The Third & The Seventh

Posted by James Wignall

The Third The Seventh

Kicking off the new year in style! Beautiful CGI work from one man band, Alex Roman. Make sure to check out the compositing breakdown as well.

(Thanks Mike)

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James Wignall

/ www.mutanthands.com
Director / Art-Director based in London.
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39 Comments

ocelot

it is very pretty and all.. but i swear he has the most boring camera work ever.. aside from the shaky cam and all the depth of field he always seems to manage to find the most boring framing his scene is capable of. shame.

James Wignall

I have to say I disagree. I found the camera work full of compelling compositions with nice gentle movements which really suits the pace and atmosphere Alex created.

mewt

I’m glad someone posted something with more to say than an effective “good job”. Even if it is a negative comment, it says why he didn’t like it.

I’d really like to read more comments that say more specifically why they did (or didn’t) like it. I feel like the comments for this work would be more reflective of deeper response. At least I somehow feel that this piece deserves it.

dzer

I would like to see what you think is interesting well done camera work CG or live action. Got any examples to reference?
Please expand my visual sense with your amazing eye for framing.

ocelot

weee.. everyone rating me down.. but sorry.. where are there any “emotions” in this piece.. its a couple of nicely lit interiors set to music. and i stand by my opinion that the camera work is just crap. its a couple of linear moves.. dolly in.. dolly out.. while playing around (and overusing) depth of field… usually straight angles, no tension, not following any design lines.. nothing.

sorry. everyone who says “omg so many emotions”.. seriously, this is kitsch. nothing more. its technically awesome and better than anything i could do, but its cg kitsch, using age old anime techniques like doves and cherry blossom leaves etc to bring this across, but still at the end of the day its kitsch.

go on. rate me down again.

nishigikoi

I disagree. I think his cinematography is gorgeous. As a photographer, I think it’s stunning and interrogative in a simple sense. It may be boring to some people, but I enjoy the soft pacing. I think it gives more time to show off the work. I mean, it’s a gorgeous piece of artwork. And I think the serene, slow setting allows you, as the viewer, to be in that place, not just viewing it. I’ve noticed that the people who put a whole bunch of complicated camera movements and radical effects are usually the ones who have barely any talent for true solid artwork. I think that when a scene stands out visually as much as this one does, you shouldn’t muddy it up with a bunch of stuff. But I also don’t have the attention span of a ferret, so I’m not bothered by this.

What would you do to change the camera movements?(you didn’t say what you would do, just what you didn’t like. So, naturally I am curious.) I can’t imagine many things would make the scene pop as much as these do. Simple and basic to me, is the best way to go here because I think anything else would completely overshadow the fact that its a lot of simple models that are textured, lit, color corrected and arranged with the passion of a true CG artist.

And by no means should it evoke shame. I think the very idea that he created something that is this serene and captivating with as little movement as it has is an accomplishment in itself. It’s not full of a bunch of “visual vomit” for the sake of making it interesting. It is interesting on its own.

bobdoleknows

mindblowing

kult

Wow.. this actually surpasses his last short. The technical craft behind this is unbelievable — not to mention the aesthetic level.

StbN

Astonishing!! Congrats Alex, your work is really impressive and mindblowing!!

Dvein

The Best of the Best…. Wow!
Sin palabras…

ddd_dave

i’m speachless and amazed………….ocelot – why so negative? HappyNewYear Holmes!

Joe Clay

As I remarked on the vimeo page, this would be amazingly beautiful even if it were just filmed.

Boca Ceravolo

Holly crap, I’m in awe. Amazing on all aspects, kudos Alex!

movecraft

holy moly. Particularly the fact that this is one artist.

I could start a religion around Louis Kahn. Alex would be the high priest.

gugy

Simply beautiful.

gugy

Alex,
You just made me want quit my career.
Wow, I just can’t believe this entire piece is CG.

Stunning.

I am humbled by it.

ktx

I like all his works. It’s admirable the skill-set this guy possesses.

Morfeo01

Very impressing, when I first saw it, I tought It was live action footage, but then I read that It was completely generated by computer, I can´t believe my eyes, this is the future of motion pictures for real.
Congratulations to Alex Roman for this masterpiece.

jwest

First half reaction: “very boring but very pretty. Mostly poor direction, so this must be a DP’s reel? seems like a waste of expensive crane equipment. Almost every shot is just racking the focus on a poorly composed shot.”

Second half reaction: “woah woah woah wait a second, this is all CG? Holy shit mad props.”

suny2000

My first reaction was: this guy is a technical genius, and it’s very pretty.

After 1 minute, my second reaction was: it’s boring, I can’t watch this for 12 minutes.
It should be compelling, even for my mother, who doesn’t care it if something is well comped or not.

But, once again, technical genius, very impressive.

Tyquane Wright

Tons of eye candy in one piece. unbelievably great for a one man CG project…as a matter of fact, a lot of team efforts don’t come out this nice.

Thanks for sharing those break downs man. congrats

Panasit

I don’t want to sound over-dramatic, but I was quite depressed for a couple of weeks due to work/family related reason. And even after the new year was over and everyone was coming back to work I am still feeling pretty down for something I have no idea what.

This movie literally brings me out of depression. It’s so beautiful. My god.
Thank you.

monovich

The only fault this piece has for me is that it demands people actually take the time to watch the whole thing. I’m used to getting my doses in 30 seconds, not twelve minutes, and it was hard for me to sit still. I did though, and at the end of the twelve minutes I felt I was rewarded for my effort by getting the entire narrative. Yes, the narrative is thin and subtle, but its there. I think a film like this will be under appreciated because most people, myself included, have lost their ability to be still and really meditate on what we are looking at.
I think this piece is near genius visually, and if you consider the technical side and the manpower, its mind blowing.

gareth Jones

At least you admit you can’t sit still. I find it truly depressing that people can no longer concentrate on anything longer than 30 seconds. This work is magnificent. Alex has produced a stunning film. You are right in saying some people will not devote the time to it. Such a shame.

triangles

I went to school for traditional animation in the late nineties through early ’00s. at my school, two big debates going on were film vs. video and traditional animation vs. 3D. I knew one day we wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between filmed and created content, but to actually see that effect achieved in this piece specifically, is absolutely amazing. I wish there were another word I could use besides ‘amazing.’
I wonder what my animation professors, who were already old timers then would have to say about this… I am a motion graphics animator now and am learning Maya. seeing this piece is absolutely inspiring to me as it shows me what is possible. ¡Congratulaciones!

RyanU

Totally amazed by this one. I love how he uses only traditional camera techniques, never going beyond what can be done in real life. His meticulous exploration of a beautiful piece of architecture is brilliant. This hasn’t really been done too much, I’d like to see more of this sort of thing.

And to think, this is one guy? are you sure? Makes me want to give up. :P

Bravo Alex!

frq

Really quite impressive & Beautiful. Technically, it’s amazing. Very well done. It reminds me of the movie “Gattaca” (great movie). it actually borrows some music from there as well. But like I said, beautiful work! Cheers!

andyjohno

Truly breathtaking. I watched before I read and couldn’t believe it when I discovered it was entirely CGI.

Wonderful.

toddsmith

Get out of town – this is one of the best breakdowns I’ve seen. Watching the final comp is amazing, but my respect tripled with the breakdown. Great Work!

osbourne_db

incredible technical achievement but overall I found it a very dull film to watch. amazing cgi artist & designer, but ultimately not a great director I’d say.. music was uninspired too imho. awesome cgi though, of that there is no doubt.

manoloz

this is very beautiful and very well done… BUT i still wonder why people make such effort to create real scenes with computer graphics.

I think CG should be used to create scenes that we would never see in real life, or even never imagine…

Ash

Truly inspiring. Such a beautifully emotive piece of work.

wundakind

Que alguien fiche a este hombre ya. No podemos dejar que se vaya de aquí.

Darve

Beautiful, outstanding cg, absolutley amazing ….no words, like nothing before .
Cg like this makes me think about The Matrix .. :), and scares me

Just…PERFECT.

Delacroix

Pictures beautiful, but the music is under

infernalrobot

I love it, my only complaint is where he ventured out of his comfort zone and started throwing books into the air and other animated sequences. Not the climax I was looking for. I’m pretty sure once a jet has flown by, the white trail it leaves ought to stop and hang there in the air, in place, until it dissipates… there oughtn’t be some force causing it to funnel backwards indefinitely.

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