New Showreel and Other Things

It's about time I wrote a personal blog post I suppose. I've been very busy working on a couple of projects. We've just finished post production on the short film "Another Day" which the team are planning to take on the film festival circuit. Because of this we can't post the film online, but watch this space, it will be up eventually.

I've also started work on a short film called "The Greater Good" which is set in the Harry Potter extended universe. Again I can't tell you too much about this, but it's a lot of fun and should hopefully get a lot of support from the fandom. There's a trailer coming soon which I shall pimp on here once it goes live. Check out their Facebook page: The Greater Good

Watch out for a company called Giant Space, who I've been doing some research and development for here in Cardiff. They do 3D stereo conversion, and I have no doubt they will be popping up in the credits very soon.

I've been putting together a new showreel for a couple of competition entries. Check it out. I hope you like it.

Amy Carpenter VFX Showreel 2013 from Amy Carpenter on Vimeo.

A Busy Few Months

I must apologise for neglecting this blog over the last few months, it has been a very busy time. First off, I graduated from the University of Glamorgan with a First Class degree in Visual Effects and Motion Graphics. As you can imagine I am very happy about this and hope it will act as a key to gain access to the Visual Effects industry.

Next, I moved house. I'm still based in Cardiff, but it took me a little while to sort out my computer system and internet connection etc.

Since then I have worked on a few independent short film productions. The most noteworthy of them, were Olympic VIP and Down in the Third.

I believe I mentioned Olympic VIP whilst I was working on the pre-production for this project with Chelange Joseph. Well, just to let you know, this short boxing themed musical was entered into Panasonic's competition to celebrate the Olympic games, and we came first! We were very surprised about this, as we had much less time to work on this as our team was the reserve team and had to step in at the last minute. I'm told the finished edit is on youtube somewhere, but I don't actually have a link just yet. I will post it once I find it.

The other project, is a short film written and directed by Michael Brooks called Down in the Third. The film is a boxing/crime thriller and aims to be as visually impressive as classics such as Raging Bull and the Rocky franchise. You can view the trailer on Vimeo here:

The film premieres next week on the 18th October and is being endorsed by Two Times Heavy Weight World Champion Tim Witherspoon. The production team hope to enter this film into a number of film festivals over the next two years, so keep your eyes out for it.

I have been working on this project for the last few months, putting together invisible VFX shots. This largely included RotoPainting and inserting TV content, but also a few Crowd Replication shots and blood splatter shots. I've put together a short VFX Breakdown video of some of the cooler shots I've worked on since starting this project. I hope you like it.

Check out the Official Down in the Third Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/DownInTheThird

Hello World Take Two

Wow I have finally returned to the world after 16 weeks working on Project Duplicity. I have barely left my flat and have become as pale as a corpse. The good news is we finished in time for our deadline, despite the few hiccups we hit along the way. This largely involved technical issues with cameras, microphones and unexpectedly exploding hard drives. However with hard work and dedication from everyone on our team we have prevailed. It has been a hard slog, our schedule was intense and we had so little sleep that at times it was difficult to produce a coherent sentence! However we made it and after a good nights sleep I am already raring to go on a new project.

For more information on Project Duplicity, visit the Project Blog http://project-duplicity.tumblr.com/ or follow us on Twitter @PDuplicity

We require a few days to recover and prepare for our Final Year Show, 62 Degrees, before we unveil Project Duplicity online. In the mean time, you can watch the short teaser trailer which is online now!

I would also like to take this opportunity to invite everyone to 62 degrees which will commence on Monday of next week. If you are in the Cardiff area drop in for a chat at the Atrium. 

In other news, I am currently working on a website which will be a central base for my blog, twitter, videos and photographs. It's still under construction but should be online in a few weeks. Bookmark this webpage people it's going to be great :)

CarpenterVFX.com

Time for a well earned rest I think, keep your eyes open for my next project!

CG Student Awards

I have entered the CG Student Awards in the hope of making a name for myself in the industry and perhaps even win an internship if I am lucky. You can check out my page and latest showreel here:

http://www.cgstudentawards.com/2012-entries/286-amy-carpenter

I'd also request, though it isn't mandatory obviously, if you would select me for People's Choice. There is a button down the bottom.

Wish me luck!!!

Showreel 2011-2012

So here is my Showreel for the last academic year. Enjoy!

Showreel 2011-2012 from Amy Carpenter on Vimeo.

A big thanks to everyone who offered feedback and criticism. 

Project Duplicity and Showreel

Things are starting to shape up. The matte painting for Project Duplicity are starting to come along nice and scene 01 and 03 are verging on complete. I've also been working on my showreel. I'm using the best shots from previous projects, but I am also trying to get a few extras in there to show off my ability to key hair detail and mimic natural lighting. Hopefully it will all pay off. I shall be uploading a new version of my showreel soon.

For more info on Project Duplicity check out our blog http://project-duplicity.tumblr.com/ or follow us on twitter @PDuplicity :)

Showreel

So here is my first ever Showreel! I've already had some great feedback on it, loads to change, but not before my interview tomorrow. Once Project Duplicity is done I shall make a new one with the the feedback I have had. Anyway enjoy!


Showreel 2011-2012 from Amy Carpenter on Vimeo.

Rough Showreel

So I have a rough version of my showreel up and ready for feedback. We have interviews on Thursday so it is imperative that I get it looking good before then. So far feedback is positive, but I kind of feel its not snappy enough. It's almost as if by making it more montagey, I'd loose the information I'm trying to convey. I think I may add some chilled out music to it, and make it feel like it should be slower. It's a shame we haven't got a shot in the bag for Project Duplicity yet, as that would go great in the showreel. I can not wait to start putting those shots together!

Feedback, is as ever, wonderful and incredibly useful. 

And At Last...

I have finally finished my list of adjustments, and completed my final edit. My project is now complete! I have also put together some shot breakdowns, unfortunately I have run out of space on vimeo and will not be able to upload them until next week (I will hand them in with my project however so no worries there). There is however space for one very low resolution copy of my final edit. Enjoy!

This project is by far the best piece of work I have ever produced, and allowed me to push my skill set to the maximum. Shots have been put together in Photoshop, After Effects and Maya, allowing me to work in both 2D and 3D. 

I'd like to thank everyone who helped out in this project. Particularly Christopher Hansford, my actor, and  Finlay Duncan who was very helpful in the green screen studio and has a great critical eye. The tutors at my university and the guys on CG Coach provided excellent feedback which helped me take my work to a new level.

I'm very pleased that I managed to complete everything on my list a day ahead of schedule, even if I did venture away from initial work schedule due to reshoots, and the detailed feedback from CG Coach. The only two shots which I wish I could work on more are the close up of the face and the magic blast shots. I'm happy with the VFX work, I just wish I would have been able to get a reshoot as the footage was not quite as I wanted it. The expression on the face of my actor in the flying shot is too relaxed, and in the magic blast shot there are a few issues with blurring and grain. Also I felt that because all the other shots around it are moving, a static shot was a jolt to the flow. A reshoot would allow me to perhaps frame it closer and add a camera move. However, this is most likely the best work I have produced to date and so I am very happy with what I have managed to do. Fingers crossed for a good grade. Bring on the next project! :) 

Destroyed City

Lately we have been working on a matte painting for a university project. The assignment title was "Futuristic City" and so I opted to do a post apocalyptic city, inspired by various science fiction movies, such as 28 Days Later and War of the Worlds. The painting started off as a sketch in my sketchbook and transformed into a 4 second image projection with digital camera move. This is the first time I have tried anything like this, and so I was rather happy with the results.

All the photographs were taken by myself on a Canon 1000D dSLR or downloaded as free stock images. Fire footage came from Action Essentials. The images were put together in Photoshop CS5 and developed into a moving sequence in After Effects CS5.

Original Sketch

Photoshop rough drawing

 

Final Matte Painting

Added Camera Shake and Fire Footage


Added Camera Move and Atmospherics

Robert Miles - Dreamland

My final piece for my Music Video project was finished in time for the deadline despite various technical difficulties. I feel quite proud of it, though as usual it didn't come out quite as I had hoped. I used various techniques, such as motion tracking, green screen keying and a few digital camera moves. This was filed on a Sony Z7 and a Canon 550D dSLR, edited in Final Cut Pro, After Effects and Photoshop CS5.

Robert Miles - Dreamland, Final Cut from Amy Carpenter on Vimeo.

Robert Miles animated posters

I'm producing a series of animated posters to advertise Dreamland by Robert Miles for a university assignment based on creating a music video.

The idea was to link all posters musically as well as physically. Because of this they are all cuttings from different parts of the same song, and I intend to track them into the environment so you can see how they would connect physically.

So far I have created the bulk of the posters, though I am still having issues with colour grading. I was opting for lots of greens and blues to contrast the reds and yellow of the border colour. They're still works in progress and feedback would be great. The final product will see the posters placed in an environment outlining someones journey through the advertisements. Currently you simply see the posters in the order and sound synced as they would be.

Project Crit

After each assignment deadline, my course faculty likes to hold these events which we lovingly refer to as "crits." This involves each member of the class showing their final piece and discussing the choices they made whilst in production. This allows both staff and piers to provide feedback and also allows us to get used to talking about our work in front of an audience. This will undoubtedly help when the need arises to pitch for projects once we arrive in industry.

Today we held the first "Crit" of the academic year. Our assignment was an open brief, where we could do pretty much what we wanted. I opted for a kinetic typography piece to the music of "I Love The Way You Lie" by Eminem and Rhianna. Feedback on the whole was pretty positive, with a few bits and pieces to tweak. Ultimately I am pretty happy with my final piece, which I feel quite nicely draws the contrast between the two characters as well as explores the rage within the character played by Eminem.

Music by Eminem and Rhianna
Acting by Christopher Hansford
Footage and Post Production by Amy Carpenter
Shot on a Sony Handycam
Produced in After Effects, Photoshop CS5 and Final Cut Pro


I Love The Way You Lie Kinetic Typography from Amy Carpenter on Vimeo.