Project Review: Monsters vs. Aliens Part VI-Main Title City Build

Early in the move at the end of the hill in the city we are into the street scene I made for the Title for MvA.

In using the 24 unique buildings I made each one asymmetrical so I cut mirror and turn them to achieve a bit more variety.

As we've moved into the set we are at the first intersection which afforded me a bit of width in the design for these very brief "blips or beat" in the seamless old town wall of structures. 

At frame six we are almost another block in as we cut the move from one full second to 1/3rd, so we fly by this stuff.

By frame 8 we are out of the Old Town Tunnel and to the open facade row by the part

As we move closer to the seat position we see the full city coming into view.

The final seat just before the Logo drops into frame.

An overhead Birds-Eye view of what I made for the move. I only build what is seen, a trick I leaned in Set-Design work and miniatures early on, just out of Art Center.

The base blocking model shows off the total number of structures needed to fill int he shots: 140 small Old Town Buildings, and 22 larger structures on the flanks.

Project Review
Monsters vs. Aliens.
Part VI.
Main Title City Build

Clients Dreamworks via The Cimarron Group.  
Creative Director: Steven Viola.
Art Direction: Myself
Project Date: Fall 2007.

This is PART VI covering my 3D Design work I did for the Theatrical Advertising done on Dreamworks 3D animated feature, Monsters vs. Aliens from back in the Late Fall of 2008, and today I have more details on the city backdrop I made for the Theatrical Title as seen in my reel linked to the RIGHT.

I was called in to assist the Motion Graphics department in building out about six blocks of a stylized city that was similar to the screen cap reference we had at the time for the film Monsters vs' Aliens.

I used the pre-made sets of vintage buildings I was already selling for the company on Turbo-squid, the largest online 3D stock model house, and I then created 24 unique designs for structures that would populate te edges of the the main street we travel down in the camera move.

It needs to be noted that I was competing against another company that was attempting to get the finish on the trailer as well and they had a team of almost a dozen I had to go against. As a 3D Designer, I modeled and designed simultaneously and this alone allowed us to design and build so much faster, that in just 12 Hours, I had the city finished completed on a weekend when it was given to me to do.

I first built out a blocking model with the building proportions and placement done with simple boxes. I also put taller background buildings off the the sides and checked the perspective parallax as the camera moved thru this little city.

Once the move and timing was all set, I began a assembly line build-out for the two dozen unique buildings I designed and built for the city. I also then created all the various little items on the street from  the store outdoor signs, to fire hydrants, to newspaper vending sets, and awning and power poles.

I was given a good budget and my portion came in at less than one fifth the projected cost[ NOT projected by me the 3D Design Department head BTW].

You can view the MGFX city I built in just over a day for the trailers in PART I here,
You can view the full 3D logos here for PART II.
You can view Part III with more 3D Logos here.
You can view PART IV here with added button logos.
You can view PART V here covering the color adjustments for Stereoscopic 3D-SS.

You can also see the final 3D Animation of the Title at the front of my MGFX reel work in the right column link.

Cheers, THOM