Night on Bald Mountain

[shaunf]

This isn't complete (the animation is still fairly rough) but I've had to put it down due to other animation commitments. I thought, rather than having it sit on my computer at home people could have a look.

 

When I get a chance I'll get back to it, but in the meantime I'd be interested in peoples thoughts.

 

http://www.shaunfreeman.com/samples/night_...ld_mountain.mov

Its about 9.6 Mb

Many thanks for William Suttons generosity in letting me use his model!

[starwarsguy]

lol, that scary music kinda makes it funny grt work, though!

[hypnomike]

Great work shaun!

 

Very atmospheric.

 

Hope you find time to work on it soon.

[luckbat]

lol, that scary music kinda makes it funny

 

Ah, the younger generation. How they've missed out on the classics.

[jesshmusic]

OOOOOO! I hate that I'm at work, I can't watch it. I assume you used Mussorgsky?

 

I wanted to do something like this, but with part of a piece by Prokofiev called "The Alien God and the Danceof the Evil Spirits fromt eh Scythian Suite, op. 20" It's a really wicked piece!

 

I will watch this as soon as I am home from work!!!!

[starwarsguy]

lol, that scary music kinda makes it funny

 

Ah, the younger generation. How they've missed out on the classics.

I didn't say I didn't like the music I just meant it doesn't really fit the Balrog...

 

You've got to at least SORT OF agree with that

[Flog]

never seen Fantasia I suppose.

 

Check it out sometimes, its okay, supposedly really a great film but didn't make disney much money, but it was back in the day when Disney did it for the art of animation other than the dollar.

[starwarsguy]

me? of course i've seen fantasia! who hasn't!?

[Guest Rogelio Guzman]

Very nice!!

 

Rogelio

[johnl3d]

nicely done but the music ..need a pipe organ. ..just in time for the pumpkins

[Julian]

See, the Balrog really does look a lot cooler when it's completely self-illuminated without any external light sources.

[Paul Forwood]

Beautiful job, you guys!

 

I look forward to seeing an update on this project.

 

Thanks for posting.

 

Paul Forwood

[wwoelbel]

Hey Shaun;

 

I saw the image that you posted and was rather unimpressed. "hmm pretty scanty for a terrain flythrough". The mountain really didn't do much for me. I did have the feeling as the music has progressing that something was going to happen. You caught me completely off guard when the balrog unwrapped itself. I did not expect that to happen. I am impressed. I thought that the movement was excellent and the theme was well choreographed. The balrog is very sharp (Kudos to the creator) but the usage is excellent. I enjoyed it very much!

 

Bill

[jesshmusic]

I really liked this scene. Tolkien meets Disney. The Balrog is the perfect modern version of the creature from Fantasia. Are you going to tackle an animation to the entire piece? Wow.... if you did that would be a huge undertaking.

 

I look forward to seeing more.

 

I wonder if anyone actually knows the story Mussorgsky had in mind with "A Night on Bare Mountain"? I am not a big believer in programmatic music, but it would be interesting to know.

[Paul Forwood]

I did have the feeling as the music has progressing that something was going to happen.

 

Oh, c'mon. He said it wasn't finished. This is a work in progress.

If it were finished I would agree with you on the slow climb up the mountain but that leaves room for all kinds of magic stuff, titles or whatever Shaun has in mind.

I'm not keen on the framing of the Balrog in the close-up though.

 

Like I said, I look forward to seeing an update.

[wwoelbel]

Oh, c'mon. He said it wasn't finished. This is a work in progress

I know that its an unfinished WIP. I was actually trying to make a compliment. Suspence is important. I was trying to get across that the music was key for me. I *knew* that something was coming up. Without the music I think that it would have suffered.

[Paul Forwood]

My appologies.

I jumped in before I had finished reading your post.

I'm a ba-a-a-a-ad boy!

[Scottj3d]

It brought me to tears. OF ENVY!! I was taking in the appearance of depth as we we moved up the mountain with the stars in the distance. I thought it had a disneyish quality which is meant as a compliment. Nice work!

[Phil]

Just one word..........

 

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ypoissant]

Impressive. It is a very good start.

 

One thing that I would nitpick is the star movements. As is, I'm not sure the camera if trolleying-in or zooming-in. It seems like a mix of both. Normally, with distant stars, the sky would not look like it zooms if it is only a camera trolley-in. Or if a zoom-in, then the stars would keep their relative distance from the foreground subject.

 

I think a darker sky would help too.

[John Bigboote]

I applaud. AWESOME!

 

However, I also took note of the stars. They are what I call '1 pixel stars'...meaning that- each star has the exact same magnitude in terms of distance and brightness as the next. When I look-up to a starry sky, the first thing I see is the multitude of depth before me.

 

My recommendation: Since the camera does not swing around too much laterally, build yourself a 'multiplane' star effect using photoshop to create alphas for 1 or 2 foreground levels and a beautifull painting with a milky-way ribbon for the background, it's not that hard using copy and paste methods and the levels do not need to be too offset to sell the illusion of depth. Make sure the ambiance levels are set high and they should appear perfectly.

 

As far as the mountain and the 'Balrog' I cannot bring myself to comment, there is simply nothing to pick at. I applaud. Happy Hallowe'en.

[Sharky]

Hi Shaun!

 

This animation is very fantastic and very inspire stuff!

I like balrog's movement, it is nice smooth movement!

I can't wait that I can see the next part!

Nice work Shaun! Keep it up!

 

Cheers,

 

Sharky

[Guest mrsl13]

Clever .......At first I thought the mountain was going to blow..then Balrog!!!

Nice job..hope you get a chance to finish it sometime..

 

Mike C