Environment Design Model

Laura was in charge of the environment set modelling and did this as a test light.

The aim for this lighting is to keep the stage vibrant, yet the surrounding environment cold and distant compared to the stage.

Trial Run for 3D Model of Opera Dancer

Samuel modeled the opera dancer and posed it to have a final look, to decide on changes of the proportion of the model.

Soundtrack Designer Update

We were approached by Saul Bragman, a working soundtrack designer who had worked for for a variety of different themes and settings, including the title music for the Sky AtlanticTV series, "Networks of Power", music for film students, several online projects/scenarios and a recent promo for a PACT feature documentary on child abduction.

His portfolio is at www.soundcloud.com/saul-bragman

 We were glad and were impressed by his work, so we agreed to have him work with us throughout the film.

Wither - Pre-Visualisation

We did a pre-vis for our short film, using live action references comparison to the 3D version. The soundtrack is done by Saul Bragman, who generously offered to help us with our short film.

Wither - Art Book

 Below are images of our artbook and progress on our pre-production of our film.

First Previs

Below is the first version of our previs in 3D

New Opera Dancer Design

After several debates, we decided on a slimmer and slender version of the opera dancer to give it more of a caricature look.

Samuel revamped the style of the opera dancer and did the digital art in Adobe Photoshop.

Mask Design

Samuel did several mask designs, focusing on red as the primary colour.

Inspiration Sketch - Disintegration

Laura did a simple sketch of her version of the climax scene, which is the major disintegration of the opera dancer.

Props Design - Dragon Pillar

Samuel Wong started on a base model for the chinese dragon pillar.

Disintegration Test

This is the first attempt at the cloth tearing for the disintegration of the opera dancer by our Visual Effects Supervisor, Laura Low Jia Xin.

3D Version of Opera Dancer

Samuel Wong, our Technical Director, did a basic silhouette for the opera dancer in 3D.

Test Render

Laura did a simple test render for our final climax shot (mask falling on the ground) to try out the disintegration of the mask.

Disintergration Test with nCloth

Laura did another disintegration test for the opera dancer, this time with ncloth

Props Design Sketches

We did several sketches for the props on the stage. The piece is done by Jenny Chai Yean Lee. 

Previs - Live Action

We were told to shoot a live action pre-vis for our short film in order to lock down on our visual story-telling and camera angles. The opera dancer movements is performed by Samuel Wong, our Techinical Dev of our team.

Environment Sketches

We are focusing more on the intricacy of the stage design, in order to make it stand out compared to the whole environment. The first two designs are done by Tenzing Dhukar Tashi and the bottom two are by Jenny Chai Yean Lee.

First Disintegration Test

Laura Low, our Visual Effects Supervisor, did her first disintegration test on the head for the opera dancer.

Sound Designer Poster

We decided to post up this poster in our university in order to find a soundtrack designer for our film because we felt that music is an important aspect for our film.

Inspiration - Mood and Lighting Piece

Laura Low did this piece to inspire our group to draw more sketches for our group film.

This piece is show the mood and lighting of the environment. In order to allow the opera dancer to stand out, we decided to keep our environment more desaturated.

Audience Sketches

We wanted a more structured and stoic looking personnel for the audience to represent the dull and all-day-working society. We created several sketches inspired by the stone heads and a slender figure for the audience. In order to create surrealism, we wanted all the audience to look similar.

Opera Dancer Sketches

We decided on red as the primary color, and focusing on intricate designs on our character to show vibrancy.

In the end we chose a simpler design as he is an opera dancer that is agile and represents a warrior in a war.

Wither - B Plus Productions

We are a group of four 3D Digital Animation and Visual Effects students from the University of Hertfordshire, currently working on our final year short film, Wither. Wither is done to portray the lost of Chinese culture in our modern days. We use Chinese Opera Dancing as a metaphor for the culture that is diminishing, and the audience as the modern society who neglects the existence of this beautiful performance. 

Below is the intended plot of our short film : 

Establishment of Character – Quick shots

Opera Singer dances fluidly on his own with audience watching

He realizes that the audiences are beginning to leave (minor sign of disintegration)

He dances vigorously, in hopes that the audience will remain

More and more audiences leave

He feels pain and his arm disintegrates

He continues his performance with more rapid movements

More audience leave, only a few left

When the last of the audience leave he stops

He disintegrate completely

We researched for various references for our short film. We decided on an enclosed opera

dance stage with just an opera dancer, reacting to the audience on the floor. 

We have also decided on a opera dancer with red as the primary colour as it is a rich and auspicious colour for the chinese culture.