Introduction

My project is to develop a short video named ‘Burrunjor Encounter’ use 3D animation and related technologies. This short video is based on the concept of ‘Spectre: Virtual Reality Horror’, which is a horror game, the assets and concepts of this project will be discussed later in this report.

Project Details

Title: Burrunjor Encounter

Platform: PC

Project summary:

A video walk-through played in 1st person POV of an adventurer who is walking in the night forest along a creek, when the adventurer walking toward an open spot, something is lurking in the shadow, its silhouette seems like to be a Specter come from 66 million years ago, what is it, could the adventurer leave the forest safely and what will happen to the adventurer …

Target Audience

This video is directed to audiences who love to watch and play horror or dinosaur movies/games in their free time. This video can be played by almost every player who is aged 16 or above.

Background

The concept of my project is inspired by the Jurassic Series, Prehistoric Planet, and a fan-made dinosaur documentary ‘Gondwa Legend’. As a dinosaur enthusiast, I come to the idea of using 3D technologies to revive dinosaurs on screen. I chose a scary theme due to there are already several successful examples similar to what I would like to create such as Jurassic World 2(2018) and Episode 5 of Gondwa Legend (2024). The idea of this project is to show a famous cryptid and encourage people to use the right way to care for the environment.

Source: Murusraptor barrosaensis 2016 Murusraptor barrosaensis: New Dinosaur Species Discovered in Argentina | Paleontology | Sci-News.com

Video Concept

For the background of this video, I would like to set it in a cold climate rainforest like the rainforest on Dandenong Mountain. As the image below:

Source: Mt Dandenong 2019

This forest is mainly formed by serval species of white eucalyptus and tree ferns which are commonly seen in the Dandenong Range. Except for those plants, there are rocks rolled down from high mountains scattered in the scene to identify this forest is undisturbed by any human activities. For better reconstruction of actual environments, there is a creek not to be shown but the audience could hear its voice as the water hit the rock.

Also, due to the encounter happening at night, I would make the light and shadow effects simulate a full moon night. The effect would be like as this screenshot from the Gondwa Legend series:

Source: Gondwa Legend 2024

For my visualization here is a table for all of stuff I need to make

Visual asset design

The model design for the environment is a night forest. The forest is formed by three key visual asset models trees, tree ferns, and rocks.

The visual asset of the tree is designed based on white eucalyptus it is a widely distributed tree in Australia the most significant point is its tall and straight breach which could bring a sense of immersion in the forest.(Bitter Gum)

Source Bitter Gum https://wtlandcare.org/details/eucalyptus-mannifera/

Within the gap of the tree ancient tree ferns brought a sense of age to the scenario. It is a commonly seen shadow-loving plant in mountains it could fill the gap between the trees and create the mysterious feeling of a forest at night. (Tree Fern)

Source: Australian Plant Society NSW 2019

The main visual asset is Terminalvenetor (Dinosaur), the design of the model would be based on the Australian folktale of Burrunjor, a cryptid similar to a theropod dinosaur, most drawings have described it looks similar to a tyrannosaurid species. However, based on paleology studies there are no tyrannosaurids distributed in Australia, instead in late cretaceous Patagonia, Australia, New Zealand, and Antarctica were ruled by another group of hunters belonging to Megaraptoridae. Based on the paleontological studies I have set it is a decedent of an Antarctica Megaraptoridae that survived the extinction and returned to Australia during the Cenozoic period by land bridge. (Megaraptor)

I will use Audacity to make my audio asset to create the sound of Terminalvenetor. The sound of kookaburra and magpies would be recorded and mixed in Audacity to make the sound scary like what Universal conducted during filming Jurassic Park 1.

Source: Universal 1993

For other audio tracks formed in this video, most audio tracks could be collected by recording those voices in the natural environment such as bird sound, wind sound, crack sound, possum noise, cricket sound, and water flow sound. In my project, the water flow sound would be used as background music as this story happens near a creek water flow sound could reflect forest ecological characteristics.

In addition, I will record stick crack sounds, and human step sounds. I will also use plastic bags filled with sand to make dinosaur step sounds which be used for showing the adventurer and dinosaur movement in the forest and use a plastic bucket to hit a bush to make the wombat tremble sound.

In the first part of the video, before the dinosaur comes out, there are the sounds of other animals with the water flow sound, when the dinosaur starts to come out the wombat trembles sound begins, after this audio track, the dinosaur comes out and starts to roar to the adventurer.

Technology

In this program, I will use Blender and AE to create the visual assets. The software of Audacity and Bijian will be used to edit the audio assets. I have never used 3D tools before, so I needed to learn a 3D animation guide at the beginning, other than the foundation of the tools, three important aspects should be considered in the design, the first is how to start from a POV view to show the changes in the perspective, I decided to use a light from the bottom to show the perspective from adventurer in this video. The second is how to justify the changes in dynamics before and after the appearance, which will link with the technology of rendering; the third important is to create the animation process for the actions of the dinosaur, I will refer to the technology of the 3D Animation.

Conclusion

My project concept is for a horror dinosaur video that could be watched by anyone who likes horror/dinosaur movies in free time, the main inspirations for the video are Jurassic Series, Prehistoric Planet and Gondwa Legend. As a beginner to 3D modeling and animation i will try my best to make a qualified product.

Reference

Enrico de Lazaro. (2016, July 22). Murusraptor barrosaensis: New Dinosaur Species Discovered in Argentina | Paleontology | Sci-News.com. Sci.News: Breaking Science News. https://www.sci.news/paleontology/murusraptor-barrosaensis-dinosaur-argentina-04046.html

Jane. (2020, May 25). Olinda or Mt Dandenong Village to SkyHigh, Mt Dandenong. Dandenong Ranges National Park Tourism Information. https://explorethedandenongs.com.au/olinda-mt-dandenong-village-skyhigh/

Brittle Gum | WT Landcare Flora Index. (n.d.). https://wtlandcare.org/details/eucalyptus-mannifera/

Ferns of the Southern Sydney Basin | Australian Plants Society. (2023, February 8). https://resources.austplants.com.au/stories/ferns-of-the-southern-sydney-basin/

YouTube. (2024). Youtu.be. https://youtu.be/8r01mk6F_Pk