Animation and Race

Animation is often a sore subject when it comes to diversity. There are more often than not poor representations of minorities in animated series and features (if they are even included), where those of latino descent are often marginalized and misrepresented.

It should be interesting to see what Warner Bros is thinking of doing with the infamously problematic character Speedy Gonzales, who apparently just got greenlighted for a feature length film (http://deadline.com/2016/04/speedy-gonzales-animated-movie-eugenio-derbez-warner-bros-1201730245/) Hopefully they can make something decent with it.

Harry Potter Magic Wand Lightning Effect Tutorial

This tutorial is a bit old but most of the instructions still made sense. I was looking through youtube the other day and came across this video under tutorials in after effects. First off I don't know anyone that can say they don't like Harry Potter and beyond that I can't imagine that I was the only one that always wondered how they did the wand effects when dueling out in the forest or wherever potter would duel out. The directions are pretty simple and I wouldn't be surprised if some kids in our class already have an idea on how to create these effects in AE. Hope you guys enjoy

The Iron Giant

The blog post made recently about the show Archer, and the ways in which it utilizes both 2D and 3D animation techniques in its production, reminded me of one of my most beloved childhood movies that also uses both animation styles (though not in the same way). The Iron Giant, released back in 1999, takes place in the era of McCarthyism in the U.S., and is the story of a boy finding a giant alien robot and befriending it. Almost the entire movie is animated in 2D, with the exception of the Iron Giant itself, who is rendered in 3D. The animators do an incredible job of making the 3D alien robot feel less alien within its 2D environment, and, along with its great story and interesting characters, make for one of my favorite films of all time.

Here's the trailer for the remastered edition:

Inception

 Inception the movie is one of the most mind bending movies in are life time using dreams and different dimensions  Christopher Nolan used little computer-generated imagery, preferring practical effects whenever possible. Nolan said, "It's always very important to me to do as much as possible in-camera, and then, if necessary, computer graphics are very useful to build on or enhance what you have achieved physically."Paul Franklin visual effects supervisor built a small mountain fortress set and then blew it up for the film. For the fight scene that takes place in zero gravity, he used CGI effects to subtly bend elements like physics, space and time." By creating real models of the cityscapes and the water flowing through the buildings made the special effects have more depth and look more realistic.