Halloween Challenge 2021 WIP – The baby

[spikeyxxx]

Slow progress; did some research and apparently no pillows or stuffed animals or anything soft, including padding, are allowed these days…the blanket took me most of the day and I am still not perfectly happy with it…the floor is supposed to be ‘marmoleum’ (vinyl), because it is not too hard an anti-bacterial and easy to clean and very durable…

[Angela]

a baby should also have no blanket. the baby could suffocate or overheat with the blanket. normaly in a crib there is a baby and maybe the pacifier, but nothing else. For warmth there are special sleeping bags for babies

https://www.zalando.ch/carters-sleepbag-2-pack-unisex-nachtwaesche-schlafsack-blueoff-white-cj253k02g-k11.html?size=50-62&allophones=0&wmc=SEM410_NB_GO._4127843883_699138159_39255531027.&opc=2211&mpp=google%7cv1%7c%7cpla-410987063740%7c%7c1003101%7c%7cg%7cc%7c%7c159711487438%7c%7cpla%7cCJ253K02G-K11000S000%7c410987063740%7c1%7c&gclid=CjwKCAjwkvWKBhB4EiwA-GHjFmC2esbC7d3s1QBfh9OGqlmr2YU9MxlFMHhCjfEe0YGeMjzQJeOI9BoC0jkQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

[spikeyxxx]

@amblender  according to this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Q5Mfsdu7Oc and several other articles (from Dutch and Belgian experts) you use a special kind of blanket and no sleeping bags; the blanket will prevent overheating and if the crib or cradle is made correctly the baby will not suffocate either,,,and yes further only the baby and if you want a pacifier..

But there will be other opinions about safe sleeping out there…

[Angela]

Here (Switzerland) the midwifes tell you no blankets, because the could get them over their heads (thats what i got told with my 3 kids, the youngest is 2). Seems different from country to country. My midwife told me to use those sleeping bags, although i did not use them alot as my kids hated that they could not move so easily in their sleep.

[Sébastien Lenaerts]

I got my kids with blankets that allowed to breathe through, common thing here in Belgium, anyway if the blanket is dangerous, it adds to the creepiness of the scene 🙂

[spikeyxxx]

Does this begin to look scary?

[Angela]

looks like a baby cam, nowadays you can have baby monitors with camera, to stalk your child.

Great idea

[spikeyxxx]

Maybe add some DOF and change the black ‘outline’:

[spikeyxxx]

Different camera angle and some props ‘blocked out’:

I don’t think I’ll need to add much more objects; don’t want to overcrowd the scene…maybe a fallen baby bottle with cap off to get some spilled milk for extra drama effect…the lighting will have to focus the attention on the pacifier, which will emphasize the missing of the baby (and allowing it to be screaming…)…

[spikeyxxx]

Or even:

[jammingammon]

oooooo nice! I like the effect you have going on with the camera lens in these shots. It definitely adds some creepiness. I prefer the first 3.. the last looks a tad too distorted to me.

[spikeyxxx]

The last one was a fun experiment, but I wasn’t too sure about it…the idea is that when you discover that your baby is gone, the room starts spinning around you…I kinda like the effect, but maybe you are right and it’s just too much 🙂

I definitely like the other ones with the fish-eye lens…by the way this is where you can find it in case someone doesn’t know:

Thanks for your input @jammingammon 

I will look at it again tomorrow with fresh eyes…

[spikeyxxx]

Spent about half an hour on modeling a bottle and then about 3 hours to break it…still didn’t get close to making the milk (after countless hours!)…but it’s a start (I know: I still have to work on my Shaders…):

Now I don’t really like explaining everything (a picture should be ‘appealing’ without ‘analysis’; I love Tarkovsky movies, for instance, without any understanding of all the symbolism and hidden meanings…), but:

spoiler: the milk here is symbolic for life energy and also (because it is white) of innocence…so, it being spilled, doesn’t look too good for our missing baby….

[spikeyxxx]

After more than 10 hours of trying to do the milk with a fluid simulation and not getting anywhere near a result I liked (not even getting closer during those hours…), I decided to try modeling something (with Curves) and after less than 20 minutes I got this:

It is easy enough to tweak the shape later on, but for now I am happy with the way it looks.

Changed the glass color back to pure white, because especially the shards look pretty bad before.

Still not sure how I am going to fit everything in one image though…

[spikeyxxx]

Did some camera and lighting tests:

or going crazy and showing the whole room:

or one that I myself find strangely disturbing:

[Author]

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