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![Guys Bein' Dudes [PRIZE]](http://t.furaffinity.net/30001585@150-1546831433.jpg "Guys Bein' Dudes [PRIZE]")
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I watched the new Watership Down miniseries a few days ago. I had fun watching it, but it's not exactly the adaptation I wanted. The miniseries format is perfect for a story like WSD, and realistic CGI would fit both the tone and depth of the story. That said, the animation in the miniseries isn't as awful as it looks in still images, but frankly I don't think either the changes to the story or the mediocre CGI justify its existence.
So here's some below-mediocre CGI lol
My take on Bigwig (for those who haven't read the book, "Thlayli" is his name in the rabbits' language), though I mostly just cobbled together his design as I went along instead of putting major thought into it. I didn't even intend to make a whole production out of it at first. I just had the miniseries on my mind and started sculpting a rabbit head, and then I decided with how stern it looked it must be Bigwig, and that he needed fur because of his iconic big wig, and etc. etc. etc.
I learned heaps from the process, but I still have a lot to learn if I'm ever going to render stuff like this again. I fell into everything and learned from the bits and pieces I picked up from various videos and Stack Overflow posts. There's a lot of stuff I could've done better: the texture painting for better colors, rendering and combing the fur, the direction of the lighting on the model VS the background, more time put into the background, aaaand I made the rookie mistake of having the eyes grouped with the rest of the model. Oops.
All in all a fun experience. And I got a new wallpaper out of it.
Made with Sculptris, Blender, and Photoshop
Behind the scenes stuff because I live for that shit -
Bigwig turnaround: sta.sh/01mdmfslr875
Process: sta.sh/04gwt089b35
Cropped head: http://www.furaffinity.net/full/29973031/
So here's some below-mediocre CGI lol
My take on Bigwig (for those who haven't read the book, "Thlayli" is his name in the rabbits' language), though I mostly just cobbled together his design as I went along instead of putting major thought into it. I didn't even intend to make a whole production out of it at first. I just had the miniseries on my mind and started sculpting a rabbit head, and then I decided with how stern it looked it must be Bigwig, and that he needed fur because of his iconic big wig, and etc. etc. etc.
I learned heaps from the process, but I still have a lot to learn if I'm ever going to render stuff like this again. I fell into everything and learned from the bits and pieces I picked up from various videos and Stack Overflow posts. There's a lot of stuff I could've done better: the texture painting for better colors, rendering and combing the fur, the direction of the lighting on the model VS the background, more time put into the background, aaaand I made the rookie mistake of having the eyes grouped with the rest of the model. Oops.
All in all a fun experience. And I got a new wallpaper out of it.
Made with Sculptris, Blender, and Photoshop
Behind the scenes stuff because I live for that shit -
Bigwig turnaround: sta.sh/01mdmfslr875
Process: sta.sh/04gwt089b35
Cropped head: http://www.furaffinity.net/full/29973031/
Category Artwork (Digital) / Fanart
Species Rabbit / Hare
Size 1280 x 784px
File Size 126 kB
That was another thing! He got like one joke and disappeared! He wasn't just a side character or anything <~< I dunno, it's not like I minded him being Scottish, but he was supposed to be an outsider compared to the rest of the characters. But that's more of a nitpick. Honestly, my biggest complaint about the series was the dialogue.
yeah they did kehaar dirty. it's especially hard to ignore how little he was around when he called bigwig his pal before leaving. like... you've been in maybe 5 30 seconds scenes tops. how are you friends with anyone?
the dialogue was so weird, probably because half of it had to be shoehorned in by people who are Just Plain Not Richard Adams so it'd fit the new facets of the narrative they threw in there, which means you get that great quote about humility and animality juxstaposed against "hoptomist"
the dialogue was so weird, probably because half of it had to be shoehorned in by people who are Just Plain Not Richard Adams so it'd fit the new facets of the narrative they threw in there, which means you get that great quote about humility and animality juxstaposed against "hoptomist"
thank you very much! i'm surprised at how decent the fur turned out to be
it's a very very very long book, like 400+ pages, but definitely worth the read if you ever wanna/can manage it. the miniseries is probably better to people who can't make the comparison, though
it's a very very very long book, like 400+ pages, but definitely worth the read if you ever wanna/can manage it. the miniseries is probably better to people who can't make the comparison, though
i'm glad to hear you liked it!
til you order it have this: http://www.mrkingrocks.com/files/watershipdown.pdf
;3c
til you order it have this: http://www.mrkingrocks.com/files/watershipdown.pdf
;3c
I have yet to read the book, though I want to, but I did want the cartoon adaption that was made in 1978(?), though I'd been wondering how the netflix version held up to the cartoon and book.
Really love this render you did though! If you had a fun experience making it, all the better, yes?
Really love this render you did though! If you had a fun experience making it, all the better, yes?
*Slow claps*
The rabbits needed to be more colorful, more distinctive and more emotive. The push for realism there muted their personalities. (I mean look at when 'wig has to decide whether to execute an innocent bun to keep his cover; he can't really show any emotion in that scene at all.)
The rabbits needed to be more colorful, more distinctive and more emotive. The push for realism there muted their personalities. (I mean look at when 'wig has to decide whether to execute an innocent bun to keep his cover; he can't really show any emotion in that scene at all.)
you can't see me but i'm bowing
imo they shoulda gone with a more exaggerated style akin to the film. the cgi isn't good enough to justify sticking so closely to realism and the characters don't benefit from the restraints of natural colors or expressions. they coulda benefited from some eyebrows, at least.
imo they shoulda gone with a more exaggerated style akin to the film. the cgi isn't good enough to justify sticking so closely to realism and the characters don't benefit from the restraints of natural colors or expressions. they coulda benefited from some eyebrows, at least.
They also look like hares. (They got paw pads and not eyebrows?) And their movement is so... stilted. Not as random and flamboyant as real rabbits. The TV show played around with colors to good effect. (And c'mon, in the book the caged rabbits were domestic, one was even a 'short haired angora', THOSE could at least have had white fur or something, make them very distinct. But no...)
It's just so.... watered down. They spent so much time aiming for realism and seriousness that they forgot some basic artistic sense
It's just so.... watered down. They spent so much time aiming for realism and seriousness that they forgot some basic artistic sense
methinks the modelers and animators weren't as well versed in rabbit anatomy and locomotion as they shoulda been. the main cast look and move the least like rabbits, and everybody is a little weird looking
that's a common complaint i've heard, and i tend to agree with it. i can't imagine watership down ever being super disney and cartoony (as much as i enjoyed the kids' series, the art design rubs me the wrong way), but the pursuit of realism was unneeded. the animation wasn't good enough to warrant it and the fact that they didn't make anything more ethereal or whimsical like the 1978 film or the OG novel bugs me. e.g. the black rabbit simply being a literal black rabbit was a missed opportunity
that's a common complaint i've heard, and i tend to agree with it. i can't imagine watership down ever being super disney and cartoony (as much as i enjoyed the kids' series, the art design rubs me the wrong way), but the pursuit of realism was unneeded. the animation wasn't good enough to warrant it and the fact that they didn't make anything more ethereal or whimsical like the 1978 film or the OG novel bugs me. e.g. the black rabbit simply being a literal black rabbit was a missed opportunity
I like the way the novel handled the mystical, and I've never quite seen anything else like it.
In the book the rabbit's world is full of colorful myth and story, that can also be seen as just that, story. (The one with Hufsa for example mentions cigarettes which means he either lived into the modern age or their myths are ancient only in terms of rabbit lifespans. There's even a line in the book that notes that you can't ever rely on the mystical, spoken by the Black Rabbit himself. There's not a day when some bunny or other gives their life for another, and none of them get special treatment.
The movie did well, anything mythical had a completely different animation style; the cave-painting like beginning, the harsh black and white of Fiver's visions, the dance of the black rabbit (WHY WAS IT CLOVER WHO FOUND HAZEL DARN IT?!). Because the real and mystic were treated as different realms the movie could embellish it, make it surreal. (My biggest complaint with the TV series is that, after complaints from fans about the lack of mysticism in seasons 1 and 2, they tried to make magic REAL for season 3. So much for the daring dog baiting end of the book and movie, just have a shadow rabbit whisk the bad guys away!)
This remake seems to have watered this down too. I can get the black rabbit, the whole 'lady death' thing, but it;s all so... well almost normal. The visions, the stories, the black rabbit.... those were times when you could have done great things, gone all out. So many fans have done realistic visions of the black rabbit as skeletal and black furred, could not one of those have sufficed?
This just... it could have been more, with just a little effort and some creativity it could have been so much more!
In the book the rabbit's world is full of colorful myth and story, that can also be seen as just that, story. (The one with Hufsa for example mentions cigarettes which means he either lived into the modern age or their myths are ancient only in terms of rabbit lifespans. There's even a line in the book that notes that you can't ever rely on the mystical, spoken by the Black Rabbit himself. There's not a day when some bunny or other gives their life for another, and none of them get special treatment.
The movie did well, anything mythical had a completely different animation style; the cave-painting like beginning, the harsh black and white of Fiver's visions, the dance of the black rabbit (WHY WAS IT CLOVER WHO FOUND HAZEL DARN IT?!). Because the real and mystic were treated as different realms the movie could embellish it, make it surreal. (My biggest complaint with the TV series is that, after complaints from fans about the lack of mysticism in seasons 1 and 2, they tried to make magic REAL for season 3. So much for the daring dog baiting end of the book and movie, just have a shadow rabbit whisk the bad guys away!)
This remake seems to have watered this down too. I can get the black rabbit, the whole 'lady death' thing, but it;s all so... well almost normal. The visions, the stories, the black rabbit.... those were times when you could have done great things, gone all out. So many fans have done realistic visions of the black rabbit as skeletal and black furred, could not one of those have sufficed?
This just... it could have been more, with just a little effort and some creativity it could have been so much more!
i read an article a short while back detailing why cgi was a problem with this reboot. i don't agree with the entire premise, but it made a good point: aside from the gruesomeness of the film, everyone remembers the weird nightmare sequences and fiver's visions. those things were handled in such a unique way because they were restricted only by how many sheets of paper people had to draw on and how well they could draw all these imagined horrors.
cg inherently lacks the flexibility of a hand animated work, and extra strides have to be taken to create things in new or more abstract styles. i liked fiver's visions (i LOVED the roof of bones), but it would've been cool to see some of the strangeness that the imagery of the book and the film they were obvs riffing on done without using the same semi-realistic models, without using bitch black background and iffy musical scores.
my biggest qualm with the magic in the miniseries is all reflected with the black rabbit's design. her being a female i can appreciate, but that alone doesn't make her unique or interesting in comparison to her past - and even fan - portrayals. i feel like they were limited in what they could do with her given how much of the budget they likely blew on the voice cast and how dull the rest of the art direction is. she's not ethereal, whimsical, magical, or haunting... she's just a black rabbit. she's literal, and watership down hardly deserves to be so painfully literal
the miniseries had a lot of missed opportunities, esp in the visual design department
cg inherently lacks the flexibility of a hand animated work, and extra strides have to be taken to create things in new or more abstract styles. i liked fiver's visions (i LOVED the roof of bones), but it would've been cool to see some of the strangeness that the imagery of the book and the film they were obvs riffing on done without using the same semi-realistic models, without using bitch black background and iffy musical scores.
my biggest qualm with the magic in the miniseries is all reflected with the black rabbit's design. her being a female i can appreciate, but that alone doesn't make her unique or interesting in comparison to her past - and even fan - portrayals. i feel like they were limited in what they could do with her given how much of the budget they likely blew on the voice cast and how dull the rest of the art direction is. she's not ethereal, whimsical, magical, or haunting... she's just a black rabbit. she's literal, and watership down hardly deserves to be so painfully literal
the miniseries had a lot of missed opportunities, esp in the visual design department
I just watched it last night and thought it was alright, not the best but still Okay.
Things I took issue with were: I felt the fight scenes were soft? I liked the "reality isn't pretty" aspect from the cartoon.
Voice acting got distracting at some points, and where's my Bright Eyes? That being, said I liked it.
I can't place much judgment on the story, I haven't read the book yet.. I'm going to go read the book.
But yeah really nice work, came out amazing. How long did it take you?
Things I took issue with were: I felt the fight scenes were soft? I liked the "reality isn't pretty" aspect from the cartoon.
Voice acting got distracting at some points, and where's my Bright Eyes? That being, said I liked it.
I can't place much judgment on the story, I haven't read the book yet.. I'm going to go read the book.
But yeah really nice work, came out amazing. How long did it take you?
all you dudes who haven't read the book are missing out, but it's never too late to repent!
the miniseries is an alright adaptation and a decent stand-alone story imo. i expected more from it, but it's not bad.
i can understand the softening of violence given this one's meant to appeal to a wider demographic then the film, which was definitely made for older fans. at least some of the visuals had me shook, like the roof of bones.
the voice acting was good, but when you get non-voice actors and shove them into a booth you tend to end up with occasional faulty results. the lack of a bright eyes cover was genuinely a major disappointment to me.
thank you! worked on it over the course of about 3 days. probably took something like 10 hours, maybe? rendering itself was pretty long
the miniseries is an alright adaptation and a decent stand-alone story imo. i expected more from it, but it's not bad.
i can understand the softening of violence given this one's meant to appeal to a wider demographic then the film, which was definitely made for older fans. at least some of the visuals had me shook, like the roof of bones.
the voice acting was good, but when you get non-voice actors and shove them into a booth you tend to end up with occasional faulty results. the lack of a bright eyes cover was genuinely a major disappointment to me.
thank you! worked on it over the course of about 3 days. probably took something like 10 hours, maybe? rendering itself was pretty long
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