The Making of “Viva La Vida MMD” by Zazi The Angel

The Making of- Viva La Vida MMD

First things first: finding a stage that encapsulated reality. After about a full day of searching,  I came across a stage based on a song called Cantarella and immediately I was drawn to it.  I downloaded it.

I decided that I needed to change the initial atmosphere on stage; it seemed too blah, not dark enough.  I experimented a bit and found that a combo of the effects Diffusion 7 and GodRay made it look perfect… but I wasn’t satisfied with not having a shader, and no shader worked well… So, I took to my

effects folder and managed to find an effect called Mechanic Shader that applied a nice coat of shading… though it was far too dark and off colored. To adjust it, I went into the .FX file and changed it to create the now infamous Realistic Stage Shader which is available on my Deviant Art page.

With the stage set, it was time for a model choice and, believe it or not,  I went through about six different MMD models ‘til  I found the one that I felt embodied the song: a Miku Knight. The fit was perfect!

Now with the model and stage set, it was time to animate.  I didn’t know where to begin, truly, so I sat the model on the throne and plopped myself back in my chair to think. “What should I do?” The answer became clear once I pulled the camera back: the model should start-out sitting as if she was too defeated to get up. … and so that was the pose for the first part; I had her sitting and singing… and that combined with the GodRay made for a shining example of staging a scene.

During the transition from sitting to standing I changed the model to a more regal appearance using a self shadow effect… but after I got there, I was stumped. “I can’t just have her there for the rest of the video”… that would be kind of boring, right?

I was stuck there for a few days, actually, even though the answer was obvious. Then, a close friend of mine (for this article let’s call him Stavinco) came into my room and told me I should make her walk down the stairs and hall… … and it hit me like a ton of bricks: Exactly right! How could I not have seen that solution, myself? It was so easy and so that’s what I did. I made her go down the hall and, on the note in-between verses, I made a change of scenery to showcase the tragedy that is her life.

Now, in a burning forest, Miku laments the more as I set her ablaze; her darker-self catching on fire… giving way to her knight-like appearance in a darkened arena… ready for combat… and she is defeated… which is where we leave the video.

All things considered, I’m not sure if my feelings and passions show through with my writing… but this piece is the most important piece I have ever made. It is comprised of my raw feelings and emotions towards my own life and my state of mind. It’s every scene is meant to reach out and grab you and bring you into the video; to make you feel her pain… MY pain, anyways.

I hope you enjoyed the video and this little behind-the-scenes write-up.

Have an awesome day and never stop moving forward!

Sincerely, Zazi

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