Serious Time #34 The Drones are Taking Over!

For years people have wanted to get their beautiful shots of a city but just didn't have any of the cash or resources to pull if off. Well now you can with drones. Drones are basically tiny quad copters with a camera on them, that being said they're really cool. With drones the sky is the limit, you can basically capture any shot you want, but it's going to take some practice. To get good shots you will need a steady hand and a good familiarization with your drone, practice makes perfect. Once you get that part down you can start practicing and experimenting what kind of shots you can get, the result of this is awesome. This kind of filming is only getting more and more popular as the days go on. People are using them to make short films and some using them to make set up shots in bigger productions. They even have film festivals specifically for drones in some places.The future for drones and films is looking bright.

This was a pretty cool article, it was a nice new take on how film is evolving. I myself have shot with a drone before, my friend owns one, and it was actually really cool. It wasn't too hard to get the hang of it either. The coolest part about flying one was probably how high it could actually go, almost up to the clouds. In the end the shots looked really good, that being said this makes me really excited for the future of film making. Another plus about this article was that it was pretty straight forward. This article applies to the animation side of Digital Media. Overall great article.

Serious Time #33 Decisions

You will have many situations thrown at you in life that require a decision. Decisions decide and determine many things. They can decide whether you work at McDonald's or not work a day in your life, it's pretty crazy when you think about it. This can come up a lot in animation and a decision that is almost made right away is whether to just excel in your strengths or try something else. The normal thing people will do is just center the animation on their strengths, this is not always true though. Think about this for a second, what is your strength? and how do you know it is your strength if you never challenged it? This doesn't mean that you should change your unique style, but instead means you should challenge yourself. This also gives you the option to adapt to other audiences. You have to be multi-skilled as an animator to really excel. 

This was a pretty good article, it was short and very interesting. I feel this article makes you really question yourself to what your strengths are and are not. I just love the questions this article brings up. It also makes the great point that you have to try new things so you can adapt. This kind of reminds me of people going from 2-D animation to 3-D animation. That being said there was not really anything that I really didn't like in that article. The article was straight forward as well which was also a plus. This applies to the animation part of Digital Media. Overall a very thought provoking article.

Weekly Comments #18

This week was pretty good week. I got a lot of work done and finally finished my 3-D short I think it's pretty good and I am looking forward to everyone seeing it. I also started on my new project Rotomagic. I think it's going to be really cool  and I think the work will be worth it. Nothing really bad happened to me this week, so that's good. Overall pretty great week.

Here is the Link of the Week:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKlr_dE7u9U
This weeks link is a cool top ten darkest moments in Disney movies and I agree with the list. I really didn't know what else to post so this is it. Hope you enjoy!

Serious Time #32 A Video a Day Keeps the Doctor Away

All filmmakers should film something everyday, here are six reasons why. One reason is to become very familiar with your equipment, if you film once a day you won't forget the stuff you have already learned which makes your films better. Another reason to film every day is for practice because as everyone knows practice makes perfect. Also filming everyday leads to experimentation which allows you to discover new ways to film. Other reasons to film everyday are to identify strengths and weaknesses, make a habit, and to find inspiration. All of these reasons are great practice and can lead to something bigger.

This was an okay article, it had good points for why filming everyday is good. I didn't agree with it though. Even though the article had good points it just didn't have enough of them for me. I can see why people would film everyday but I just want to know this, what do these people film? Please tell me what is so captivating that you would feel the need to film something everyday. If you can find something interesting to film everyday and you also have the time for it then good for you, but I just can't see it being practical. That is just my opinion though, I liked the article still I thought it was an interesting concept, I just don't agree with it. This article was toward the film side of Digital Media. Overall descent article.

Serious Time #31 Did Somebody Say Magic? Yes

Animation is like a puzzle, it takes more then one piece, one of those pieces is music. Music is almost always an essential part of any kind of animation whether its just music, sound, or voice. One important thing for music in animation is music as timing. A good example for this is when musical timing works in parallel with the performance timing. This gives more entertainment and character to the animation. Music and pacing is also really important, this works well with or without audio. You can also change the audiences experiences using texture, contrast and repetition. If you want to get the audience used to something the use repetition, if you want to surprise them then use contrast and texture. Having a character acting out to what the music is doing or the opposite is very effective as well, they both work well together and brings more entertainment to the scene. All of these together can make an amazing work of art.

This was a pretty good article. It taught about how important music and sound can be to the scene. It wasn't that long either but it was very informative and it will help with the editing of my 3-D short. I would just like to know what was so funny about that guy acting like he was playing the drums. I understood what he was doing but I still didn't find it funny, that's just me though. This was relevant to both sides of Digital Media. Overall solid article.

Weekly Comments #17

This week we didn't really learn a whole lot, we just had work days which was really great for my animation. That being said I am now done with animation and I am working on editing now, so that's cool. Something that is worrying me at the moment is whether anyone will understand my 3-D short, I think people will but it is still in the back of my mind. I am also looking forward to seeing everyone's short, they are looking good.

Here are the Links of the Week:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmWNk1laJA0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkEvbOsr138
When I was in elementary school I watched a web series called Eddsworld. If you have never heard of it was a great show that started on new grounds to end up working it's way up to becoming an actual show on TV. The first link is one of their earlier episodes and also one of there best, so check it out. Also some other really good episodes are Zombie Nation, Ruined, Hello Hellhole, and the Halloween Special. The second link is a bit of a downer though. If you used to watch the show and don't already know Edd Gould, the creator of the show, was battling cancer for 6 years. In 2012 at the age of 24 Edd died of cancer I was really sad when I found out about this on my birthday that year that the one who made me laugh all those years was gone. If you want to watch a great send off video for Edd Gould then click the second link. R.I.P Edd Gould 1988-2012.

Serious Time #30 Bounce!

Lighting is a crucial element in making a scene. While most people use direct lighting sometimes it can make harsh shadows or make the scene too bright, the solution is bounce. Bouncing lights is a good and easy way to adjust the lighting of your scene to give the look that you want. Bouncing a light off of a wall can give you a bright but less harsh view on the scene. Another way to bounce a light is to take a reflector and bounce light off of that. This lets you have more control of where the light is going without making the scene too bright by directly casting the light on it. One more simple method that you can use is to bounce the light off of the ceiling. this gives you a nice ambient light to the scene that provides even lighting everywhere. Be careful though not to set the light to close to the ceiling as it can burn it if the light is powerful enough.

This article was great. I really thought this article was interesting and useful, it teaches you so much in only nine minutes. I never knew that you could just change lighting that easily and how much of a difference it can make. I think I would use the ceiling trick the most, I just like the even lighting. I just want to know what that reflector was made out of, I think it was paper but I'm not sure. This is relevant to the film side of Digital Media. Overall awesome and useful article.

Serious Time #29 SPONGEBOB!!!!!!

In the new Spongebob film Spongebob isn't just 2-D he is 3-D as well. The people making the movie wanted to make the characters in 3-D but still keep the same kind of feeling they had in 2-D. The answer to this was interesting, they took the 2-D characters and added a slight texture to make them look less digital. They used Sub-Surface scattering to give flashiness to the characters when they were tiny. For some of the live action parts they would have cardboard cutouts so the actors could visualize where Spongebob and his friends were. The makers of the movie also used a lot of different reflections and lighting to make the characters look more real. They also explain that the reason 2/3 of the movie is 2-D was to make authentic like the show and then have something new at the end. Cel shading was also used for Spongebob because they said he didn't move or look right with CG.

Not gonna lie I thought this was going to be one of my favorite articles, well that opinion changed pretty fast after reading this but before I go forward just remember I am harsh but fair. The big problem with this article was the fact that it was so obvious and boring, let me explain. In the article they talk about how they animated the Spongebob characters in 3-D. That was fine until they restated the exact same process that they used about five times. It got so boring and frustrating I felt like I was being taught how to count for the first time. It's good to tell people how this happened but there is no need to act like they can't understand what they are reading. I also think that if you run out of different information you shouldn't restate the same. I just had to get that out of the way. now to what I liked. The beginning was pretty interesting, it was just the end that re-stated stuff. I learned that they used a lot of textures to make them more real and even a little cel shading. The article itself, even though too long and boring, was pretty straightforward. This article was relevant to both sides of Digital Media. Overall meh article.  

Weekly Comments #16

This week we learned about audio and lip sync in Maya. It was pretty straightforward but seemed a bit time consuming. That being said I feel bad for anyone that is doing lip sync for the project so good luck. The rest of the week all we did was have work days so it was a pretty good week. One thing I liked that happened this week is that I am almost done with my 3-D Short Project. At this point I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's 3-D short. I only have the last part to do and then I'm done. For the first time I don't feel rushed during a project, but that might change soon. One thing I didn't like this week though was the fact that I had the chance to go to the illusionists, a really great magic show that only happens every 6 years I believe (may not be right), and I couldn't go because of issues and plans throughout the day.

Here is the Link of the Week:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Vl26paBRIE

This is a trailer for the illusionists show. You might understand after watching this why I'm salty about this. Also keep in mind that the trailer is 3 years old so it may be a little outdated but still it's pretty cool.   

Serious Time #28 Film Editing Good and Bad

How do you tell if film editing is bad or good? That is the question today. Oscar wining film editors explain tell tale signs whether the editing is good or bad. They say that they always try to make it so that the audience doesn't notice the editing, they just try to stay out of the way. If you are immersed in a film then the film editor did a great job because he didn't take you out of the action in which also makes the movie more memorable. The editor technically controls your mind in the movie, they decide whether you are immersed or not. This is the difference between good film editing and bad.

This article/video was pretty short but it was still informative. It tells you what the differences between what good and bad editing is. I liked this article for the reason quick and to the point, but I didn't get anything out of it because I already knew everything that was stated in the article/video. I have also only have seen one of the films in the video and that was Whiplash, which made me think about how good the editing was in it because you are immersed and engaged the whole time throughout that movie. That being said I guess I learned a little bit from this article but not a whole lot. This is more towards the film side of Digital Media. Overall pretty good article.

Serious Time #27 Creature Animation and You

Creature animation can be pretty important if you wan't to be a big animator someday, here are three reasons why creature animation is so important. Reason #1 it helps a lot with getting a job. There are a lot of job opportunities for animators, but it all depends on their preference for whether or not they have the job. If the animator that is looking for a job is only looking for one thing that can severely limit the job offers and opportunities. Studios are looking for variety, that is why ignoring other styles of animation can be bad. That is why you should use creature animation for that added variety. This leads to Reason #2 Variety is not a bad thing. Learning creature animation can only help, it wont prevent you from working on other styles and will give you more experience and round out your skills a bit more. Finally reason #3 is that there is really no specific kind of animator. Sure there are many different types of animation but there is only one type of animator and that is you. You have your own style, likes, and dislikes, this is why there is not a specific type of animator because we are all different. So give creature animation a try it can't hurt.

So this article was good for many different reasons. It was informative, short, and interesting all at the same time. I am actually really glad I saw this to get an edge up and to have more variety in a demo reel. That being said I really didn't dislike anything about this article. I learned that variety i a demo reel is very important which I am definitely going to keep in mind. This article is mainly focused on the animation side of Digital Media. Overall great article.    

Weekly Comments #15

Well this week was pretty cool. My school had a snow day and that was awesome it gave me an extra day to relax. I saw Whiplash this week which was the highlight for me, I think that it was the best movie of 2014 and I highly recommend it. Class this week though was pretty good though it was all work days which I like because I get a lot done. We also got some pizza which is cool. The thing I didn't really like this week was the award show just for the fact that it was boring and it took time out of my project, but it was cool too see who won the class project. I'm just looking forward to the independent study, I think I have a cool idea for that.

Here is the Link of the Week:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ewH2rEcAnM
This is the game I have been looking forward to for a long time, and the date is slowly approaching when it will be released and I can't wait. It just looks so awesome so definitely take a look at this one when it hits the shelves.