Tussocks

Phil wants to know what a Tussock is.

Wikipedia says a "tussock" is also known as "bunch grass"

Also commonly called tussock grass, bunch grasses are any grass that grows in clumps or tufts, rather than forming a sod or mat, and does not spread by stolons or rhizomes. As perennial plants, they live more than one season. With long roots that may reach two meters into the soil, bunch grasses can find water where other plants wither.

Bunch grasses occur in almost any habitat where grasses are found, from deserts, swamplands, savannas, forests and tundra.

Now if you'll view the below animation you'll notice the ground is littered with clumps of grass - these are tussocks.

Changes to the script!

I'm not satisfied with the beginning and end of the screenplay so these sections will be revised very soon.

I've been busy over the last day completing the [film] Production Management course I received a Scholarship for. It resumed for a final 2 lessons after about a 3 week hiatus.

On Thursday I brought the screen play along with the hypothetical budget and schedule I'd created. The script was read out in class by five females, so that's four playing the characters and one as the narrator. It was quite an amusing experience and its a pitty I didn't have something to record audio with.

Nonetheless I received some very useful feedback and some of which I'll take into consideration when revising the screenplay.

Visual Effect Test - Panache approaches the megalith

I wasn't going to develop this shot further but that lens flare was really annoying so I removed it and added some grass to the base of the megalith.

Edit With Megalith 1.1



The next step would be to blend the megalith with the environmental lighting and add a shadow - but I'm definitely not going to that effort using the source footage.

Visual Effect Test - Panache examines the megalith

Today I've been doing some tests for the shot in which Panache examines the megalith. The footage I'm using has a large lens flare and that causes problems, particuarly when adding the megalith but it will have to do for these tests.

Attempt #1

Original



The first take I used involved a tilt which I performed very badly with my tripod.


Edit



When using motion capture to reposition the sky it bounce round all over the place.



Attempt #2

Original



This time there is no tilt.


Edit



So I can add a tilt using a simple "Pan and Scan" technique and it works so much better.

Edit with megalith



In this version I've added the megalith but it looks rather bad because of the lens flare, however I've attempted to use a couple of devices to make it blend better. The rotoscoping around Panache's arm seems to be alright but the base of the megalith is going to need more work to make it "sit" on the ground better. Having that lens flare emerging from beneath it certainly doesn't help.

I could spend more time "blending" the elements of this scene together but since its only a test I don't think its really worth the effort.

Visual Effect Test - Panache approaches the megalith

I've done some experimenting to see how well I could make the test footage seem as like it was filmed at night. Since it was filmed in the middle of the day and the sun was beaming directly towards us the shadows are a bit strong.

I was plesantly surprised but my shoddy camera work might cause problems with the motion tracking on the moon.

Original



Edited

Screen Test - Panache challenges Mr. Trollins in the Tavern

Panache challenges Mr. Trollins in the Tavern #1



Panache challenges Mr. Trollins in the Tavern #2




Panache challenges Mr. Trollins in the Tavern #3




Panache challenges Mr. Trollins in the Tavern #4

Screen Test - Mr. Trollins confronts Gigh

Mr. Trollins confronts Gigh - Short #1




Mr. Trollins confronts Gigh - Short #2




Mr. Trollins confronts Gigh - Medium #1




Mr. Trollins confronts Gigh - Medium #2




Mr. Trollins confronts Gigh - Full #1




Mr. Trollins confronts Gigh - Full #2

Screen Test - Guy auditions for Mr. Trollins

Guy also wanted to audition for Mr. Trollins so I have him the opportunity. Here is the first scene he tested.


Guy auditions for Mr. Trollins - Short





Guy auditions for Mr. Trollins - Full




There will be a couple more scenes uploaded in the coming days.

Guy's Screen Test for Gigh

On Friday 27th more screen tests were conducted, this time the primary focus was upon Guy's audition for Gigh. Bec came along to make things easier since Guy has had no formal training for acting.

It turned out Guy makes a better Mr. Trollins, which is probably for the better since he's got an evil appearance.


There has been little though to camera and sound but there was some experimentation with the different kind of shots. The quality of video is poor and isn't helped by YouTube's resizing, cropping to 4:3 and compressing.

Screen Test - Panache & Guy's dialogue after his reincarnation (full sequence)

Panache & Guy's dialogue after his reincarnation #1




Panache & Guy's dialogue after his reincarnation #2

Screen Test - Panache & Gigh's dialogue after his reincarnation - Seperate shots

Camera on Gigh




Camera on Panache

Gigh Screen Test - "He can't keep killing people"

"He can't keep killing people" #1




"He can't keep killing people" #2



"He can't keep killing people" #3




"He can't keep killing people" #4

Gigh Screen Test - "He's arrogant and cocky"

"He's arrogant and cocky" #1




"He's arrogant and cocky" #2




"He's arrogant and cocky" #3

Screen Test - Panache explains to Gigh what happened to him

Panache explains to Gigh what happened to him #1




Panache explains to Gigh what happened to him #2

Screen Test - Panache embraces Gigh

This shot just didn't work...

Panache embraces Gigh #1




Panache embraces Gigh #2




Panache embraces Gigh #3




Since Gigh is likely to be recast it doesn't matter so much...

Guy Screen Tests Gigh - Gigh Reawakens

Gigh Reawakens #1




Gigh Reawakens #2