to get better at something do that some thing.

If you ever take a moment to think about what you are best at you would probably realize it is what you spend the most time doing. weather thats writing, drawing, building, playing a sport, or even a particular video game. Its a fairly simple equation in my opinion the more time you put into something the more adept you are at it. I was talking with a friend of mine comparing different software and talking about how we learn them. I was honestly surprised when he said that he didn't like using tutorials from youtube. to me almost every software i've become proficient in is because of direct use of tutorials. I found this one earlier this week and have been playing around in after effects. just to get my time in the program up. i feel that if you are not taking advantage of the thousands of tutorials online you are really missing out.

I have always been in love with stop animation. it was actually the first projects I made as a young lad. but a few months ago a co worker told me to watch this short animation by James Davenhill from bad apple media. i find it really beautiful and sad in that good way. I hope you enjoy it as much as i do.

The New iPhone and iPad Look Pretty Sweet

So have you heard about the new iPhone 5's features? Some say that it will boost the economy while others say it will revolutionize technology. All of these rumors sounded too good to be true so I decided to look up videos and they are all true! The site I found even had the new features for the next iPad as well. Here, watch these links:



I have three words for you: OH EMM GEE. I cannot wait to drive an hour to Syracuse to get in the long line to wait for hours to have both of these beautiful products so that I can live forever in peace and joy until the upgraded products come out and then I have to repeat the process all over again.

Alrighty, lets get serious though. These videos were made by Aatma, an animation and digital content studio specializing in the production of imagery for television, film, advertising and interactive media. Aatma has worked on a number of projects including a joint-campaign for Brisk and Star Wars Episode 1 when it came back to theaters, as well as a handful of viral videos mostly using computer graphics. I remember watching the iPad 3 Concept video a few months ago and thinking that Apple most likely has these planned in the next 7 years or so. I recently rediscovered this video and decided to watch more videos from this studio which are just as equally as cool as these two clips. Aatma has a unique ability to make videos that look so realistic that they're believable and its all very cleverly shot and perfectly edited. I'm looking forward to future videos from them.

I still think...wait, what do I think?

I've been wondering about that for a while now, but I'm pretty sure that I can say with some level of security that I'm learning and creating my future.  At first when I picked up this class, I only did so because I needed it for my major, I knew the professor was great, and I had the free time to do it.  Now, after only two classes, I think I might be hooked...I knew I enjoyed doing animation, but this is way too cool to pass up.

In my Intro to Field Production class my first semester here at Ithaca, I made a five minute long stop motion animation music video for my final project.  My professor warned me of the work it would mean putting in, but I really wasn't worried; I wanted to do this so badly.  After several sleepless nights and a lot of caffeine, I came out with a finished product that I was moderately happy with, and submitted it for grading.  Now, looking back on it, I find so many things that I'd like to fix and redo, but unfortunately all of the materials that I used to create each frame have long since been lost to Ithaca's recycling system, and I don't quite have the time to re-make everything.  This was also before the point in time that I knew that Park had a lab for such work; I instead spent many grueling hours hovering over a piece of white posterboard with my roommate's camera and no tripod, occasionally offloading my camera into Final Cut 7, to get every single shot in the video.

Now that I'm in this class and have just been handed After Effects (which is a thrilling new program for me), doors have been flying open in my head with all sorts of ideas pouring out.  Having this capability at my fingertips is mindblowing, and I plan to utilize it to the full extent.  I've always looked at animation groups like Pixar and been awed by their creations, so it's fantastic to finally start working with similar technology and know that someday, I could be the creator or editor of something that a young girl looks up to just as I did.

"Cigarettes, Scotch, and Sex" A Look at the Title Sequence of Mad Men

So I thought long and hard into this and I came up with something I feel like the majority of people have asked themselves from time to time: how deep is the title sequence of Mad Men? Currently, I'm on the third season with only one or two more episodes until I progress to the fourth and every episode I watch furthers my interest in the story, setting, and style of the show. Every episode begins the same way, with a mostly silhouetted business man walking into his office before his world literally falls apart, all to the musical stylings of RJD2. The titles, created by production house Imaginary Forces, pay homage to graphic designer Saul Bass's skyscraper-filled opening titles for Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest (1959) and falling man poster from Vertigo (1958). Every time I start a new episode because it reminds me that although every visual aspect of the show speaks "classy" on a certain level, nothing is perfect and your world could come out from beneath you as easy as dropping your briefcase, as seen in the show. The intro continues by displaying the man falling from what looks like a skyscraper of advertisements with provocatively looking women, the all American family, and alcohol from the 60s, placing the viewer into the world right next to the characters of the show. I remember the first time watching the intro and thinking to myself, "Yes, I'm going to enjoy this show" solely because the intro's animation got me hook-line-and-sinker.

If you haven't seen it yet, Mad Men is a show on AMC that isn't currently airing new episode but can be watched between the hours of 6 am to about 8 or 9 am on Sundays and is also available online through Netflix and a number of streaming sites.