The 5 P's of making a VR animated short start to finish

Upstander Development process using Real-time rendering and Animation to enhance VR

Howdy 

I thought I would share with you my production blog for Upstander an award-winning VR experience that premiered at Tribeca.  I hope that you can gain some insights into the process of making a VR film with Unreal and how to develop workflows that allow you to work faster leveraging Real-time rendering and developing a process that helps you maximize the emerging technology.  Although Upstander is a VR experience the processes and workflow can be adapted to a 2D render movie. 

Please check out the links below for more information:

• Proposal
• 
  
• Preproduction 
• 
  
• Production 
• 
  
• Post Production 
• 
  
• Promotion 

www.upstanderve.com

Creator's Statement

Filmmaker/Developer: Van Phan 

"Upstander" touches on the trauma caused by social, verbal, physical, and cyberbullying. How can we be part of the solution and not the problem? "Upstander" revolves around the periods of a child's school day, recess, class time, and after school and uses backpacks to represent children in a school environment. The bullying begins in a gym where the story unfolds with social isolation. The bullying persists in the classroom with repeated taunts from multiple perpetrators. It escalates into the hallway where the person bullied gets his phone stolen and gets trap in a school locker. In the school locker, the POV shifts, and the participant experience how overwhelming and relentless cyberbullying can feel. It concludes in the gym again, where the bystander has a choice to make. Will they be part of the solutions or part of the problem?

Upstander starts as a conventional linear narrative with extraordinary characters as it uses backpacks to represent characters. Upstander surprise and delight the participant with exploration in timing, scale, space and perspective to take advantage of the medium and defy reality. Changes in POV, camera movement and embodiment support the narrative arc of the experience as well as to explore a new visual language."Upstander" is the first fully animated experience in partnership with the Oculus VR for Good Program and the Diana Award. Bullying is more relevant now then every during COVID-19, as racial issues among Asians and Blacks has risen. To help create impact and be part of the change, the filmmaker will donate future proceeds from the distribution of Upstander to charity.

Van is currently in development a couple VR projects and would love to partner with anyone that shares his passion for immersive storytelling.

Key Image.

LockerEnd

This is the key picture.   Can we please edit it so it has a nice halo outline backlight and does not show the character and just suggest?

Can we combine these two pictures so it has a nice backlight from the edge of the character? We want it to be mysterious. 

Art imitating Life!

Art imitating life
During my last visit, I asked the Diana Award ambassadors to act out some possible bullying scenarios.   Learning about how their experience was invaluable as it helps us to empathize with the audience and grounds the experience.  The performance below by the Diana Award ambassador inspired a scene from the Hallway sequence.   Life influence art and art inspires life. 

Credits

PIVOT

Directed By

Van Phan

"Pivot" is a VR animated experience about bullying, and how we can make a difference. "Pivot," uses scale, time and POV to immerse the audience in the story that defies reality and pushes the boundaries of the medium.   How can we be part of the solution and not be part of the problem?  Pivot, in partnership with The Diana-Award and VR for Good, is aimed at reducing bullying in schools by raising awareness which may lead to action.

Filmmaker/Developer:  Van Phan
Non-profit:  The Diana-Award

FILM BEGIN

FILM END

Directed/Created by: Van Phan

Written by: Van Phan

Executive Producer: Amy Seidenwurm

Producer: Averie Timm

Impact Producer: Paula Cuneo

Impact Producer: Lauren Burmaster

Producer: Van Phan

Producer: Yelena Rachitsky

Producer: Alex Holmes

Associate Producer: Huan Huynh

Narration: Will Poulter

Music: Prashanth Srinivas

Sound Designer: Austin B. Conway

Director of Photography: Van Phan

Visual Designer: Duy Phan

Art Direction: Van Phan

Animation: Van Phan

Technical Director: Huan Huynh

Character TD: Ahmed Shehata, Van Phan

Pipeline Development: Van Phan

Graphic Artist:  Michael Armando

Post Production: Flight School

Powered by AMD

Production support: Radiant Images  

Game Engine:  Unreal Game Engine

Special Thanks:

Debbie Rosenbaum, Eliza Kern, Emil Rodriguez, Loren Austin Hammond, Brandon Oldenburg, Jessica Lau, Johny Ahdout, Courtney Dawn, Johnathan Ellicott, Brandon Boone, Taylor William, Julia Gibson, Jesse Ayala, Nancy Bennett, Ingrid Kopp, Jayisha Patel, Angel Manuel Soto, Ryan Horrigan, Li Goodiffe, Elsa Arnold, Mitchell Axon, Louisa Antoine, Ayrton Cable, Christian Allen, Tyler Hurd, Ebony Peay Ramirez, Leslie Pirritano, Michael Nguyen, Lan Phan

Dedicated to:  Mai Doan

<Flight School logo >

<Insta360 logo>

<AMD logo>

<Studio Logo>

Previs/Prototype

This is a 2D prototype/previs for the  VR for Good AntiBullying





NO ANIMATION has been completed yet.
Animation Tests HERE

Please Help Stop Bullying

https://back2school.antibullyingpro.com/

Sequence 1 Intro Storyboards WIP

ALARM CLOCK RINGS followed by the sound of children racing through the school hallway

SLOW FADE IN:
Credits

Overall the camera will be moving at a constant speed forward or back and stopping or starting. There will be no lateral, vertical or rotations.

Opening Credits

INT.  YORK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL HALLS - DAY

Entering the long hallway we see backpacks running around the hallways.  These backpacks represent children in the film doing what they typically do in school; running, playing and bullying.

We head down the long school hallway towards the gymnasium door.  From a distance, we see a small backpack (Tyler) using all his effort to push the gym door.   

He enters the gym holding a basketball. As Tyler is such a small kid the basketball looks more like a beach ball and weighs more like a bowling ball to him.

As the door slowly closes we see a basketball rolling pass us. 

INT. GYMNASIUM - DAY
As we enter the gym we see Tyler struggle with handling the basketball. His small and skinny frame barely is able to lift the

He tries to dribble only to have it run away from him. Tyler finally manages to position himself and at the free throw line.

He pauses and with all his might. Shoot. Airball.

The ball travels half of the distance and bounces off the wall.   

Tyler unperturbed scrambles to the basketball pick it up.  

He is closer to the hoop this time. He pauses. He looks at the ball and bounces it.  

Pause. He shoots. Airball.

MONTAGE

Tyler misses from the left
Tyler misses Right

Tyler misses a layup.

Tyler retrieve the basketball and sees something

David enters the scene.   

Tyler stops and sees David.    

David nods and Tyler excited runs towards David hands it to him the basketball.  

Tyler eagerly waits for David takes a step to the free throw line.

David glances at him and takes a shot at the free throw line.  All net.

Tyler scrambles to retrieve the ball and bounces the ball back to him.   David takes a step back to the center three-point line. He bounces the basketball and pauses.   

He shoots. All net.

Tyler jumps in excitement and retrieves the ball.  He passes to David again.

MONTAGE

David makes a three-pointer from the right,

David makes a three-pointer from the left

David runs to the hoop and makes a layup.

The ball circle around the rim before landing in.

David retrieves the ball and bounces to Tyler.  Tyler barely catches it as he hesitantly positions himself to take a shot closer to the hoop.  

Tyler misses badly hitting the hoop

David retrieves the ball

Eugene enters the scene

Eugene confidently gestures to David and without hesitation, David passes the ball to Eugene.

  Eugene takes a shot. All net.

Tyler retrieves the ball and passes it to David.  

David throws Eugene the ball again.

Eugene takes a shot from the three-point range.  All net.

David retrieves the ball and bounces it to Tyler.  

Tyler is about to take his shot when Eugene steals it from him and makes a layup.   

Tyler stands shocked and embarrassed.

David retrieves the ball again and hesitate.   

Does he pass it to Tyler?

Eugene gestures and David passes to him instead.  

Eugene takes another shot. Tyler is left standing empty-handed and humiliated.

We begin to move away from them towards the hallway as David and Eugene are playing a game of one on one, ignoring Tyler.

MONTAGE Timelapse

Eugene pass to David and push Tyler Back

David takes a shot.

David pass to Eugene.  Eugene takes a shot.

Tyler is standing inside the perimeter of the court.

Eugene pass to David.  David takes a shot

Howard joins in.

Eugene passes the ball to Howard.  Howard takes a shot.

Howard pass to Eugene.  Eugene takes a shot.

Tyler stands all alone on the outside of the perimeter.  

David passes to Howard.  Howard takes a shot.

Eugene passes to David.  David takes a shot.

The RECESS BELL RINGS

Eugene, Howard, and David walkouts of the Gymnasium.  

Eugene stops with the ball and takes a long three-point shot.  

As David looks back, he glace at Tyler sitting on the bench as the Eugene and Howard walk away.

Fade Out