Pre-Viz

This is my base for the animation. Few notes on this one:
 - I recorded my voice. This is a paragraph from the book in spanish and then added an echo effect to it.
- I should add 'novel' by Carlos Zafon, something I noticed later.
- The music background is The_Tudor_Consort_-_Giovanni_Animuccia_-_Kyrie but I am still working on a version that is eligible for such project. This piece of choral music is free from http://freemusicarchive.org/genre/Choral_Music/
- The renders aren't the best quality but explain how the camera guide us through each scene. Of course it is faster than the real animation but this will come later in production.
- The final scene is static but with animated light which will come later in production.

That's it for now. Time to start texturing and put some light.

Minor Project Modelling Screeshots

And finally scene 3 - work in progress. I had quite a headache with this scene. Because of its complexity I did a little bit of a google research and found out a way to navigate the scene using Assembly Definitions. The screen shots show the cache representations only. Also, putting the geometry to work in perspective was quite a challange but I believe it is as closest as possible to my concept. And now it is time to polish my modelling and put it together into a pre-viz.

Minor Project Modelling Screenshots

Here are few screenshots on my progress with the modelling of two of my three scenes.

Scene 01 - The Entrance
This is a simple architectural interior which has a bent staircase with roman railing, medieval gates and wall columns which are my interpretation of Corinthian style. The dome is simple and will feature fresco texture.

  

Below are some reference images I have used for the modelling.

Scene 02 - The Round Hall

This is more crowded scene and includes the same styles: Corinthian columns, medieval gates and roman railing. The bookcases are not dominant because they are an introduction to scene three - Library Section. It is a gradual build up of complexity and styles.

And here are some reference images. A very useful resource of architectural styles is The Five Order, a book by Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola from 1562. Below is a flat projection of the main columns. The have an attached staircases. The column style in my scene is a combination of Doric and Compound Style, the latter commonly found in medieval churches.

Minor Project SFX

As an addition to my minor project final piece (whatever it comes at the end) there will be sound. Here are my choices:

For the first time since the Sistine Chapel was built, the Pope finally allowed the Sistine Chapel Choir (active since 1471) to record professionally Miserere by the Italian composer Gregorio Allegri. I heard this one on Classic FM few weeks ago and knew straight away it will complement my scenes. The acoustic is extremely hypnotizing. This is just an extract from the whole piece.

I was thinking to add also whispers like those in TV Series Lost, so here is an example. I think those whispers represent all those souls imprisoned in the books from my scenes. Taken from http://www.freesound.org/people/qubodup/sounds/194628/



Creepy isn't it?

Minor Project Presentation

Minor Project Presentation

Minor Project Library Section and Round Hall Concepts

Last two concepts. I used a different technique for the other images that is why these two are so different in style.

Round Hall

Library Section

Minor Project Entrance Hall & Palatial Corridor concepts

Concept Time:

Entrance Hall v.1

Entrance Hall v.2

Palatial Corridor

@ Phil Minor Project Sketches

As time is a shortage when it comes to my lifestyle, I decided to upload the sketches just to show an idea of what the scenes will be. Concepts are coming too shortly.

From all read and wrote so far, I am making 4 concept images that will work as a base for my models and renders:
1. the entrance: "...sinuous contours of a marble staircase and gallery of frescoes peopled with angles and fabulous creatures."
2. the palatial corridor that leads to...
3. the sprawling round hall
4. Library section

Entrance 1

Entrance 2 Note below.

Round hall

Palatial corridor

Library section

Note: my sketches are inspired by the following images. Phil, I am concerned that the adaptation isn't dramatic and the scenes are too close to the originals. What do you think?

Palatial corridor

Library Section

Entrance

Minor Project Pre-production

The Shadow of the Wind

by Carlos Zafón

The Shadow of the Wind is a 2001 mystery book that takes us back to the late 1940's Barcelona. Despite the post war spirit, the story develops unaffected by the laws of time. People and events flow forwards and backwards in uncanny ways. Daniel Sempere is 10 years old when his father takes him to a mysterious place in the heart of Barcelona, a library called The Cemetery of Forgotten Books. Zafón depicts the building as "the carcass of a palace, a palace of echoes and shadows." In this labyrinthine library of obscure and forgotten titles imprisoned on the shelves, Daniel is given the chance to chose only one book and promise that he will keep it safe. His fingers stop on "The Shadow of the Wind" by Julian Carax. Since that moment, Daniel becomes involved in many mysterious situations that make him undertake an enchanted hunt for people and places connected with the book and its author. This turns the novel from 'literary curiosity' into a choking ambition to find who stays behind the name of Julian Carax. This 'epic film on paper,' is soaked with, mysterious characters, young love, lust, tragedy and torture, in the ever compelling noir style of Dumas.

There are many scenes in this book worth bringing alive as digital sets. The one this project involves is the massive, gloomy and mysterious library or:

"The Cemetery of Forgotten Books"

Here are some extracts from the book to help me understand the mood and shape of this interior:
• "carcass of a palace, a palace of echoes and shadows"
• "a blue-tinted gloom obscured the sinuous contours of a marble staircase and a gallery of frescoes peopled with angles and fabulous creatures.
• "... palatial corridor, ... , a sprawling round hall where a spiraling basilica of shadows was pierced by shafts of light from a high glass dome above us."
• "A labyrinth of passageways and crammed bookshelves rose from the base to pinnacle like a beehive, woven tunnels, steps, platforms and bridges that presaged an immense library of seemingly impossible geometry."
• "... sanctuary. Every book, every volume you see here, has a soul."
• "This place was already ancient, ..., perhaps as old as the city itself."
• "... hundreds, thousands of volumes."

REFERENCE / INSPIRATION

This is a fantasy photo realistic scene and as suggested by Phil, Piranesi's geometrically incongruous plans are a great example. I instantly fell for his fantasy Le Carceri (Prisons) and believe that it fits perfectly with the idea of the library as a prison for books. Good examples of occupation of space combined with romantic design. Piranesi's style is agglomeration of styles incl. Babylonian, Graeco-Roman, Renaissance and exotic inventions. As the library is an ancient building it will include elements from the above. Christian Thompsen explains Piranesi's style in Visionary Architecture as follows:

 "The Carceri,..., derive their aesthetic effect from the device known as

paradox: a simultaneity of opposites...Piranesi's visionary architecture is 

like the setting of a dream blown up to gigantic scale."

Giovanni Battista Piranesi:

Le Carceri

Veduta Interna del Panteon / neoclassicism

Le Carceri / 7th Plate / The Drawbridge, 1760

Le Carceri / 6th Plate / The Smoking Fire

"Library of Babel" by Erik Desmaziéres

"Library of Babel" by Erik Desmaziéres

Giuseppe Galli-Bibiena

Giuseppe Galli-Bibiena

"Library of Babel" by Erik Desmaziéres

Harry Potter and moving stairs

Maurits Cornelis Esher

The Library of Babel | Pierre Clayette

• MOOD BOARDS •

 

Dissertation Structure Plan Revised

Architecture, archetypes and films 

Chapter One

Part I:

• Examples of existing iconic and symbolic buildings, their purpose and meaning. 
• What rules and limitations shape them? 
• Examples of visionary architecture (utopian and dystopian) and its biblical and mythological expression. 
• Complexity of the design: geometry within geometry, space within space. 

Part II: 

• How the styles in architecture and genres in film work together and the importance of their collaboration for the overall feel of the film. 
• Why the architectural styles were adapted in films. 
• Breaking the rules. Mobility and flexibility of the architectural designs. Intelligent architecture and its role in films. 

Chapter Two

• The heritage the films deliver to the public through rendering an architectural image. 
• How these images resonate and how the public consumes them. The Jungian theory about archetypes. 
• The freedom for visual expression and experience.

Chapter Three: TBC

• Three films from different age to prove how scenes and structures covered above resonate and influence the public. 
• How far we can with the next generation of futuristic architects?

Minor Project Synopsis

Synopsis

Idea 1: Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

A small perfume shop is located on a busy market street. It is a sunny summer day and the sunlight bounces off all the glass around the shop. It is an open space, surrounded by shelves full of all sorts of little bottles, boxes and exotic items. The counter is facing the front door and behind it is a shelf full of glass bottles. There is a golden scale on it. It looks like a pharmacy rather than a perfume shop. There are baskets on the ground next to the counter, full of herbs and flowers. There is no one in the shop but you can hear the chatter of people in the background, birds chirping and glass clinging. There are no windows so the only light that enters the shop is through the reflection of the glass jars around. There is a silhouette of a fountain entering the shop. You can see the shadows of two cranes spitting water. Everything looks so peaceful, it smells nice and the chime hanging from the front door creates an enchanting sound that penetrates the space. There are two doors at the back of the shop hidden in the shadow. One is closed and the other one is leading to a staircase.

We walk around the shop, exploring its little corners full of adventure and mystery and head to the staircase. But when we reach the entrance, the light starts fading. It gets cold and mouldy. We reach the top of the staircase and we enter a room. Everything is complete opposite of downstairs. We enter a dark room. This is the laboratory where the perfume fragrances are extracted and prepared. It is very dark and the only light revealing the silhouettes of objects is from the candles lit around the room. Is there anyone in here?

Synopsis

Idea 2: The Shadow of the Wind

There is a place, hidden within an old forgotten building. The doors are massive and create the impression that they hide something. They do. They hide a whole world of stories. The building is a secret library where books whisper and call for someone to release their souls. The massive building has a complex architecture and reveals a labyrinth of corridors and staircases. The light coming through a huge glass cupola in the middle of the building breaks the darkness. Under the glass cupola, in the center of the building an abandoned desk calls. There is a letter on top of it. What does is say?

Minor Project - Proposal

Type of Project: Digital Set with animated elements.


Idea 1: I am going to create digital scenes from the book 'Perfume: The Story of a Murderer' by Patrick Süskind. This will include the Perfume Shop and the laboratory upstairs. Again animated parts will be the light and sound effects.

Idea 2: I am going to merge into the mysterious digital environment of one of my favorite novels of Carlos Ruiz Zafón 'Shadows of the Wind'. I am going to create a complex model of the big library. The animated parts will be the mood: light and sound effects.  I have made some basic drafts on this before and I am going to use them as a base.