Unreal for VFX - October Challenge

This is the visual storyboard of the shot blockout for the piece.  

Let's give a big hand to our stars Manny and Quinn!

I replaced the greyboxes with the buildings that I wanted to use.  I chose some medieval town prefabs and a gothic cathedral packto create the temple.

I'm using the long, narrow buildings as background for the alleys to give the impression of many buildings and alleyways.

For the most part, I'm concerned only with what will be in the shots, and make adjustments as necessary.  To achieve this, I made a copy of the blockout sequence so that I can use the same camera shots.

Next are the characters.  For the story, I need a main character and the phantoms who inhabit the village.

I created each character in Daz Studio, and exported them as an .fbx file, which I imported into Blender.

In Blender, I simplified the meshes and materials, particuarly for the ghosts, which will have a single "ectoplasm" material applied to their entire mesh.

I then exported an .fbx file to bring into Mixamo, which will generate a skeleton and allow me apply various motion capture animations.

I couldn't get the Ghost Effect & Material to work, so I ended up making my own material to give a phantasmal look to the ghosts.  I'll revisit that product later, because it does look like it would be a cool effect if it works.

One of the key requirements for this challenge was to incorporate Volumetric Fog.

I used the Exponential Height Fog and gave it an eerie green colour.  I also added some localized fog volumes in the alleyways where the ghosts are hanging out.

By adjusting the noise values, I was able to get some nice pillars of fog that contribute to the eerie atmosphere.

I added some spot lights to the temple to illuminate the fog with beams of light.

Here is the first animated sequence for the piece.

I added some music that I generated through Udio.  Of course, if this were a profitable project, I would definitely hire a musician to compose the score, or purchase a music library.  Alas, the challenges of being an unfunded studio...

I felt that the streets didn't look lived in, so I wanted to add some items throughout the scene.  I chose elements that looked like they would fit in an abandoned ghost town.

Added some oil street lamps lit up the  buildings a bit.  I chose a purple color for the lights to contrast with the green miasma and contribute to the otherworldly ethereal feel.

When dressing the set, I find that it is important to keep the overall narrative in mind so that every choice supports the story.

The narrative is that this town once had a thriving market that sold produce and wines. It has been abandoned for a few years which means that the items will have fallen into disrepair.  Anything organic, e.g. fruits, vegetables, grains, and meats will have long since rotted away, and the town well will have become stagnant.

Here is the next render of the piece that includes the set dressing..