I want to do a zombie chasing a human into a room. The human will shut the door behind him, leaving the zombie slightly puzzled and frustrated for having lost his meal. He pounds on the door, which opens and pelts him with rubber ducks. While distracted, his prey escapes.
Production Log
I was advised to use the Lowman instead of trying to rig my own characters. The set is pretty simple; a hallway with a door at the end.
I had a slight problem with trying to make the characters physically unique. Originally I wanted the zombie to have a greenish skin tone, but the shaders didn't show up on him. There was one shader I could change that altered the whole body for both of them. I discovered that there were 2 different shaders for eyes so I made the zombie's bloodshot.
I had fun playing with the Lowman's facial expression. He's a pretty content looking character so it was tricky getting him to look afraid. I think opening the mouth and raising the eyebrows, he conveys alarm.
Lowman has a moment of realization. He pushes forward to escape the zombie.
I stayed mostly true to the original storyboard, except for the part with the ducks. I left them out due to time constraints. I ended it with the zombie trying to lure Lowman out by knocking, but is knocked back by the door as he flees.
Due to the number of different angles I wanted, I used a couple different cameras to render several small clips and spliced them together with Final Cut Pro. There was a slight problem in Final Cut where I wasn't happy with the quality of the video. It's mostly because I haven't used it in a while, but it took me a while to find the right way to save my file.
Self-Evaluation
Despite the difficulties I had with some parts of the project, I sort of like how this project turned out. I would have liked to build original models but with the time we had it was unlikely I would have finished it. The set itself could be improved; I intended it to be a creepy dark hallway, but only one of the walls is visible and I worry that it might be unclear that they're running down a hall. There's also glaring flaw while the door is open. It could be more complex. I think the gag at the end is a common cartoon trope, and I think if I had the time I could turn it into a Scooby Doo-like scenario where the hallway is lined with doors and Lowman evades the zombie by running in and out.
