Supervisor Meeting

Minutes of Supervisor Meeting, (Thursday, 10:30):

• He was very pleased with progress, and impressed with play blast.
• Liked most of the camera angles, except for wide shot of Intersection. (Suggested camera stays on the road following a car.) Also thought it might be better if we entered the CDJ World through the Right hand side, starting on the road leading up the the Bridge.
  
• Suggested large neon signs, just before main strip, lighting up with homages to the CDJ-2000 and Pioneer. Also suggested the light orb paints the Main Strip with lights and as it travels through the scene it collects other objects in a 'gravity field' which can be seen as we spiral up the final skyscraper.
  
• Explained to me some of the technical details of animating, and rendering the city scene. He suggested using a Surface Flow / Curve Flow to get objects to gravitate round a path.
• He thought the city could be too much to render if done "photo-realistic", suggested adopting a Unique Visual Style, and mentioned perhaps using animated image maps of green circuit boards subtely pulsing with light.
• Said keep up the good work, and any problems email him.

Play Blast

Here is a quick Play Blast of the rough path the camera will take around my city:

World Renders 2

Here are some more renders of a work in progress model of the CDJ World inside the deck:

World Renders

Here are some renders of a work in progress model of the CDJ World inside the deck:

Supervisor Meeting

Minutes of Supervisor Meeting, (Tuesday, 17:30):

• Pre-Viz done for next week's meeting. Done in playblast format.
• Explained to him the development of city idea, and story for the advert.
• He agreed the advert needed a story as such, and suggested that the Orb of Light could take the DJ on an adventure throughout the city.
• He thinks the city needs to come to life more than just buildings lighting up, he suggested looking at the MSC coursework of the cubes flowing throught the Virginia Woolf buildings. Link (click on "Modules" -> "High Def. Video").
  
• He liked the idea of personifying the Light Orb into some kind of character.
• He thought the prospect of compositing the Orb over live-action footage (i.e. the orb circling around the DJ) was a good idea, to be done with a Mask in AfterEffects.
  
• Will create several Mood Boards on canvas with different headings such as "Night Club", "DJ", "Skyscrapers", "Orb of Light" and "City at Night".

More Inspiration

Here is some more videos that I have found on the web that inspire the creation of my virtual world.

• The Cinematic Trailer for DJ Hero Video Game. Link.
• The 2009 Coca-Cola Advert. Link.
• The New Xbox Experience Introduction Video. Link.
  

CDJ-2000 Renders

Here are some renders of a work in progress model of the CDJ-2000:

Updated Timeline

In light of the email I received regarding Venue footage, and in preparation for tomorrows Project Proposal Presntation, I have updated the Timeline to a near finished state:

0-7 Seconds – Light orb reveals new product.

• CD Deck shrouded in darkness, orb is only light, it falls slowly into shot from top of scene.
• Light hovers over the top of the deck, only revealing small portions. Orb travels over the centre circular platter and quickly disappears inside, causing a large halo of light to emerge from the centre platter, illuminating the whole deck.
• A light flickers on, and fills the whole room, revealing CD Deck is in a bedroom scene, live-action human walks into room and turns the deck on.

7-30 Seconds – Footage Inside the CD Deck.

• The DJ’s hand turns to CGI, camera ‘zooms’ past the finger and through the power button, soundtrack starts.
• We travel down a cable deep within the machine and come to an opening where the circuit boards and cables light up with electricity flooding into the machine.
• Large “miniature” CGI city is inside, camera flies in for a closer look. Skyscraper windows are lighting up in time to the music.
• Huge CD is seen overhead entering the machine like a UFO, spun up to speed and then read by a laser.

30-35 Seconds – Summing up the product.

• Camera quickly exits the machine and frames the CD Deck for final seconds.
• Logo and catch-line appear on screen and the CDJ-2000 quivers on the desk a bit, suggesting to the audience that it may be alive, re-iterating “a new world” being opened up.
• Fade out.

Slight Setback

Slight setback to the project, I have received an email from The Venue Manager Ian Dancy who informs me that there is a strict rule against filming on the premisis. Will have to rething how I am to accomplish the nightclub section of my advert.

Supervisor Meeting

Minutes of Supervisor Meeting, (Tuesday, 18:30):

• I submitted script to David.
• He liked the idea, but certain bits need to be elaborated on, such as "... an exciting scene with energy and colour..." - Exactly What does that mean?
• My next target is to have my presentation ready for Friday of this week.
• Start researching other FYPs (videos on YouTube) and analyse them. Basically the research I have now is all professional work, my goal is to be better than other university FYPs.
• He wants me to start modelling certain scenes in basic 3d, with no texturing. He specifically mentioned the scene with the giant CD being fed into the machine with us inside it, perhaps a mock up of the laser reading the disc. He suggested a quick playblast render to show in the presentation with some kind of coherant structure, to really sell my idea to them.
• Finally, he would like some rough, live-action footage of The Venue nightclub. It does not matter if the club is empty, just basically to show how the footage will fit into the overall story of the advertisment.
• I voiced my concerns of my inability to draw free-hand sketches, and he told me that it was not necessary for a project of this nature. Free-hand drawing is only for human character projects, and simple 3d models will suffice for my project.
  

First Supervisor Meeting

Minutes of first supervisor meeting, (Monday, 18:15):

• Simple timeline and script needs to be brought to next week's meeting.
• Idea is good, but needs finalising.
• He Suggested the idea of a "world of DJing being opened up" with the new CDJ-2000.
• High-Poly model of CDJ-2000 needs to be developed soon.
• Perhaps some footage of The Venue nightclub? - Problem of signing consent forms for crowd.
• Will try to use Maya Live to track the camera shake in footage for compositing.
  

Initial Idea and Influence Research

Idea is as follows:

• 30 Second Long Commercial for Pioneer, for their up and coming CDJ 2000 CD Deck.
• To be uploaded to DJSounds.com for feedback.
  

Inspiration found:

• Advert for Sony Erricson Mobile phone. Link
• Advert for Ministry of Sound: Addicted to Bass 2009 Album. Link
• Advert for Ministry of Sound: Addicted to Bass Winter 2009 Album. Link
• Walkthough Video of CDJ-2000 New Features. Pioneer Site. Link
• Dawn of a New Species Video, DJSounds.com. Link