Michail Klitorakis LLD Assessment 2
This blog outlines my productive process as part of my Lighting & Look Development course. For Assessment 2 of LLD, I elected to create a few assets and added lighting based on the 1960’s Chinese two-part animated film “Havoc in Heaven”. I chose this particular film as I have recently viewed it and I was fascinated by the art and technique. For references, I used a fan made cover made on DeviantArt as well as a screenshot from the film, both which were used as bases for my scene. I decided to go with the DeviantArt cover as this provided me with more assets. For the two square boxes (Images 3 & 4) I used a jade standard surface material and a blue plastic standard surface material. The Monkey King’s iconic staff Ruyi Bang lies on the screen with two golden points on each side. I situated these boxes in a supposed dark blue meeting hall ( inspired by Image 6). I chose blue as I thought it may add some color to the background and contrast more effectively with red bronze columns facing each corner. Unlike the previous assessment attempt, I did try to add more professional lighting as well as materials with the standard surface. The floor is made of glass and the two balls are made of metal and are painted yellow, symbolizing the Pills of Immortality. In image 5, I composed a trident-spear weapon thrown into the background as in an initial idea. because I was planning this room as an armament room. However, I opted for it to become a room related to the film, particularly the Jade Emperor's meeting room (Image 6). I was presented with some difficulties adding materials elsewhere as there was no preset wooden or stone material and so I had to make do with what I had. This time around, I managed to implement some shading as seen with the rendered screenshots, unlike the first assessment where I simply added a light and that was it. I solely made this on Maya but I will try to implement some assets, textures and shading from Substance Painter in the next assessment so I can maximize my skills and improve the results.
Image 1: My modeling effort for the Monkey King's staff.
Image 2: Screenshot from Havoc in Heaven 1964, directed by Wan Laiming and produced by the Wan Brothers.
Image 3 & 4: Rendered screenshots of the Pills of Immortality from the film along with the shaded staff. I added a full perspective of the assets used. I experimented with shading along with RenderView.
Image 5: A trident from the fan made promotional image. I used it as a simple asset within the blue room and the background is the aforementioned poster as a placeholder.
Image 6: Screenshot from Havoc in Heaven depicting the Jade Emperor's meeting hall (the inspiration for the blue background).
Image 7:The fan made image/inspiration behind the assets. The simple art, the color and movements along with the variety of characters appealed to me.
I decided to create the vase asset to further enhance and add more character to my scene environment. I used a ceramic standard surface for the material. Later, I modeled a chair/throne which I decided to add more to the ambience of the temple room. Thus, I added a "9000-year old peach" which signposts that it is indeed the Monkey King's throne and items. For a finishing touch, I rearranged the assets and the lighting since they were all over the place, to add structure to the scene and show-case that I can use solely Maya to create a passion project.
Image 8: A work in progress of the vase asset.
Image 9: The finalized throne room.
Image 10 & 11: The chair/throne and the peach reference photos.
References:
Havoc in Heaven Throwback by Brocktoon4 on DeviantArt. (2010b, August 27). DeviantArt. https://www.deviantart.com/brocktoon4/art/Havoc-in-Heaven-Throwback-176970911
MandarinBanana. (2016, July 26). Havoc in Heaven: Chinese, Pinyin, English Subtitles - learn Chinese with Movies [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLqHYkdp3jc
