Learning Contract - Feedback

I've received feedback for my learning contract submission.

The project aim and breakdown I want to achieve are within reason and the project seems to be relevant and complex enough to progress in. The project so far is a good start and I will definitely have a good amount of material to explore. Of course there are also a few things I missed out:
Further conceptual consideration should be addressed, for example, I will need to consider what kind of environment I want to make.
There is also an issue of my scope not being entirely defined, as in what I will be handing in at the end of the semester.

The feedback also states my project could benefit further from the "discussion between scientific data and creative license" and "whether there is a tension between realism and creativity being explored" or is it "utilising facts and data to inspire new (personal) creative approaches". I believe I have made a start in considering this, my blog posts so far definitely look into the science behind my creative approach but I would've benefited from further exploring this in my learning contract. I think I am on the right track here but can continue to look at the relationship between the realism and imagination.

From the feedback I've come up with a few points I will attempt to address:

• Scope - I'd like to aim for 2 rendered scenes. These 2 scenes will actually be from the same environment but with different weather situations.
• Video Report - My video report will include these renders as well as a walk through behind the scenes, and showing various other implementations and experimentations.
• Environment - I need to focus on what type of environment I'd like to create. In short, I'd like to create an alien planet that seems relatively calm but endures frequent dust/smog storms. I will create a blog post in the future to properly define what environment I will build.

Learning Contract

As part of the coursework submissions I have built a more detailed plan for what I'd like to create this semester.

I have chosen to focus on environmental dynamic effects, in particular atmospheric effects, clouds and dust. I'll be looking into the way fluids and particles can be used to create these effects and how they can be used to inform the viewer the narrative of the environment.

Research has already been posted to this blog but I'd like to also look into films as an example. I referenced Prometheus and Riddick as examples of alien planets that have a hostile feel to them.

I've set myself the following aims:

1. To explore and understand the use of dynamic fluids and particles in the creation of atmospheres, clouds and dust.
2. Explore how atmospheric and environmental VFX can be used to enhance the narrative in film or animation.
3. Create a series of renders that reflect the research and testing.

The tasks I've set myself for the project include creating iterations of simulations with maya fluids and particles, research into VFX environments in films, and finally putting what I've learned together into a final scene or scenes.

As a lot of this is new to me I've not entirely defined the scope as to what I'll be able to cover but I will definitely have a final rendered shot as well as progress and iterations playblasts.

The full learning contract document can be viewed on Dropbox.