Bass/ Treble Tutorial

Last week in class we went over the steps to tracking the bass and treble with different types of layers. I was going through some tutorials on youtube and stumbled upon this step by step video that teaches you to makes a pulse logo that reacts to the audio (bass/treble). The videos twenty minutes so its a bit long but when you get the steps down its easy to do with any song!

A World of Tomrrow

Netflix came out with animation that was amazing. It is only 16 minutes long, but it says so much. Using 2D animation but a complex plot the characters seem very realistic with only being stick figures. The creators use the animation to their advantage, having the characters interact with it. It is an adorable short film but it says a lot about where our society is going, and where we will end up. It is simplistic and fun, yet deep and saddening. It gives you all the feels. Here is the trailer for it. I encourage you to watch the full thing.

World of Tomorrow Review

I first watched Don Hertzfeldt's compilation of short films, It's Such a Beautiful Day, nearly a year ago while I was taking another one of Arturo's classes. It was completely on a whim and I needed something to review for our blog. I figured a simple, hour long animation featured on Netflix would give me enough to write about, and it absolutely did to say the least. Since then, I've rewatched it multiple times with family and friends as I tried to share it with as many people as possible. To me, It's Such a Beautiful Day, is the perfect example of taking advantage of the medium of animation: inserting compelling narration alongside abstract imagery in a seemingly simple but very complex way that makes you think.

Over the Winter break, Hertzfeldt's newest short film, World of Tomorrow, was added to Netflix's library and I didn't hesitate to press play as soon the title card popped up on my dashboard. This 16-minute animated film shares the same style as his previous works, that being a minimalist art style contrasted by thought provoking narration. Unlike his other shorts however, World of Tomorrow featured a very Sci-fi theme. The short begins with a little girl, Emily, being contacted by a future version of herself developed through cloning, a futuristic method which they explain greatly in the film but I will omit from this review. The rest of the story revolves around these two versions of Emily touring throughout various scientific advances that seemingly dehumanize the human race with every step, illustrating a very bleak and depressing future.

The dialogue seemed very genuine the first time I watched through it and I was not surprised to find out that the voice of the little girl was actually recorded by a little girl; four year old Winona Mae, Hertzfeldt's niece, to be more specific. What I did find surprising was the fact that Hertzfeld recorded all of his niece's dialogue while drawing pictures with her so all of it was completely improvised. The film was then tailored to match Winona's words, creating a unique experience while making the theme of the short even more impactful.

Overall, I thought this standalone 16-minute film was a strong addition to Don Hertzfeldt's filmography. Unique furtustic-esque ideas and creations are reenforced well by the narrative and brief moments of humor throughout help to alleviate the bleak scenario that unfolds. It would be unfair to compare it to the hour-long, It's Such a Beautiful Day, based solely on the fact that Hertzfeld didn't have nearly as much time to flesh out the characters and environments, but as a fan, it does leave me wanting more. With an additional 45-minutes, this could have definitely been a masterpiece, but I'm content with the final product nonetheless.            

            

Marvel's Daredevil

The Marvel cinematic universe is massive, and it is only getting bigger, with a dozen movies and a dozen more on the way, a couple of cable TV series, and a few series being released on Netflix. One of the most recent additions to this ever growing universe is Marvel's Daredevil, a Netflix original series that had full season released on the streaming sight just two weeks ago.

The series follows the character Matt Murdock, a blind lawyer who beats up criminals at night as the the costumed vigilante known as Daredevil.  I've only gotten into the first two episodes, but so far I'm pretty captivated. Character of Murdock is pretty interesting, the setting of Hell's Kitchen in NYC seems pretty well done, and the choreographed fight scenes are really satisfying. One thing that I thought was really cool, and may interest those in this class, was the title sequence. It's a captivating sequence that makes use of this really interesting melting wax effect.

So if you like Marvel superheroes, gritty backstories, or just watching a bunch of bad guys get the crap beaten out of them, give this series a try.

Cartoon Network's Chowder

The animated show, "Chowder," on Cartoon Network ran from 2007 - 2010. It was created by C. H. Greenblatt, who has worked on Spongebob Squarepants and Fish Hooks. Chowder is one of my favorite animated shows of all time.

It centers around a food-loving apprentice of the talented chef, Mung Daal who runs a catering company with his abrasive wife, Truffles, and assistant, Schnitzel. Yes, all the characters are named after foods. It is very silly and fast-paced.

The animation is very fun to watch. The characters clothes and fabrics are filled with a pattern that stays stable as the characters move, creating a cool aesthetic. They also incorporate stop motion into the transitions.

Here's an amazing interview with C. H. Greenblatt, in which he explains the process for creating an episode of Chowder. It takes the length of a pregnancy to create the baby - an 11 minute episode.

Also, Chowder is on Netflix, so you have no excuse not to watch it now. You're welcome.

6 Days to Air: The Making of South Park

I recently watched this documentary on Netflix and at first, I was a little skeptical about it since not too long ago a different documentary about the making of South Park was released. However, this documentary is a little different because it focuses on the making of the 15h season’s episode “Humancentipad”, a spin-off of the disturbing human centipede movie. The cameras go behind the scenes with Trey Parker and Matt Stone. I’ve known before this documentary how the animation is usually made the night of the episode releasing, with cutouts and low-quality animation. However, they need to do this because they only have such a small amount of time since they write the episodes according to what happens in the news that day. This is not an easy task. The documentary shows how stressful this process is and how much dedication you need to do this. I have a lot more respect for South Park now, although I’ve always loved the show and their political commentary. 

Opening Movie Credit Project Ideas

For the first project, I thought that I picked an easy show to recreate, that being Parks and Recreation. I found out that it was quite a bit harder than I thought. So I decided to find a project to push the boundaries of my after effects skills. I felt like I learned a lot more by challenging myself and attempting a harder project.

I stumbled upon this movie on Netflix as I was fishing my way through the action and adventure section. I figured this would be the best spot to find a movie with a great opening credit scene. Honestly this sequence looks really difficult and involved, but I would love to be able to do it and if I can pull it off, I will be confident in my after effects skills. The only problem I can see with doing this is that there is not much video it would be mostly lens flares and pictures, but still this should be easy enough to find the content. The use of photoshop should be a help as well.