Administration Barbara - Instructor - Everything Technical Assistants Works with individual students in teams and group leaders of those assigned teams. Assists with the evaluation of the student work. Provides guidance and professional, constructive attitude toward technical problem solving and workload completion. Provides technical assistance by presentation of technical material and technical troubleshooting. Works closely with instructor to ensure that the students learn to work well collaboratively and get their individual work accomplished in the most productive manner. Production Assistant / Student Producer Take notes during dailies Have notes reviewed by director Email notes out or have them posted online Driving the schedule of the production Identifying and managing lab resources Group Leads Collect daily reports from the those in their group. Send weekly synopsis to the staff mailing list by Monday morning at 10 am. Recommend reference throughout the film and be sure to keep their area members on track and up to date. Assign projects to team members. Keep staff up-to-date of all meetings. Maintain notes and keep track of the team's progress on the wiki. Story Develop the story of the film, including beat sheets and story breakdowns. Create storyboards that visually tell the story. Create a story reel that tells a story through the individual boards. Create character descriptions for each character that outline their background and personality. Build a motion bible for distribution in the class that visually and verbally describes each shot. Maintain written feedback to the lead in the form of critiques and progress reports. Concept Art Create several schemes and ideas for each prop model and character model through drawings, paintings, and other customized art for the film and idea development. Produce color schemes for scenes with lighting group. Create visuals to help clarify the story. Design the look and feel of the movie. Maintain written feedback to the lead in the form of critiques and progress reports. Reference Get references for all scenes and models (based on the real world and other media). Work in closely with concept art to maintain the look and vision of the movie. Coordinate with prop and character modelers. When focusing in on final references, obtain as much information as possible. Maintain written feedback to the lead in the form of critiques and progress reports. Animatic/Layout Layout your assigned shots faithful to storyboard using stand-ins for the props and characters. Add appropriate camera moves. Add rough animation so the production team can get a good feel for the timing of the film. Maintain written feedback to the lead in the form of critiques and progress reports. Motion Capture Create plans to prepare for motion capture sessions. Work with actors in motion capture studio to ensure consistent motion. Work with animatics team to apply motion captured data to characters. Daily written feedback to the lead in the form of critiques and progress reports. Shading / 3D-Paint Assign Color and Texture to Surfaces that are true to the look and feel of the film, concept art, and real life objects. Design and Test complex shading tricks such as animating shaders, and how to approach objects with complex features such as reflection and refraction. Create 3D painted textures where necessary. Create and add backdrops and background plates in shots that need them * Work with the lighting team to make sure that all of the surface detail comes through in the lighting. Maintain written feedback to the lead in the form of critiques and progress reports. Lighting Produce color schemes for scenes with lighting group. Create lighting tests showing the mood of the scene. Produce the final lighting for the scene, portraying the desired mood. Make sure character lighting is dynamic and highlights the action of the shot. Maintain written feedback to the lead in the form of critiques and progress reports. Set and Prop Modeling Create all models which are not characters. Get as many references as possible for the models. Work with Concept Art to maintain the look and feel of movie. Keep models well labeled, clean, and rid of histories before importing into final scenes. Daily written feedback to the lead in the form of critiques and progress reports. Character Modeling Create the surfaces of the characters in the film. Model surfaces correctly to ensure that they animate properly. Work closely with the character rigging group to make sure that the models are built correctly. Create different designs/models for characters for testing, as necessary. Create multiple character designs for each character, as needed, to be used for jumping/running, extreme close-ups, etc. Daily written feedback to the lead in the form of critiques and progress reports. Facial Blends Work with the characters head models to allow a wide range of expressions. Work with the motion and concept art teams to develop expressions that are appropriate for each character. Test expressions extensively to ensure that they work properly. Daily written feedback to the lead in the form of critiques and progress reports. Rigging Build a skeleton for the character. Ensuring proper skin deformation in a variety of poses. Setting up controls for animation (IK, blendshapes for > facial expressions, etc). Work closely with the motion group to ensure that the animation controls are easy to use, and that all necessary animation can be achieved with the setups. Daily written feedback in the form of critiques and progress reports must be maintained. Motion Animation (primarily of characters) in the film. Define the qualities of each character and their role in the to ensure consistency in how the character is animated. Analyze acting and action for the film as a whole and for each shot. Create/find reference for each shot as necessary. Make sure that the character's actions/acting are consistent. Create planning sheets before animating. Make sure shots are critiqued constantly. Each group member will be assigned specific shots with clear due dates. Maintain daily written feedback with lead in the form of critiques and progress reports. Bird Motion Animation of birds in the film. Define the qualities of each bird and their role in the to ensure consistency in how the bird is animated. Analyze acting and action for the film as a whole and for each shot. Create/find reference for each shot as necessary. Make sure that the bird's actions/acting are consistent. Create planning sheets before animating. Make sure shots are critiqued constantly. Each group member will be assigned specific shots with clear due dates. Maintain daily written feedback with lead in the form of critiques and progress reports. Poster / Title / Credits Design, render and add approved text on a movie style poster appropriate to the needs of the film. Work with the Director to make sure the data get to the printer and is printed in a timely manner. Design small leaflet style credits for screenings and DVD sleeves for DVD and CD distribution. Create methods of implementing special effects as needed in the production. Create an interesting and unique way of presenting the title for the film. Organize and create the credits for the film, ensuring that credit is given appropriately and all information is correct. Rendering Use and understand render farm Support the render farm as necessary. Check renders as they begin to ensure desired results. Understand the use and needs for motion blur, layering, compositing etc. Where to place the renders so they are easy to find and are static for the compositing team. Special Effects Create methods of implementing special effects as needed in the production. Ensure consistency of effects across shots. Make sure effects are seen through to completion. Maintain daily written feedback with lead in the form of critiques and progress reports. Sound Add sound and foley to movie. Ensure that all sounds used are not copy-right protected. If they are, research to see how easy it would be to obtain permission to use. Maintain daily written feedback with lead in the form of critiques and progress reports. Editing Maintain an updated premiere file that includes the film in its entirety. Update this file as shots are completed. Develop the timing and pacing between shots to deliver the story in the best possible way. Maintain daily written feedback with lead in the form of critiques and progress reports. Post Production Set up a Post Production pipeline. Image processing on final renders to ensure consistency and desired look. Composite layers and various other elements. Create DVD Menu and implement DVD features. Output final product to DVD and other medium. Outtakes Collect and organize technical mistakes and intentional bloopers. If there is sufficient time, find new & creative ways to use the characters and setting in original outtakes. Back Home