Sunday, December 15, 2013

IM SO EXCITE (weekly comments 12/14)

learned:

I know exactly how to finish my 2D animation since for the last couple weeks I had no idea. Now I just have to dedicate most of my time to finishing it

want to learn:

idk after seeing the hobbit I really want to start drawing fan art and letting people see it. Most of the time my art is just for me

hell yeah:

I SAW THE HOBBIT GJFDSKGJDS it was amazing and perfect and yeah you don't know how happy these films make me happy I practically screamed at emily on tumblr after seeing it and I can go on and on about the little things and big things like seeing orlando bloom playing Legolas again except it was so weird bc of how much of a lil bitch he was in the beginning anyways i won't give away anything except it was gr8 and im soooso happy

nooo:

There is so much for me to do like this project and getting reading pages done for my english class and I have 2 other books I'd really love to finish as well plus the biography of pete townshend I haven't picked up in a while cause it was kinda sad ANYWAYS I hope I have time for stuff soon.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udDIkl6z8X0

ok some of you probably already seen this but the animation is flawless and lifelike. It's hard to believe this is animated

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Editing tips is what u need

things learned:

  • a good editor can figure out the best way to edit a film 
  • the way shots are pieced together affects the story and the characters, the way someone may perceive them, it's good to rearrange them and see which shots look better together and which don't
  • the time you spend editing and perfecting shots helps the success of your film
opinion:
  • I don't really have that much experience in editing movies but I'll definitely think of these tips if i ever decide to
  • I like that editors give out their tips and not keep them top secret 

which is more difficult, editing regular films or editing animated films?

The secret to an award winning screenplay

Okay its not really a secret

Things learned:

  • a mistake some film makers do is get off track from the storyline. It makes people confused so that's a huge no-no.
  • the setting of the movie contributes to making an award winning movie; it could take place 50 years before us or 100 years in the future because they're both teaching us how life was different
  • A huge detail that should be focused on is how to portray the theme clearly and not outright saying it. 
opinions:
  • overall I liked this article, it gives some informative tips for all movie makers but I think a lot of people have different ideas of what "award winning" might be so they shouldn't limit themselves 
  • Film making isn't something I'd get into because I'm not much of a writer. 
is having a great film score another element of award winning screenplays?

Weekly comments 12/6

this week I learned I have to manage my time better if I want to finish this project. It'd be so much easier if school didn't get in my way all the time

I hope that I get a lot done this weekend! And I've been having some troubles drawing in flash too I'm just not granted with such skills.

something coolio this week is that I went to boxing. And we started another novel in my english class and this time it's actually an interesting book and I'm already halfway done reading it. My phone is finally broken so my mom promised me a new one. I literally had the same phone since I moved here jhkgfjkkd

something stupid this week was getting a bad hair cut. Well, not bad just it wasn't cut the way I wanted it and it's too short. I can't communicate with anyone since my phone broke so I hope I don't get kidnapped on the way home from school since I walk.
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I'm totally a huge fan of this girl's artwork (she doesn't know me so shh) but she does not get the credit she deserves for making such beautiful work. Her character concepts are so amazinghhljghf and maybe if you have the time just tell her you love her work cause it would make her day like 1,000 times better. She needs it.
http://abrudas.tumblr.com/tagged/art/

my most favorite one :



















see how cute this robot is gjkfjdgjkskl
 okay enough fangirling

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also I know this is pretty random but this song is my life support. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaREwRhXlFg


Sunday, November 24, 2013

Creature animation


  • There are many things to consider when animating a creature. Like what kind of creature they are dictates how to creature would move. If they're a giant like a skyscraper they wouldn't have graceful movements the way a ballerina would move. 
  • Include diversity in your reel and when you're animating. When animating different actions you should use a different kind of character every time, like a short one or a heavy one so you aren't limited. When creature animating you should think about the size and weight of it and give it realistic actions, cause if its made up the audience wouldn't understand it probably not like it
  • It's really important not to limit yourself to just animating people; animating creatures is extremely important too since it's a part of a lot of animated films so far
Creature design is one of my favorite things but I've never done creature animation before. I'd like to try it soon, this article makes it seem like a huge challenge though.
Another thing I like about this article is that it keeps giving us tips about things we should include in our reels. 

Why does it matter if the creature is moving realistically, I thought uniqueness was better?

Making things seem more Frozen


  • They've been thinking about doing this movie since the 1940's. And when a new version was made the idea was pitched in 2009. 
  • It took 30 hours to render one frame of the ice palace, and that meant 4,000 computers rendering at one time. 
  • Jennifer Lee is the first woman to direct a disney movie. Kind of weird that now is the very first time but I'm sure women have had other huge roles in making a disney animated feature.
Kristen Bell is a great actress and I'm glad she's lending her voice to a character again bc her character Lucy Stillman from assassin's creed was short lived! And had a really sad ending.
I like that Disney didn't use the exact story when making the movie. They realized there was a lot of  things missing from the plot and the characters need more, well, character.


A question I have is, how difficult was it to make the movie score? How hard was it to be able to portray the different emotions going along with the story

Friday, November 22, 2013

Weekly comments 11/22

This week was pretty okay

learned:

-Other than work days we had an audio demo and it taught me a lot so yay. And it was a lot to take in so hopefully my notes will be semi helpful later on?..

want to learn:

-I need some robot sound effects for my 2D short.

something pretty cool this week:

-to make this project a little easier I got a drawing tablet, its an intuos and its just a lil guy but it's really helpful. I also got my teeth scraped to death by the dentist but at least no cavities, woo.

something frustrating:

Whenever the weather starts to get really cold I develop a small cough and that was annoying. I probably need a new modem bc my internet is being strange but most of importantly I'm not able to play mass effect multiplayer ///sadness.

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as if Charlie isn't already adorable enough here's an Up parody from It's always sunny in philadelphia featuring Charlie Kelly and the Waitress. (▰˘◡˘▰)
http://animationart.tumblr.com/post/67709641225/rudolph-jaaamesbaxter-charlie-kelly-the

Sunday, November 17, 2013

VFX industry is pretty cool


  • Building a great reel is key to your success in finding a good VFX job.
  • VFX is everywhere now in commercials and TV shows now too.
  • It helps to be both skilled in fine art and have com computer skills for a VFX artist. Most of all just being able to understand and solve a problem is important too
I wasn't that interested in VFX before, just animation and conceptual art was what I liked most but this article and the videos really made me interested. 
I definitely agree that in this field of work you really have to want it. And understand it's not an easy job at all. I like conceptual art because you get to create a beautiful scenery or character and it can be as intricate or simple as you like. And in the end you animate it and it comes alive. That's what made me want to do this.

A question I have is when your a runner/pa at a studio, how long are you doing that job until you actually get to work there?

Weekly commentz 11/17

learned:
It's really easy to fall behind on work in this class. I just hope in the next couple weeks I get caught up and I'm also hoping I can get started on my 2D short sometime this week 

wish to learn:

well right now I'm teaching touching up on my drawing skills and making them look more realistic, so hopefully it'll look nicer when I animate

happiness:

Friday I went to my first fight night and it's basically just a bunch of boxing matches hosted at this boxing club I go to. I've never been to a fight before so naturally I was shocked to see someones nose bleed like a waterfall and someone fall out of the ring.

frustration:

I need to learn how to speak better in public I feel like I can barely talk to people now bc I'm so weird and awkward and I end up saying something really really stupid. This happened several times this week. Maybe it's because I listened to this????

linky link:


the grim adventures of Billy and Mandy was one of my favorite shows on cartoon network, they barely show it anymore which is sad. The creator of the show Maxwell Atoms is trying to get a new show off the ground Dead Meat. If you're into the same kind of animation and grim (ha haha a) style from Billy and Mandy, you'll enjoy Dead Meat. This time it isn't a children's show but I doubt anyone who'll watch this will pay attention to that detail. Anyways, the deadline for donations is over but this page holds a lot of info on the show and it's still nice to know he's making a new show right??

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Psychedelic and Grotesque

learnded:

  • These phenakistoscopes have been around for hundreds of years and even now they're so interesting to look at 
  • The phenakistoscope inspired other types similar to them like the zoetrope that was made a year later, they used a long strip with a design on it and placed it on the inside of the cylinder and spun it.
  • It's very tedious to make one of these and get them onto the computer to make it into .gif form. He would take a photo of every illustration, trying not to make them look too fast or too slow or he'd have to start again.
opinions:
  • I'm glad this type of artwork hasn't been forgotten since its so intriguing it'd be a shame if Richard Balzer never picked this kind of work up cause he wouldn't have influenced others either.
  • I think its important that he shows his artwork by using social networking sites so that it inspires other like the way he was. 
How long does it take to make a phenakistoscope or a zoetrope?

Tips about using natural light

learnt:
  • Timing plays a huge role in getting the right natural lighting, good times to shoot quick night time scenes are during Blue Hour, the hour after the sun goes down or comes up and the sky still looks colorful. And during Magic Hour is the hour leading to the sunset or just after sunrise, for those warm and fuzzy scenes you need to perfect. I didn't know those terms existed but I think they're really beautiful times of the day, nice for them to have a name
  • The right camera and camera lens is a hugely huge deal because whether you're filming more night scenes or day scenes should help you decide on the better camera. For example, if the movie is mostly outdoors and day time then you'll need a camera with dynamic range that helps with any lighting that you would have to edit with a different camera. Same for lenses, for exterior scenes it would be helpful to use a wide lens for a landscape.
  • Make sure your actors and everyone else are prepared because that perfect natural lighting thats going on might go away in a couple hours and you'll have to wait another day to reshoot.
thoughts:
  • I love this article with a passion because using these types of tricks for filming movies are clever and inexpensive. Just like the other article with using 'forced perspective', it would make me feel more accomplished and proud I used these tricks instead of going all out with lights and CG and whatnot
  • Just like other types of tricks for movie making, its a lot of work to perfect the right scene when you do natural lighting, you can't be lazy about it. You have to pay attention to your time especially and requires a lot of planning ahead to so you can get used to your surroundings. But in the end it paid off
my question is, how far would a director go when using natural lighting? would they make trip to the other side of the world just to use that setting

Friday, November 1, 2013

Weekly commentos 11/1

We learned animation principles earlier this week, like the way a ball should look when it bounces on a surface, and the way a heavy ball would look when it rolled off a table. I'm just really happy all this rotoscoping madness is done and we're back to learning things. You know it was only a couple weeks long but it felt like a month for me

I'd really love to learn ways to help my back bc it's been sore a couple days probably from those days when I literally sat on the computer for almost 6 hours for project reasons. I had to get my boxing instructor to stretch my back for me twice today which felt awesome so yeah oh and I'm really excited to learn how to use audacity and more ways to animate smoothly.


I got AC4 and I went trick or treating with my friend, I haven't went with her since 6th grade so it was cooooooooooool. Like 1000% of my candy was pretzels and snickers but it was still fun (I guess). My mom was able to take me to boces today too since I didn't go to school today, I would've regretted not going to boces today bc that guest speaker was cool as heck and provided some good info on making a portfolio and whatnot.

I was beyond excited to get AC4 and I have the receipt to prove that I in fact pre ordered it and got a cool ass poster SO IT BELONGS TO ME RIGHT but I played 5 mins and my moms stupid boyfriend says "Where's my game?" so he claims it belongs to him somehow? Also he "claimed" Battlefield 4 so I can't play anything until he's done with both those games and of course I'm pissed but what can I do? Oh, I can blast Regina Spektor in my room and smash the patriarchy.

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this is pretty much what these guys went though when making the unique voice of my favorite Mass Effect in the whole wide universe, Legion. The reason his voice is so unique is because, he's a Geth (basically an intelligent race of synthetics created by the Quarians), and they were able to give him the perfect amount of emotion and life to his voice, but still indicates he is a robot. If I ever get into doing voiceovers later on then I'd love to experiment with different kind of effects like the way Rob Blake did in the video :)

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatbawls (and a month long of tweaking)


  • They had to go through a lot of scaling during the simulations because the strawberry was larger than a regular strawberry, but was still smaller compared to the objects made huge like the rivers of syrups and oceans of milk. So everything was sized up 20 times larger.
  • The fluids simulations relied on physics and the animators had to deal with trying animations that didn't abide the laws of physics, which confused the simulations. 
  • They have to run a lot simulations until they get the perfect shot, sometimes when they aren't able to they have to try a different idea. 
3D animation is a lot more complicated than I thought. If something doesn't work you have to work meticulously at it bc you can't just ignore it. But I think making something work and completing a good shot is a great feeling that makes me want to keep doing it.
It's amazing what they can accomplish now with animation. Most of the things in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 were not possible to do a couple years ago. 

My question is, because of all the tweaking and editing is that why cloudy 2 didn't come out earlier?

The work behind special effects


  • A quicker way to do makeups and concepts is 3D printing, instead of spending time doing drafts they can do that on a computer program and then print it out. But Coulier still prefers sculpting by hand, I agree because there's some things that you may not end up with that you like that you won't get on the computer program.
  • High definition film has made special effects a bigger challenge since the camera can pick up every wrinkle and imperfection in makeup so they need to make them look more authentic.
  • The film World War Z had about 5,000 makeups. They did makeup for nearly every zombie in that movie! Not really, but that kind of work takes some real dedication. Even if the audience was just going to glance at that zombie.


I really liked how they used nylon socks covered with silicon to give Daniel Radcliffe webbed fingers, they didn't have to get too technological with this one.
Coulier says that in the end what matters most in the movie is a good script. So true! It wouldn't be a great movie if all they had was good special effects. But I agree, the script comes first before anything else when it comes to films.

This article is making me think about horror films and how I haven't seems a good horror movie in years. Which is why i switched my favorite movie genre to fantasy/action movies. Bonus points if Charlie Day is cast in the movie for any reason. When will there be a new, good scary movie be released?

Friday, October 25, 2013

Weekly comments 10/25 blah

Halloween is literally next week. This is all happening too fast, halloween I don't think I'm ready for you yet. I think it's been like 7 weeks already I lost count but yeah here's another installment of my interesting blog

things learned:

  • Another work week and I'm sooo tired and crazy from rotoscoping (still not done by the way). Hopefully by some miracle I can finish this weekend. I guess I did learn some stuff from this project anyway like how to use adobe premiere. I did use it for a little while but I'm not much of a film person anymore. Another lesson learned is make schoolwork my top priority because most of the time I'm making sleeping/drawing/videogames my top priority and yeah just don't do that

things I want 2 lern:

  • I'm really excited to do an animation short and I already have an idea in mind and since I've been practicing with flash at home it's becoming easier to do things. I guess I'd like to learn different ways to make animation look more authentic and less robotic. Even if my character in my 2D short is a robot ha ha yeah.
something that made me happy:
  • Uhhhhhhh I guess getting a good grade on my trig test and thats kind of a huge deal in my family, which is really sad. But I'm happy about it
maaaaad:
  • okay this wasn't a good week but whatever. Probably thinking about all the homework I have to do is making me annoyed. Also why are we required to swim at school okay do you know how hard it is to get dressed after being completely wet???? And Lou Reed died?!! He influenced a lot of bands that I love and without him they wouldn't have made music, so thank you Lou.
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cool thing of the week:


okay this is SUPERRRRR AMAZING. It's a CG animated short, it's about 3 minutes, that took 3 years to make! It was directed by an animation teacher, Li Jin. It's basically a dream martial arts fight between Donnie Yen and Bruce Lee. The signature moves and the likeness of both men are incredibly spot on I'm not even kidding. My favorite part is the ending, it ends with a picture of Bruce Lee's calligraphy "Walk on". 

Sunday, October 20, 2013

"Downside" of animation

I learned stuff:

  • Originally there were more women in the movie The Snow Queen but a lot were removed and were replaced by a male character for the movie Frozen.
  • Some think old stereotypes still exist where women are expected to be more emotional and while men are thought to be less expressive. But I completely agree with Brenda chapman, the men most animated movies are lively and goofy
  • Even though there were women leading in the movie Frozen they said they still felt it was run by a "boys club"

My opinion

  • I wish gender inequality still wasn't an issue in this day and age but sadly it is. Women in the animation industry work as hard as men do but the article says its still harder for them to rise in the ranks. But anyways not going to let a silly article make me want to change my career. 
  • I get that animating women is hard but its the same for men too. Except when animating women they said they have to look out for certain things like making sure they look pretty going through ranges of emotions and making sure their breasts and butts are the right size. But seriously do girls in real life look completely flawless when we're going through different emotions?  Its completely unrelatable.
My question is are the same things expected of women in animation, expected in men as well 

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Mmmmm Brains

Things I learned:

  • The very first zombie movie was called White Zombie and it was released in 1932.
  • people's obsession with zombies may have a lot to do with the fact that people are afraid of what technology is capable of. And they're probably fascinated by living in a post apocalyptic world where technology doesn't exist anymore
  • zombies represent consumerism  in our culture because we want nice things and all the money ever the same way zombies want brains

My opinion:

  • I agree the consumerism theory about zombies because black friday shoppers are truly amazing. People wait in lines overnight and huge crowds trample people and injure them so they can buy things. 
  • Living in a post apocalyptic world seems awesome it's a huge break from sitting behind a computer screen for hours or at the dinner table with stacks of homework. That stuff won't even matter cause all you need to worry about is clubbing zombies to death and surviving and if that doesn't sound cool as heck then get out of my face
A question I have from the video. Since vampires are romanticized in our culture and no longer viewed as extremely terrifying creatures of the night, then is he implying that we're going to do the same with zombies?

Friday, October 18, 2013

Weekly commentys 10/18

I was barely at school this week and all the work missed makes me want to fall down and shake ;_; This week I learned just try reeeeal hard not to miss school. Another valuable lesson is don't save projects directly to your flash drive cause thats really stupid bc you could lose that teeny flash drive in your messy bedroom so don't do that!! Everything sucked about this week but anywaaaay I'll get to other things now

Something I'd like to know is how to math. seriously what is that stuff. I would also like to know a couple ways to make my rotoball clip longer since I want to cut certain things out. 

Something that made me really happy was seeing Pearl jam!!!1 I've patiently waited to see them since July when I woke up at 9:30am to purchase the tickets online, also had to wait in a 'virtual line' since the site was crowded I guess but that's cool. I didn't even get them until 2 hours later btw. I sat pretty close to the front and had a nice view of the back of their heads. But there's no such thing bad seats at a Pearl Jam concert. A bad seat would be sitting outside on the sidewalk asking if people are selling tickets.

Something that made me mad this week was definitely not getting food poisoning and missing 2 days of school but missing practically a week of work. Cause that doesn't make me mad at all I feel so great about it ah yes just look at this wonderful stack of homework to do over the weekend. 

will post a cool thingy later


Sunday, October 6, 2013

Breaking Bad has us rooting for a ruthless drug dealer

Things I learned:

  • This point of view sequence has been used for a long time. It's used to convey a character's feelings and help the audience understand what they are feeling and why
  • Point of view sequence is used a lot in Breaking Bad, from the first season when Walt first found out he had lung cancer, and in the last season when Skylar was speaking to the lawyers about Walt's crimes and how she was involved. We knew she was feeling the same kind of emotions Walt was feeling in the first season.  
  • Facial expressions is a huge contributor in expressing a character's emotion. 

My opinion:
  • Vince Gilligan and all the others who helped write Breaking Bad are extremely talented writers. Because they showed the point of view of Walt so many times, the audience understood his actions. In the second season Walt was supposed to kill Jane himself but instead left her to die, the audience already knew that she was a bad influence on Jesse that they let it slide.
  • I was NOT rooting for Walt in the second half of season 5,  he even admitted that he wasn't doing this whole thing for the family, he was only doing it because he finally felt alive in his life and didn't feel like the wimpy chemistry teacher he once was. And he was great at it too. I was so  relieved Jesse escaped from the nazis and sped off in his car, probably to the Need for Speed movie. 
is there a limit to how much a person stands by a character's actions? Or do they stand by them even when they're committing heinous acts

Animated films aren't just for kids!!!

Things I learned:

  • A lot of these animated films' humor is directed at children but the moral of the story is meant to entertain adults too, which I can appreciate.
  • The author says that when they say there were too many animated films this summer, they really meant there were too many animated films for children. For example, Turbo, The Smurfs, and Planes.
  • Animation offers a possibilities for different kinds of movies but is limited to a genre for movies aimed at younger audiences 

My opinion:
  • I really like the author addressed the fact that film makers have the power to change the genre of animated movies, they don't have to be a children's movie, they can be an adult movie but still be animated! It would be a lot cheaper to make an animated version of some films like Superman or The Avengers if they were animated. 
  • Animated films for now, is just a genre for kids entertainment. 
My question is, since they were throwing around the topic of making animated films primarily for adults, what kind of movie would Pacific Rim be if it was animated? As long is Charlie Day is still casted as Dr Newt Geiszler then I'd still love the movie the same. 

Weekly comments 10/4 hehuehhe

Things I learned:

I spend most of the week trying to finish my flash practices and learned things, A LOT of things. I learned things like frame by frame animation, shape hints which I couldn't get to work properly, using symbols, learning a little more about Tweens. There was so much info to take in from that packet so I'm thinking about getting this program at home to practice cause now I kind of feel like someone threw a box of tools at me and told me to build a house

Things I would like to know:

I guess I'd like to learn how to use a tablet it would probably make my project a lot easier to do. 

Something that frustrated me:

I missed school Friday which was not cool cause I had like 3 tests and one of them was a trig quiz and now I have to do it Monday. Ew. Also I did one of the flash examples over at least 5 times cause I thought I made a mistake but I didn't and now I feel pretty dumb 

Something that made me happy:

I'm seeing Pearl Jam in exactly a week :))))))))))))))))))))))) chins intensifying. It almost feels like it's not happening, I've wanted to see them for 2 years!! Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag comes out soon, the 29th I think, anyways I'm excited because I've been waiting for pirates since the dawn of when I first played assassin's creed. 

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This is an animated short called "Brain Divided" and I think it's pretty cool cause a lot of CG animated anything is aimed at children but a lot of people would say this is like Pixar for adults.


Sunday, September 29, 2013

Article post I'm tired and I can't think of a title

What I learned:

  • If this wasn't said enough, they're so different but alike in many ways. They were around in different periods but produced the same kind of entertainment that was new and unique in their time
  • They both appreciated new technology and they played a huge role in revolutionizing children's  entertainment with Walt building the theme park and Jim Henson experimenting with making puppets look more believable
  • Its almost like they knew they didn't have forever to achieve their goals so they did as much as they could everyday to make sure they did, I think everyone should too! 
My opinion:
  • I think Jim Henson and Walt Disney weren't 'praising individuals' because maybe they didn't want their praise to get in the way of the employees ability to decide if their work is good or not. They should be able to know that their work is amazing and they don't need to hear it from somebody else. They don't need to be completely dependent on someone else's opinion.
  • I honestly get this weird feeling about Disney because all those rumors over the years like people getting killed at their theme parks
My question is did they have a different career path when they were younger or did they want to do this their whole life

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Weekly comments 9/28 doot doot

Things I learned this week:

We're finally getting actual animation things  now but mostly the basic stuff in flash like drawing and making shapes. Then we learned about making an object a symbol so you can animate it. This week was mostly a work week so we didn't learn as much as we did previous weeks phew

Things I would like to know in the future:

I'm really excited we're learning flash and now I'm learning more things than I was taught before. I hope we get to learn how to put sound effects in our 2D logos because my design has an angry pizza that's biting and growling (this needs no explanation) and I think it'll look a little strange if it didn't have any noise. If the pizza monster part isn't weird enough.

Something that frustrated me this week:

Oddly enough nothing really annoyed me this week other than having way too much homework which made me have to stay home from certain things so I could finish. Teachers always say the homework they give won't take long but that is a huge myth. Also my little brother got GTA V which just makes me mad because he's 11 years old and theres boobies and swearing and some naked dudes butt on that game? ?? Ew??

Something that made me happy:

I finished my character drawing the day it was due and I didn't even bring in my sketch until the day before bc I was stupid about the dates. Anyways it turned out really nice and I even made changes to it before I handed it in and it looks even nicer. Another thing that made me happy was getting my pearl jam tickets in the mail! *breathes heavily* Pearl Jam is my favorite band in the werld. Also my dad came to visit the falls with his girlfriend and my little sister and I went out to eat with them and I just miss them so much so I had a swell time with them woo

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This is an interview with John Kahrs who created the short film "Paperman" and he describes how they used motion copy and paste, by pasting the 2D drawing over CG which produces the unique effect of a 2D drawing looking 3 dimensional. He felt he loved the drawings of Paperman from pre production and wanted to find a way to include the drawings with the short film! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZJLtujW6FY

Friday, September 27, 2013

Tips on making a snazzy storyboard

Things I learned:

  • Avoid drawing a flat stage but instead draw grids and vanishing points because it adds more depth and make your scenes look more interesting 
  • Give your shots some life. The article says if there is a noise off screen you should draw your character maybe looking towards it and drawing an effect that'll indicate a noise coming from that direction
  • Labeling your characters makes it a lot easier when making a storyboard especially if you're dealing with multiple characters in one scene
My Opinion:
  • I like that the author tells us why they like making a storyboard and touches on the subject of seeing your imagination come alive.
  • They also tell us why making a storyboard is helpful because you can look at it after and see if there's anything that can be improved 
My question is how long does it take to finish the storyboard and do they draw the entire movie or only draw the most important things and leave out smaller scenes to just be done on its own

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Film scores becoming more epic every movie

Things I learned:

  • The first full movie score was composed by Max Steiner in 1933
  • Alfred Hitchcock requested that the shower scene in Psycho to be unscored but it was scored anyway and without the music it probably wouldn't have been such an iconic scene
  • The score impacts the movie deeply because film makers who use infrasound in horror films will induce fear into the audience even when nothing is happening on screen
My opinion:
  • Infrasound seems pretty extreme since it gives people heart palpitations or anxiety 
  • Simple sounds and music creates different emotions in us and that's what makes it so astonishing. 
A question I have is would The Lord of the Rings trilogy be as amazing if it didn't have the film score

Friday, September 20, 2013

Weekly comments 9/20!!!1! !

Second weekly comments posty thingy. Ahem

Things I learned this week:

This week we learned about design elements and design principles, all the ingredients for a great picture. Things like balance, proportion, space, unity, value, and texture. And we had a quiz on it. 

We also learned some interesting things about colors, like how color is reproduced (ooh la la). And different types of color combinations like complementary, analogous, monochromatic, and some new ones like split complementary and triad. Ms Licata loves giving us tests so there will be a test about color theory next week :)

 Things I would like to know in the future:

I'm really looking forward to flash and I did learn flash briefly in 9th grade from my teacher Ms Bloom (she is the best everrr btw she's the reason I wanted to be in this class) and I made a cool animation of an alien walking across the moon!! Of course I forget how to use flash so I'm excited to learn how to use it again. 

Something that frustrated me this week:

Nothing really frustrating happened to me this week until yesterday when I was trying to do my article blog posts at home last night and the keyboard was typing complete gibberish no matter how carefully I typed. Turns out my brother spilled water all over the keyboard and thought, "it wasn't that big of a deal" so he didn't tell anyone. LIVES ARE AT STAKE HERE. OF COURSE IT'S A BIG DEAL. 

Something that made me happy:

I actually got some good grades this week. Even in trig! Finally the teachers are recognizing the cool, funny, attractive person I really am inside. Just kidding but I'm so happy about my trig grade. And my thaumatrope that I messed up so many times? I actually got a really, really awesome grade for that too. Thank you Ms Licata. Virtual high five.

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So we've been learning about colors and I found this interactive color scheme designer that helps you choose colors whether is analogous, triad, complementary, or monochromatic colors. Could help a lot in the future especially in film.  http://www.colorschemedesigner.com

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Smart and efficient film making :)


Things I learned

  • Famous directors like Steven Spielberg used the forced perspective technique to film shots in his movie by using a wide lens and placing a model ship close to the camera. 
  • Film makers aren't afraid to be conservative with their movie shots and they use this forced perspective technique to film certain shots that would actually require a lot of resources and time.
  • Forced perspective was used way back when The Return of the Jedi was filmed. 

My opinion

  • Something I like about this article is that these directors use the environment to film their shots. The sky and sounds provide a lot of effect to the shot.
  • It actually does require a lot of precision to make the perfect shot when using this technique. In the article it states "If the model is the slightest bit off, the illusion is ruined and falls apart."
My question for this article is how much do they edit a shot filmed with forced perspective

Animated films overcrowding movie industry woah


Things I learned:
  • I was well aware that too many animated films were being made. And I learned that 13 new films will be released in 2014. It seems these studios come up with good enough movie ideas to be created and released just like that. It doesn't mean they are good ideas.
  • Titan A.E and The Iron Giant were called "box-office clunkers"? I hope clunkers means "amazing movies I adored as a kid".
  • A third Smurfs movie is being planned. But I guess we don't have a say in what movies we want being made and what we don't want. As long as these movies are making a good enough profit they'll keep making movies about talking inanimate objects.
My opinion:

  • John Lasseter of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios keeps a good attitude about the whole situation and says, "I'd much rather be in a healthy industry than be the only player in a dead industry". Meaning he doesn't mind putting in more animated films even when there is too many.  At least it's not for 2D animation films.
  • Something I disliked was as soon as one animation film is successful then others jump onboard and try to create the same kind of magic that's already been made. 
My question, since animation studios keep making sequels for weak movies, are they making a Turbo 2?


Friday, September 13, 2013

Weekly comments 9/13 :))


So this is my first weekly comments post. For those of you who haven't tuned in to my amazing blog already my name is Clara. I actually like this blogging thing because we can  communicate with our classmates and teacher and have a better understanding of eachother. and I can now become the blogger I was born to be.

Things that I learned this week:

In animation class we learned the basics of adobe illustrator. We learned how to make straight and curved lines with the pen tool (oooh) and how to adjust paths like joining and averaging points or adding and deleting anchor points (ahhh).

We also learned some interesting facts about the history of animation and the process of making an animated film. 

Things I would like to know in the future:


There is so much I'd like to know since I'm still learning how to use all these software programs. Something I'd like to learn in this class is maybe some shading techniques and editing a character's structure in a software program. Emotionally I want to learn how to be less self conscious about showing my artwork to people because I rarely do show anyone my artwork! Woah!

Something that frustrated me this week:


The only thing that frustrated me in digital media was making the thaumatrope. I know it was so easy peasy for everyone else but for some reason I can't understand the simplest of directions and I messed up all 10 thaumatropes I made. Yay!!

Something that made me happy this week:


Small achievements really do make me happy so naturally I was very pleased I finished all my homework due from the days I was absent. Also the weekend is happening, woo. So now I can finally sleep in and play video games. 

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Hey all you people. Here's a cool thing that shows different kinds of body language for when you're designing a character pose. http://nematodeinspace.com/gallery/bl.png