Context and Research
What I'm doing
I am making a short but good quality animation featuring a finishing move similar to a mortal combat fatality. my main inspirations are 3d fighting games and a Japanese anime called demon slayer.
The main focus would be the main character usually filling most of the frame and the katana so I would like to focus my efforts on making both of these as high polys as possible.
With this project, ill be properly learning blender as all of my 3d work will be done in blender. the reason I would like to do this is that I've been inspired by peers who have constructed very impressive pieces only using blender. I haven't made many cinematic scenes using only 3ds max as I usually have to put it in the unreal engine to have properly directed lights. I've been trying to learn blender for years but never had the motive so I'm hoping this project will assist me in learning all the techniques needed.
Anime is most popular than it has ever been with the market increasing significantly in America and Europe. this means that my piece will be released while the "genre" is on the increase in popularity.
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my original idea was to make a whole fight scene between two characters which was inspired by an animation I saw at home on the app TikTok. I was heartfelt about this idea for about a week as I thought this was really cool to see. my initial thought would be to make a very basic 3d animation with no textures or lighting. once I had the animation done I would overlay each frame in photoshop or some drawing software to make a sketched out version.
after conversations with peers that have animated a decent amount already, I changed my ideas to a singular character "executing" another. this is where I got my mortal combat inspiration from.
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SWOT Analysis
Strengths
I'm good at creating and developing my ideas, with this I'm able to most accurately represent these ideas in a 3d or written sense. I can use this to show a strong front of practical and reasoning for it.
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my ability to use 3ds max and currently learning blender quite quickly. I can adequately use both to illustrate my goal.
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taking inspiration from peers and giving/ receiving constructive criticism.
Weaknesses
Motivation to sharpen my skills outside of college on my home PC as it's slow and uncomfortable to use.
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forget to take notes on what I've done that day.
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linking my research effectively to my ideas and linking back.
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Procrastination.
Opportunities
Learning blender which I feel is a superior program so ill be able to further make better models.
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College equipment and lecturers able to provide support and criticism.
Threats
Covid restrictions limiting practical work in college
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Needing time off for personal/ Family
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Inspiration
This is the first time zenitsu is shown using his power. I found this scene breathtaking as it shows a cowardly character having a hidden strength on par with some of the strongest characters shown on screen. I'm a big fan of strength being shown in this way.
this is why I'd like to use this as a heavy inspiration for my animation project.
Inspiration
Why Demon Slayer
I really like demon slayer for many different creative reasons. while I like the Japanese animated show, my reasoning for inspiration doesn't relate to the writing, the pure reason is the beautiful visuals. one of my favourite "aesthetics" is light and dark colour palets which complement each other making the scenes/ art greatly appealing.
This show has to be one of the, if not, my favourite looking TV show I have ever watched. the main times the true beauty of the scenes are revealed when in a dangerous and severe battle with monstrous demons. thinking about it without context this sounds very strange but the way it is executed is truly perfect. the elemental visuals which represent the calmness and technique of the protagonists during these drastically horrific battles are so amazing to look at and make these fight scenes iconic.
my favourite element used in the show is "water breathing" which is shown to be so smooth and beautiful that even the victim of the blade is put in a state of calmness and remorse for their terrible actions.
Why Mortal Kombat
I Chose mortal kombat as one of my inspirations because this is one of the most well-known fighting games, especially for its executions/fatalities. there isn't much to relate to my idea apart from the finishing moves. in terms of fighting games, mortal combat is probably my least played. below are 3 finishing moves I've actually performed in games regularly. my favourite things in fighting games are the finishers as getting one off is difficult but one of the most rewarding feelings in gaming
There's sometimes nothing better than hitting that really cool combo/finishing move on your opponent. for me this really makes a fighting game the best it can be. this also related back to the show demon slayer as watching a protagonist struggle so hard to weaken an opponent enough that both people are so tired and annoyed at the other but the ambition and inner strength of the "hero" prevails and we get to see this horrific villain finally get the demise they deserve with an insane level of strength from the hero. i find this fits very well with finishers in games as you may have an especially difficult opponent that might be using "meta" characters and repeating boring moves purely to annoy you, but then you can make a big comeback and embarrass them with that epic finisher.
Weapon Mind Map
With the weapon, I am heavily leaning on the idea of using a Japanese style weapon such as a katana but I would like to look into other options to make sure this inspiration is perfect for what I'm wishing to create. for example, some other weapons like a British long Sword might be able to represent more weight and power from the main character if I so wish. with a British weapon, I could even go as far as to get primary research as it's not hard to find an old war museum that would display such weapons. I could admire and get personal reference images from these if I so wished.
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Katana Planning/research
These are a few examples of the weapons the Japanese would use which are similar to the well known Katana.
I appreciate all the designs of these blades in terms of cosmetic and functionality but I would like to make sure I'm picking the perfect weapon of choice that would fit the setting and character.
For this idea, I want to show precise but extremely powerful attacks which relate to the nature of real lighting which is shown to be very agile and "subtle" compared to something like a forest fire, tsunami or tornado. I want the nature of lightning to be in every part of this design in the craftsmanship and colouration.
For this project, I'm going to need a Japanese weapon for the main character to use. I would like to make my own design but I don't want to be too "extravagant" with it as I want it to look professional.
this would be showing the bright characteristic of lightning and the night sky, which is usually accompanying the sight.
I really do think the Japanese weapons can represent the characteristics of lightning because of their sleekness and damaging capability in one strike.
In terms of which design I would like to incorporate, I do like the original katana but the length of the O Katana is interesting to show the ability to strike the highest point in an area and a bigger blade would be more eye-catching for a viewer.
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The term is a compound of kata "one side/one-sided" na "blade"
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These are some basic references I've found apart from one which is a direct inspiration to my animation and what happens.
This bottom image is the sword used by Zenitsu which is very similar to my character and design. Zenitsu is from the anime Demon Slayer and is shown to be able to control lighting to strengthen his attacks, moving at light speeds.
As the sword is one of the main focuses during most of the animation sequence I'm really planning on making it look as good as possible so I will be taking a lot of advice from peers and more as to make sure I'm going in the right direction not just for myself but for an audience
Colour Theory
My animation is going to be set at night so most of the colours will be quite gloomy and faded. I would like this as it would compliment the lightning that will ve incorporated into the scenes. I would also like this as it shows the hope of the scene as the main character is tired and ready to be defeated but this is the last move he is able to execute. this is a way to represent emotion in the scene with colours, but when the lightning is covering the scene it shows the hope and power of the character growing just to finish their opponent.
Theoretical Research
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Violence Theory
With violent sequences, there's the issue of your product being able to be taken in different ways and how some groups or individuals might portray your work. this can be problematic as you might be liable for inducing someone's violent actions. with studies, this has been shown to be irrelevant and movies/video games haven't impacted people's moral and mental state and would have to already be in a weak frame of mind already. it is much less likely that your work can be negatively judged if the violence depicted isn't as extreme as mortal combat for example. I'm not really interested in showing any gore or true violence so this doesn't truly affect me but my animation does still depict violent weapons and the implication of death.
Audiences
there is not a true audience for this piece from a commercial standpoint as it's not consumable like a game or downloadable model. This doesn't mean it can't be consumed but it's different from other projects. the inspiration would relate to my work in terms of audience as they're very similar which would probably be 17-20.
A good direct audience would-be employers or people interested in asking for a creative service like commission etc.
I would also like to add this project to all of my postable social media especially my Instagram portfolio as that's where I keep most of my content currently. another site I've used consistently for representing my creative output would be youtube which has been a platform for my projects and experiences for years.
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Substance painter Research
I have yet to use substance painter and I don't think I will but I do believe it's worth looking into as it's such a diverse program. comparable to a 3d Photoshop.
so far when texturing I will either use the texture resources blender has to offer or I will look online for free textures with bump maps etc. one of the main ways to make textures look good is bump and adding weathering to objects. this can be done well in substance painter but in order to save time and effort, I learned how to do similar methods directly in blender. this is one of the main reasons I enjoy using blender and why I'm so happy that I changed from 3ds max. as blender is a standalone piece of software. it comes with almost everything you need to make a 3d creative outcome. unlike 3ds max or adobe which usually has 3-5 different software that blender can emulate in just itself. you can see in my practical, that I managed to add weathering to my rock using only blender and an outside texture with no weathering
Looking into camera angles
This is a very cinematic project so I will be looking into using "professional" camera angles as it's easy to make scenes look "uncomfortable" when using the wrong angles and some things may look more forced than others. I wish to research into using the correct angles in order to bring my work to the highest viewing potential. I have some previous experience with camera angles using 3D software, 2D art pieces, and using real camera work for some film projects.
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This is an example of a Cinematography composition I have used currently. I made sure to place both characters on the lines to make sure the shot shows both clearly while using these pleasing techniques.
I have also looked into what angles to use, the combination of angles and composition should hopefully make my scene look as cinematic as possible which was my original idea. with moving cameras, slow-mo, close-ups etc.
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These are the main rules that I'm looking into currently
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The Rule of Thirds
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Balance and Symmetry
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Leading Lines
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Eye-Level Framing
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Depth of Field
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Deep Space Composition
looking into fight scenes
Fight scenes and combat in general is definitely my favourite genre of any media type. when looking back on my works from this course and my previous interests/inspirations for creative outputs, many, if not all of which feature an element of combative intent. I'm not really sure why I have this approach to my work as I'm not interested in violent activities in the real world as I'm quite the opposite. however, I do love a good fight scene or combat intensive video game. something about the competitiveness and creativity that can go into making a media under these criteria really speaks with me. I would like to look into some of my favourite scenes from games and movies to see if they may have influenced my ideas in terms of design choices and storytelling.
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My hero academia: world heroes' mission.
I truly enjoy my hero academia, as you will have probably seen it referenced in other ways on my practical page. looking into this design, I know that I definitely took some design inspiration from the main character Deku as this character presents his power as a green, lightning-like energy and the eyes having energy streaming from them while glowing. you can see below how similar these correlations are, this also relates to my original inspiration Demon Slayer, which is also a Japanese anime.
I loved this fight scene between Deku and the villain Flect. it shows that even when someone completely outmatches your ability basically making you feel defeated, that you can still win if you persist enough with your inner strength and ideals
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Technique
I've looked into the technique of using a katana as I would like to make sure the movements and ways of slicing are somewhat considerate of the culture that I've used as a reference.
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this is what I've used to make sure my character's movements are somewhat relative to what's going on with an authentic upwards slice from a katana blade.
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I'm happy that I've animated this correctly so far
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I've looked into the technique of using a katana as I would like to make sure the movements and ways of slicing are somewhat considerate of the culture that I've used as a reference.
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this is what I've used to make sure my character's movements are somewhat relative to what's going on with an authentic upwards slice from a katana blade.
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I'm happy that I've animated this correctly so far
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I've looked into the technique of using a katana as I would like to make sure the movements and ways of slicing are somewhat considerate of the culture that I've used as a reference.
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this is what I've used to make sure my character's movements are somewhat relative to what's going on with an authentic upwards slice from a katana blade.
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I'm happy that I've animated this correctly so far
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Using this video I was able to use a traditional movement style to make sure I planned my animating key frames correctly as this video reminded me to look at my scenes closer as a singular video and not divided pieces. making sure the blade is following through itself from scene to scene.
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