Unwrapping Moldova’s Awesome Cash Rebate Program

Moldova is stirring up the film and audiovisual scene big time with its Cash Rebate Program. It’s not just another policy change; it’s a whole new world of opportunities for filmmakers and creatives, and guess what? Zenzy lab is all in!

Zenzy lab’s Perfect Match with the Rebate Program

At Zenzy lab, we’re all about blending storytelling magic with practical know-how in animation, screenwriting, and project management. This Moldovan initiative? It’s like finding the missing piece of our creative puzzle!

Here’s the Scoop on the Program

1. Investment Thresholds? Check!: Whether it’s a €5,000 short doc or a €200,000 animated feature, the program has set some pretty clear markers.
2. What’s in the Pot?: Think of it like a 25% cash-back offer on your production expenses in Moldova. And there’s a cherry on top—an extra 5% if you’re showcasing the beauty and culture of Moldova.
3. The Cap Game: The max support for each project varies yearly, keeping things fresh and tailored.
4. Spending Wisely: It’s all about where you put your money. Eligible expenses cover a wide range, from production costs to crew payments, but there are no-nos like marketing costs and VAT.

Zenzy lab’s Take on This

We’re not just watching from the sidelines; we’re diving headfirst into this. With our creative expertise and the program’s perks, we’re ready to churn out some spectacular, budget-friendly productions.

Wrapping It Up: Zenzy lab’s Invitation to Collaborate

We’re super excited about what the Moldovan Cash Rebate Program brings to the table, and we want you to be part of this journey. So, whether you’re looking to create the next big animation hit or an awe-inspiring screenplay, let’s team up and make the most of this incredible opportunity!

Useful links.

1. https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/428883/
2. https://filminmoldova.md/en/cash-rebate-2/
3. https://cnc.md/cash-rebate-transparenta/
4. https://www.legis.md/cautare/getResults?doc_id=131915&lang=ro
5. https://zenzylab.com/

Reach out to us today, and let’s start making creative magic together!

Moldova’s Cash Rebate: A Creative Game-Changer for Zenzy lab! was originally published in Zenzy lab on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

In August 2023, me and my co-founding partner at Zenzy enrolled in a year-long course for screenwriting that is carried out by the Moldovan National Cinematography center. Now we are in month 4 of 9, and in the latest session we leaned about Joseph Campbell’s “Monomith”. The course mentors are excellent and the course itself is going swell.

In the meantime, we were asked by a local comedy team to write a scenario for a short 10–15 minute film. In this article I will briefly go into the assignment and how we handled it.

The client: Zebra Show a local comedy project that does short funny video sketches for the purposes of entertainment and advertising. The project was founded about 6–7 years ago by Pavel Sîrbu, Dumitru Roman and their friends. They participated in the Romanian talent show called “iUmor” and they are popular on social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube and TikTok.

The brief: They were asked to do a short comedy film that promotes the services of bus company “Miloș Tur”. The short film could be about anything related to travel as long as it has the product placement (2–3 insertions). The video needed to be in the style of ZebraShow and it needed to be funny. The client (Zebra Show) asked us to provide 2–3 ideas that would match this request.

How did we handled the assignment?

Step 1. We did a brainstorm and came up with 3 different concepts.

Idea 1: Two Moldovan brothers, unemployed in Italy, get the chance of a substantial inheritance from their grandmother, provided they bury her in Moldova. Trying to avoid costs, they hide the body in a trunk and set off for Moldova. But in a motel in Hungary, their car is stolen, leaving them with no inheritance and a secret to keep. When they return to Italy, they see their car stopped by the police and the thieves arrested, forcing them to decide whether to recover the body or run. Note: Milos Tur is present in the film with the coach that takes them on their way to Italy, left without a car.

Idea 2: After a superstitious Moldovan man interprets a series of ominous signs — from videos of plane crashes to a black cat and a broken mirror — as warnings not to fly to his daughter’s wedding in Paris, he and his wife decide to drink brandy for courage. But, while they were getting drunk, the plane takes off without them. Heaving a sigh of relief, the couple choose to travel on a friendly bus, discovering that sometimes delays can be blessings wrapped in comedy.

Idea 3: After years spent in Italy, a Moldovan with Italian slang and luxury clothes loses his wallet with documents at customs between Moldova and Romania. Trying to cross the border with only a bus ticket as identification, he is rejected by both countries. Desperate, he takes refuge on the bridge over the Prut, where he shares breadsticks with a stray dog. In gratitude, the dog brings back her lost purse, allowing her to finally cross the border.

Then we transformed each of the 3 into short loglines:

• Two Moldovan brothers in Italy embark on a chaotic journey to bury their grandmother in Moldova for an inheritance, only to face dilemmas when their car and the hidden body are stolen in Hungary.
• A Moldovan man’s fear of flying, fueled by superstitions, leads him and his wife on an unexpectedly humorous bus ride to their daughter’s wedding in Paris, after missing their flight.
• A stylish Moldovan man, after losing his wallet at the Moldova-Romania border, finds unexpected help from a stray dog, leading to heartwarming and humorous cross-border adventures.

We delivered this to the client.

Step 2. The client chose idea 1 and asked for an outline for the script.

We developed a logline, a 1 page synopsis and a scene-by-scene outline with 10 scenes.

And we delivered this to the client.

Step 3. The client provided feedback and we started working on the script.

The first script draft was 16 pages long and it was written in 1–2 days. This was delivered to the client.

Step 4: The client provided feedback and together we decided to take a step back. The problem was that the script was a bit too ‘dark comedy’ and even if they got a green light from their partners, the team decided to go into a different direction. They came up with a similar concept that is more ‘romantic comedy’. This required that we go back to logline and we started from scratch. We planned our first brainstorm with the client and we got back to work.

We delivered a new 13 page script draft.

Step 5: We got feedback. The direction was good. They asked for a slightly different script. Based on their feedback we developed the draft further. We reached a (sort of) final draft that was 11 pages long and we delivered it.

At this moment, the client accepted our work. We got paid for our contribution. A small fee, but nonetheless it was the first time that we got paid for a screenwriting assignment, which in itself is cause for celebration. The client also stated that they liked working with us and that they will get back to us in 1–2 months for a follow-up assignment.

Step 6: The client made some further adjustments to the script and developed the video. Here is the link to the final published work:

The video got very good audience reactions and its metrics were good too…

For us, at Zenzy lab, this was our second screenwriting assignment in 2023. The first one was to develop a full feature movie script for a comedy coming of age Romanian film. We are constantly developing short scripts for our animated film products. Even so, we are learning and getting better at feature film. At the end of our Litfilm course, we will have to develop 2 whole movie scripts based on 2 books. Stay tuned for more updates on this.

For more updates, follow us on Medium, Facebook or Linkedin.

Feel free to visit our website.

Zenzy lab: Comedy screenwriting was originally published in Zenzy lab on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Our team was asked to develop a short animated promo video for a comic book called “Confluent Chronicles” for bully! entertainment.

The assignment was the following:

• To develop a short 30 second promo teaser, using the materials in editable .psd files (and even a few coloured files), based on an existing example. We were also provided with a specific scene order and a specific number of scenes (15). The client also asked specifically for parallax effect during animation.

Ordinarily, when developing a standard animation video, the team needs to develop key visuals, the mood-board and the storyboard. Since we were working with a comic book source file, these steps could be fast-tracked. In itself, this assignment was an opportunity to work in a way that we never worked before. Here is an overview of how we handled the challenge.

Step 1. We decided to do a an animatic so that the client sees (1) the content of each shot, (2) the order of the shots, (3) the duration of each shot, and (4) the background music/score.

• We provided a slightly different shot-by-shot order, so as to increase the dynamic effect of the video and to improve story-telling. Our approach was to develop an arrangement so that any person can easily understand the setting, protagonist, antagonist and conflict. This is a structure commonly used in script-writing and movie-making.
• We used AudioJungle to identify a few soundtracks that would fit the theme and mood of the teaser. We were instructed to find something that was techno/electronic/upbeat similar to the Tron Movie score. We included the sample into the animatic with a sound stamp.
• We decided to try and develop a voice over, even if it was not specifically requested by the client. We looked at a few different examples of similar video teasers and two of the ones that we paid special attention to were the teaser for My Hero Academia (s4) and the trailer for the latest Spider Man: Across the Spider-verse movie. Based on these two examples, we asked Chat-GPT to provide a short V.O. script for a 30 second promo. We then used that structure in order to develop a very short script for our animatic. We placed the script on an AI voice generation platform and we generated a very simple draft V.O. for the animatic. This took no more than 1 hour.

Feedback loop 1.

• The client requested that we stick to the original shot-by-shot arrangement. Our proposal for story-telling improvement was not accepted. We remade the animatic according to the creative director’s choice of arrangement.
• The client requested a different score, and we chose a slightly different one based on their brief feedback.
• The client requested that we remove the V.O.

Step 2. We delivered an adjusted version of the animatic to the client and started to work towards recruiting the right team for the animation part of the process.

• We provided the adjusted animatic with a request to get feedback once more on (1) the content of each shot, (2) the order of the shots, (3) the duration of each shot, and (4) the background music/score. We submitted this for final approval so that we may move to the next step of production -the animation- which by our estimation should have lasted 4–5 days if we were to work on animating 2–3 frames per day.
• We organised a small test within our team of animators, for animating just one shot using parallax and layering. Out of the fifteen people in our animation team, only 8 were selected to participate in this test and the scope of the test was to animated a single shot (the same one), as best one can, during 1 hour. We rated each of their final output at the end of the day and at that stage we had a better understanding of their compatibility with the assignment. Two of them were very good at creating animation and another two were very good at layering. In the end we worked with four different people that were assigned micro-roles. Ideally we would have included one more person on photoshopping and one more on (re)colouring. At this stage already, we started to plan a second test for getting at least two more people to help us with frame-by-frame animation.

Feedback loop 2.

• The client requested a new shot order. Ideally we would have had more time to work on better transitions and this could only be achieved if we had an early green light on the final order. Either way, we found a way to compensate for this.
• The client rejected the second soundtrack provided and gave us a specific soundtrack that we should use.
• We took note of all the feedback and made a promise to deliver the first draft of the animated video in two days. Once we got a green(ish) light on the animatic, we could finally give the assignment to the animators in our team.

At this stage, we had two supervisors working on the assignment (Mihai & Serge), one project manager (Maria), one junior director (Lidi-Ana) and four (4) animators. In total, a team of 8 people worked on the assignment and we had two (2) more frame-by-frame artists on the bench waiting for the call to get to work.

Step 3. We proceeded to animation of the each shot.

• Our junior director developed a plan for animation for each individual shot which means that she decided what should be in motion in each of the frames (i.e., hair moves, arms move, etc.). Serge supervised her work and after a few back-forths, we had our first animation script.
• Our project manager broke down the script into tasks, and assigned each of them to a specific member of our production team (x does layering, y does animation parallax effects, z does integration and final collage, w does transitions, etc.)
• The project manager, together with the two supervisors, checked the quality of each individual output. We had a system for real-time tracking of our production team. Every eyebrow move, was in our sight, so to say. We planned to apply at least four different types of animation: (1) cutout, (2) parallax, (3) infinite fly, and (4) frame-by-frame. In the end we used only two of them, due to lack of time. We focused on the needs and requests/feedback of the client. We could not afford to take any additional creative risks so as to not move outside the scope of the technical brief.
• After one and a half day, we had our first draft montage with basic transitions and music.

Feedback loop 3.

• We got feedback on certain animation elements, frames, character movements and we took note of them all. Our project manager had an excel sheet with ALL feedback provided by the client (and all of their representatives) from day 1. Within our team we decided the hierarchy of the client’s representatives so as to resolve conflicts in feedback. The basic rule was that more recent feedback takes priority over older feedback and that feedback from a more senior person takes priority over feedback from a person with less seniority.

Step 4. We adjusted the animated teaser draft based on the feedback

• We submitted a second draft of the animated teaser to the client by the deadline.

Feedback loop 4.

• We got feedback from the client and we were told that there was a deadline extension. We were asked to do a draft 3 of the animated teaser and deliver it in one working day.
• Since there were no objection on the animation, and no specific requests for more complex animation, our two animators that were prepared to do frame-by-frame animation were not called in to contribute to the project.

Step 5. We adjusted the animated teaser draft based on the feedback

• We submitted a third draft of the animated teaser to the client by the new deadline. Find here the final output:

Note: After our final submission, the client’s creative director added some creative tweaks to the product. Most of these were focused on 1–2 transitions.

Final note. We are proud of this final output and it will gladly find its way on our great projects shelf!

Zenzy lab: Animated Comic book case was originally published in Zenzy lab on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

So you sit there wondering, “Screenwriter, seriously?” It sounds like an exotic job, similar to that of your uncle, who collects stamps. Furthermore, it is unusual to see a contemporary Romanian film in which the scriptwriter is not also the director. But be cautious: even in the United States, screenwriters felt compelled to protest. Is it an omen?

My co-author, Mihai Avram, and I are from Moldova, but we dream of cinema screens, not fairy tales with texts hidden in a drawer. That is, we do not want to write for the sake of art. We need to write to pay our bills. And maybe, just maybe, we’ll buy ourselves a luxury car. But is it possible to make a living off of this in the Romanian-speaking world? Is it a beautiful but futile dream?

A cocktail of events for you. The recent US screenwriters’ strike. The Romanian Film Days in Chisinau, where I saw both “R.M.N.” and “Men of Deeds”, a film that won every award available at Gopo 2023. To add to the excitement, the results of the Romanian Film Center financing competition have just been announced. What do they all have in common?

Paul Negoescu’s film in Chisinau demonstrated that it is possible. It is possible to write a good script without also directing it. It’s like realizing you don’t have to be the chef, the waiter, and the gastronomic critic all at the same time.

All of this made me wonder if there was a place for Mihai and me in this strange puzzle known as the film industry.

I scoured the Romanian Film Center’s data, combining traditional methods with cutting-edge technology, to answer some questions that plague all of us who aspire to work in film. I’m also not a sociologist or a statistician. But I have eyes and a brain, and I understand how to use ChatGPT.

I sat at the tables at the Romanian Film Center with my eyes closed, doing fifth-grade math with a dash of glitter. Let’s take a look at what we have:

The overall average of “author” projects (where the director is also the screenwriter) is around 55%. The average for projects with “(co)screenwriter” is 45%.

In terms of winning projects, 62% are “by author,” with 38% having a “(co)screenwriter.”

In the “minimum” chapter, only 11% of winners have a “(co)screenwriter,” and only 43% of total projects are “by author” in “Documentary” and “Long Fiction Debut.”

If you like round numbers, know that the percentage average for each contest category is 62% for “by author” and 38% for “(co)screenwriter” in the winning projects.

Do you want some hot figures? In the “Documentary” category, 89% of the winning projects are “by author”. However, 57% of “Animation” films have a “(co)screenwriter.”

According to the data, you don’t have to be a director to succeed in this industry. However, if the numbers are this high, why aren’t there more films written by screenwriters? Is it time for producers and directors to open their eyes and give screenwriters more opportunities? We discuss diversity in film, right? So, why not start with diversity behind the camera rather than just in front of it? Is there a sufficient number of stories and voices waiting to be heard? When will it be their turn? Questions!:)

Yes, the industry is changing, but does everyone have a place? Is there room for screenwriters who do not want to work in front of the camera? It has yet to be seen. But one thing is certain: if we don’t try, we won’t know. Take a look at us, the screenwriters, dear producers, directors, and anyone else with power in this industry. Perhaps you’ll find the hidden treasure you’re looking for here.

I haven’t been to Bucharest or Cluj-Napoca since the pandemic began. As a result, I don’t have a good sense of the pulse of the community. However, in Chisinau, where we are taking part in a screenwriting workshop called LitFilm, we are a small group of people with ten feature film development projects. That is, yes, I am writing these lines for a somewhat selfish reason, but not only that—we have incredibly talented colleagues who all deserve to work in the film industry.

There is a thirst for good scripts everywhere, but I know people who, if properly guided, know how to quench it easily and with pleasure!

Screenwriter, seriously? was originally published in Zenzy lab on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Since discovering ChatGPT, it recently dawned on me that one could create simple animations in After Effects with almost no manual animation, at least not placing a single keyframe. Likely, this is because I started working with the Adobe suite back in 1999, and it never crossed my mind that I could do anything in After Effects, not manually.

Yes, I knew expressions exist, and one can write additional scripts for the program. With the emergence of Google (yes, I remember its emergence), I often reached out to creativecow.net forums, where smart folks who understood mathematics would leave written expressions, leaving me to merely copy-paste and rejoice at the results. However, I was always so far from programming and so much of a user that I didn’t immediately connect that ChatGPT could help, or rather, in my case, write the code for me.

By the way, I remember a time when nobody in my circle knew about the expression wiggle(), and I thought highly of myself when I showed my colleagues how it could enliven motion design. Funnily or sadly, some of those whose eyes I opened are now much better or better known in animation than me, and some have even passed away. End of lyrical digression.

So, I set myself a task:

a) Write a script that creates a composition of certain dimensions with two layers; one layer should depict a planet, the other an orbit around which the planet will fly. Of course, creating a composition and drawing two primitives is easy, but the point is to have code. Moreover, I thought if I needed to conduct a workshop based on this example, the script would be a perfect opportunity to distribute the code file to any user, and everyone would open the same picture. Yes, you might say that I could have just saved the After Effects project file, but as I said, it was about having the code.

b) Write two expressions that would animate the Planet layer to create the effect of its flight along the orbit. That is, get the animation render without creating a single keyframe in the composition. And I succeeded.

What you will see below is the first step towards programs that will do part of the work for you while taking requests in human language. What do I mean by this? Well, instead of making technical requests like “create a Shape layer with dimensions 50x50 and place it at coordinates 234x549”, you simply write (or soon speak) “draw me a planet that will be on an orbit”. And that’s it.

The rest is simple. I will show the prompt, the result, and comments on how well or poorly ChatGPT coped.

Prompt: “I want you to write me a script for creating a 1080x1080 composition in After Effects and two Shape layers: one should be a right-tilted oval with no fill and a white stroke that would resemble a planet’s elliptical orbit, and the other layer — a small circle with no stroke and white fill, positioned somewhere on the orbit line, as if it’s a planet.”

Voila!

var comp = app.project.items.addComp('Planet', 1080, 1080, 1, 5, 24);

var ellipse = comp.layers.addShape();
ellipse.name = "Orbit";
var ellipseContent = ellipse.property("Contents").addProperty("ADBE Vector Shape - Ellipse");
var ellipsePath = ellipseContent.property("Size");
ellipsePath.setValue([900, 500]);
var ellipseStroke = ellipse.property("Contents").addProperty("ADBE Vector Graphic - Stroke");
ellipseStroke.property("Color").setValue([1, 1, 1]);
ellipseStroke.property("Stroke Width").setValue(5);
var ellipseRotation = -15;
ellipse.rotation.setValue(ellipseRotation);

var circle = comp.layers.addShape();
circle.name = "Planet";
var circleContent = circle.property("Contents").addProperty("ADBE Vector Shape - Ellipse");
var circlePath = circleContent.property("Size");
circlePath.setValue([50, 50]);
var circleFill = circle.property("Contents").addProperty("ADBE Vector Graphic - Fill");
circleFill.property("Color").setValue([1, 1, 1]);

var angle = Math.PI/4;
var ellipseRadiusX = 450;
var ellipseRadiusY = 250;
var x = 540 + ellipseRadiusX * Math.cos(angle);
var y = 540 - ellipseRadiusY * Math.sin(angle);

var rotatedX = 540 + (x - 540) * Math.cos(ellipseRotation * Math.PI / 180) - (y - 540) * Math.sin(ellipseRotation * Math.PI / 180);
var rotatedY = 540 + (x - 540) * Math.sin(ellipseRotation * Math.PI / 180) + (y - 540) * Math.cos(ellipseRotation * Math.PI / 180);
circle.position.setValue([rotatedX, rotatedY]);

I must admit that ChatGPT didn’t write the necessary script right away, and I had to point out the errors many times for it to rewrite, but in 10 minutes, we got excellent code. If you save it as a .jsx file and run it in After Effects via File -> Scripts -> Run Script File…, you will see a picturesque scene.

Second Prompt: “Now I need an expression for altering the Planet’s position in such a way that it moves in a 5-second cycle along the Orbit’s trajectory.”

Here you go!

var ellipseRotation = -15 * Math.PI / 180;
var ellipseRadiusX = 450;
var ellipseRadiusY = 250;
var cycleDuration = 5;

var angle = (time % cycleDuration) / cycleDuration * 2 * Math.PI;
var x = ellipseRadiusX * Math.cos(angle);
var y = ellipseRadiusY * Math.sin(angle);

var rotatedX = 540 + x * Math.cos(ellipseRotation) - y * Math.sin(ellipseRotation);
var rotatedY = 540 + x * Math.sin(ellipseRotation) + y * Math.cos(ellipseRotation);

[rotatedX, rotatedY];

Copy this code, click on the keyframe icon in the Position property while holding the Alt or Option key, paste the code, hit the space bar to play, and oh gods! It’s flying! :) And with a perfect cycle, thanks to which you can loop.

The second step in animation with expressions, completely written by ChatGPT, was my attempt to change the speed, or rather, the acceleration of the planet at different segments of the orbit, but all my attempts, and there were many, failed. Every time, some gibberish came out, and I abandoned this idea. If anyone of you succeeds, let me know; I will rejoice.

Third Prompt: “Write an expression for Scale that enlarges the planet at the lowest point and shrinks it at the highest point, based on the planet’s trajectory generated by the expression above.”

Easy!

var minY = 290;
var maxY = 790;

var currentY = position[1];

var normalizedY = (currentY - minY) / (maxY - minY);

var minScale = 50;
var maxScale = 200;
var currentScale = linear(normalizedY, 0, 1, minScale, maxScale);

[currentScale, currentScale]

Insert this code into the Scale property expressions, then Play, and now you can really zone out for a long time. Again, we didn’t create a single keyframe, yet the animation looks simple but awesome!

Those of you who have just used these three scripts will see the result before your eyes. For those who were too lazy to open After Effects, you can see the result on the homepage of our studio at zenzylab.com

The flying planet on the site is an animation that you can easily recreate by copying and pasting just three scripts. And the main thing is that you can create something similar by asking for help from ChatGPT.

Thank you!

Animating in Adobe After Effects using ChatGPT was originally published in Zenzy lab on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Așadar stai și te gândești: “Scenarist, serios?”. Sună ca un job exotic, ca acel unchi care colecționează timbre. În plus, e rar să vezi un film românesc contemporan în care autorul de scenariu să nu fie și regizorul peliculei. Dar atenție: și în Statele Unite scenariștii au simțit nevoia să iasă în stradă. E un semn?

Mihai Avram, coautorul meu, și eu suntem din Moldova, dar visăm la ecrane de cinema, nu la povești cu zâne cu textele ascunse în sertar. Adică nu vrem să scriem doar de amorul artei. Vrem să scriem pentru a ne plăti facturile. Și poate, doar poate, pentru a ne cumpăra și un bolid de lux. Dar se poate trăi din asta în spatiul vorbitor de limba română? Sau e doar un vis frumos, dar inutil?

Un cocktail de evenimente pentru voi. Greva scenaristilor din SUA, care tocmai s-a terminat. Zilele Filmului Românesc de la Chișinău, unde am văzut atât “R.M.N.” cât și “Oameni de treabă”, un film care a luat tot ce se putea lua în termeni de premii la Gopo 2023. Și ca să condimentăm, tocmai s-au anunțat rezultatele concursului de finanțare a CNC. Ce legătură au toate astea?

La Chișinău, filmul lui Paul Negoescu mi-a arătat că se poate. Se poate să scrii un scenariu bun și să nu fii și regizorul lui. E ca și cum ai descoperi că nu trebuie să fii și bucătar, și ospătar, și critic gastronomic în același timp.

Toate acestea m-au făcut să mă gândesc: Hei, poate e loc și pentru mine și Mihai în acest puzzle ciudat numit industria filmului?

Am răscolit datele CNC, am combinat metode tradiționale cu tehnologie de vârf pentru a răspunde la niște întrebări care ne macină pe toți cei care visăm la o carieră în film. Și nu, nu sunt sociolog, nici statistician. Dar am ochi, am creier și știu să folosesc ChatGPT.

Am stat cu ochii în tabelele CNC și am făcut matematică de clasa a 5-a, dar cu un pic de sclipici. Să ne uităm la ce avem:

Media generală a proiectelor “de autor” (unde regizorul este și scenarist) este de aproximativ 55%. Pe de altă parte, media pentru proiectele cu “(co)scenarist” este de 45%.

Când vine vorba de proiectele câștigătoare, 62% sunt “de autor”, iar 38% au un “(co)scenarist”.

La capitolul “minime”, la “Documentar” doar 11% dintre câștigătoare au un “(co)scenarist”, iar la “Ficțiune Tematic” și “Ficțiune Lung Metraj Debut”, doar 43% din totalul proiectelor sunt “de autor”.

Și dacă ești fan al cifrelor rotunde, să știi că media procentuală pe fiecare categorie a concursului este de 62% pentru “de autor” și 38% pentru “(co)scenarist” în proiectele câștigătoare.

Vrei cifre picante? La categoria “Documentar”, 89% dintre proiectele câștigătoare sunt “de autor”. La “Animație”, însă, 57% au un “(co)scenarist”.

Datele arată că nu (neapărat) trebuie să fii și regizor pentru a reuși în industria asta. Totuși… Dacă cifrele sunt așa, de ce nu avem mai multe filme scrise de scenariști? E timpul ca producătorii și regizorii să își deschidă ochii și să dea o șansă mai mare scenariștilor? Vorbim despre diversitate în film, nu? Atunci să începem cu diversitatea în spatele camerei, nu doar în fața ei? Sunt suficiente povești și voci care așteaptă să fie auzite? Oare când va veni și vremea lor? Întrebări! :)

Da, industria e în schimbare, dar e loc pentru toată lumea? E loc și pentru scenariști care nu vor să fie și în spatele camerei? Rămâne de văzut. Dar un lucru e clar: dacă nu încercăm, nu vom ști niciodată. Așa că, dragi producători, regizori și oricine altcineva cu putere în această industrie, aruncați o privire și peste noi, scenariștii. Poate găsiți aici comoara ascunsă pe care o căutați.

Nu am mai fost la București sau Cluj de la începutul pandemiei. De aceea, nu simt bine pulsul comunității. Dar la Chișinău, unde participăm la un laborator de scenaristică LitFilm, suntem un pumn de oameni cu 10 proiecte de dezvoltare de lung metraj. Adică da, scriu aceste rânduri cu un scop oarecum meschin, dar nu doar pentru asta — avem colegi super talentați care merită fiecare un loc sub soarele industriei de film.

Peste tot e setea de scenarii bune, dar cunosc oameni care, fiind îndrumați bine, știu să o potolească lejer și din plăcere!

Scenarist, serios? was originally published in Zenzy lab on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Zenzy lab, our premier animation studio, was approached to create an impactful and hyperrealistic promotional video for a forthcoming RPG first-person shooter game. The technical brief was to do something that looks exactly like the “Unrecord” gameplay trailer (see below).

Applying our high level of technical expertise and profound understanding of the assignment, we deconstructed the brief meticulously. The task involved generating a realistic gameplay environment, emulating an abandoned factory setting, while limiting unpredictable movements, thus demanding a methodical and technically complex approach. Zenzy lab’s team was uniquely equipped to handle the challenges presented by the game’s unique premise. Our ability to decipher intricate assignments and break them down into manageable ‘jobs to be done’ was crucial in formulating an action plan, exhibiting our technical prowess and deep-seated knowledge in animation and gaming.

Initial analysis

Hyperrealistic Elements (things that make it look like live footage)

1. Extreme level of detail, including reflections.
2. Realistic camera movement (seemingly done with motion capture or virtual production).
3. Exposure mimicking the light sensitivity of a low-cost camera.
4. Frame Vignette (corners of the camera).
5. Absence of unpredictable moving creatures and people in a sterile environment.
6. Hyperrealistic sound effects.
7. Dynamics that command attention.

Game-Like Elements (things that make it look like cgi)

1. The character’s hands and weapon.
2. The antagonist characters.
3. Some assets that appear intentionally crafted.
4. The presence of smoke.
5. Visual effects related to shooting.
6. The camera blur effect during shooting.

Given the nature of the project, Zenzy lab proposed multiple technical methods for the video production.

1. Live Action Filming: With this approach, a hyperrealistic promo is produced by filming in a real-life location that mirrors the environment of the game — such as an abandoned factory. This process involves three major steps: pre-production where a similar set is created and prepared, the filming itself, and then post-production which includes tracking, virtual production, sound effects, video effects, and so on. This method could achieve a high level of detail and realism as it leverages real-world elements.
2. Virtual Production: If the game already exists and the game’s assets, environments, characters, and their animations are available, you can opt for virtual production. This involves filming just to capture the camera movement from the actor’s helmet (camera capture), introducing the real camera into the virtual space, and then rendering the footage with a film engine (different from Unreal Engine 5). This method can efficiently utilize existing game assets while adding the natural movements and dynamics of real-life camera capture.
3. Gameplay-Based Promo: If the game already exists and assets, environments, characters, and their animations can be captured, you can make a promo based on actual gameplay. Here, sequences from the game that offer a cinematic experience and can produce a maximum “wow” effect are selected. The captured sequences are then rendered using a film engine, and color grading is applied to achieve a more film-like effect rather than a game-like look. This method showcases the actual game experience in a cinematic and engaging manner.
4. Building from Scratch in Unreal Engine 5: This method involves creating a promo right from scratch using Unreal Engine 5. This can be a challenging and complex approach as it requires developing everything — from environments and characters to animations and effects — from the ground up. This method is typically considered when there isn’t a game prototype yet. While it may be a complex approach, it provides maximum control over every aspect of the promo.

For each method, we provided detailed timelines and cost estimates, underscoring our proficiency in planning and executing complex projects efficiently. Here is an overview:

Method 1: 15 workdays (preproduction), 2 workdays (production), 20 days (postproduction) = 37 workdays for the entire assignment;

Method 2: 30 workdays (only virtual production) for the entire assignment;

Method 3: 20 workdays (only virtual production) for the entire assignment;

Method 4: 100 workdays, or more (depending on the complexity);

After a comprehensive exploration of solutions and detailed planning, Zenzy lab was contracted to deliver the hyperrealistic video promo (using method 2), showcasing our broad technical skills, profound industry knowledge, and dedication to meeting our clients’ needs.

We are now excitedly awaiting the video’s publication (few screenshots below). The project was an exemplar of Zenzy lab’s expertise in the industry, confirming our capability to handle complex tasks, adapt to varying circumstances, and deliver exceptional outcomes.

We are looking forward to future collaborations that allow us to push boundaries and exceed client expectations.

Here are a few extra videos for the people that are really into hyperrealistic video making using a mix of live-footage and virtual production. We used them as basis for our production planning.

1. Source video (Promo of Unrecord)

2. Motion capture in real set + Virtual Production method

3. How it was made

4. Real gameplay that is not as hyperrealistic as promo

Disclaimer: We are not the authors of the “Unrecord” trailer. We’re just hardworking creatives that understand how video-production works and how to make it look like magic 🪄.

For more updates, follow us on Medium, Facebook or Linkedin.

Feel free to visit our website.

Making of “Unrecord”: Hyperrealistic Promo for a First-Person Shooter was originally published in Zenzy lab on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Yesterday I developed an entire marketing campaign deck for Bucuria, a large candy manufacturer from Moldova, in less than 3 hours using Midjourney. I will explain step by step how I did it in the hope that this case can be used and re-applied by other similar companies and brands.

About Bucuria: Bucuria is the biggest candy manufacturer in Moldova and it has been created in 1946 when Moldova was still part of the Soviet Union. Bucuria became one of the most successful local brands and it still has a great reputation in most neighbouring countries such as Romania, Ukraine and Russia.

The idea: I started with something extremely simple. There is a Moldovan chocolate brand called “Meteorite” made by Bucuria (“Bucuria” translates as “Happiness” or “Joy”). I wanted to use MidJourney version 5.2 to make a chocolate box that has meteorite chunks instead of chocolates.

Then I tried to adjust this image by uploading it in Midjourney and having the engine adjust it as I needed (by putting flaming meteorite pieces inside of it). Unfortunately, this did not turn out so well.

As you can see, I used the parameter “- -iw 2” in order to make the engine use as much as it can from the source image. This parameter works in the following way : 2 is maximum and 0 is minimum, and “iw” refer to image weight. If I were to use “- -iw 0.5” the result would be an image that looks a lot less than the uploaded image and a lot more like the prompt provided.

The “- -s 1000” parameter refers to the level of detail that I want in my image. The maximum is 1000 and I almost always use the maximum value on this one because I prefer to generate detailed and realistic images that look nearly like photographs.

The “- -ar 16:9” parameter refers to the aspect ratio. Setting no aspect ratio would automatically result in a square shaped generated image.

My second trial was a Variation of one of the 4 generated images, however it was just as bad as the first one.

My third attempt started to yield some serious results. I decided to loose the reference image and go for image generation based solely on prompt. As you can see the prompt is extremely simple and in my experience the best generated images were generated with basic prompts. The meteorite candy looks authentic and almost reminds us of the Dragon Eggs from Game of Thrones. I decided to use the second one (U2 = Upscale the second image of the 4).

As you can see, result is quite great.

Then I used Midjourney’s new tool for zooming out 2x. This is ideal for giving more background and context to the object generated at first. Out of the four options, I chose the first one (U1).

Here is the last version of the photo.

Lastly, I saved the image and applied a transparent logo of “Bucuria” on the top left corner of the image. This is the end result.

I decided to use the same prompt in order to design AI versions of other famous types of Moldovan candy. I used the most popular ones. I will show some of the work in progress and then the end results.

Case 2: Little Crayfish Candy (“Răcușor”)

Case 3: Duchess Pear-flavoured candy (“Diușăs”) — I needed them to be pear shaped hinting at their pear flavour, but I wanted them to also retain the elegance of their ‘duchess’ name…

Case 4: Mask Candy (“Masca”)

Zoom out

Case 5: Night City (“Chișinăul de seară”)

Get ready. This one is really gonna blow your minds.

Other cases

In the end, we posted nearly 20 photos and we also sent them to the Candy Manufacturer’s PR department. Hopefully we hear from them soon. As mentioned, Midjourney can be used either for creating attractive communication materials or for product development. Ideally, we’d want more AI-based product development because these treats look incredibly delicious.

Hope you enjoyed reading our article. Subscribe to our Zenzy lab Facebook page for more cases on how we use Midjourney and other AI tools in our daily work.

Bonus: Key visual and new Logo concept

Bucuria — Rebranding Case was originally published in Zenzy lab on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

We decided to piece together a smashing showreel to show off our mad skills to the world, but we didn’t just sit down and start rummaging through old files. Nope, we called in the AI! And who better than ChatGPT4 from OpenAI to lend a hand in this venture?

Digging for Diamonds

So, what do you do when you have a mountain of video footage and each frame is a masterpiece? You know it. You have to pick the best of the best! We took a long, hard look at all the videos and selected only the shots that really stood out.

ChatGPT In Action

Then, we asked MidJourney to describe each of our standout shots. We gave ChatGPT all the information it needed, and it churned out file names, descriptions, and keywords in return.

All in One Place

Now that we had a complete list of top shots, ChatGPT helped us create a sort of table — an overview of everything we had for the showreel.

Cue the Music and Start the Frame Dance

And then came the moment of truth: ChatGPT got down to shuffling the shots. The AI picked the optimal placement for each shot based on its content and context. The result was delightfully unexpected and fresh!

The Finishing Touches

But, as they say, AI is no artist. So the final version of the showreel still needed a human touch. We manually adjusted and refined the showreel based on the rough cut that ChatGPT suggested.

The ShowReeeeeeeeeel

Ready to witness the magic of our showreel? Head over to our website, www.zenzylab.com, where you can immerse yourself in the captivating world of Zenzy Lab. Explore our stunning animations, innovative game designs, and the creativity that sets us apart. Get inspired and discover how we can bring your visions to life. Don’t miss out on the excitement — join us on this thrilling journey today!

Happy End!

Using ChatGPT4 in the showreel creation process was just rad! The AI not only helped break the routine of picking out shots but also gave us a new perspective on our work. And thanks to that, our showreel now sparkles with bright colors and twinkles with new ideas!

How to create a Showreel for your Animation Studio using ChatGPT4 was originally published in Zenzy lab on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.