Synoptic Project

Since late October, our class was introduced to the Synoptic Project. The Synoptic Projects is one of the most vital projects of the whole year, as for us students it’s worth 50% of our overall grade for our second year. The Project would be divided into 4 phases:

Phase 1 – Pitching our Individual IdeasIn this phase, each student comes up with their own ideas and pitches the idea to the rest of the class. The idea has to link to one of the themes of course.

Phase 2 – Team AllocationOnce phase 1 has passed, tutors will eventually pick an idea for each industry/specialism. Then students will be able to choose which project they wish to work on.

Phase 3 – ProductionAfter everyone has chose which project they want to work on, everyone in each group will allocate roles on the project and track team progress through scrums and minute meetings, as well as completing industry standard documentation.

Phase 4 – ExpoSooner or later, tutors and external examiners will have to assess work that is presented to them at an end of year event. For VFX for example, VFX breakdowns can be provided, however for games maybe a demo.

The Project had also split us into separate groups, these groups would be our selected industry/ specialism. These groups being Games Design, 3D Animation/Modelling, 2D Animation and VFX. I of course chose VFX as this is the area I would personally like to specialise in when it comes to industry. Leading up to Christmas though, myself and my classmates are working on phase 1, planning for our pitch.

When it came to brainstorming ideas, we had to keep the themes in mind as it was mandatory that the Project idea linked to one of the themes provided for us in some way. The themes for this project being:

• A place or building of significant interest
• Local connection to history or literature
• A Fictional Character

With this in mind, I brainstormed suitable ideas that linked to the themes. However one thing that was said to us many times was to make the projects as feasible as possible, as it was incredibly important to meet the deadline in time, because obviously an unfinished product would result inna huge drop in marks. So here are my two ideas:

Idea 1 – The Lambton Worm

This would be a VFX short that would follow the tale of the Lambton Worm. However this would be a short that I’d call ‘Dracula Untold meets The Tale of The Lambton Worm’. The reason for this being the story of the Worm would be told in a similar way to how Vlad the impaler is introduced in Dracula Untold shown below…

So instead of the conflict between the Transylvanians and The Turkish in the sequence, it would be replaced with Sunderland and several scenes from the Lambton worm tale being acted out on screen, such as the Worm being wrapped around the Penshaw Monument and cut in 3.This would link to the ‘local connection to history or literature’ theme because the Tale of The Lambton Worm is a piece of literature exclusive to the Sunderland area (which is obviously local).Also many effects could be used in this piece as well as the CG for the Lambton worm, basic colour grading, rotoscoping and so much more. I imagine that this idea could potentially be feasible however, a lot of hours would have to be dedicated in order to sculpt the Worm, getting the details and so on. Also the costumes would be a problem as not many places nowadays sell authentic looking crusaders armour and for the places that do, the costumes would still be painfully expensive to get a hold of.

Idea 2 – Remember

This would also be a VFX short that would follow the story of a nameless character as he goes about his daily ritual, unaware that he’s a serial killer.Sound familiar? Well it should because this idea is a VFX/ live action take on our Global Game Jame 2016 game, Remember…I wanted to create a live action version of this project solely because I thought that a good but short story could be delivered by providing interesting effects along the way, such as a transformation sequence where the actor transforms into the serial killer alter ego, dark colour grading, memory sequences similar to the upside down in stranger things…Rotoscoping and so much more.And of course this does link to the ‘Fictional character’ theme because the story is about a fictional character. Almost similar to Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde in a sense. I think that this idea is feasible, its less CG work compared to the Lambton Worm idea, however everything could definitely be achieved by the deadline. The only problem would be getting actors, but I’m optimistic that drama students would be able to volunteer on that front.

So as you can imagine, after much deliberation with myself balancing the pros and cons of each idea, I eventually decided to go with Idea 2. Why you may ask? Simply because its more feasible than the Lamton worm idea. Even though I’m very optimistic about the Lambton worm idea being a success in the end, it would take a lot of overtime to perfect the overall look of the Lamton worm and lighting the worm to fit the scene. Also I believe that Idea 2 can use so many more visual effects and wouldn’t necessarily need people to work overtime to complete the product, however the overtime offer would be there if anyone were take it, this time round being more of a choice rather than a chore.

As we speak, my presentation is being prepared for my pitch on the 4th of January. In the pitch I’ll be showing off the storyboard/s for the sequence, how everyone could pitch in with their selected specialism if they wanted to change their mind, what effects could be used on the project, the initial story, concept art, promotional material and a trailer that I will create myself over the break, showing off effects and cinematography I would personally like to achieve.