Sunday, December 18, 2011
Inspirational Typography
A Sushi Love Story
Peter and the Wolf
Final Post
End of the Semester
The Power of Tutorials
I wanted to show an example of this practice in motion. The link below entitled “Video Copilot Light Glow” will take you to the tutorial that I used to create some of my name project. The video below that is how my name project came out after I played around and changed the tutorial a little. Of course you can see the similarities in the two but I think I was able to change my piece to make it my own…not to mention Andrew (who creates the Video Copilot tutorials) gives a lot of little tips during in his tutorials that I have found to be very helpful! As a quick side not-I would have to say that video copilot is one of my favorite places to look for tutorials. Aside from the large variety of tutorials, they all seem very well done and it is fairly easy to follow along with them!
Top 5 Animation Myths
Myth #1: Animation is only for kids.
Loving animation doesn't make you child like, as we all know or mean you can only make children's movies. What about the opening credits we worked so hard on? Or video games?
Myth #2: Traditional animation is dead.
Many TV shows and movies are produced with traditional 2D animation effects.
Myth #3: You'll never get anywhere working in an animation studio.
This one confused me a little. But apparently it means that people often think you get stuck at the entry level position in studios where all you do is fix tiny mistakes and clean up pencil shavings. As with any department in the entertainment industry (or any job at all really) once you put in the hours at an entry level position and learn the tools to advance to higher job titles, you will do so!
Myth #4: Computer animation is of lower quality than traditional animation.
The problem is not with the computer, it is with the animators themselves. Too many people think that because certain aspects of animation are faster and easier on the computer, that they can cut corners and sacrifice good, quality work when animation is done on the computer. In order to put out good work, time and attention to detail must be there, computer or not.
Myth #5: You must be a master artist to be an animator.
All you need is a grasp on drawing and art in general. And by this he means you need to understand proportions, scale, anatomy, and other basic principles to be successful. You don't need to be the next artistic protege.
I think throughout the course of this class, we all learned that these myths aren't true in some way or another!
Friday, December 16, 2011
Cinemapolis
"The 7th Art Corporation of Ithaca is a not-for-profit 501C3 organization dedicated to providing a sophisticated community with the best in new international and independent cinema. Since its formation in 2000, The 7th Art Corporation has owned and operated Ithaca's downtown movie theaters, Cinemapolis and Fall Creek Pictures--and now, the new Cinemapolis."
For a list of Movies now playing, click here.
For other reviews, Cinemapolis is on Yelp!
More Downtown Ithaca info
Cinemagraphs
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Masking Tips
This first site explains different tools one can use to make your selection in photoshop. The first technique is using the magic wand tool which can help you make selections of areas with a limited color range. It’s the tool to use when the object you want to isolate is cleanly defined against an unvarying background, such as the surface of a table or a cloudless sky." the second technique is using the lasso tool, which lets you create a selection by drawing a line around the object. And the third technique is using the brush tool, which you can use while in quick mask mode.
This next site explains a lot of the same techniques but also talks about using the magic eraser tool, which allows you to erase pixels that are all the same color (or are a similar color). For example, if you used the Magic Eraser tool at its strictest setting, and clicked on a part of the picture that was orange, every other pixel in the picture of that exact shade of orange would be erased.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Impossible Present
In the "Impossible Present" a little boy attempts to open a gift using any means possible. This includes an axe, and sticks of dynamite. So what was it that inspired this idea? According to an interview with Jayson Whitmore, the idea came from his inability to open a tightly sealed plastic bag. Whitmore said that he and fellow creator Brien Holman, wanted to go old school and were unafraid to let things literally blow up in the main character's face. The most difficult part of this project for the team was to produce this product during their normal work hours. This company believes artists need the time to rest before coming in and giving their work their all.
This video cannot be embedded but here it is on the Royale website!
Projects, Life, and Motion Graphics
I just wanted to use this last blog post to reflect upon the things in class. When thinking back to how much a didn't know before I took this class, I finally realize how much I've learned during this class. I came in with no knowledge of motion graphics and now I feel like I can basically get things done, on my own, with no assistance from google or other people. For me, that feels like an accomplishment. As a video production concentration, I feel like a more well-rounded student. This class has also inspired me to take on a few project on my own and in my own time. I'm going to be studying in London soon and what I hope to do is take my Nikon N80 film camera, a couple rolls of film, and just take photos. After I come back though, I want to develop the rolls of film myself and upload them online. I think it's kind of a personal/adventure/nostalgic project. I wish everyone luck in their future endeavors and projects!
Monday, December 12, 2011
Motion Graphics Reels
Pans Labyrinth - Special Effects
They would also use green screens to get the effects they needed. For example, there is a creature that has different legs then human legs. They put a man in a costume but then to edit the legs they needed they would put green fabric around his legs. They could then later edit out his original legs and replace it with the new ones.
Guillermo Del Toro was the writer and director of this movie and I thought his vision of what these characters should look like came across very well. I posted a video below that gives a good description of what the special effects and makeup team had to do to make these different creatures in the film come to life.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Happy Holidays from After Effects!
Happy Holidays from After Effects!
Evolution of the Contour Bottle
Motion Graphics inspiration
One of the sites I was led to is called Prologue. This company specializes in visual effects and design animation. They have done a bunch of animations for different commercials, films, and television series. You can search their site and see everything that they have been involved in, but even cooler, they show you graphics that essentially show a "storyboard" of their video. One of the ones they have is American Horror Story.
Check out these sites because they could be very helpful when looking for further inspiration in the future.
Senior Thesis Graphics
Map Zoom and Some Other Fun
I also ran into a tutorial on Video Copilot that was not only very helpful, but it also was very cool. It is tutorial #40 on the website and it is the map zoom tutorial. I found this tutorial very effective for my current project for my future employer. I couldn't upload what I came up with or my other work for this demo unfortunately, but I encourage people to buy this book and with a combination of tutorials and the book, your knowledge of the program can increase rapidly.
I found for me that having the book is very helpful because it helps you understand not only the tools and abilities of After Effects, but it helps you understand how each tool works. This is beneficial because now you can understand how to figure out problems and how new shortcuts work and help same ample time.
100 years of inspiration
I was looking online for some new and upcoming movies, anything with special effects. Just trying to see where the industry was going when I stumbled upon this video.
This is a video that a fifth grader compiled of a 100 year tribute to special effects. I watched it and thought it was really interesting to see a progressive timeline of some of the industry’s most popular movies, which at one time or another were seen as special effects trend setters.
An Out of the Ordinary Car Commercial
As I was searching for unique animation styles I somehow stumbled upon a car commercial made by Kia for their new Picanto car. The car’s tagline is “All in smALL, ALL New Picanto” and apparently the advertisers where trying to channel that tagline when they came up with the commercial idea. This impressive commercial uses nail art to create and animate its message and I’m guessing it is probably the first commercial to employ this technique.
I was shocked to see a car commercial that wasn’t all about being big, tough, or manly and one that did not have half dressed women in it or talk about off-roading or driving fast. Oh and no loud obnoxious music either! It was weird…I actually enjoyed watching a car commercial for once! I was impressed that the advertisers for this car took a different and creative approach to advertising a car and I think the style really seemed to fit with the product…and they must have done something right because since its posting in July earlier this year the video has accumulated over 5 million views!
So how did they make it? This commercial took 25 full days to make and used up 1200 bottles of nail polish!—Phew imagine smelling nail polish all day everyday for 25 days straight! 900 fake fingernails were used as well each taking about 2 hours to paint. Some of the nails are pretty detailed and I imagine it is somewhat difficult to draw on something as small as a fake finger nail! I highly suggest watching the video below-aside from showing the animation there are also a few shots that show them working on it.
Jack Frost
Saturday, December 10, 2011
"The Man Who Had Never Been to the Cinema"
That is exactly what Telecine, a suite of cable movie channels in Brazil, did in their advertisement below.
By using five different directors (Eduardo Tosto, Greco Bernardi, Luiz Maggessi, Marcelo Mourão,Papito, Victor Seabra, Filippo Johansson), who each brought their own technique to the project, Telecine and Beeld Motion express to their viewers the importance of watching movies, either by going to the movie theater or staying in to watch them with those that you love.
I think this is a beautiful piece that is very well constructed. The mixture of different techniques used in "The Man Who Had Never Been to the Cinema" was very effective and I definitely see the movies in a different light now.
Friday, December 9, 2011
Realflow
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
'Once' title sequence
As I was on youtube looking at various film title sequences I came across a title sequence someone created for 'Once.' It's super simple and looks easy enough but now that I've created an opening title sequence I know that it is not easy to create at all.
Brickyard VFX
Top 50 Movie Special Effects Shots
The Road to Perdition - I thought this scene was cool because the special effects are very subtle. It really makes you feel like you are in Chicago in the 1930's
War of the Worlds - This movie is filled with special effects. This scene is a good example of some of the effects they used to create this movie.
Forrest Gump - I thought this scene was cool as well because you forget that they have to edit out the guys limbs.
These were just a few videos that I found interesting. There are more scenes from other movies like Jurassic Park, Alien, Star Trek, Star Wars, and many more.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Stop Motion Software
The site also showcases a gallery of student stop motion videos and even has tips for anyone wanting to create their own video. One article on the site explains step-by-step on how to create faces and change between showing different emotions for claymation:
Film 24 frames of the first emotion on your character.
Change the face gradually over 10 frames to the next emotion.
Hold the emotion for 18 frames, then change the emotion over 10 frames again.
Pause again for 18 frames, then finally end with one more 10 frame transition to another emotion. Capture another 24 frames at the end of the shot.
Monday, December 5, 2011
"Address is Approximate" - Stop Motion Short Film
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Project 2
I have completely finished the first 3/4 of my project (for those that remember I am doing Toy Story 2) and now I am working on sorting through the footage I took of my cousin playing with some of the Toy Story toys I bought so that I can use a small montage of it for the rest of the credits. I am however, still looking for a cool cartoon-like effect I can create in after effects to give the footage more of a cartoon look. I know I cannot completely animate the footage so that it looks like it belongs in a Pixar movie, however I want to edit it so that it looks as little like live-action footage as possible.
When looking for pictures to use in the last pan of Andy's room for the first chunk of my project, I came across this great website that has high-quality images of the characters of some of the Pixar films that can be used as source footage for future projects. It is actually Pixar's very own wikipedia page. So anyone that needs those types of pictures for a project should definitely check it out!
Finally, since it is the holiday season, I thought I would leave you with this holiday greeting from everyone's favorite toys (even though it is for Toy Story 3 not 2):
How to stay creative
29 WAYS TO STAY CREATIVE from TO-FU on Vimeo.
I also read this article which had a few tips and tricks. To be creative and stay creative, it is important to be multicultural, provide lots of free time to think, encourage risky behavior, writing it down, be flexible, and mixing up your people.
Here is a blog post talking about staying creative!
Helpful website!
The Adventures of TinTin
"Brave" Pixar's First Female Hero
Brave is about an archer who defies her Scottish Highlands-based clan to make her own path in life, but wreaks havoc when she unleashes an ancient curse. The movie opens June 22, 2012. Below is the trailor.
Work in Progress
Rodrigo Blass' Alma
Job Search
I started searching around my local area to find some possibilities for jobs when I graduate in May. I started with QVC as I have an interest in working with props and figured they have a large prop department/merchandise. Only a few jobs I could find would be in reach of an entry level position, one of which was a Lighting Assistant. Another position they had an opening for was a Designer for Program Guides: "Reporting to the Managing Designer, responsible for the design and production of graphics for a variety of QVC projects."
I furthered my search by taking a quick look at production assistant jobs out west. There are plenty listed but I also wouldn't mind starting with a show as a Runner. Access Hollywood has an opening for a production assistant/runner. The ability to be on set and also not be tied down in the office all day appeals to me. In my previous internship I would have to generate Runner requests and coordinate with Runners to acquire props needed for that weeks shoot. It would be necessary for the Runners to travel to unique locations and specialty shops all around the LA area. Another interesting listing I came across was for a 2nd assistant/runner. Based on the Job description this job would be worth taking for the contacts alone.
Job Description:
A-list Writer/Director/Producer seeks 2nd Assistant/Runner from prep through post-production on feature film. Candidates must be extremely organized; detail-oriented and thorough; highly efficient; able to multi-task. Must be extremely professional, trustworthy and discreet. Pleasant personality with a can-do attitude an absolute must. Duties will be both personal and professional. Must be willing to work long hours and some weekends.
Another listing I saw was a Job in LA for The Ant Farm. I was surprised to see a PA position with benefits. I was surprised reading through jobs with similar titles having very different duties and requirements to be considered for hire. Looks like there is some hope in the entertainment job market for those of us who are graduating relatively soon.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Sticky Monster Lab
The most recent addition to the Sticky Monster Lab videos is "The Loner."
Below is the link to a video of the creators at Sticky Monster Lab speaking about their creative process:
http://thecreatorsproject.com/creators/sticky-monster-lab
Videohive Templates
My Future Plans
Since we were talking about our career goals and plans for after we graduate I thought I would post and share some of my thoughts about my future plans. Dun dun dun….life in the real world! This is something I have been thinking about and worrying about a lot especially this past summer and semester! I think about it a lot. Where am I going to live, what kind of job and I’m going to find, what kind of job do I exactly want to find, what are my long term goals??? All of these questions run through my head and I’ve slowly been trying to work out answers to them. There are so many different scenarios and possibilities!
Since the Television/Radio major covers such a wide variety of topics and career options my first problem came with trying to figure out a specific area of focus to target my career plans toward. When I first started at Ithaca I really had no idea which aspect of TV/R I liked the best or even what all of the options were. I was able to narrow my ideas down thanks to all of the different production classes I’ve taken and through my internship experiences.
At my internship on the set of an independent film I got to see every department at work and an insight into how they operate. I was most closely associated with the production team and the art department. Since the film was low on funds and sometimes low on staff I got to delve into many different tasks from working on set as a PA, working in the production office, acting as locations manager, assisting the art department, etc. This internship was a lot of fun and helped me narrow down my career choices.
I have been trying to decide whether I want to live in NYC or LA. I have some contacts in LA from my internship that I have been keeping in contact with so it would probably be most practical to start there but just in case I want to try NYC instead I have signed up for a NYC Alumni networking night over winter break that will hopefully help me meet and talk to some Alumni from NY to get advice and hopefully some do networking.
After I decide where to live there is the difficult question of…what to look for in a first job and how to get it?? I really enjoyed working on production in LA and it seems like a good way to break into the business so I will most likely try to get an entry level production job as a Production Assistant for example. After that I will try to work my way up through the different production jobs. Eventually I think I want to maybe be a producer or something along those lines in the production team (but I’m open for suggestions-who knows where my experiences will lead me!). I also really enjoyed working in the Art Department on my internship so an Art Department Production Assistant would probably also be a good place to start.
Ahh I think about this all the time and I’m very nervous for when I graduate and it is time to try put these ideas in motion…and it doesn’t help that I am a very indecisive person! But at the same time sometimes when I think about it I get really excited…that’s a good thing right? I am not sure why I didn’t talk about this in class the other day…maybe I’m better at expressing myself through writing or maybe I was just really tired that day-both are highly likely!
Thursday, December 1, 2011
VH1 holiday card
I also found some behind the scenes photos of how it was done.