Month: November 2023

Ambush

In 2080, the civilization of the earth is no longer prosperous. With the economic depression and competition for resources, mankind is gradually heading towards self-destruction. In the most helpless situation, humans are facing the invasion of high-tech extraterrestrial beings, and these mysterious invaders are hiding in every corner, leaving humans with nowhere to escape. Faced with such a desperate situation, the only chance is to find a way to escape. From the laboratory to the forest, and the snow field, even if there is only a slight chance, people can only withstand the pressure and break through the ambush.

In this step, I focused on the lighting settings and fog effects. Since the lights and tones of the three scenes were different, I had to integrate them effectively. In addition to adjusting in Unreal Engine 5, I also made color corrections and adjustments in After Effect. Subtitles and soundtrack.

For the special effects of snow falling on snowy mountains, I used UE5’s Ultra Dynamic Sky plug-in. This way, I don’t need to synthesize it for compositing. I can adjust the parameters of the snow in UE5 when creating the scene to make it looks more realistic.

The following is the difference between before and after I did the colour grading in after effect. I finally decided to use cold colours as the main colour of the project.

The pictures below are my work window and the font I designed.

The first stage is setting up the scenes. I plan to create three different environments in the film, including indoor and natural landscapes. Because of the plot, it will be from indoor to outdoor. The first scene is a laboratory. I hope to create a mysterious atmosphere and give the audience a sense of oppression. The second scene is a forest. I want to make a burning forest, so I use some assets to help me create more quickly. The last one is a snow field, which represents the protagonist’s successful escape from the laboratory. This is also the first time I have made this type of environment.

I completed the modelling of the corridor scene in C4D and did the textures in Substance 3D Painter. I think that doing the textures by myself can better present the result I want, and can also train my skills.

For the forest scene, I focused on fog settings and lighting to achieve a more realistic effect. The water was the first time I did it in UE5.

For the snow assets, I used the Quixel Bridge model and adjusted the material in UE5. In addition to the texture of the material, I also used nodes to make the rocks look like snow.

I found many examples on websites such as Behance and Pinterest. I personally have collected many works of concept artists, so I have always wanted to make a concept short film, such as the two works below.

At the end of last semester, I started to learn Unreal Engine 5 independently, because today’s trend is to use real-time rendering extensively, which is also a trend in the industry. I mainly focus on scene construction and lighting, and hope to showcase my skills in this area through this project.

The following are the examples I used for reference. I think their lighting and details are well done, and the composition is also a decisive point.