Robot Chicken is a sketch comedy show that airs during Cartoon Network's "Adult Swim" segment nightly segment. The show makes use of stop motion animation, where they move the figures in tiny increments, recording each new placement one frame at a time. The do make use of some computer generated graphics for explosions or mouth movements, but a majority of the show is done stop motion, a technique that can take hours to just get a couple of seconds of video, and that's not counting the time it takes to make each figure and setting. You may not like the crude humor that the show has, but you can appreciate the amount of work that the creators put into each ten second sketch.
Showing posts with label Robot Chicken. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Robot Chicken. Show all posts
Thursday, January 29, 2015
Stop Motion in Robot Chicken
As we become more familiar with animation software like After Effects, it seems like computers have made animation ten times easier. With the class's limited understanding of basic functions of After Effects, we can create a ball that bounces for ever in a matter of minutes. Imagine what we would be able to do with deeper understanding of the software. Because the software seems to make animation so easy, one may assume that all big studios would utilize those programs rather than rely on older animation techniques. Of course, there are a number of shows that make use of older and much more difficult animation techniques, like stop motion. One such show is Cartoon Network's Robot Chicken.
Robot Chicken is a sketch comedy show that airs during Cartoon Network's "Adult Swim" segment nightly segment. The show makes use of stop motion animation, where they move the figures in tiny increments, recording each new placement one frame at a time. The do make use of some computer generated graphics for explosions or mouth movements, but a majority of the show is done stop motion, a technique that can take hours to just get a couple of seconds of video, and that's not counting the time it takes to make each figure and setting. You may not like the crude humor that the show has, but you can appreciate the amount of work that the creators put into each ten second sketch.
Robot Chicken is a sketch comedy show that airs during Cartoon Network's "Adult Swim" segment nightly segment. The show makes use of stop motion animation, where they move the figures in tiny increments, recording each new placement one frame at a time. The do make use of some computer generated graphics for explosions or mouth movements, but a majority of the show is done stop motion, a technique that can take hours to just get a couple of seconds of video, and that's not counting the time it takes to make each figure and setting. You may not like the crude humor that the show has, but you can appreciate the amount of work that the creators put into each ten second sketch.
Friday, November 28, 2014
Robot Chicken
I'm not a huge fan of Robot Chicken's humor. At times it can be really funny, but it can also be pretty corny, distasteful, or just plain bad. But one thing I've always loved and appreciated about Robot Chicken is the stop motion animation, which is really well done and really creative using the show's vast array of action figures, dolls, and toys. I'm sure most of us have seen Robot Chicken, but here's a couple of funny examples from the show:
I saw it fitting I did something from adult swim seeing as I posted about Too Many Cooks last week. Thinking about it a little more, I realized that adult swim really supports a lot of creative types of animation. Robot Chicken, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and Harvey Birdman for example all used some unorthodox animation styles, all to the show's benefit and humor.
Friday, May 2, 2014
Final Post: More of My Favorite Animation
Well folks it's the end of the year. Our screenings start next week and most of our projects are done…I hope.
For the posts I've researched this semester, I've finally had the chance to find out how some of my favorite pieces in animation were made. A lot of the other posts that I've seen on here have shown me some motion graphics and animated topics I wasn't aware of.
The Master of Sex (Never heard of this show but found it really surpassing)
Twitch Plays Pokemon (Really wanted to get in on this)
I want to end my entry time here with some of my favorite forms in animation I've come to to love over the years.
You Are a Pirate
Fred Perry
Gold Digger Time Raft
(Hand-Drawn Animated Style)
The Boondocks
Adult Swim
(Japanese Animation Style)
Adult Swim
(Japanese Animation Style)
Robot Chicken
(Stop Motion Animation)
The Mask
(CGI)
This last video has been one of my favorite animated transformations. I've been looking around to find what programs they used for getting the mask on Jim Carrey, but my research has yet to yield results.
As for its sequel Son of the Mask….
….I like to think of it more as a weird phase Loki was going through before he returned in Thor and The Avengers.
 |
| Maybe that round with the Hulk brought him to his seneses |
While I don't think I'll be pursuing a career in animation to the degree of Toy Story, I'm glad I was able to get the experience of learning some of the basics of using after effects.
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
12 Oz. Mouse
Recently I had an awesome experience witnessing the magic that is 12 Oz. Mouse. This show ran on Adult Swim from 2005 to 2007, and was created by Matt Maiellaro (creator of Aqua Teen Hunger Force). It is an insanely weird show, and is known for it's signature style, something that I would call a mix of awkward, passionate, western, mysterious, dark, and humorous all at the same time. The show centers around a mouse named Fitz who goes on various adventures so he can buy more beer. Over time, Fitz begins to recover lost memories of a child and wife he once had that have now vanished.
Maiellaro jokingly states that he convinced Adult Swim to produce the series by telling them it would cost 5 dollars and they could just use some of the paper in the copier to produce the images. This does not seem like such a stretch, because the animation in this show lacks so much, but in doing so gains a great amount and develops its own signature look. Maiellaro also stated in an interview that he chose the people in his writers office to play the characters, with himself voicing the main protagonist.
The animation studio who helped create the show, Radical Axis (based in Atlanta, Georgia), has animated for shows such as Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Robot Chicken, and the currently airing Archer. They have offices all over the world, and may even be something I will consider looking into, so I can give people coffee and make no money. However, it's really amazing to see the style contrast from 12 Oz. Mouse to a show like Archer which I am also currently in love with!
Once you watch, you'll understand that the show sort of takes on a life of its own, first starting out sort of dark and dreary, and then gaining life and humor as Fitz embarks on his adventures. It's awesome!
Here is a clip from an episode!
Also, here is the site for Radical Axis.
http://www.radicalaxis.com/newweb/home.html
Maiellaro jokingly states that he convinced Adult Swim to produce the series by telling them it would cost 5 dollars and they could just use some of the paper in the copier to produce the images. This does not seem like such a stretch, because the animation in this show lacks so much, but in doing so gains a great amount and develops its own signature look. Maiellaro also stated in an interview that he chose the people in his writers office to play the characters, with himself voicing the main protagonist.
The animation studio who helped create the show, Radical Axis (based in Atlanta, Georgia), has animated for shows such as Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Robot Chicken, and the currently airing Archer. They have offices all over the world, and may even be something I will consider looking into, so I can give people coffee and make no money. However, it's really amazing to see the style contrast from 12 Oz. Mouse to a show like Archer which I am also currently in love with!
Once you watch, you'll understand that the show sort of takes on a life of its own, first starting out sort of dark and dreary, and then gaining life and humor as Fitz embarks on his adventures. It's awesome!
Here is a clip from an episode!
Also, here is the site for Radical Axis.
http://www.radicalaxis.com/newweb/home.html
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Captain Planet is a Mother Earther
WARNING, the following videos may contain language and images not suitable for children.Viewer Discretion is Advised.
Hello one, hello all! Welcome back to my weekly post, today we are making like Oreos because we are double-stuffed! That's right, it's double-Jeopardy, double-Whammy, double-trouble, and it's double the flavor, double the fun. What I'm trying to say is that I will be talking about two videos today and the theme is... CAPTAIN PLANET! (The title was a spoiler in itself and I apologize).
The first video is from one of Adult Swim's Best Shows Robot Chicken. The premise of the show is simple: Seth Green and Matthew Senreich play with toys and we watch the madness ensue. The clip below is from the second season episode titled "1987" and features media mogul Ted Turner turning into one of his beloved characters he made, Captain Planet. The show is mostly done with stop-motion animation with the occasional use 3D animation, for example in the video Ted Turner a.k.a. Captain Planet ziplines from one building into another which would be extremely difficult to do in normal stop-motion so they use 3D animation to make it work. The show implements other visual effects such as title sequences and motion tracking.
Now onto our second clip. It's from FunnyOrDie.com and it features Don Cheadle as Captain Planet, if Captain Planet becomes mad with power and saving the world by turning every living thing into a plant such as a tree or a shrub. The first video (see below) was made over a year ago and since then its reached over 4.5 million views and now has a whole series devoted to an insane Captain Planet saving the world, one tree at a time. The series offers a number of visual effects, from transforming people into trees to Captain Planet's Iron Man-like hand blasts. Sadly FunnyOrDie doesn't list who does most of the visual effects but I was able to find that Trevor Durtschi worked on the series as a colourist who works with colour grading, the process of altering and enhancing the colour of a motion picture, video image, or still image either electronically, photo-chemically or digitally. They work with colour correction, masks, mattes, and motion tracking. The final episode of the series comes out tomorrow so look out for that, and for Captain Planet because he's watching you and will turn you into a TREE.
Hello one, hello all! Welcome back to my weekly post, today we are making like Oreos because we are double-stuffed! That's right, it's double-Jeopardy, double-Whammy, double-trouble, and it's double the flavor, double the fun. What I'm trying to say is that I will be talking about two videos today and the theme is... CAPTAIN PLANET! (The title was a spoiler in itself and I apologize).
The first video is from one of Adult Swim's Best Shows Robot Chicken. The premise of the show is simple: Seth Green and Matthew Senreich play with toys and we watch the madness ensue. The clip below is from the second season episode titled "1987" and features media mogul Ted Turner turning into one of his beloved characters he made, Captain Planet. The show is mostly done with stop-motion animation with the occasional use 3D animation, for example in the video Ted Turner a.k.a. Captain Planet ziplines from one building into another which would be extremely difficult to do in normal stop-motion so they use 3D animation to make it work. The show implements other visual effects such as title sequences and motion tracking.
Now onto our second clip. It's from FunnyOrDie.com and it features Don Cheadle as Captain Planet, if Captain Planet becomes mad with power and saving the world by turning every living thing into a plant such as a tree or a shrub. The first video (see below) was made over a year ago and since then its reached over 4.5 million views and now has a whole series devoted to an insane Captain Planet saving the world, one tree at a time. The series offers a number of visual effects, from transforming people into trees to Captain Planet's Iron Man-like hand blasts. Sadly FunnyOrDie doesn't list who does most of the visual effects but I was able to find that Trevor Durtschi worked on the series as a colourist who works with colour grading, the process of altering and enhancing the colour of a motion picture, video image, or still image either electronically, photo-chemically or digitally. They work with colour correction, masks, mattes, and motion tracking. The final episode of the series comes out tomorrow so look out for that, and for Captain Planet because he's watching you and will turn you into a TREE.
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