Ultra-Inspiring CG Documentaries, Films and Shows
Dartanbeck
Posts: 21,583
When I'm not animating, it's usually because I'm waiting for my animated simulations or renders to complete.
It's these times when I like to pull up some amazing documentaries of CG artists - Live action or fully CG - for inspiration and just quality entertainment.
In this thread I'll show you some amazing things that are well worth purchasing if you have any interest in picking up on some of the most incredible CG solutions I've ever seen - and I'll also put up suggestions for myself which I haven't got my hands on yet.
Disney + is cool for all of the movies and shows they have, and they have some really excellent documentaries as well. But when it comes to a lot of the incredible featurettes that come with BluRay movies, it often pays to actually purchase them from Vudu or your favorite streaming service to get those wonderful Special Features that I love so much.
Since most of what I'm putting up here is really, Really good, it's difficult for me to pick favorites, so the order in which I present this stuff is not in any way an order of excellence - for they all have a worth that vastly exceeds whatever price is paid for them.
Many of these Special Features explore many of the difficulties that the team was faced with to present the audience with the excellence that was produced in the final film. This is Incredible stuff to pay attention to - even if it's not really what we're doing. Just the philosophies involved in overcoming the impossible is truly valuable stuff - and it really inspires me to constantly try to produce better material by learning new techniques, adding new tools to my arsenal, and working out smoother, better animations.
Since I'm just me, and I work alone for the most part, many of these difficulties have to get special treatment or I'd never get anything done. So I try to take this all in as the impressivwe work that it is - rather than to try and get it all done myself. Just soaking in these interviews works in the subconscious as I push myself ever forward into this industry of CG Filmmaking.
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The movie that inspired me to up my game with my characters, Alita Battle Angel is an emotional journey led by an entirely CG character who is so well crafted that we almost immediately 'forget' that she isn't 100% real!
As we'll see, Weta Digital and Lightstorm have created (by far) the most incredible digital character on screen to date. From the amazing performance of actress Rosa Salazar along with the rest of the interacting cast to the performance capture techniques used to how the animators tweaked the 3D mesh according to that captured performance against the stylizing and exaggeration needed to covey the super-human power of Manga - and then all of the rest of the technology, artistry and direction that it takes to make all of this possible.
Buying the full featured film from Vudu granted hours of some of the most incredible behind-the-scenes interviews and feature I've ever encountered. Artwork show reels, creating Alita and how they translated Rosa's performance to a digital copy of herself, which was then translated painstakingly to Alita. Two of these full length features are an amazing journey through All of it. Truly inspiring.
And as an added special feature, Director Robert Rodriguez give us a tutorial on how to make the delicious chocolate bars that he used to get a Superb performance when Alita (Rosa) takes her first taste. The resulting expressions speak for his skill!
There are a Lot of special feature videos and ever single one is an incredible show to take in - and then there's the movie itself which is nothing short of Amazing!
The Official Movie Trailer
Very near the beginning of the movie, this tender moment is Alita meeting her saviors for the first time. She discovers the taste of an orange, learns that she's a cyborg and that she has no memories.
The expressiveness of Alita is mind blowing, thanks to the magic of highly talented animators, but also to Rosa Salazar's ability to express so deeply, full of facial muscle reactions. It makes for a superb end result! We'll take a look at how they do it in a bit.
The whole 'eating of the orange' part is a feat of perfection. The way she reacts to hearing the cyborg stuff gives away the fact that she' just discovering that she is a cyborg - and she emotes it so perfectly! Then comes Ido wiping the tear from her face. That's just plain cool!!!
This scene from the movie begins with a heart warming discussion between Alita and Hugo still early on in the film, so Alita still doesn't quite know who (or exactly what) she is.
The reason I have it here is to show how realistically she (a fully CG character) interacts with the live action actor, as well as how expressive the animation team was able to work her facial muscles, the dynamics of the hair and fluidity of her every move. She's So Real!
The second half of the scene shows the beginning of her awakening - the thing that sparks her first hidden memory of her past life. Again, I'm not sure this would spoil the ride for you if you haven't seen it yet, but it would at the very least inform you of the outcome of the scene - so, yeah... spoiled!
This part of the scene also features Alita interacting with live action actors, but also adds a character whose face is from a live action actress yet the rest of her is CG, along with two more fully CG characters, each animated via performance capture tweaked via key framing by hand. Absolutely Incredible!!!
Weta Digital VFX Breakdown Shorts
A small taste of what the amazing special feature videos mentioned above reveal
Alita discovers a body from her home planet. Maybe it works on me? Wet skin and hair on a CG character!
So how well does Alita play the game her first time out?
Finding this TV Series, also on Vudu was a real treat.
The story is excellent, they picked really great actors to voice-act the parts and, in Japan they found really talented actors who could understand English to replicate what the voice actors portrayed in live action in full space with cameras capturing their performance in 3d motion capture. Really sophisticated stuff.
Then they hired another team of actors to play out the intense action and fighting scenes.
The artists created the perfect Blade runner feel - which was their ultimate goal placed heavily upon them, and they pulled it off wonderfully.
Everyone on the project from the top to bottom took it incredibly seriously due to their love and respect for what Blade Runner means to the world culture - bring the East into the West with such a dark, realistic feel for a believable dystopian future from which most of Japanese Anime has spawned from.
I love the series and these Behind-the-Scenes featurettes are very inspirational to me for my own CG animation projects.
Eagerly awaiting any form of sequel from this team!
A special treat - one of the really impressive scenes that I absolutley love
Incredible Tissue Technology from WETA Digital
I don't really play games much. They're either BioWare, or I don't play. Quite a few years ago I learned of a website called GOG.com while looking for a way to replace my ageing collection of BioWare games, which are on CD ROM and used to death!
GOG's reasonable prices along with DRM-Free, no-license business model made the replacement one of the easiest decisions I could face.
One day I got an e-mail from them about an amazingly low price on their "The Witcher" series of games. I couldn't help but remember the forum talk about it using the Aurora engine, and then barely hearing of the game since, so I bought the first one. It came with loads and loads of additional content - my favorite of which being the artwork and such, along with the incredible soundtrack!
Opening Cinematic from the first game
One of the Many Witcher III Wild Hunt Promo Videos
Killing Monsters
CD Projekt RED, the developer of the games and creators/owner of GOG have always loved how games like Baldur's Gate, by BioWare came with nice maps, sheets and a tastefully made manual adorned with art, all wrapped up in a beautiful box. They also noticed the disappearance of such wonders as time stole them away.
All of The Witcher games come complete with a tasty trove of wondrous treasures, making them everything you'd expect from a great RPG. Game Guides, comic books, calendars, wallpapers and a lavish art book to name some. The soundtracks are glorious and there's even a video of The Witcher III in Concert available at GOG, which I bought but I believe it's free now. Check it out below!
The Witcher III - Wild Hunt In Concert
Industrial Light & Magic
An older presentation that is really cool, but Light & Magic above took this and put it on steroids!
Educational Use Presentation
Warcraft
Transformers
King Kong - Skull Island
This is Awesome!
These folks never (Never) cease to amaze me!
So good that they do professional cinematic work for modern games and movies, etc., this team is a great source of inspiration for anyone who is into this stuff.
Although years have passed since they made this first one, it's still one of my favorites!
This is their intensely incredible
2016 Animation/FX REEL
Allow it to illustrate how many of your favorite titles they've done work on!
I feel the need to also include a few more of my favorites from Blur Studio:
I must say, it took a short while for the artistic style to settle in. I didn't think I'd like it at first. By the end of the first act of the pilot movie I was a big fan, hungry for more!
I get really inspired to animate watching the series, both the movie and the TV seasons and I strongly recommend them all. The finale season on Disney+ is some really amazing stuff, both in story as well as the art.
Playlist of Behind the scenes episodes - a look behind the scenes as we hear from the Director, Producer, various members of the team that brings it all to life including voice actors and composer, along with George Lucas himself!
Excellent Inspiration!
100 Episodes Celebration Trailer
STAR WARS
An amazing look at how many people it takes to make less than one minute of a STAR WARS film!
Within a Minute
A wonderful Ralph McQuarrie Tribute slideshow by William Forsche
Playlist of the Tribute to Ralph McQuarrie at Star Wars channel:
Ralph McQuarrie - A Tribute to a Master
A Word from our Sponsors
Playlists I've made on YouTube
Art Inspiration through Artists
VFX Inspiration
Inspiration through Game Trailers
Industrial Light & Magic
continued
Pirates of the Caribbean
Marvel Avengers
STAR TREK
Jurassic World
Inspiring indeed. Will be watching.
I know I put a lot up to start with, but we need that kind of variety to be able to pick and choose ;)
Thanks Diomede!