http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGEaqgunXEc&feature=youtu.be

Rationale:

When deconstructing the film "Metropolis" directed by Fritz Lang, I took under consideration the time in which this film was made. Thus I chose to design an environment that was black and white - true to the style of the film. Aesthetically, a lot of the environments in Metropolis were built using simple geometry. The film felt quite 'open' too, the scenes had a lot of empty open space, due to the enormity of some of the props in comparison to the actors, such as the doors in Joh Frederson's big mansion. So when I came to designing my piece I took into account the area around my model, keeping a lot of negative space, to help keep to the original filmic style. 

I chose to extend the scene in which we see Rotwangs house, decrepid and forgotten after years of neglect, surrounded by the enormous buildings of the progressing world around him. I chose this scene because I was interested in the way in which his house captured an essence of Rotwangs personality. He is an old crazy scientist hidden away from the rest of the world. I liked the idea of being able to express him through his environment, thus adding more meaning to the film.

I designed Rotwangs garage. A place where he keeps all of his crazy inventions. Like his house, the garage too is old and worn down. It looks like Rotwang has tried to fix it by roughly patching up the place with large metal sheets, but his efforts aren't enough to cover up how badly deteriorate fit it is. Holes have been blown through the walls where some of his experiments have gone wrong. I also played with the idea of the old and the new. Although the garage is ancient, there are some new additions to it to show that someone still lives there. The contraption on top of Rotwangs garage roof for instance is a newly added piece. Around the garage I also added some high rise metal beams, as seen in the film, to also help ground the environment and show the urban area Rotwang lives in. My music score is an orchestral piece, that compliments the film. Metropolis' original film score was composed for large orchestra by Gottfried Huppertz. I took this into consideration and found a piece that kept to this filmic style.

Using fluid shapes to create a fog like effect. Rotwang gets all the pollution from the buildings around him. In the scene where we are first introduced to Rwotangs house, it is very dark, and it looks like they've used some kind of mist in the background to fade out whats behind his house. I want to create this fog like mist around my garage to hide the buildings around him so that the audience can focus on his buildings - and I won't have to model the buildings.

To "ground" the scene I added some of the tall metal - industrial pole structures as seen in the film.

I added a thick layer of fog at the top of the beams so that when you look up from underneath it looks like the beams fade into the foggy distance.

Unfortunately maya crashed and a lot of this work was lost.

My scene is looking quite industrial, which is fitting for the film "Metropolis" as it was set in a 'futureistic' age of industrialization. I would imagine that in this age - the environment would be heavily polluted. Rotwangs house sits in the middle of a massive city dwarfed by tall buildings and bridges. It says in the film that his house had been overlooked for centuries, so I gathered that his place would probably be a bit worse for wear. His garage is crumbling to pieces.

However, some of the additions to his garage are quite recent - like the large contraption extending from his roof. I wanted to juxtapose this idea of the old with the new. I used a blinn material to give the sphere on top a bit of shine.

I like how the texture came out on the sphere, The patchiness was accidental but I think it only adds to the scene. it isn't perfect - which I think in this case is a good thing. It looks like something Rotwang might have built.

I did a bit of research into what makes buildings look old. I have used images like these to inspire some of the detailing in my model.

I added some more detailing into my model. I decided to create some cracks int the walls themselves, instead of just using painted textures. This gives it some more depth and realism.

I created some old bricks. The aren't perfect rectangles, I adjusted the vertices to make each one unique and a little wonky.

Bricks coming through wall. - Like the wall is breaking away revealing the bricks underneath.

I created this in a new scene. I need to add more detailing to the right hand side of the garage, so I decided to add an old window. Its barred because Rotwang is paranoid about people stealing his inventions.

The edges of the winnow sill are cracked and a few bricks around the edge are expose. To the left of the wind I created a hole where one of Rotwangs experiments went wrong.

I added the wall to the side of the garage. I also added the metal sheets that Rotwangs has used to roughly patch up his garage. 

Further patchwork added to the front of the garage. i also replaced the cylinder supporting beam with this metal looking one. Similar to the one below.

I designed it so that the cracked texturing extends out from under the patchwork, Making it look like Rotwang is trying to cover up how badly his garage is deteriorating

I added a crack along the front of the garage, giving it a deteriorating feel, and emphasizing the need for the supporting beams in front.

I don't like how the garage texture is different from the tower texture.

I readjusted the tower texture, and now in the process of making the walls look more believable by adding details like water stains and crumbling bricks.  At the moment the texture is too repetitive.

This is a good example of a modeled environment. Similar to mine it required a lot of smaller detailing to make it more realistic. The staining, rust and broken bricks effectively bring the scene to life.

Added detailing to the roof.

Fan that attaches to the tower. Im creating all of the elements on separate scenes, then importing onto the main Garage scene.

I tweaked the geometry using vertices to create a quirky, wonky effect.

Started to follow my picture, but I decided that the pipe around the tower was a bit awkward so I adjusted it and turned it anti clockwise. I also made the fan attach directly to the tower.

I needed to figure out a way of joining the tower onto the rest of the garage. I decided to make it look like the tower was coming through a part of the garage roof, like it was awkwardly mashed against it. I figured that Rotwang isn't much of an architect, and this was his way of adding an extension.

Garage texture for the main walls.

Further Development of Design

I made the extension more obvious, making it look more like a tower. It is taller than the house and piping extends out the top, - this is Rowang's way of drawing power from Metropolis.

I also added more detailing, The odd experiment on top of the roof will be larger, giving it more of a crazy feel. I added a fan like contraption  to the tower, because this is where he stores some of his more important, and also dangerous experiments which need to be kept at the right conditions.

More patches have been added on the walls, giving it more of a run down feel.

Garage

I wanted to create a Frankenstein like garage. It is old and rickety.
He uses it to store his odd experiments. Holes have been blown in to the roof which he has patched up with whatever he could find. It started to collapse so he braced it with a metal pole.

He extended the garage because he was running out of room.

I kept it looking similar to Rotwangs house, but added a lot more personality to it. His garage is his hobby, an invention in itself, which he has added to. Odd experiments protrude from it - perhaps to absorb energy or send radio frequencies.