DreamWorks pipeline

DreamWorks –

Script

No film regardless of how low budget, can be made without a script, and of course making the story before making it’s cast is an important part of any film and that’s where it all starts at DreamWorks. Writers slave for weeks on end coming up with a script to be handed in to the good people at DreamWorks.

The storyboards

Upon devising a decent enough script and screenplay it is then hand over to the artists at the storyboard department. This is where the artists work tirelessly to bring to life the story in a series of comic book like sketches. And with the producers approval the still images are digitally photographed and combined to produce a film reel. This story reel then put together with temporary sound and dialogue forms the basis of the whole film and is worked on for the following 18 months.

Visual development

The story reel is then passed along to the visual development department where the whole film is artistically modified to give a more enhanced portrayal of what the film might look like during this process final views on what everything looks like are made. This can involve anything from grate big sets and backgrounds to characters and props. The number of images produced during this process can range in their thousands if not tens of thousands.

Casting

Since the artists in the previous departments have already created the scenes the dialogue the script the characters the next step is usually to give the characters a little … character. Actors are brought in to perform lines for various scenes and the producers record them “acting out” the sounds to catch key expressions which can later help in the modelling process.

Modelling

During this stage of the production the design crew begin making simplified wire frame models of the characters according to the initial designs. These wire frame models are called armatures which are used as simple geometric models that are easily manipulated to the designers every whim. They are also used to create the basic animations required in the film and then later improved by adding textures and surfaces to complete the characters.

Layout

The layout as the name suggests lays out the plot of the film which help determine what thing hinders movement of characters, the spacing between them and others, the lighting, the set and other things the producers will make final changes to. The layout if produced using the covered wire frame models and block shapes and is called the animatic. The animatic maps out the entire film scene for scene.

Character animation

After finalizing the animatic layout of the film the characters are then brought to life by finalizing the motions and movements and synchronising the voice-overs and smoothing out the look of the characters it’s time to move on to the next part of the sequence.

CGI effects

After completing the characters movements and animations the work is handed over to the effects team. This is where anything that doesn’t act out a part but has an effect on screen is created. All the interactions that the characters make with the environment like casting shadows or wind blowing in the trees and the like are all done by this department. Every last detail of the environment has to be carefully worked out to give the environment a realistic and impressive feel.

In the example of DreamWorks’s Madagascar in the scene where the zebra Marty is surfing, the waves and the island in the background have had a lot of CGI effects. The back ground had various lighting effects put on to make it seem distant, and the waves had already been made to move during the layout and animation process but they ended up looking like solids so during this stage they put down the opacity and added foam to the top and ends and bubbles below the waves to make them seem more realistic.

Final touches

So there we have it, the characters and backgrounds are complete, the movements and animations are correct, the lighting and effects have been done all that remains now is to tidy up, by adding the soundtrack sound effects the editing to suit the time line the final score to the film and the whole press release and advertising and promotions need completing but the film itself is ready for release.

Long winded as that may seem, you must keep in mind that this process can take anywhere from between 2-4 years to do and that this is merely a summary of what really goes on behind the scenes.

Carteasian coordinate system

In 1637, Rene Descartes who was a French mathematician and philosopher created the Cartesian coordinate system (CCS).

Cartesian coordinate system is used to create the illusion of working in a 3D (three dimensional) space on a two dimensional plane for example a screen or on paper. It’s used in many programs to add depth to flat (xy axis) pictures.

The two axes that are used to show dimensions in a 2D Space are called the X axis (horinzontal movement/width) and the Y axis (vertical movement/height).

 

The point at which the two axes inevitably meet is called the point of origin which is the centre point for calculating movements and measurements.

 

The two dimensional Cartesian coordinate system is also used in graphs and values located on the graph are plotted by allocating a value along the x axis and then on the y axis. This method is also used to plot out dimensions and locations of a pixel in a painting program.

 

The third axis (Z axis) is used to create the illusion for a third dimension on a 2 dimensional space. It is also used in maths and a measurement for lengths of an object to calculate volume rather than area.

 

 

 

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