.
hmmm.....you could break into ILM's Render Farm....lol....
what i was saying; you might be able to get away with doing some of the hardcore stuff, like computer animations etc as a seperate process combined in post, or alternatively you could do some of the weird stuff in post instead of "in-camera". or you risk suffering Beaker's fate
A quick (and I do mean quick, it's barely 22 seconds long) teaser, but it gives you a hint of what's coming. I've done some test renders and I can tell you that this is going to be a powerful scene when you combine the visuals I've got planned with the music track ("My Right Arm" from Nemesis).
For those who haven't read the spoilers I've put up, can you guess what he's seeing?
BTW, I've been getting requests from offsite for a longer tease of Scene 38, but the way the scene progresses the very next shot would give it away. I'll leave it up to my loyal SFM crowd, you want to see it now or wait for the complete scene?
Scene 38A (there's a 38B that will follow) is technically complete, but it's not perfect: as I mentioned, the holographic set you'll see is one of the most elaborate I've ever built, and renders on it are taking some time. With that in mind, I'm continuing to perform full renders in the background, but since I predict it will take several weeks before I have them all done, I'm going to post the scene with some rough animatics in place of full renders. So on some of these shots, you'll have to use your imagination to fill in the blanks (don't worry, there's some still shots that will help fill in the blanks). I know there are some things that need polishing (the camera motion isn't as smooth in a few places as I'd like it to be, for one), but a "fixed" version of this is coming which will have all the rough edges polished.
I predict there will be exactly two reactions to this scene: folks will either say "hooray for daring to push the boundaries," or will question my sanity. (Either way is good because Braiyon Garr is insane!)
I'm compiling the full scene now, it should be up on YouTube shortly.
This is the link but the upload's going to take about 20 minutes from the timestamp of this post. So...be patient This is the "aha" scene for the entire third act of the movie, so I'm understandably eager to hear your reactions! Just please please please, for the 24 hours following this post, if you want to comment on the exact contents of the holoprogram, please do so with discretion in deference to those who might not have seen it yet.
Upload is finished and the video is at least partially processed! It should be at least partially watchable.
ok...interesting. Now i know what Reyf knows. Although i have the benefit of several years and 120 pages of discussions to help me leap to this conclusion
This scene is the culmination of every allusion to the 20th century that's been made regarding Garr's character, in particular all the songs from that period. It's also one of the most blatant author allusions / author avatar moments between myself and Garr. I figure, if we could take Tom Paris' Captain Proton stories seriously, why not this for a deranged mad scientist??? (When Reyf is talking about all the effort Garr put into it--implying that it was already in progress when they came to the Academy and was not finished when they graduated, plus the fact that Garr placed a higher priority on developing it than on his studies at times--are all actually true, when I started college this had already been a WIP for about two years, and wouldn't be finished until six months after I graduated...and it's true that there were days when I decided I'd rather work on this than go to class.)
A viewer on YouTube remarked that they found it difficult to take this scene seriously, in part because in such a dark and dramatic story, this bit seems to break mood as well as genre. In actuality, this (the mood break) is the explicit purpose of the scene, since as Reyf points out the sights and sound of the simulation served to remind Dr. Garr of better days gone by. This is actually an implicit allusion to Star Trek The Motion Picture, when Commander Decker attempted to use audio/visual association to revive the Ilia memory patterns within the V'Ger probe.
And I'm not going to lie, as the YouTube viewer correctly observed, this is a set that was actually designed and built for another project, but which was never seen in completed form in the project for which it was intended. The shots during Reyf's walkthrough are story-centric, showing the audience what Reyf sees; the shots once he calls for music are more beauty shots, but the implication is that Reyf might've seen similar things while Garr was still developing the program.
Reyf's line about certain pieces being "ancient even by period standards" is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the actual show's usage of equipment and parts decades beyond their original shelf life, and to refuse to upgrade to new technology even when available. Also, when he makes his reference to "liquid crystal displays," he's pointing at one of the racks between the doors, but from our perspective it looks almost as if he's pointing at us, the audience--a rare instance of painting the fourth wall, as in our century it may be assumed that the majority of the audience will be viewing the scene on liquid-crystal display (LCD) screens.
Can you upload 3 or 4 pictures that you think would make Specter a bit easier to understand for someone who hasnt seen the full movie yet? its for the article. thanks
@Dr-Timelord: this scene actually came about explicitly because of the TWOK expanded release! Originally from the holodeck we were going to cut straight to the Fitzgerald breaking orbit and going to warp, set to "To Romulus" (from Nemesis). As soon as I heard "Kirk Takes Command" I just knew I had to use it, and so this scene was born.
Coming up next: Scene 39, in which Garr's entire scheme is explained. This will be our first visit to an as-yet unseen USS Fitzgerald set.
Alright guys, I'm preemptively asking for some help!
I've just finished writing Scenes 39A and 39B, each of which is three pages in length. 39A gets involved in the technical aspects of Garr's plan (yes, all is about to be revealed), while 39B is three pages of emotional exchange between two of our favorite characters. I've done what I can to trim it down, but once the scene is up I hope you guys won't mind evaluating it and seeing which lines you think could be trimmed or cut altogether
Doing my best Got to stop and build another USS Fitzgerald set though, we're about to hear all the details of Garr's sinister plot (rife with clever fiendishness no less!), and none of the shooting sets I have really feels right. We've already used the observation lounge set too much, and we have one more scene there before this is through; the bridge just isn't right, and the ready room is just too closed in (it barely worked in "Yesterday's Enterprise," and I'm no match for David Carson when shooting 2.35:1 aspect ratio). To my mind, that just leaves one choice!
Posts
Patience you must have
what i was saying; you might be able to get away with doing some of the hardcore stuff, like computer animations etc as a seperate process combined in post, or alternatively you could do some of the weird stuff in post instead of "in-camera". or you risk suffering Beaker's fate
Current Projects:
Ambassador Class
In other news, by popular demand: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eJDWS69kIw
A quick (and I do mean quick, it's barely 22 seconds long) teaser, but it gives you a hint of what's coming. I've done some test renders and I can tell you that this is going to be a powerful scene when you combine the visuals I've got planned with the music track ("My Right Arm" from Nemesis).
For those who haven't read the spoilers I've put up, can you guess what he's seeing?
MEGA MAID!!
Scene 38A (there's a 38B that will follow) is technically complete, but it's not perfect: as I mentioned, the holographic set you'll see is one of the most elaborate I've ever built, and renders on it are taking some time. With that in mind, I'm continuing to perform full renders in the background, but since I predict it will take several weeks before I have them all done, I'm going to post the scene with some rough animatics in place of full renders. So on some of these shots, you'll have to use your imagination to fill in the blanks (don't worry, there's some still shots that will help fill in the blanks). I know there are some things that need polishing (the camera motion isn't as smooth in a few places as I'd like it to be, for one), but a "fixed" version of this is coming which will have all the rough edges polished.
I predict there will be exactly two reactions to this scene: folks will either say "hooray for daring to push the boundaries," or will question my sanity. (Either way is good because Braiyon Garr is insane!)
I'm compiling the full scene now, it should be up on YouTube shortly.
This is the link but the upload's going to take about 20 minutes from the timestamp of this post. So...be patient
Otherwise, enjoy!
@hazend: this will most definitely be a surprise!
A viewer on YouTube remarked that they found it difficult to take this scene seriously, in part because in such a dark and dramatic story, this bit seems to break mood as well as genre. In actuality, this (the mood break) is the explicit purpose of the scene, since as Reyf points out the sights and sound of the simulation served to remind Dr. Garr of better days gone by. This is actually an implicit allusion to Star Trek The Motion Picture, when Commander Decker attempted to use audio/visual association to revive the Ilia memory patterns within the V'Ger probe.
And I'm not going to lie, as the YouTube viewer correctly observed, this is a set that was actually designed and built for another project, but which was never seen in completed form in the project for which it was intended. The shots during Reyf's walkthrough are story-centric, showing the audience what Reyf sees; the shots once he calls for music are more beauty shots, but the implication is that Reyf might've seen similar things while Garr was still developing the program.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j08jKcJNWDk
Coming up next: Scene 39, in which Garr's entire scheme is explained. This will be our first visit to an as-yet unseen USS Fitzgerald set.
I've just finished writing Scenes 39A and 39B, each of which is three pages in length. 39A gets involved in the technical aspects of Garr's plan (yes, all is about to be revealed), while 39B is three pages of emotional exchange between two of our favorite characters. I've done what I can to trim it down, but once the scene is up I hope you guys won't mind evaluating it and seeing which lines you think could be trimmed or cut altogether
By all means, any assistance I can give...
Ask away!