Frozen

Today I thought I would share with you all my last drawing for DM150. The assignment was to research some concept art of Disney's "Frozen" and draw our own version. I have not yet seen the movie, but I think I will wait for DVD. The assignment took about 4-5hrs for me. I will certainly miss that class as it was my favorite, no offence Leeper. I wish there was a second semesters worth of it. I will miss seeing my fellow talented classmate's drawings as well. Before I started this semester I did not have much desire to draw. After using this tablet and Photoshop, I love it again. I recently ordered the Manga Studio 5 while it was on sale. I can't wait to start using it and see what I can make with it.

This Means War

I recently just watched this for the first time. At first I thought it was kind of a chick-flick, but it turned out to be a comical and suspenseful film. Two agents who work for the CIA find love when in turns out they are both interested in the same woman. They agree to a gentleman's duel in letting the best man win and to let her choose. Being the agents they are, they go through many close calls to spy on her life and learn everything about her to out-do each other. Both of them are trying to keep this mission secret from their boss. They have teams of men helping their cause, but they don't know what for. All they know is it's linked to the terrorist. In addition to this, they are supposed to be working on a case to find a terrorist who wants both of them dead. They must sort out their priorities before it is too late. The ending was good. I feel she made the right choice considering the other guy found someone else. I would definitely recommend this film for those seeking a good comedy, ,suspense, romance, and or semi-action flick.

Thank You Leeper!

(Referenced from Prof. Leeper's profile shot on HU site) Program: Photoshop | Approx Time: 1.5Hrs. Thank you Professor Leeper for teaching DM101 and making it one of my favorite classes. It has been a fun and enjoyable class to watch clips, hear an informative lecture, and learn some origins of animation. It was interesting to see what all the rest of the world has accomplished in digital media. I probably never would have known or discovered the "Canadian Film Board" and their amazing montage of works. I have a much better appreciation for the smaller films done by independents and low budget companies just starting out. The readings were not all that bad compared to other classes. I took some pleasure in reading "Telling the Truth". It somewhat opened my mind to newer ways of thinking, mainly ways of thinking about the Bible. For example, Abraham and Sarah were told by an angel that at their age, they were going to have a son. It talks about how they laughed at the thought of this being impossible. God told them to name the child Isaac, which in Hebrew means laugher (pg. 53). I can not wait to have you teach another one of my DMA classes in future years to come and get some hands on learning with stop motion. I feel privileged to be learning under someone who has worked for a company like Dreamworks.

Are Video Games Worth the Time?

(First off, I feel very hypocritical as I write this...) Recently I have come to ponder, "Is investing my time in video games worth it?" I have yet to determine a full answer to my question. I enjoy playing them when I am bored, don't feel like doing anything else, or want to have some fun and be entertained. On the other hand, I am just wasting my life away at a screen playing in a fantasy world. I may gain some knowledge, but it really does no good or prepares yourself for the real world. Now you may want to ask me, "Um.. Are movies not the same?!" In a way "yes", but they are for shorter periods of time... The games I am talking about are the ones that are very time invested such as MMORPGs or RPGs including but not limited to: World of WarCraft, Runesape, Ryzom, Paradise Paintball, etc... which I have all played. Now I find it ridiculous to buy in-game material just for cosmetics of a character. Just to make them appeal better and show off to people what BA you think you are. Pointless waste of money. Also, (to online games) what happens when the servers go down due to an outage, ddos, or lack of support? All that hard work you put into the character and game overall is now gone! I feel it's best not to get attached and play games that do not require a persistent internet connection. Now if you're into that, fine. You are making the developers very happy. All they see you as is another wage in their pocket. Generally I will play Free-to-play games or obtain ROMs from the resources at my disposal and run them in emulators on my computer instead of buying a console.

Some of My Drawings

So today I have decided to show you all a Doodle 4 Google I did in my senior year of high school. The theme for the year was My Best Day Ever... It is titled "Puppy Love". It is of a couple sharing a milkshake at a cafe after a wonderful day at an amusement park. This is not necessarily a portrayal of me, rather something I whipped up because I thought it could fit the theme. I did not win or even place sadly. The 250 that the public had to choose from were not even that good. There were the really amazing ones, but I felt I should have been listed somewhere... Anyway, I had fun doing the drawing. I had not actually sat down and taken the time to draw and color with pencils since I was maybe 14. Of course now I love drawing with this new Wacom Tablet. It is like a whole new realm to explore. Here is one of the drawings I've done this year that I am the most proud of. A reason I like drawing anime is because they're often very detailed, shaded, and the eyes have a lot of personality. Photoshop: Freehand. Time: 5-6hrs.

What is this world coming to?

I am shocked after viewing this film in class today. If it was not for someone who was passionate about making documentaries, I might never of known about this tragic event. Many women in Pakistan from ages 13-40s have been abused by their (mainly male) relatives or husbands with acidic burns. Just because a woman rejects your proposal for marriage makes it okay for you to throw acid on her?! Is this really what the world is coming to? What a cruel place we live in. One husband who was convicted of attacking his wife in this manner defended himself with, "She was mentally ill and threw acid on herself. 99% of women are like this in Pakistan." Bollocks! I would love to see the look on the faces of these men when they received the life sentence for their crime. I am glad to know that the "Acid Crime Legislation" bill was passed which brought for attention to the matter and made the entire act illegal. I feel the husbands should have paid for the plastic surgery. One second can truly ruin someone for the rest of their life... One thing I don't understand is where these people got the acid. They said "battery acid", but that seems difficult to obtain from a battery unless you manufacture it. It sounds like this is very common, 'Do people just carry this acid around in their pocket waiting to become enraged and unleash it upon a victim?'

Ads

After watching TV, computer in lap struggling to blog, I have decided to blog on the different mediums of ads that appear on TV. Personally for me, I find animated ads more appealing and maybe more successful. This animated ad for hotels.com makes me feel for apt to use their service as opposed to seeing a live action ad with real people. The backgrounds, overall color vibrance, and environment makes it not only entertaining, but also gives it more of a welcoming feel. It makes me imagine going to those animated places. It also shows that they took the time and money to model and animate their ad which to me shows they care about their service. Live action ads that incorporate animated characters are usually the worst. The acting of the people in ads for The General Car Insurance for example are very unprofessional and not appealing. Now on the other hand, the Geico insurance ads with the animated gecko seem to do very well. There's something about live action ads and knowing the people are just paid actors that makes me less swayed towards them. Live action ads with comedy are more entertaining, but also do not make me more likely to buy the product.

Catching Fire!

Catching Fire was one of the better films I have seen this year. It, like Thor 2, was so much better than the original. It was closer to the storyline as well. Usually with movies, I feel the first of a trilogy is the best, then the third, and second is last. The camera was actually smooth this time and did not look like it was hand held during the arena scene. The characters become more emotional and reveal their personalities more in this one. I find it awesome how empathy makes us feel and relate to the characters we see. I find it mysterious and awesome how I can feel the anger that Katniss experiences as she watches all the innocent people being killed. It is empowering. I would not like to be Effie, having to wear a new outfit/costume in every other scene. Her outfits are more ridiculous but creative. A scene they left out was when Katniss had her tracker cut out of her arm. It was a gruesome depiction in my mind. I hope the 3rd one is even better. We will have to wait another year for the final installment (or I suppose I could just read it).

7 Wives for 7 Bros

Sean & Sam (This is a quickly made rendition of the cast giving their final waves as the curtain falls) Sean and Sam did a great job acting in the play! The hours of practice really paid off. Sam's singing was profound. His deep voice was very audible and clear, as was Sean's. I applaud them for their acting and appreciate their talents. I know I could not easily memorize all the lines and motions. I enjoyed the scene where the brothers are trying to retrieve the run away, soon to be, brides through the mountain tops. It is a comical play of 7 brothers who must learn how to behave around women. They all live in a small cabin on the tops of mountains. As the title suggests, they do all in fact get married. I would recommend seeing it to those who have not. Support your friends if you have them. Warning: there might be spoilers in this read

Top 3 Music Videos

Today in class we watched various music videos. Typically I don't watch music vids, but I found these pretty entertaining. I found the ones that were animated (such as "Dumb Ways to Die" and "AllAxis"), using puppets, or mixing it all together ("Don't Hug Me I'm Scared") more appealing than just live action. I feel this is because live action is limited with their environments and effects. However, I did not care for the CG film of the demonic rabbit destroying the city. The graphics were neat, but it got old really fast. With all the quick, bright flashes it seemed it would give one epilepsy. 1. Dumb Ways to Die This was my favorite music video because it's original, simple, funny, and has a catchy toon. Music videos do not have to have realistic animations or special effects for them to be good. This video has very simplistic characters who all die in some way. The tone of the voice is cheery and gives the overall appearance more inviting to watch, rather a deeper voice might repel. The video is both fun to watch AND listen to. 2. Machine Civilizaiton I did enjoy World Order's "Machine Civilization". All practical effects done on camera. It was very unique and different which made it fun to watch. Having that much control over your body to move like a robot, but have slow, fluid motion is awesome. The fact that they did this in a public area with people walking in the background gave it a good atmosphere. People walking by would stare at the stiff contorting people which gave it a feel of originality. It also showed that they used live footage and did not alter the speed of the film. I wouldn't listen to this, but I would watch it. 3. Valentino This is my 3rd favorite. It is simple, has a catchy toon, and leaves the audience wondering how they pulled it off. The lyrics and props all match up at he right time. I was amazed at the timing and how well it was directed after watching the behind the scenes. I was unaware that the projector and screen was not real. Overall this shows low budget videos with great, original ideas can become better than the high tech stuff.

Ryan: CG Documentary

When I saw the film Ryan, at first I could not help but notice how real the modeling and animation looked for the two main characters, Chris and Ryan. I have never seen such renderings of people half put together and connected by fragments of themselves. The setting adds a lot to the film. The dark, gloomy, café sets a depressing tone. When Chris shows Ryan the drawings of his past, it's neat how the images flicker on the inside of his head as he recalls them. Colors also flow from his fingertips as he touches the paper. When Chris introduced a character from Ryan's past, the technique of outlining the characters in grey is very fitting to the atmosphere. I notice as it progresses, Ryan and Chris begin to look at their struggles which are represented on the outside with the deformation of the model. Ryan makes a good point that you can not do anything without the power of money. You can't get anywhere in the world without it. As he goes on with this issue, the background also becomes more deformed and washed out. Documentaries can be powerful and more entertaining than one would think (especially animated ones). The real Ryan

Octopus Animation

So I tried to find the video we watched in class the other week about the octopus with the tree head. I couldn't find it via youtube or any search engines, mainly because I couldn't remember the name. Anyway I found this video result on YouTube while searching and decided to blog on it about the issues we discussed in class. I would guess it's French and made on a higher budget. It is a very good quality animation and seems like something Pixar would do. It's original, gets to the point, flows nice, keeps you wanting to know more, and deals with real life issues. The film has 3 main characters, a human and 2 octopi. It's very likely that one model and rig was made and just duplicated with a colour change. The rigging of the tentacles and the human would take a long time. Personally all the rigs I've tried to make (In Carrara7, Cheetah3D, and Blender) end up completely destroying the mesh object and won't function properly, even after following tutorials on IK constraints. The backgrounds consisted of many buildings which could be easily duplicated an altered as well. There isn't any dynamic fur/hair or heavy cloth simulation to deal with, but water is prevalent. I would imagine the outside lighting would be a challenge to get right. There is no talking in the film, just one scream, so lip-syncing isn't an issue. I sat in on a film class when I was checking out Asbury University in Kentucky. I remember the professor discussing a summary of the following: Every film must contain verisimilitude to be successful. That is the appearance of being real and actually happening. It allow us as viewers to empathize with the characters we see and know their struggles or other issues they encounter in the film.

QUIZ 2 BLOG

"The Man Who Planted Trees" reminded me of an old "Johnny Apple Seed" cartoon I used to watch when I was about 5 years old (hard to believe that was almost 15 years ago). Both the old man in "The Man Who Planted Trees" and Johnny plant trees for the majority of their lives, adding to God's miraculous world of flora. Johnny's were fruit bearing and I believe the old man might of had both. Other minor characters in each story did not realize that all the trees were planted by man and not just conjured up by nature. We do not know if the old man had a religious background. I can't remember if Johnny did either, however it did show him planting trees in a 'heaven' like dimension. Everyone has a sense of good in them whether they know it or not. It makes me realize that every person can do a simple act such as planting a seed, repeating the process, and moving on to the next plot of land, to greater influence the world and inspire those who live in it. I hope one day that through my study at Huntington University that I can help impact the film industry for God's greater glory.

Ender's Game

The other night I saw Ender's Game. It was a great Sci-Fi movie that was better than I originally thought. The trailer didn't really explain the plot well enough. I haven't read any of the books. There were a few things the movie didn't fully explain; such as the fact that all the simulations he was running were actually the real battles. However, we do find out that the last battle was real. It ends with the audience hanging and wanting to know more. I found this behind the scenes clip on YouTube. I didn't realize they used CG for their bodies in the Zero-G shots. I don't think I would have a strong desire to see the film if it was all CG. I prefer seeing real actors in this case. One thing I'm noticing in a lot of sci-fi or futuristic movies recently, is that they all have the same style of technology. Oblivion, Hunger Games, and Iron Man all have this flat but 3D, transparent, projected interface where the user swipes the air to translate the UI. It's better than the old Star Trecks but I feel they need to invent something new. Overall I thought it was very well executed.

Pixar I was happy to watch many of Pixar's animated shorts today and relive a part of my childhood. It fascinates me to see what they come up with next. Their stories and the way they tell them work greatly for them. (The only one I've not seen is Cars 2. I heard it was their least greatest.) The Blur Studio short I didn't care for. I wasn't very captivated and it took a while to develop their exposition. Pixar seems to get right to the point and deliver. The short "Knick Knack" dives right in and tells of a snowman trapped in a snow-globe wanting to hangout with the rest of the 'Hawaii' collection. I notice that each film's methods seem to get richer. Toy Story and A Bug's Life used solid shapes that had a shiny or rough texture to them. In Monster's Inc. They dove into fur. Like Prof. Leeper stated they didn't really deal with 'people' until "The Incredibles". In that film they also dealt with fabric and hair. I remember watching a behind the scenes clip showing how difficult it was to make Violet's hair collide with objects around and not go straight through them. I find it pretty cool how Pixar's implements 'Easter Eggs' in each of it's movies. A113: the room number John Lasseter studied animation in at CalArts Beach girl from "Knick Knack" has a cameo in "UP" The famous Pizza Planet Truck (One thing I have wondered during production is how different people, animating the same character for different shots, keep the character's 'style of motion' the same. I could see basic walk/run and other cycles being used, but overall throughout the film I'm not sure.)

The Street

Today in class we watched Caroline Leaf's "The Street". I love the technique she used with water based colours on glass. I like the way she pans the "camera" around the scenes and blends her transitions so seamlessly. I enjoy the scene when the boy is swiftly sprinting through the streets and all the events taking place on his left and right. It shows how his day flies by and time still moves on. The motion is smooth and it just works. I can relate very well with the situation having 3 of my grandparents passed. The way she conveyed the crowds all gathered around, talking, mourning, and quietly standing about is a really good portrayal. The little boy was surprised at first to see so many people at his house, but he soon learns the sad truth from his parents. I understand the boy not wanting his grandmother's back room after her passing. There is just something about living in place where there is death, that becomes very uncomfortable.

Blood Brothers Reflection

Tonight I felt emotionally moved after seeing the joy on the kid's faces: knowing how happy it makes them to see others. It makes me think of how fortunate we are and to take so much for granted. I find it amazing how Rocky had such a drive and passion to sell everything he had to go make a difference in India. That is a huge commitment. I liked how the camera man was his best friend. All hand held and no tripod. It made it more of a personal experience; The camera shots got right up to the kids faces and captured all the expressions. I loved how calm and open Rocky was towards the children. He hardly lost his temper or got agitated. I felt bad for the girl who died due to lack of care. The father thought praying to some god would work, but ten days of that proved useless. At least their other child with the same disease was able to get care and lived. It is awesome how much of a impact one life can make upon tons of other lives. I would recommend this film to anyone who is planning on going into the missionary field.

Hedgehog in the Fog

Today in class we watched Hedgehog in the Fog. I was fascinated with the way Norstein brought his characters to life. The motion seemed spot on and very smooth. I have not seen a film in a long time that left me with questions as to how they pulled it off. I'm curious as to how he was able to keep the characters' motion consistent while having the elements such as the fog remain undisturbed. I couldn't decide whether he shot this with an overhead camera leaving everything flat on a table, or if he had them upright. There was a scene where the hedgehog is laying on his back floating down a river. I wonder how Norstein was able to keep the water's appearance unaltered as he made the hedgehog's eyes blink, or allow the hedgehog to come into contact with water without ruining the puppet. I was thinking that perhaps he attached a stick to the puppet and had him a layer behind the river. There is also a giant tree whose bark looks very realistic. I'm not sure if he used a real tree or parts of bark to achieve that effect. The film overall was brilliantly done!

MUTE

So I came across this little animated short today during my typical perusing of the tech site Gizmodo. I believe the film is trying to say that we shouldn't conform to society. We shouldn't be afraid to stand out and make some noise, let our voices be heard, and give our own opinion. We should not be worried about what others think of us and not be afraid to try new things (I don't recommend re-enacting this one). It also shows that people will go to extremes do get what they want; In this case, slicing your face with various materials to make audible noise. Perhaps the clip suggests that too much silence is a bad thing. We as humans need sound to communicate and make sense of the world around us. The animation contains simple, round shaped characters to make their point. Cartoons do not have to be made of fancy graphics to be enjoyed.

The Prince Of Egypt

A few hours ago I just watched Dreamworks' The Prince Of Egypt. I was contemplating how Moses would have actually reacted to finding out he was a Hebrew. The movie did a great job showing his confused and overwhelmed state. He dashes to the temples and searches the pictographs for answers; only to find the horrible truth of how Pharo ordered the death of thousands. I felt very moved by the music this time around. I was at least 8 since I'd last seen it. The music was so beautifully orchestrated and the vocals very empowering. I will admit it almost made my eyes water. It amazes me how movie scores can yield that powerful effect. I was also impressed by the combination of 2D and 3D animation that occurred. It was made in 1999 and it still looks like it could have been made a few years ago. I loved the "smoke/mist" effects used in the first plague of turning the Nile to blood and the tenth plague of the angel of death. My overall impression of the movie, Simply captivating...