Animation references: whale

 Animation references: whale                                                                                                                      15/01/23

Figure 1: Blue Whale: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.co.uk%2Fprogrammes%2Farticles%2F4t6hSxdpxrXNXVrYkTck6fg%2Fblue-whale&psig=AOvVaw3wlx0q-alHPrUE_t7lDVtX&ust=1673896686593000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CA8QjRxqFwoTCJDqgZ2lyvwCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAJ

The shot in my final film that I hope to gain the most attention and put the most effort into for my Going Live module is that of a blue whale.  I have chosen this because of its cultural significance to Dundee and how the whaling industry contributed to the city's economy.  In its shot, the whale will fly over the Tay and the Tay road bridge  I have made an animation using pre-made whale models in Element 3D, but I realise that I need to learn to craft, rig and animate the model professionally if I want to be seen as a competent animator.  The animation will definitely need to be the most impressive of all the shots in my final film so a lot is riding on it.  Once I've crafted the model, I will need to light it so that it fits the environment it's in, cast a fitting shadow, and use sound, scale and any other available means to show the viewer the size of it in contrast to the protagonist.  Whilst the creature will appear in the protagonist's vision, it will need to also the lost realistic and integral of all the animations.  In terms of references for my whale, the first one that comes to mind is the blue whale from Finding Nemo.

Figure 2: Images for constructing whale model

These are the image references I used to build my first whale model on top of it.  Whilst the model I made in Blender was still retained, sadly the model I made in Maya was deleted, so I will need to start from scratch on that front.  Based on what I can I identify from the images and a skeleton of a blue whale I can identify the amount of joints I need to give the model the right amount of flexibility and realistic movement with a joints for the right amount of vertebrae in the back, dorsal fin, side fins and jaws.  I have sketched out a perception of where the joints are.  This is admittedly a very amateur drawing of what a rig should look like, but hopefully it provides the extra perspective required.

Figure 3: Whale skeleton:https://projectdal.ca/project/bluewhale/