Stop Motion Animation

After doing a stop motion video for my final project, I have found a whole new appreciation for it. My 1 minute and a half took forever, and to imagine even making an entire movie is just unfathomable. These are just some of the great stop-motion films that have been made, and now watching them I can't even imagine the process and patients that went into making them. With that being said though I really enjoyed making my stop motion video, the end result being able to make anything come to life, to be animated, is such an interesting concept and I am so happy I got to mess around with it. Seriously though next time you watch an animation like this, I hope you realize just how much blood sweat and tears went into because it's quite the process.

Henry

Virtual reality has been a technology that I feel like I've heard a lot about over the years, but I didn't know what it would be used for other than sci-fi or fantasy video games. Obviously this new tech would make games cooler, more realistic, and maybe more fun (I wouldn't know; I've never tested out the Oculus). However, I didn't know until recently that Oculus VR has a film company called Oculus Story Studio.

Oculus Story Studio made a short film called Henry about a little hedgehog who wants to make some friends. (Adorable, right?) Henry is super cute and looks very much like a Disney Animation Studio or Pixar character.

In this video Saschka Unseld, the creative director, says, "We grow up, we kind of forget that as kids these characters in the films we watch, they're alive. And with VR, it makes me feel again like I'm a kid because I can see this character is real." This is one of the reasons I like animated films so much in the first place--they make me feel like I'm a kid again. I always go see animated movies with one of my sisters, Jess, who is six years younger than me. Now Jess is at the age where it's starting to be "uncool" for her to go see the newest animated feature with her friends, but I know she'll always see them with me.

Another part of this video I found interesting was when Ramiro Lopez Dau, the director and animation supervisor says, "Empathy, in VR, is the most important field that we need to explore." I had never really thought about this because I was so stuck in the mindset that VR would be used mostly for sci-fi video game users to see more of the game world. Perhaps the way VR films and VR games are created are not similar at all. I'll have to do more research to figure that out. After watching this short trailer, I'm more excited about VR technology and, of course, I really want to see Henry. 

Lion King: Different Methods for different animators

The Lion King is probably my favorite Disney animated movie that isn't a Pixar movie. This is a movie that I grew up with (I was born in 1994, aka the year it was released, so I am as old as this movie (WOW)) and it is a beautiful story and fantastic animation! They really did a fantastic job of making each character, each animal, come to life!

I was searching online for some BTS of some animated movies, and I came across this one for the Lion King and their creative processes. I thought this was really cool to see the different methods that they used, from study real animals in the studio to study the voice actors movements and facial expressions to add emotion to the characters, or even just simply walking around impersonating how the animator thinks that particular character they are drawing would move and behave. It was also interesting how each character was designated to a single animator (or some times a pair). But come together in the end to make a masterpiece!

Definitely check out the Lion King BTS video here:

Lego Movie Directors bitter as Fathers walking through toy-rooms

One could say the directors of the Lego Movie wish the Board of directors at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences would step on as much lego as it took to create the movie for the slap in the face they gave the movie for not nominating it.  The Lego Movie, directed by Chris Miller and Phil Lord, was not nominated for best animated film for this year's oscars, but did however win the BAFTA award for best animated feature.

(Directors of Lego Movie holding their awards)

Usually the British Academy Film and Television Arts awards are spot on in picking the films that later win American Oscars, but this year was not the case.     For their acceptance speech, Miller and Lord parted with "You guys win the award for best Academy.  This is the end of the awards road for us, so we can say whatever we want.  There's no one left to impress," effectively making a stab at the Oscars.  I support the directors in their views because their movie was better than any animated films Disney produced that oscar season; there was no reason why it should not have been nominated.