Road done ... now for the pavement!

now that I have finished modelling the road and it has been approved, the next logical step was for me to create the pavement which I would be modelling from these initial sketches that I was given by Ben:

from these designs, I could see that the paving slabs were needing to be quite wonky and uneven and that the pavement would e quite tall in general.
after studying the sketches I had been given, I then went about modelling the pavement:

curved crossroads ... take two!

After showing the model for the road that I had already created to the rest of my group. it was eventually decided that it should be a crossroads, as opposed to a T junction as some of the shots had been slightly altered since I made the previous model, and now some of the other sections of the road would be seen.
Taking this into account, I then started a second model of the curved crossroads:

As well as altering the shape of the road I have also added some details such as making the curb more defined and adding a zebra crossing to make the road more realistic and to help to make the road look more curved.

every street starts with.....

one of the most important sections that I will need to model is the road and getting the shape size and general dimensions of it right.
one of the most important elements to modelling this is that the whole road is going to need to be curved as it a fish-eye lens look is required. this therefore gave me a bit of a challenge as I had to get the exact dimensions right for this effect to work well.

 the road also needed to be a T shape as this is all that is required of for the shot.
for my first attempt at this model, I think that it is a good first attempt and, with some improvement. it will eventually be a successful piece of modelling.

Modelling a Hotel...

one of my main aims when it came to me modelling the exterior street scene was that I wanted to make lots of varying architectural models that would each have individual defining features that would then contribute to making an interesting and eye catching scene.
with this in mind, I decided to model a hotel as I thought that not only would this be the type of building that you would be likely to find within a 50's American street, but that I would also be able to play around with some interesting modelling and play around with ideas such as using neon signs ect.

With this in mind, I then went about researching some imagery of American hotels from the period that would help me to make an interesting architectural model of my own. these were some of the best photos that I found:

 

 

the main themes that I noticed in a lot of the images that researched were that a lot of the hotels were tall, imposing buildings and nearly all of them included large, eye-catching neon signs with normally said either hotel or motel.

taking all of this into account, I then went about creating my first models for my own hotel:

 

overall, I think that the proportions of the building work well and fits to the wacky style of the film and in particular, I am really pleased with the neon sign as I think that it will work really well as a defining feature in the final completed scene.

 

after showing this model to the rest of my group we came to the conclusion that it needed more detail such as a door or maybe some slightly more detailed windows so I then went back and added some more detail to the model, taking the comments I was given into account:

 

 

I feel that this more detailed model is an improvement on my first attempt and that it now has a much more interesting look without being too overly detailed as this could raw away from the important action of the main scene.

Diner...

I had an idea for a much more prominent building that could go within the scene and stand out as a striking element to the rest of the scene. I thought that a diner would work well within the scene as I thought that it would be a striking and unique piece of architecture that would be iconic of both the time and of America... a diner!

this was the design that I came up with:

although I really like this design, it has been decided that this will not be used within the scene as it was felt that it would not fit well into the scene and may distract from the action of the particular shot that it would be in.
although this model is not going to be used, I feel that it was a good design and would work well if placed within the appropriate environment.

another building ...

one of the photos that I found that really inspired me and I thought would work really well within my own work was this photo:

From this, I then decided to model one of my buildings, using this photo as some inspiration:

I am very pleased with the overall look and design of this model but, after discussing the design of the model, we have decided to take out the little canopy off the side of the building as it was felt that it drew away from the main part of the design, and didn't quite fit to the style of the rest of the building with its very angular edges and sharp, clean lines. so I have now removed it:

first two building models

After the research that I did to help me get a feel for the architecture in America in the 1950's I then started to create some models of the buildings that will be required for the street scene.
to start, I looked at some initial design that I was given to help me to have a clearer understanding of what style and proportions would be required.

from this design, I then created this design as two separate buildings:

Although I think that these are successful models, I feel as though there needs to be slightly more detail to the buildings so I then continued to add some more detail such as windows:

I now feel that both of these models are much more effective and will work well within the finished scene.