Sunday, December 7, 2014
Animation as an Industry
This article was about how far the popularity of animation has come and how large and demanding the jobs are. It gave me a good idea of my chances of getting into the animating field. Though I've known animation is a growing industry, it's cool to see just how much it is. I'm glad that I'm in the generation of strong animated films. I suppose if I weren't I might not have loved it as much as I do now. The best thing about most animated movies is that they do appeal to all audiences. Not only are they kid friendly but they have in-depth stories that adults can get into as well. And that's what makes them so popular and why it's such a thriving industry. Or as the article states it's why "you get box office magic". Now Best Animated Feature is in the Academy Awards. In 2001 Shrek was honored the first of this award. And I'm glad, too. Animation is really the only category I pay attention to in the Academy Awards.
Friday, December 5, 2014
Weekly Comments
So I still have about 24 seconds to go in my 2D short. I'm not too confident that I'll get to 60 seconds, but I really can't tell right now. From what I have there are some things I should fix and movements I could add but this week I've focused on getting the gist down and then hopefully later I'll have time to improve it. It's still frustrating and when I go home I still think it's fun. I just hope I find a good and fitting way to lengthen my short. I think I've learned the run/walk cycle better from all of this. I definitely need to work on the bounce in the step though. I also figured out that you can change the size of your frames in your timeline in order to have more viewing space. That's neat but it kind of makes it difficult to click the frames if it's too small anyway.
This article is of James Baxter explaining character animation and the process of it; using The Croods as an example.
Sunday, November 23, 2014
Sound Effects for Film
This video about sound effects has tips on how and when to use them. He explains how important subtle sounds are in a film. How things like the flipping of paper can make scenes seem more real. I've been hoping to add simple sound effects into my 2D short and this video has been helpful with ideas. Sound effects can be used to create a mood without dialog, as he shows in his short. Or even without picture; like a deep ringing of a bell to imply a grim scene. I'm using an upbeat tune in my short and I think it gives the perfect mood for what's going on. I always focus on the picture in films, but I think I should start appreciating the sound as well.
Weekly Comments
This week I learned how to do the forward walk cycle. It took me a few days just to figure it out but I did get the leg movement down. I think I focused too much on that because now it's difficult to time the bounce in his step. I guess I should have done that while I was animating the legs. Animating is fun and frustrating. I love and hate it. It's pretty fulfilling when you finally understand something. Of course another thing always comes up giving you more to face. I'm looking forward to seeing my finished short and everyone else's. There are a lot of cool ideas I've heard so far.
This week's link is about the new Disney short, Feast, that premiered with Big Hero 6 in theaters. It talks briefly about the 2D-3D method used in Feast and Paperman and why Disney decided to make another short.
Saturday, November 15, 2014
The Science Behind Baymax
The new movie, Big Hero 6, focuses on futuristic tecnology; specifically robots. There are many different types of robots in the movie but Baymax is one that brings a whole new idea to robotics. The idea of Baymax came from the co-director, Don Hall, while visiting a robotics instatute that included an inflatable robotic arm. The softness of the robot is meant to be more delicate. In the movie, Baymax is a medical robot meant to help you if injured. Inflatable robots might not be completely fantasy. Some of these robotics are under investigation and could be used for many things requiring caregiving and a soft touch. I was happy to see a whole new concept of robots in a movie. Comparing it to the technology now seems to mean it will be awhile until we can come close to what Baymax does.
Weekly Comments
I think I learned a lot this week. Mostly things I've known already but just improved in. Using the camera is so much easier and makes a big difference. What I want to learn has been the same. To manage my time better. I turned my 6 second club in early to get started on my short but I could have added more facial expressions/movement. Puppet animation is really nice, though. I'll definitely use it in my short along with frame by frame. I felt like I got a lot done so far. Then I played it all and realized how hard I need to work on this.
I saw Big Hero 6 earlier today and I loved it. It wasn't one of my favorite movies but I'd definitely suggest anyone to watch it.
This is an article about the mathematics behind Pixar. It's interesting, but I'm terrible at math. I should probably work on that.
Sunday, November 2, 2014
Weekly Comments
I managed to finish the 11 second club on time! That was shocking. Though there's not a lot of movement going on. I learned how to use the camera better, but I hope to learn when to change views and scenes to my advantage. I think the most frustrating thing was aligning the mouth movements with the sounds. Some of it was too muted or just hard to understand while simply scrolling through the frames. I'm having a lot of fun working on my storyboard for the short. I just hope it's not too big of a bite that I can chew.
This article gives tips on how to storyboard along with why storyboarding is important. It specifies on live-action film but, of course, the tips can be applied to animation as well.
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