Last Lesson.

Today we learnt about the importance of matte paintings and animation as an effect in films after the other half of the batch presented their selected films. So we learnt that epic landscapes in films aren't all real, some of them hand-painted, whereas some are digitally painted and both techniques require loads of artistic focus and creativity, and it consists of many layers that builds up eventually to the final result, and they are seamless within the shot itself after it's being done. Pretty amazing stuff actually, as now we know that establishing shots within films have landscapes that can be bare and then the building is CG-ed over it. Heh.

So now my parting shot will be a video of this girl's showreel and she has done serious stuff which has got me inspired.

29/07/10

For class today, half of the batch gave presentations on movies that made significant use of visual effects. I used to be a passive audience while watching movies, never paying attention to the details of visual effects or what not that the film producers used to enhance the visuals of the film. After joining this course, even watching movies have become a critique session with my eyes, as being exposed to how the visual effects were done in any film and how the producers make those effects work well in that context really do make me appreciate the film more than I would, and I am able to learn from movies what kinds of visual effects I would want or not want to do in the future.

So my parting shot today will be a video of the making of Inception, it was a helluva movie experience for me, not only for my eyes, but it was a brainteaser as well, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Terminator 2!!!!!

Today in class, the film shown to us, was a refreshing one, really.

TERMINATOR 2: JUDGEMENT DAY.

One of my most significant childhood movies. (Yes, I did not watch it on its opening day, since I was being born that year.) I remembered swooning over Edward Furlong, although now, looking at him, I was like, what the hell did I see him? He sounded just like a whiny girl in the movie. But that being said, for a kid like him to be acting beside Arnold Schwarzenegger at that age, was really something. Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor blew me away completely. Her versatility and ruggedness and her emotions as a mum, really glued me to my seat. The effects were cool too, and totally creepy at one point where the other Terminator had sludged into the floor and were as onewith the floor before transforming into the cop he was going to kill.

And never forgetting the last part where Arnold went to self destruct, I'd always cry, not because it was sad, but the fires were really hellish looking.

And I never fathom how the visual effects crew would lodge a bionic arm on his already existing arm. But well, its for them to know, and for us to find out, eventually.

Hasta La Vista, BABEHHHH.

14/07/2010

Today we were exposed to the old ways of creating visual effects in older films like Star Wars- The Empire Strikes Back, the original version of The War Of The Worlds and Superman. They were hella complex and very difficult to understand, especially when the process was explained to us in a bunch of words. All I could do was trying hard not to doze off. I felt thankful for After Effects and (reluctantly) Shake software after the whole lecture. A click and everything is done for you.

But I guess producing visual effects then would have brought about a bigger sense of satisfaction. Too tedious. Feels like blood will be spilled at the end. Nevertheless, my hats off to those who dare to sacrifice for their craft and be good at what they do.

Today we were shown videos on stop motion and animation. One of videos we watched was a music video, "Sledgehammer" by Peter Gabriel. And all this while I was wondering where I had saw this name from and one day while looking through my music playlist, I found him, as a singer for a song on Wall-E's soundtrack. Heh. *small victory*
Was quite impressed by the stop motion in the Sledgehammer video, because there were so many elements in it and in those days that would actually be virtually impossible, but it happened, so really kudos to the animators seriously!
I was particularly impressed by Noah's Ark as well, it was like a compact and simple stop motion animation and the whole story was narrated like a rhyme. And the characters were too cute.


What's your favourite stop motion film? Mine is Jason and The Argonauts, from 1963, and the stop motion was created by Ray Harryhausen. It might look funny compared to all the visual effects laden films, but no matter what we can't deny that he contributed so much to the world of stop motion, which aesthetically satisfied our visual cravings.

PIXAR exhibition on 3/6/2010

It meant no class day and generally we were all very excited; this was kinda like our first field trip in our 3 years of being stuck in school and it's PIXAR! So it was pretty awesome.
We went through the exhibitions and I was just blown away by the zoetrope in on of the exhibitions. It had the characters from Toy Story in it and each of the characters were sculpted many times, doing a cycle of an action, and when the zoetrope was activated, it started spinning slowly, then it gradually increased speed till our eyes were practically churning tears and then suddenly it became all too fast, a special light flashed on the zoetrope and we began to see what's happening, the whole thing came alive! We saw clearly what each character was meant to do, and we were awestruck. They were so cute, and just so alive. Heh.
We then went through the different exhibitions, and we really could see how much work, and effort artists put into their animation boards, 3D models, and their concept art, just so that we audience could have a real visual feast when each animation movie came out. After this, we really learnt how to appreciate animation films better, they are the results of pure sheer hard work.
Next we went to the screening of Toy Story 2! And I am ashamed to say that I have never watched it till that day, but no regrets, at least to be able to catch it once, is enough. The flow of the story was good, and adding in the comical characters, the movie was really made for success! It totally caught our attention till the end.

My favourite characters of Toy Story:


"You saved our lives, we are eternally grateful towards you."
Gets me everytime.

Spirited Away & Coraline

Watching "Spirited Away" always gives me the shivers, in a good way. If it's not the amazingly good animation and concept art that blew me away, it's definitely the heart of the storyline that had so much to offer to the audience. After that movie, I am in awe of the artist and the crew who had helped to make the movie a hit.
Once a friend told me she went on a trip to Japan with her classmates and actually went into the studio where "Spirited Away" was being produced. She told me there was a big group of colourists, artists, concept artists all huddled together in a dark studio room, working tirelessly on the animation, and they seemed like they had not even taken a break once. Kudos to them, and it made me appreciate animation films more, hope it does for you too.
Next up, we watched Coraline, with its kooky characters and unusual storyline, it caught my attention completely. It was haunting, creepy, scary and it highlighted to us how parents should show their kids with more attention, if not it would be really hard to keep track of who they are when they grow up and start to have different mindsets and have their own sets of values.

3rd Lesson

One thing about the Preview Theatre, the light is warmly tinted and the seats are so comfy, I just cannot resist catching some forty winks. Thank God for the cartoon shorts in between lessons, seriously.
We were once again introduced to cartoons not made by Disney, but we were exposed to more of the likes of Looney Tunes, which was something I couldn't live without while eating meals when I was a kid. We were shown some shorts and I was so surprised because I've watched all these and it was just so refreshing to know some facts about those shorts. It was like reliving and replaying the past, all over.

I've always like Bugs Bunny, that cunning wabbit. Spinning people who are out to catch him around his tricks and then to realize their folly too late, it gets me, all the time. This is one of my favourite shorts of all time. Heh. Enjoy!

Walt Disney

Strangely enough, I've always like Walt Disney's birth year, 1901, it makes everything so easy to count from there. He is undoubtedly, the most famous cartoonist and animator of all time, who created and shaped our childhoods with Mickey Mouse and my most favourite character, Cinderella (more of Prince Charming actually hohohoho), and also filled our little minds with limitless imagination and fantasy. He had certainly made a lot of kids happy. :D
When I was a kid I was brought to the Science Center with the school to watch Fantasia in the Omnitheatre. The screens were, like gigantic, and it was such a panoramic sight for all of us viewers. Mickey was blown into 100 times his size on screen. Awe-tastic. We kids were once so silent and still as we were all really blown away. Even watching Pocahontas on the big screens wasn't that fantastic after all.
Disney has definitely left behind a huge legacy, which would certainly carry on from generation to generation. Who can ever forget the most significant pair of ears?

The First class which was on the 22nd.

First lessons always make a deep impression on me, and this module was no exception.

We were shown how primitive the tools were for creating animation, the evolution of animation from the olden days, dating back to a century ago as well. We were also shown videos of primitive animation, they looked like fish out of water compared to the present. It was all simple sketches put together, but they are already considered stellar and impressive during those times. By then they had incorporated elements such as stop motion in their short films (refers to Emile Cohl's works since they were all drawn on a chalkboard) Can't help being fascinated. I mean those were the days after all. We were then shown the works of Winsor Mccay, an outstanding cartoonist and animator of all time; his artwork was amazing and he paid a lot of attention to his characters' facial details and such. To be able to pioneer animation films at that time was really quite a feat. He serves as an inspiration to all aspiring animators. Animation is really hard work but what you reap from working hard is definitely worth it. *remembers Year 1 Animation class*

This is one of the videos I chanced upon on Youtube. The many shorts of classic animations which were made in Japan, which I think also play a big part in kick starting careers of many prolific animators worldwide today.