Weekly Comments #11

This week we didn't learn a whole lot except 3-d math, which I already knew from a class I took in school, It's pretty easy. I'm starting to get more excited for 3-D and finally see if I'll like 2-D or 3-D more. One thing that is frustrating me is time, and it's running out for the project, I have been working a lot at home on it to make up for Mondays class since I won't be there. Other then that great week.

Here is your link of the week:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVAgTiBrrDA

This is the reason I will not be here Monday I am seeing The Hobbit marathon leading up to this movie, can't wait!

See you guys later, peace!

Serious Time #21 Let's All Just Make Stuff and Fall Asleep

Pendleton Ward, this is the name of the creator of Adventure Time, the hit Cartoon Network TV show. Adventure Time is about a boy named Finn and a dog named Jake who go on adventures together, I know sounds silly right? But, actually it was pretty ingenious being able to relate to people young and old. Sadly Ward has now left. He says that it was too much pressure for him and he just couldn't take it anymore, so he left after season 5 of the show. Ward explains that he was never the guy who liked attention and has a comfort zone that he doesn't like being broken. He says that he'd rather sketch then talk to people. Which is why he ended up leaving. He said that he would rather make stuff and fall asleep.

So lets just all make stuff and fall asleep shall we? We have two great things stuff and sleep what could be better? Oh I know creating one of the most widely popular animated series on TV right now. I understand that he was pressured and started going crazy, I get that. But that one little thing he said just made me lose all empathy or whatever it is I felt for him. Saying that just makes it sound like this"Okay guys I made a lot of money! Time to move on to something else!" "Ward what are you going to do next?" they say, " Well you know... stuff." "That's it?" they reply, "Well you know I'll sleep too.". Seriously? Come on man! Now I know he said he would work on a movie, but I doubt it. Anyone with an attitude like that won't get much done. But it's okay because he has enough money to set him up for life probably, so good for him (sarcasm). Well now that my rant is done the rest of my thoughts. I did like the article even though it made me like the creator less, it was very interesting to delve into the mind of Pendleton Ward. I have now learned who that random guy in the crowd was based off of in that on episode so yeah that's cool, I guess. I do disagree what they said about his desk, in that pic. they showed his office looked very nice and cool. This is more relevant to the more animation side of Digital Media. Overall meh article.  

Serious Time #20 SFX vs. VFX

SFX is better! No VFX is better! This is the argument people tend to get caught up in when bringing up effects in general. They are both great in movies, one is not better then the other, they both have their pros and cons. Lets get into definitions, SFX is are practical effects, ones that are actually in the given space. VFX are virtual or CGI which are effects animated and put in the given space in post. Though both different one is not better then the other. For example, SFX has been used in many great instances the main one being Jurassic Park. Jurassic Park didn't just make them look good they also made you feel immersed and more "realistic". Why? Because the dinosaurs were actually there, and you could tell because they were puppets and not animated what so ever. The downsides are that you use them limited because of their sensitive angles and in some cases require more work then CGI or VFX. VFX is great which they use in a lot of today's modern movies a good example would be The Hobbit Trilogy, almost everything is CGI, this isn't bad when used correctly like Peter Jackson does in The Hobbit. One instances where there was bad CGI was I am Legend the dark seekers in this movie weren't all that great, none of it looked real, to fix this problem they could have just had a few actors play as them. Good directors with good tools make good movies, crappy directors with good tools still make crappy movies.

I liked this article just by reading it I could imagine hardcore fan boys mashing their keyboards in rage, which is funny because there isn't that much to get mad about. Like I said above they both have their advantages and disadvantages. Still others I know will disagree. Honestly if I had to choose between CGI or Puppets I would probably choose CGI in most cases just because that's my preference. One of the cases I wouldn't choose CGI would have to be an Alien reboot or something of the sorts to give it that classic or original feel. This article was pretty straight forward that being said I didn't learn nothing new. This is relevant to both classes of Digital Media. Overall entertaining article.  

Weekly Comments #10

We didn't really learn to much this week to be honest, just a lot of work days for our animation. 3-D is what I wan't to learn in the future. My fire frustrated me and made me happy at the same time. It frustrated me because it took forever to get it right but in the end it ended up looking really solid.

Here is the link of the week!
https://www.toonboom.com/community/video-tutorials/glow-effect-1-2
This is what I used to figure out glow, it's a really good video!

Until next time, peace!

Serious Time #19 Animation and $$$

Animation has been an art form practiced for decades, but does it pay off? Shrek was one of the first animated films to win an award in its own category. Being one of the first ones recognized. Before animation would just be basically put in the "other" category. This is where money becomes a factor. Animation can cause something called box office magic, which means making a lot of money in the box office. To do box office magic you need a movie that appeals to all ages. A good recent example of this is Big Hero 6 which made 56.22 million at the box office in November. The animation industry is growing and it shows with the demand for more animators rising, which equals more money. Overall good news for the future of animation.

This was a great article, being very factual and short at the same time. I liked how it showed the box office and that Big Hero 6 made the most money that month. I was curious about how much my favorite animated movie this year made, How to Train Your Dragon 2, finding out that it made $176,983,845 that's a lot of money and that's only the domestic total making $618,890,011 worldwide. I never realized how well some animated movies do in terms of money. This is more relevant towards the animation side of Digital Media. Overall awesome article.

Serious Time #18 Techniques For Creating Depth

All depth in film is just an illusion. Movies just trick the eyes making you think there is depth. These are five good techniques on how they do it. First up lighting and shading, this method works like this, the higher the lighting contrast the deeper it appears in the film. The exact opposite of this works too, the softer it is the more round the subject will appear. Focus is another great technique people use to create depth. Focusing from objects in the front to objects in the back can show the distance between objects. One of the best things to use is perspective. Perspective gives a lot of control on ways to use it, and also happens discreetly. For example, how far away the horizon appears, and also placement of camera which creates even more depth. Next is parallax, this is when objects that are closer to the camera move faster then objects farther away. The last and one of the most important techniques is occlusion. Occlusion is just simply putting someone in the foreground  to cover someone in the background. This shows a lot of depth especially when combined with others.

I thought this article/video was interesting, it had a lot of good points that I never really thought about before. For one I never noticed how many of these were actually used in films. I also never knew the correct terms for these things, and now I do. Also I never saw depth as an illusion until now, I guess I've just never thought about it before. This is more relevant to the video side of digital media but can still be applied to the camera in animate pro. Overall eye opening article.

Weekly Comments #9

This week was great and overall very productive. First of all I finished all of my dialogue for my 2-D short and finally finished my cutout animation, which I really like. We also learned about special effects which was cool and just adds to what cool things to experiment with in the program. That being said nothing really frustrated me this week. I am now starting to look forward to 3-D more now that we are almost done with 2-D.

Here's the link of the week!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjh35bEZLLc&list=UUsn6cjffsvyOZCZxvGoJxGg
This is a cool video showing a top down perspective and this is what I want to learn next year in film. I also reminds me a bit of Hotline Miami.

Thanks for reading! Peace!

Serious Time #17 Foley

Sounds are crucial in movies they make a scene feel alive and vivid, but half of them don't actually take place not in the scene there actually in but in post-production. There are three types of sound; ambiance, library effects, and foley. Ambiance is the sound in the background like birds chirping or a restaurant bustling, these are usually recorded in the same location but not on scene. Library effects are pre-recorded sounds that you can get with or without purchase, these are typically used with sounds like gunshots, explosions, or glass. Foley is the sounds specifically assigned to the character such as footsteps, cloth movement, and prop noise. Vodville is the source of these effects which is where the rimshot came from. Vodville began to die out so it was then replaced by radio broadcasts and talking pictures. Radio especially making their own sound effects from everyday objects. Music can also in some ways be considered a sound effect setting the mood with what is happening or what the character is thinking. Sound duties are mixed into 3 different categories; dialogue mixer, music mixer, and sound effects mixer. All of these people get together with the director and watch the film to see what goes where with their specific job. Now there are plenty of props to make sounds with an example being celery being used as bones breaking. Sound is an important part of any film and is a necessity too.

I thought that the video was good but it was I feel way to long. I don't need to know Jack Foley's life story I'm watching the video for sound not a biography. Other then that the video was great, I especially liked when they showed the old process of radio broadcasts. Radio broadcasts must have been very stressful with so much going on at once and the pressure of being live. I learned about some the items they use for sounds which is cool too, like saran rap as fire. Overall this was a very factual video with a lot of great info at hand.          

Serious Time #16 References

Animators use references all of the time. They use them for guidance and help in visual aid, and even connect the dots for us every once in a while. Animators use them for techniques such as rotoscoping. The article goes through references of photography and how it shows the realistic form of movement. How a golf ball squashes and stretches all the way to a baseball photography is a great resource for reference. The article then goes into a means of reference I have never thought of using, comics. He goes on to say how great it is for seeing poses because of how many there are in comic books, he also mentions films are a great source of reference too. The next thing is a reference library, making reference videos yourself are great if your looking for a certain specificity for reference. This is especially useful when working with characters and dialogue. The article then states that when working with references you should study them and also to never copy. Remember animation is an art, not math.

I for one found this article particularly interesting. Sure I already knew some of it, but the article still delivered it in a way that wasn't boring or in other words short and sweet. I also learned about how good comic books are for references. I never noticed how many poses there were in a comic book I guess I never thought about it when reading one. Other then that I believe the article was very straight forward. This is relevant to both the animation and the film aspect of Digital Media. Overall solid article.    

Serious Time #15 Baymax's Potential in The Future

Baymax is a robot in Big Hero Six. He is not your typical metal heavy robot though, instead a big and soft robot. He is basically a balloon and was inspired by a robot arm made through soft robotics at CMU. This shows how close Baymax can actually be real. The only thing holding this back is the fact that we don't have the tech. yet or any full versions of a soft body robot. If one was made though it would probably be used for medical purposes because of the fragile type of environment. But hey maybe in a few decades this will be possible.

This was a pretty good article. I've noticed that the articles this week were all about things in movies becoming a reality. Coincidence? I think not! But its cool because these articles were very interesting, this one especially. I really think this is a cool idea that has a lot of potential for the future and is a lot more convenient then a big hulking piece of metal. I didn't even know this was a thing till today. But this was overall a great article more relevant to the animation side of Digital Media.

Thanks for reading piece!

Serious Time #14 The Wonderful World of Science Fiction!

This article was a about the actual possibilities of means of survival if we are placed in the situation of the movie Interstellar. Interstellar is a movie based on the idea of earth becoming to a point where it is uninhabitable and we have to find a place to live outside of our solar system. The threat to earth in the movie is this dust that kills crops, this means no food. This could actually happen if Ug99 gets out of control. To ensure the survival of the human race we would have to try to find a home outside of the solar system or go Interstellar. The only way this could be possible is if we could somehow make or find and go into a wormhole, which is basically a shortcut through space. But, this is only theoretical no one will know for sure what will happen. The article also showed how they made a black hole in the movie, the cool thing about it is that that is what a real black hole is supposed to look like. They figured out this from Einsteins theories, which I don't understand.

All right, all right, all right, come on someone had to say it for peed sake its Matthew McConaughey! But seriously I heard this is a good movie so I am definitely looking forward to seeing it especially after reading this article. First of all the black hole thing that they did was one of the coolest things I have ever seen in visual effects, this was the highlight of the article. The other thing that was cool about this article is that it showed me all the possibilities that this movie shines light on which is interesting, we haven't had a realistic apocalypse movie in a while. This really makes me wonder how accurate this movie would be if we were actually under the same circumstances.This is more relevant to the video side of Digital Media.

Thanks for reading peace!    

Weekly Comments #8

This week we didn't really learn much, it was pretty much a work week. That being said we did a lot of work. We had to work on our storyboards for final project and a cutout animation (which I am still working on). Getting my storyboard finally done made me happy though. I am really looking forward to going to Daemon College next week. Nothing really frustrated me this week.

Some cool links!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuaNuBp09Gk&list=UUWXCrItCF6ZgXrdozUS-Idw
This a new show on youtube that is being released weekly, it has some good animation and style, enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pMUWNSvFrQ&list=UUOfQ6AvnnfzjyBYJihTuzgQ
This is just a genius video that I thought had to be shared, genius!

Thanks for reading! Peace!

Serious Time #13 Great tips for storyboarding from Dreamworks

Dreamworks gives some great tips on storyboarding. The first is avoid flat staging unless necessary, this makes for an uninteresting storyboard. Set a grid and use different grounds to keep the character grounded and to create depth. Logically group characters to make shots a lot easier. More of these include using different shots to show height, dialogue, and reactions. Last but not least motivate your cuts, without motivation your cuts are uninteresting and bland. Motivation also gives a lot more light in your characters and animation. Storyboards are a very important step in animation.

This article was great it gave a lot of good and important tips on storyboarding. I especially like the last tip about motivation which is also the most important in animation especially. I learned a lot of new things more importantly how to group characters to make shots easier. One thing that I am wondering is if they do storyboards for non- animated films. This is relevant to the animation side of digital media.

Serious Time #12 OH SO SPOOOOKY!

This video dives into the mind of horror and describes reasons why we watch and like horror films. Scary movies have fear triggers which can make us scared. The amygdala is the fear part of the brain, but is surprisingly not affected by these movies which technically means we're not scared of horror movies at all. 3 things that make up a scary movie are tension, relevance, and unrealism, all of these are key factors in a horror movie. People actually would rather watch a scary movie then a scary doc. This is because of how we know that when we walk into the theater that it is just a movie and fictional, this gives the viewers a sense of ease. There are also a bunch of unfinished theories of why we watch horror movies. One is the excitation transfer theory which is a belief that the negative feelings throughout the movie intensify positive feelings at the end when the victim wins, but this isn't always the case. Another is the disposition alignment theory which is how we like to see the characters get killed because they deserve it. More theories include horror films being a reflection on societal fears, gore watching, thrill watching, independent watching, and problem watching. Still none of these say why we like scary movies. The truth is there is no definite answer on why we like/watch horror movies because everyone watches them for different reasons. Always remember where there is no imagination there is no horror.

Wow this was a nice change of pace for Halloween. I really enjoyed this video it was very interesting, so interesting that I had to take notes. There are a lot of aspects to horror and I am glad that the video included pretty much all of them. I had to watch this a couple of times actually because of all the info. they give. I also learned a lot of new theories on why we watch horror movies.I also like how there was a theory for each type of individual. This relevant to the video aspect of digital media. Overall solid article.

Weekly Comments #7

HELLO ALL YOU LOVELY FACES AND WELCOME TO MY BLOG! I'M PRESSED FOR TIME SO LETS GET STARTED!

This week learned how to lip-sync and use the camera. I never knew that the camera on animate pro could make the world look s much more 3-Dimensional, when you use it correctly. I also had to do some more research on lip-sync to get the grasp of it, but I think I have it down now. I still really want to learn cutout animation to see the difference and if it is easier then drawing the characters frame by frame. One thing that frustrated me this week was the 11 second club, more specifically mine. First of all that audio clip was terrible because no matter what you did it had to have something to do with a car being eaten, which means not a lot of creativity to go on. I for one thought my idea for the 11 second club was good and somewhat creative, that wasn't the problem though. The problem was how I couldn't show the idea's justice, no matter how hard I tried I could not get it to look good. I really wish i could find my own style I really feel stuck in the middle between rough and garbage, but hopefully I'll find it soon enough. One thing that made me happy this week was the space ship project. That was a project I really enjoyed and showed how to use the camera properly, which i will apply in the future. Despite the 11 second club, descent week.

Two links of interest this week both from a movie I can't wait to see.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8kYDQan8bw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvMCtCgDLtg

GOT TO GO PEACE!

Serious Time #11 Eyelines and Framing = Interesting

Eyelines and framing are used in movies to show dominance and weakness. The article shows this example by a clip from "Silence of the Lambs". This clip is a great example of how camera shots set the mood of the scene shifting from one characters perspective to another showing different motives. For example when the camera is looking down on one and up on another it means that the character that the camera is looking up on is controlling the scene. Another example is when two characters are looking into the camera directly they are in a stand-off fighting for control of the scene. In scenes these happen back and forth usually without the audience even knowing. Just remember there is always so much more that is said than the dialogue suggests.

This article really surprised me! This has to be one of the most interesting ones yet! I never realized how much the camera can tell the story more than the actual dialogue itself. This article also made me want to watch "Silence of the Lambs" which I have not seen yet. I also really liked the fact that this article is very short, sweet, and to the point. Overall great article.

Well I hope you have all enjoyed this weeks Serious Time! Hope you all have enjoyed and I will see all you lovely faces later! Peace!  

Serious Time #10 Physics and Stuff

Physics, only one of the most important parts of animation. Without physics we wouldn't be able to have animation look realistic at all, everything would just be weird and would stand out (most of the time). This is where Ron Henderson comes in. Ron is a physicist that instead of preparing a lesson at Caltech, went to go help Dreamworks with their newest and upcoming movie home. Rob is doing whatever he can to help the movie have as many realistic properties as possible. For example, Rob had to help them make bubbles in the movie, so he gave them a visual reference. He did this by giving the artists a lecture on Bubbles, where one thing they did was make a hydrogen bubble and set it on fire. This showed artists things that they were never thinking about. Rob also worked on Rise of the Guardians, Kung Foo Panda 2, and How to Train Your Dragon 2.

Before we get into anything, lets get something clear. This was boring. I want to hear more about the bubbles, not this guy named Rob life story! If your going to make an article about physics and animation then do it, but don't give it that title when the article is less then half about that. That being said the only interesting part of this article was the lecture on the bubbles. The lecture sounded really cool and interesting, too bad there wasn't more of it! I only learned about how hydrogen bubbles explode into fire and the fluid motion of them, so not a whole lot.

Well anyways that was another Serious Time/Boring Time. I hope you have all enjoyed and I will see all you lovely faces later! Peace!    

Weekly Comments #6

HELLO EVERYONE AND WELCOME TO MY BLOG! AS ALWAYS CAPS ARE WELCOME! WITHOUT ANY FURTHER ADO LETS GET STARTED!

I learned something Iv'e wanted to learn for a while and that's sound. Sound has to be one of the most important factors in movies/ games. Without sound there be no music, dialogue, tension etc. which are all super important. So I'm really happy about learning that. Honestly the only thing I wan't to learn now is cutout HINT HINT. Also it was a 4 day week yay!

AS ALWAYS YOUR LINK OF THE WEEK!
http://www.extra-life.org/
No not a video but something worth your time. Extra life is a gaming charity fundraiser that happens at twitch, which is a livestream website for games, this week they did a big livestream operation in where gamers raise money for the kids. This event happens yearly and is a great thing in the gaming community. I love that the gaming community has the power to do this, it show just how much we can do. Thank you for sticking around for this and I will see all you lovely faces later peace!

For the kids!

Serious Time #9 10 Insights from Creature Animator of Game of Thrones and Guardians of the Galaxy

Nicole Herr creature animator of Game of Thrones, Guardians of the Galaxy, and more gives 10 insights about her experiences in animation. She answers questions from "how long she has been a professional animator for" to "what is the workflow of animating a creature shot". She also explains the process of animating the dragon from Game of Thrones. Nicole said that for the commercial the rig was well thought out and therefore it was very smooth to animate. She also shared the references she uses when animating the dragons. For a big dragon she'll use a pelican and condor and for a small ones she uses humming birds and bats. Nicole also being a mentor gives tips on animating like don't overcomplicate your shot, plan your shot, and remember to always give the creature some character. Lastly, Nicole finishes off by saying "The dream shot is the next one" saying that every shot is a dream shot.

I really enjoyed this article! This is because of one reason, it actually told me things that I already didn't know. Especially when she explains how to plan your shot and what to do and what not to do. I just think that this article is a great change of pace from the usual boring tip articles. That being said I also thought it was cool how many movies she worked on like, Guardians of the Galaxy, Owls of Gahool, Watchmen, and many more. Overall this was a really cool and interesting article.

Well that's the end of this serious time! Hope you have all enjoyed and I will see all you lovely faces later, peace!

Serious Time #8 How to Hide a Lav Mic.

Izzy Hyman explains 7 ways to hide a lav mic. The lav mic. is basically a small microphone that you can wear. Usually you have to wear the mic. exposed but Izzy Hyman shows  ways to hide it. In the video he explains how to hide the mic. with a suit and tie, just a suit, and a t-shirt all using the same method. The method of hiding the mic in general is to first tie a loose knot in the chord of the mic., this makes its so the mic. picks up less backround noise. Next you attach some gapher tape to the chord of the mic. so when you attach it to clothing it wont stick. After that you fold the gapher tape into a triangle with the sticky side on the outside, you do this twice and stick it to the bottom tip of the the top part of the mic. just below the grate, this is so the mic. doesn't pick up any noise from your clothes or anything else for that matter. Then he just shows you how to attach it to different pieces of clothing. For example, to hide it when the person is wearing a t-shirt you just attach it to the inside of the collar. Izzy also explains that if the one who is wearing the mic. a female you can just attach it to the center strap of her bra.

This was a cool and very useful video and I will probably use this method next year in the video class. I really liked this video it wasn't boring so I was engaged the entire time watching it. The only problem I seemed to have with it was the fact that its just one set up applied in a bunch of different ways. Don't get me wrong I'm not hating on the video, I just think that it would've been nice to add a few more setups that is all. Overall very useful/helpful video.

Well that does it for this serious time! Hope you have all enjoyed and I will see you lovely faces later,  peace!    

Weekly Comments #5

HELLO EVERYONE AND AFTER A ONE WEEK BREAK I'M READY TO GO! CAPS ALL THE WAY! NOW WITHOUT FURTHER ADO LETS GET TO THE BLOG!

This week was very interesting, and by very interesting I mean we only had class for 3 days. That being said we didn't do to much. We just critiqued and worked on our animation exercises. But it's okay especially because we'll be visiting the college Villa Maria so I'm excited for that. I'm glad I got an easy job this week, all I have to do is close and open a door. Overall pretty solid week.

NOW AS ALWAYS HERE IS THE LINK OF THE WEEK!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptc7rGXp284&list=UUbKWv2x9t6u8yZoB3KcPtnw
This is a follow up BTS for the animator vs animation if u haven't seen that click this!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VufDd-QL1c0&list=UUbKWv2x9t6u8yZoB3KcPtnw

WELL THAT DOES IT FOR THIS WEEK! HOPE YOU ALL ENJOYED AND I WILL SEE ALL YOU LOVELY FACES LATER!

Serious Time #7 Tips From Rockstar

Ian Bowden, former art director of Rockstar gives some tips to game artists. Before he states any tips he reminds everyone that what he does in't all fun and games it's mainly a job. One of the tips that Bowden gives is to watch trends but be original, watching trends is great so you know what your audience likes but you don't want it to be the same that's no good. Another tip he mentions is to always carry a sketchbook, be observant and take inspiration from the real world. A couple more that he mentions are experiment new ideas and being humble. One interesting tip that he mentions for mobile games is to keep the quality level the same and not be lazy just because its a smaller screen.

This article was very factual and a little interesting. Its very factual because of all the tips he gives but sadly I already knew half of these tips. The only tip that was interesting for me and the one that more people should follow is to not be lazy about the quality of mobile games. This is so true, people should not make the quality lower just because of a smaller screen. The thing that I'm wondering is why this guy left Rockstar, it seems like he had great art direction that's all I'm saying. This was part of the animation side of Digital Media because it gives tips on art and animation. Overall solid article. Oh almost forgot I also really liked how he mentioned how he always carry's his sketchbook with him because I can relate to that, being a magician I always have a pack of cards on me.


WELL THAT ENDS THE LAST SERIOUS TIME OF THE WEEK! I HOPE YOU HAVE ALL ENJOYED! AS ALWAYS I WILL SEE ALL YOU LOVELY FACES LATER! PEACE!

Serious Time #6 An Interesting Concept For Animation

Scientists are starting to study movies and how the human mind notices and doesn't notice things. This means they use eye tracking data to see what you are looking at and what your not. When they had people watching Iron Man 2 they found that everyone was looking at what was real and they weren't paying attention to what wasn't. For example, when the car was crashing everyone looked at the car not the CGI in the background. This is a part of visual perception, which is what the movies special effects team used a lot in that movie.

I got to say overall this was a pretty solid article. This article was short sweet and to the point. I like that in an article it doesn't bore you. But I do have to say that it doesn't take a genius to figure out why the eyes were looking at the car. I mean seriously if a car is blowing up I would look at the car not the background. I know it goes deeper then that but still come on people. That being said that was the only obvious point that i saw in the article, which also means I didn't learn a lot in this article. This is relevant to the video side of Digital Media and is relevant because it talks about how movies do certain things to capture the audiences eye.

WELL THAT IS THE END OF THIS SERIOUS TIME. AS ALWAYS I HOPE YOU HAVE ALL ENJOYED! I WILL SEE ALL YOUR LOVELY FACES LATER! PEACE!

Weekly Comments #4

HELLO THERE! WELCOME TO THE WEEKLY COMMENTS WHERE CAPS ARE ALWAYS WELCOME! WITH OUT FURTHER ADO LETS DO THIS!

We didn't learn to much this week honestly because everyday was a work day basically. I guess one thing I learned this week was how to use FPS to see how long a animation is and etc. I really want to learn key framing its just seems like it'll be so much easier, frame by frame is just to long. The ball and tail frustrated me so much this week, it's just so time consuming using frame by frame. I really enjoyed all the work days this week it was really useful.

AND AS ALWAYS YOUR LINK OF THE WEEK!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npTC6b5-yvM
THIS VIDEO ACTUALLY INSPIRED ME TO TRY THIS MYSELF AND LET ME TELL YOU ITS DIFFICULT!

WELL THAT'S IT FOR THIS WEEK HOPE YOU HAVE ALL ENJOYED! AS ALWAYS I WILL SEE YOU LOVELY FACES LATER! PEACE!

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs ALL IN YOUR FACE!

Is it a bird, a plane! No it's a meatball! Here are six design principles of animation that I observed in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs!

1.Squash an Stretch:
Squash and stretch is the idea of something... well.... squishing and stretching! When you think of this principle just think of a ball when it hits the ground squishing and when it comes back up stretching. They used this principle a lot in the movie. Two things that I found in particular in this movie was when this girl news reporter kicks the main characters eyes and the eyes then squish. Another thing I saw in this movie was when the monkey was ripping the gummy bears heads off they would stretch in the process.

2.Anticipation:
Anticipation in animation is when you see the character react to something before it happens. An example of this would be if someone is freaking out about a train going right toward them but the audience doesn't see the train that is anticipation. One example in the movie of this would be when everyone is looking at the sky because everyone is freaking out looking at the sky and you don't know why until you see the cheeseburgers are actually raining from the sky. Another example of this from the movie is when their having a ice cream/ snowball fight, when the characters wind their arms back ready to throw that's anticipation.

3.Staging:
Staging directs the audiences to the story being told. Additionally it is a shot that lets us know what is happening in the whole scene. One time they use this in the movie is in the beginning when the main character starts up the lab and it starts showing machines everywhere and scientist posters. this immediately gives you the idea that this guy is really smart.

4.Follow Through and Overlapping Action:
This principle makes things look more realistic and gives the impression that characters follow the laws of physics. They do this in many ways. One example is floppy ears and how they move when the character jumps. They use this in the movie a lot but a part specifically is when the father points at the store sign and when he stops his arm falls and flaps for a moment.

5.Timing:
Timing is how fast or how slow something happens. This is very important to animation especially when your trying to make things look realistic. This can be applied to a ball falling all the way to reaction timing. One example of this in the movie is how the airplane pilot reacts right away to the monkey touching his mustache.

6.Exaggeration:
This movie is a great example of exaggeration. Exaggeration is pretty self explanatory but is used in animation to make characters less dull. A great example of exaggeration is Ren and Stimpy and just how over the top they act and how their facial expressions are, Spongebob is a great example of this for that same reason. One example from the movie for this is the face of the main character after meeting the girl news reporter. His face is so exaggerated in this scene like his eyes being big and his mouth being wide making this a great example of exaggeration.

Well guys that's it I hope you have all enjoyed this little explanation. Have a great day and as always I will see all you lovely faces later! Peace!

Serious Time #5 Stop-Motion

Stop- motion has been a animation art for many years. The studio Laika uses stop animation in their major pictures. Laika has been responsible for movies such as Coraline and Paranorman and now their most recent, The Boxtrolls. The thing Laika wanted to do different with this movie is move out of that scary and creepy setting. Travis Knight, the lead animator of Laika and also the CEO of the company, says they wanted to do something different and not have creepy and scary their default and signature thing, so they made The Box-Trolls. Being lead animator and CEO is not all as caught up to be. Travis Knight calls it a balancing act, giving time for one thing but also having time for another, hours of animating then hours of meetings. The article also goes into how he decides to animate by hand and cg, what he re-shoots etc. Additionally in the article Adam says he knows what the next film is and says that we will dig it.

I am actually surprised at how interesting this article was. I myself wasn't looking forward to The Boxtrolls because of the reason that its a different style then Coraline and Paranorman. But now I might actually see it. I personally like how Laika has told their stories and also putting a message behind them. Being a Tim Burton fan though I do have to say I'm still a little bit disappointed, I really liked Coraline and I really want them to do a project like that again hopefully in the future.One thing I have to mention is that the article didn't bore me and that I was reading the entire thing instead of just skimming through the article, I like that. One thing I learned is just how hard and long it really takes for Laika to produce a movie because of how much they have to do. They have animating then meetings repeat everyday, I would honestly be tired of it probably. One thing I wonder is what their next project is. I really want to know and hope it has them back to their old style. This relevant to Digital Media because of the fact that it's a company about stop-motion.

I hope you have all enjoyed and I will see all you lovely faces later! Peace!

Weekly Comments #3

HELLO ONCE AGAIN! AND WELCOME TO MY BLOG! NOW LETS GET STARTED!

This week in the class we learned about physics and how to make an animated object look believable. We did this by completing exercises, such as animating bouncing balls and now were onto bowling ball and balloon exercises. I'm still looking forward to learning how to animate walking and running animations. One thing that frustrated me this week was having to basically start over my project right before the deadline, therefore handing it in unfinished. I understood why it needed to be fixed but I just wish I had more time to complete it. Whats strange about it I'm also glad that it happened just because the fact that this was a relatively small project and not a big one. I mean imagine how bad it would be if this happened to me later this year. Now I have less of a chance for this to happen for this reason because I have learned from my mistakes.

NOW THAT THAT IS OVER HERE IS YOUR LINK OF THE WEEK!
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-_6iqTxwYc
A GREAT VIDEO THAT A FRIEND SHOWED ME THAT WAS MADE FOR A ANIMATION COMPETITION. THIS ONE SHOULD WIN!

WELL THAT BEING SAID MY WORK IS DONE HERE. ALL OF YOU GUYS HAVE A GREAT DAY AND I WILL SEE ALL YOU LOVELY FACES LATER! PEACE!

Yay Documentaries! Everyone's Favorite... Not! Serious Time #4

At the Toronto International Film Festival's 2014 Doc Conference, documentary filmmaker Michael Moore gives a 13-point Manifesto for Documentary Filmmaking. These tips for Doc Filmmakers range from "Don't Tell Me Stuff I Already Know" to "Make Your Films Personal". The article also goes through how cell phone cameras is one of the worst/ best thing that ever happened and that everyone isn't a filmmaker. Moore also gives some examples of good documentaries, one of them being "Shameless Propaganda". One more great point that Michael Moore makes is to trust your emotions and use those to know how your audience might feel. Michael Moore is excited to see what is to come in the future for documentaries but also taking a moment to blame funders and distributors and also themselves for bad documentaries.

Oh my god please spare me of reading something like this again! I have to say this has to be the most boring thing that I have read in a long time. This article was terrible not just because it was boring because it was stuff I already knew. I honestly didn't know that captain obvious wrote articles! I mean seriously "Don't Tell Me Stuff I Already Know"? "Make Your Films Personal"? How much more obvious can you get? Everyone who is in the film business should already know this stuff! Which makes me not blame Michael Moore for these boring facts, I blame some of the directors today. Lets face it some of the movies people make these days are terrible. For example, Transformers 4 or as I like to call it, garbage robot fight simulator 2014. That being said Michael Moore probably thought that he had to remind the people the basics on making a movie, so I thank him for that I guess. But anyways back to the task at hand, I believe that Documentaries are one of the things that are killing the film industry, but also helping it. Now don't get me wrong I love me a good documentary, trust me I have watched plenty of them, but the problem of the fact is that people aren't following these tips. By doing this the director of the project is just digging a grave for themselves, which is something I have been seeing too much of lately and am personally sick of. On the other hand documentaries are also a great source of education, learning, and are also sometimes interesting. I don't know, take it as you will but the fact of the matter is that this is a boring but also needed article, plain and simple nothing more and nothing less.

Well now that that's over I will now watch some paint dry! Surely more entertaining then this. Just an FYI I was actually considering naming this Boring Time. Hopefully I will never have to read something like this in the future. And on that note I will see all you beautiful faces later! Peace!  

Whats with all of the Hullabaloo?! Serious Time #3

So one question I would like answered right now is, whats with all the Hullabaloo?! Hullabaloo is a project that is an animation project being made by James Lopez, Rick Farmiloe, and other experienced Disney animators. The thing about this project is they are using hand drawn 2-D animation. This is important because as the years are moving by the animation industry is beginning to change, using more CGI animation then anything else. So the goal of Hullabaloo is to start bringing 2-D animation back. That being said he did start an Indiegogo campaign to help raise money for all these animators. But don't worry they already have exceeded the amount needed to be raised by 292% with 11 days still left on the campaign. So what is Hullabaloo about? Well Hullabaloo takes place in a steampunk styled world and focuses on a female protagonist named Veronica Daring who is in search of her missing father. Well that pretty sounds good to me.

So we obviously know that this was more geared toward the animation side of the class. Now anyone who knows me knows that I love the How To Train Your Dragon movie series. That being said I also love the animation in it. But my friends also know that I am a hardcore Disney fan. That being said I am super excited for this! If they can make me feel the way i felt when I first watched Aladdin then it could very well top the How To Train Your Dragon movies. It won't top Aladdin, but it could very well be second on my list for top animation. Aladdin for me showed just how much you can do with 2-D animation which having animators from Disney making this sets the bar pretty high for me. I also gotta say I love this idea with a steampunk world, it will show what Disney can do with its 2-D style. I mean look at Bioshock Infinite if the style in the movie looks anything like that games style then its game over. I mean what else can I say, who knows it may even top Aladdin, probably not, but maybe, just maybe :). That being said, don't disappoint me!!! Live on 2-D animation! Live on!

On that note I will see all you lovely faces later! Peace!

WEEKLY COMMENT #2

HELLO ALL OF YOU LOVELY FACES AND WELCOME TO MY BLOG! WHERE OF COURSE AS ALWAYS ALL CAPS ARE WELCOME! UNTIL... 3... 2... 1!

We learned some pretty cool stuff this week. We mainly learned about design and color principles, and how important they are to the animation process. I am really hoping to start actually learning how to animate, but all good things come to those who wait! Finishing my character made me very happy this week, I'm already starting to piece together the story behind him.

WELL NO CAPS IS OVER NOW! AS ALWAYS HERE IS THE LINK OF THE WEEK!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7eBRItF_4Q&list=UUCvCHN9DaKn8ON5VxDZmyhQ
SOME GOOD QUALITY MAGIC HERE! SO GREAT HOW MAGICIANS CAN MAKE PEOPLE QUESTION REALITY!

WELL GUYS SHORT WEEKLY BLOG THIS TIME! WILL BE POSTING ANOTHER SERIOUS TIME LATER IN THE WEEK SO LOOK OUT FOR THAT! BUT UNTIL THEN I WILL SEE YOU LOVELY FACES LATER!

Serious Time #2 Some Great Tips from Animation Recruiters

This article was exactly what the title states, these are some great tips from animation recruiters. These tips range from being aware of trends to only having 30 seconds to make a good impression. The article is short and to the point and is easy to follow. For example, one of the tips were make sure your demo reel links work. Furthermore, the tips also go into just being simple, to not lose your audience, being unique because recruiters don't enjoy watching the same stuff. Make an impact, you want them to remember you, but don't be offensive and know the company that you are sending the reel to, like they say you have 30 sec. make them count. Also don't be cliche you should always try to be different, don't follow the trends. One more tip worth mentioning, be motivated. what i mean by that is don't stop animating just because one reel didn't work, keep trying eventually you'll get somewhere.

Just like the article my opinions are to simple, I liked it. You know it's a good article when you watch all of the videos and read every word on it and most importantly that you want to for that matter. This article is more toward the animation side of the digital media class but still it was very helpful and entertaining especially the videos of the reels. I just believe that you got to keep trying to get somewhere. "The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place, and I don’t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward; how much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!"- Rocky this quote is the very definition of what I believe in. Never ever give up, there is never a reason to do so. I agree on everything that was said in this article, it's all very true. I learned some new forms of comedy and how you can grip a viewer from only a 30 sec. reel.

And on that note this concludes Serious Time # 2. I hope you have all enjoyed on how I viewed this article. Next blog will be later in the week, but until then i will see all your lovely faces later. Goodbye.   

Serious Time Entry #1 "The Next Generation of Gaming"

Haven't you ever said "wow this looks so good" to your self while playing a video game, but you didn't say "man this looks so real" you just said that it looks good. This happens because of the fact that games don't look real, not yet at least. Ru Weerasuriya, CEO and creative director of the company Ready at Dawn hopes to accomplish this with The Order 1886, which is a game about a vicious war between mankind and half-breeds. They hope to accomplish this by using cinematography. What they do is replicate the attributes of physical lenses used in photography and cinematography, using this as a method to make the game look more realistic and more like a movie. This is also helped by putting in the imperfections of a lens, like lens curvature, chromatic aberration, vignette, and lens dirt being only a few examples. That being said, this method should make The Order 1886 a more consistent experience, not being able to tell from the cut scenes and the game play. The Order 1886 is scheduled to come out in 2015.

I am very excited to hear this and am really looking forward to this. So far to me it looks like the best looking game that is coming out, just proving how effective this method is. To be honest though I think this is way over due. I really don't believe that they had to wait for next gen just to use this method and that the term next gen is now being used more as an excuse then anything else at the moment. Though i am just as happy as the next guy that they are now doing this it just proves how behind the gaming industry is and how they just thought of this now, next gen or not it shouldn't matter. For example, computers have been better then consoles for a while now and have been around longer too so they didn't have to do this for next gen, if they wanted they could have used this method at anytime just proving how next gen consoles right now are starting to hold back the gaming industry right now, but I digress that is just my opinion on the matter. Anyways it looks very promising anyways and I am still looking forward to seeing more of it. Now that my tangent is over, I did happen to learn a couple more things about cinematography like the Kuleshov effect which I had just learned about now, which was just the same repeat of an emotionless face and some other different shots cut in a certain way that gives off an illusion of the face giving different emotions. This article has to do with more of the film side of digital media then the animation side and is relevant because of the fact that they are using cinematography.

Well i hope you enjoyed the first serious time entry a second one will be posted shortly so stay tuned for that. But until then i say goodbye to all you lovely faces and have a good day!  

WEEKLY COMMENT

HELLO TO ALL YOUR FACES! WELCOME TO MY BLOG! WHERE ALL CAPS ARE WELCOME! WILL I STOP TYPING IN CAPS?! yes.

This week I learned about many new ways to look at animation. I used to look at animation as this super advance thing that I would or even could ever comprehend. For a while it was totally out of my grasp, but now here I am.I gotta say when I heard my teacher say " Today we are going to be learning the history of animation" I was puzzled because I never even thought about learning it before but now I understand why and how you should always know the background of your work. Now that I am getting into the program I am starting to learn how old and different ways of animation are. I used to think that stop motion animation was the oldest method but in actuality traditional animation is one of the oldest using paper and paint as frames, that must have taken forever. In the future really hope to learn how to make animations look cleaner /more professional. By the way I have to say the amount of quizzes this week is INSANE! So annoying. But at least we actually turned the computers on this week.

Okay now that we are done with that back to ALL CAPS MODE! SO I SAW THIS REALLY COOL VIDEO THIS WEEK! YOU SHOULD REALLY CHECK IT OUT... NOW!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=205gfPP9tQE&list=UUVVYBEv1TuD850VAGBlk6og

THIS VIDEO IS A REALLY AWESOME VERSION OF MAGIC THAT'S FUNNY AND VERY VISUAL!

WELL I HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOYED MY WEEKLY BLOG AND ALSO ALL OF THE CAPS!
COME BACK NEXT WEEK FOR ANOTHER CRAZY ENTRY FULL OF CAPS! BYE!  

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