An Investigation Into the Creative Processes in Generating Believable Photorealistic Film Characters
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AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE CREATIVE PROCESSES IN GENERATING BELIEVABLE PHOTOREALISTIC FILM CHARACTERS Henry Melki Supervised by Prof. Ian Montgomery Prof. Greg Maguire Faculty of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences Belfast School of Art Ulster University This dissertation is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy October 2019 DECLARATION This dissertation is the result of my own work and includes nothing, which is the outcome of work done in collaboration except where specifically indicated in the text. It has not been previously submitted, in part or whole, to any university or institution for any degree, diploma, or other qualification. I hereby declare that with effect from the date on which the thesis is deposited in the Library of Ulster University, I permit the Librarian of the University to allow the thesis to be copied in whole or in part without reference to me on the understanding that such authority applies to the provision of single copies made for study or for inclusion within the stock of another library. In addition, I permit the thesis to be made available through the Ulster Institutional Repository and/or ETHOS under the terms of the Ulster eTheses Deposit Agreement which I have signed. IT IS A CONDITION OF USE OF THIS THESIS THAT ANYONE WHO CONSULTS IT MUST RECOGNISE THAT THE COPYRIGHT RESTS WITH THE AUTHOR AND THAT NO QUOTATION FROM THE THESIS AND NO INFORMATION DERIVED FROM IT MAY BE PUBLISHED UNLESS THE SOURCE IS PROPERLY ACKNOWLEDGED. ABSTRACT This thesis examines the benefits and challenges that digital Visual Effects have had on character believability. The advantages of Visual Effects are outlined through the improved quality of the cinematic experience, including the production of believable characters and world development. Believable characters are produced through the creative processes and collaborations across diverse disciplines in the film industry. These processes and collaborations involve many interconnected sub-projects or points of delivery, which need to resolve holistically to meet the requirements of the director. However, the challenges of digitisation for film production processes are the primary factor for an increased production pace featuring higher quality outputs produced in tighter schedules with limited budgets. The fast-paced nature of the Visual Effects industry has consequently introduced several communication difficulties and creative ambiguities in the creative process that rendered the consistency of the high-quality character output challenging to achieve. The present research considers the perspectives of expert industry practitioners acquired through open-ended interviews to query about their respective creative processes. These were summarised through four key elements: narrative, design, technique, and communication. The interviews were analysed following a sequential mixed method approach designed to define the internal and external parameters that contribute to the production of believable characters for Visual Effects. The comparison of the participants’ quotes presents a ranking order of the participants’ competing and collaborative priorities within the creative process. Through the ranking of the four key elements, this research considers the evaluation of character believability by categorising characters according to their function in the film and its context in the broader industry. Consequently, a new evaluation framework is proposed that visually presents character believability through patterns following the believability criteria extracted from the interviews. The framework offers potential as a tool for presenting character case studies that serve as ideal guiding examples for projects with similar requirements. This tool, which is referred to as the Melki Character Evaluator (MelCE), offers potential as a developed application to enhance tacit knowledge and communication between its users when designing for believability. By expanding and incorporating a character database into the model, this tool can enable and efficient production of believable characters. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank those who so generously contributed to the work presented in this thesis throughout the different phases of the PhD process. First, my most sincere gratitude goes to my supervisors Professor Ian Montgomery and Professor Greg Maguire without whom this research would not have been possible. Their constant support, academic and practical guidance have made my PhD an adventurous and exciting educational experience. I would like to thank my interview participants for taking the time from their busy schedules to help me with my research and those who helped me test my initial interviews whose names I cannot list due to the ethical agreement. Their insights have been helpful, not only for this thesis but also for my future professional and academic practices. Also, I would like to thank my grandparents, Henry and Lena, my parents, Habib and Sylvie, my brother Jad, and my sisters Jana, Mona, Riwa for their constant support and unending patience. Finally, my sincere thanks to Ailie, Dean, and Susie, with whom I shared the stressful process of the PhD journey, for their support and keeping my sanity in check throughout my research. CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 1 1.1 INTRODUCTION TO ANIMATION & CHARACTERS ...................................................... 1 1.1.1 Key-Frame: Straight-ahead & Pose-to-Pose ................................................... 3 1.1.2 Rotoscoping and Motion Capture .................................................................... 4 1.1.3 Characters & Their Environment .................................................................... 5 1.2 THESIS OVERVIEW ................................................................................................... 7 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................................................... 11 2.1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 11 2.2 PART 1: PRACTICE .................................................................................................. 12 2.2.1 The Early Industry and Innovations .............................................................. 12 2.2.2 The Innovations in Digital Cinema ................................................................ 16 2.2.3 The Industry ................................................................................................... 30 2.3 PART 2: THEORY .................................................................................................... 37 2.3.1 Defining Reality ............................................................................................. 38 2.3.2 The Human Brain, The Image, Sound & Dissonance .................................... 39 2.3.3 Defining Reality Through Art, Photography and Film .................................. 41 2.3.4 The Representation of Reality & Characters in Animation and VFX ............ 43 2.3.5 The Uncanny & The Abject ............................................................................ 48 2.3.6 World Creation Concepts and Narrative Structures ..................................... 56 2.4 SUMMARY .............................................................................................................. 60 3 METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................... 62 3.1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 62 3.2 RESEARCHED PERSPECTIVES & METHODS ............................................................. 62 3.3 METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................................... 66 3.3.1 Key Terms ...................................................................................................... 67 3.3.2 Narrative ........................................................................................................ 67 3.3.3 Design ............................................................................................................ 68 3.3.4 Technique ....................................................................................................... 69 3.3.5 Communication .............................................................................................. 69 3.3.6 Approach, Governance, and Ethics ............................................................... 70 3.3.7 Questionnaire Design .................................................................................... 71 3.3.8 Establishing contact ....................................................................................... 72 iv 3.3.9 Participants .................................................................................................... 73 3.3.10 The Interview & Information Collection ...................................................... 74 3.3.11 Coding in NVivo ........................................................................................... 75 3.3.12 Additional Preparations and Training ......................................................... 75 3.3.13 Analysis ........................................................................................................ 77 4 INTERVIEW OUTCOMES ....................................................................................