Preproduction: Fall Quarter 2/4
- gracieszymanski04
- Sep 27
- 8 min read
Updated: Oct 8
Details work from class six to class ten (checkpoint class) of the Fall Quarter at SCAD. Blog posts arranged from newest to oldest.
Project Drive:
Project Shot List: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Y1-DKGdcjgM3FcTvOirFuHcpqTPOWDmjmlm5wzcjg6w/edit?usp=sharing
Other Group Member Blogs:
Hannah Kim | |
Benji Hopkins | |
Olivia Wesling | |
Sydney Relkin | |
Charlie Ragland | |
Mia Esparragoza |
To Do:
Continue work on the cocoon (simulation and substance painter)
Schedule a meeting with the first AD, set up a meeting with the new animator, set up a meeting with gaffer, set up meeting with production designer
Secure camera equipment for week nine shoot
Figure out makeup for the fairy
Fundraise for the project
Lock in final costume and makeup test date before shoot day.
Give Xristos an end of week five update (more thorough schedule and a better lookbook)
10/7/2025
Olivia was able to edit together a cut with the test footage as well as some of the environment shots done by Mia and the original animatic by Hannah:
10/4/2025
Today we had our official test shoot day! We shot at the Savannah Film Studios Green Screen Room and we shot on the Blackmagic Pocket Camera. At this test shoot we were able to meet our DP, first AD, actress and Production Designer in person! We had Hannah step in as our actress for all the test shots since our actual actress was only able to stay for a limited time.
We had a mini meeting with our production designer in which we went over what we want for the shoots. Here's what we locked in:
A snow floor for the XR stage
A portion of the cocoon for the actress to break through for better integration
A patch of snow for the green screen stage shoots
Here are some BTS photos we were able to get from the test shoot day:
We were able to get test shots for these shots:
2A - 35 mm lens
2B - 35 mm lens
2C - 35 mm lens
2H.2 - 35 mm lens
2I.2
2L - 35 mm lens
3D - 14 mm lens
3E - 35 mm lens
Here are a couple of those test shots:
We learned a few important things from this shoot. We were able to test some fabrics and some makeup with the green screen behind it. We changed shot 3D from an XR stage shot to a green screen shot. We also fully hashed out the camera movement for 2I.2 and decided on having a bit of handheld camera shake to add fear to the shot.
While our actress was on set, we were able to have our first costuming try on. The costume is completely done by Benji!
10/2/25
Today, Hannah, Sydney, and I were able to have a meeting with our DP. We explained the full project to him and he seems very excited to work with us! He is going to give us some unreal assets he has to help our environment artist out as well! His name is Lucas Evans.
In addition, our associate producer was also able to bring on some more extra film help:
production designer: Olivia Schroeder
first AD: Andrew Edwards
first AC: Emily Scroggins
gaffer: Elli Baker
Right now, our biggest issue is sorting out what camera we want to film with for our green screen shoot. The camera at the XR stage is the V Raptor and we preferably want to use the same camera for our green screen shoot for continuity. The problem is that this camera can only be rented out by film majors here at SCAD. In addition, the film major who rents it out has to have certain qualifications in order to even put in a reservation for the camera and our DP has not yet met those class qualifications. We'll be seeking help from our professor as well as our DP's professor to see if there is a way to work around it. If we can't our backup plan is to get another Raptor camera and do some work in post to make sure that they look the same.
9/27/25
Today, I was able to start working on the cocoon tearing open simulation. I found this reference video of a time lapse of a monarch butterfly emerging from its cocoon so I could study the way that the cocoon breaks.
With looking at reference and thinking about how I want the fairy to break out of the cocoon, I think I am going to need to use a vellum simulation in order to accomplish this. I thought about using an RBD but I don't want the shell to act as if it is a hard egg shell but rather like a thick tearing fabric. I've never used vellum before so I am going to need to do some research and start with tutorials.
I found this tutorial online on how to do a simple cloth tearing simulation:
I followed this tutorial and was able to do my first ever vellum test!
I then continued looking up tutorials and doing some research and found this controlled tearing cloth tutorial that I think will get me a lot closer to what I need for the cocoon.
I followed this tutorial step by step and was able to do another vellum tear test:
I then wanted to actually apply this to my modeled cocoon and make sure that the model cooperates with vellum and to see what it might look like.
To simulation the fairy hand pushing through the cocoon, I used Adobe's Miximo to find a figure doing a similar motion.
I then imported this animated model into Houdini as an ABC and used it as my collision object in my vellum simulation. Here is my very first test just applying the vellum to the cocoon and giving it the collision object:
I'll be working more on this simulation in the coming week, but one other thing I was also able to track down today was a model for our rabbit. I am working on a friend of mine's M.F.A. thesis and she was able to have a modeler and rigger, model and rig a rabbit for her project. I love the model and it is what I envision for our Metamorphosis magical woodland creature. Therefore, I reached out to the artists and am asking everyone's approval before using the model in any way. Pending approval, here is the asset we will be using:
Modeler: Sania Khullar
Rigger: James Kislenko
9/25/25
Today, I'm going to be starting work on the cocoon for the project! I'm very excited to be starting on the actual art and FX of the piece. I first started gathering reference for what we want to cocoon to be. The vision is for it to be uncomfortable and possibly a little bit gross for the fairy to be inside while also emulating organic textures and plant life.
I found some references from films that I'll be using:
I also wanted to be sure to reference real cocoons that butterflies are reborn from. I want to not only emulate what these cocoons look like but also I want the fairy to break free from the cocoon in a similar way that butterflies break free from their cocoon. I specifically also found some references for how cocoons look when they are backlit to see how much of the organism inside actually can be seen. This could possibly be a very cool shot in the film where the moon casts a back light on the cocoon and you see a faint fairy figure inside.
Lastly, I found this reference on art station of an a prop that an artist had hand made that looks almost exactly like how our concept art looks! I specifically love the video they have uploaded where the cocoon looks like it is breathing. I want to use this as reference specifically because when she is in the cocoon, I want it to look alive, but I want it to look dead when she has broken free.
The first thing I began doing was modeling the cocoon. I used Maya to start my model. I then started with an oval shaped sphere and used the sculpt tools to deform it and start adding the wrinkles, curves, and seems of the cocoon.
As I was sculpting, I started to run into an issue since I am not very experienced in modeling. The base sphere did not have enough subdivisions and therefore, the sculp tool was making very chunky and pixelated marks in the model as you can see in the image.
To fix this, I did end up having to restart my sculpt with a sphere that had 400 vertical divisions and 400 horizontal divisions. I continued sculpting with this base shape until I got the cocoon I wanted. Though I upped the subdivisions, there were still some parts of the model that appeared pixelated or chunky. To fix this, I took the model into Houdini. I used a subdivide node and remesh node to get the model as smooth as possible. Here is my final cocoon model:
I'm very happy with how this model is looking right now and I also want to not that I plan on adding a lot of bump and displacement when I take the model into substance painter, in order to really give it that cocoon look and feel. I want to use this more simple model for simulations and then apply the materials later on as I think this will produce cleaner simulations.
9/24/25
Today, I wanted to focus on getting one last big thing done for the project in my producer roll which was creating a pipeline for the project to make sure that we are organized and all of us know the steps to getting the project to completion. I found this resource online about forming pipelines that I found useful:
I then created a project pipeline diagram, using Canva, for us that includes the naming convention and important scale information. I did not include who will render as I believe it will depend on the week whether the lighting or environment or fx artists end up rendering out their layers or passing them on to other group members for help.
I also received an email today from the XR Stage organizer:
"There is one change to the schedule, and that is your booking on Monday 12th January. Unfortunately, I have to move it forward. It is now 10.30am to 5pm. Please accept all the invites. I have attached our list of lighting equipment and the qr code to see the VP blackboard which has the Unreal Engine best practices guidelines setup for the volume. In the meantime, please provide the documents listed below. I will send out the invites now. And can you also give me a list of additional names to attach to the invites. I have you and Hannah right now.
Submit this Crew List Form.
Submit Production Binder, that includes:
Summary of Shoot.
Script & Storyboards.
Look Book / Visual References.
Shot List and schedule for the XR Stage. "
Here is the information regarding the XR Stage equipment:
I then spent the rest of today gathering all of the information Xristos needed in the production binder. Since we are still waitting to get a DP and First AD, there are a lot of parts of the production binder that are not fully complete or need refinement. Therefore, I will be sending Xristos a mid quarter update of the production binder with more detail once we have those roles filled.
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