The Final Post of this Blog

1. Why did you take this class?

I took this class because I really like movies and want to be able to make my own. I also knew that (most) everyone from last year would be here so I was eager to see their creations.

2. In general, what did you like most about this class? 

I like the creative freedom we are given for our projects. I remember the tutorials from last year being really annoying, but even the editing exercises from this year gave more us more options in what we could do. I also really enjoyed my classmates. This class was much more lively and enjoyable because of the personalities present.

3. In general, what did you like least about this class? 

Deadlines.
And Demos. 
And Tutorials.

4. What was your most favorite project and why? 

A tie between the Final Project and Fictional Short. I like making a full narrative, and while the Fictional Short had more freedom, the restrictions of the Final Project allowed me to focus more.

5. What was your least favorite project and why? 

Video Poem. It's to vague, poems are rarely about stuff I like, and it took away time from the independent study, which I cared more for.

6. Discuss the overall effectiveness of the instructor (for example: preparation, availability, interest, content knowledge, expectations, etc.). 

Was only late once. Was always able to solve any problem I ran into, which a more effective at teaching me than the Demos.

7. What are the most valuable things you learned in the class? 

The importance of actors and pre-production. Whenever I focused on these I was pretty good. When I don't, I didn't finish.

8. Do you feel that this class will help you achieve your future academic or career goals? How or why (or why not)?

Absolutely. This experience will prove invaluable when I make movies in the future. Even if it is amateur, my new knowledge composition and editing will put it above the average slock.

9. How could this class be improved? 

Less demos, more time.

10. What would you tell incoming students to help them be more prepared for the class? 

Deadlines suck, and DO YOUR PREPWORK!!

11. Additional Comments: 

I liked it. I'll miss it. :(

The Weekliest of the Comments!

I really missed doing normal blogs... And having 2 genuinely interesting articles as their comeback brings me joy. But with that sentiment aside let's do some junk.

This week I learned that rapid cutting is good for adding tension and building up momentum in a scene. While i may have learned that from a video, given that we're on the final project, it's fair to say we won't really be taught anything from now on.

What I want to know is how to get really good morph cuts. I remember all the really beautiful morph cuts from the movie Stay and I want to try one out in my final project.

Easily the best part of this week was watching Captain America: Civil War! It was really good. It gave us really fun and imaginative battles between the heroes, and that this really was them fighting each other over genuine philosophical differences makes it much more compelling, not being able to fully root for or against either side. And Ant-Man was awesome.

What sucked? Turns out I have a field trip on Friday so I lost a day on my Final Project. Hooray. Honestly if it's not perfect when I hand it in Thursday I'll still work on it. If not for my portfolio, for creating an entertaining short.

As much as I like the new Spiderman, I'm of the mindset that the first 2 Sam Raimi movies are the best incarnation that there has ever been or will ever be, much like the first 2 70s superman movies. I could have wrote a long article on why they're so good under a pseudonym, but this video by someone more skilled should do better. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wD3h_bT0Mfg

Tracing Dat A...namation

Ready to learn how to pose characters? No? Well too bad! Poses are a way for your drawn character to express themselves. Most of animation and even acting is moving from pose to pose in order to illustrate how they feel. It's more obvious on lower budgets, but it's always there. But what makes a good pose? The speaker conveniently broke it down so I don't have to think as hard. 1. A good pose is clear and instantly readable. It's important for us to immediately know what they're doing, thinking and/or feeling. It should be very clear and not easily mistakable. 2. A good pose demonstrates proper physicality. This is less about how they carry themselves and more about how the world carries them. Balance is usually the go-to but so long as it feels like they're constrained by physics they could be doing a leaping action and still pull this of. 3. A good pose is visually interesting. If their to static or generic that's boring. There should be some form of movement or dynamic placement of their limbs to make their pose more unique and personal. There should be a strong line of action, and a lack of symmetry. 4. A good pose conveys character. The pose should be unique to how the character behaves and postures. More importantly it shouldn't break that character's personality. Peter Parker is a dweeb so it's jarring to see someone portraying him move with confidence and swagger. Same for any other character.

This was also pretty good. Principles of animation can still strengthen the way actors move as well. The breakdown of what makes a pose work is intriguing and a good outlook to have in posistioning any character in any medium. Overall pretty useful, but the 15 minutes are more about reinforcing claims than adding to them. Which is useful for explaining the theses, but not really something I can write about.

Editing

This video is all about the editing process. It starts with an anecdote about how difficult it is to describe the creative process of editing. The narrator, and other editors, find it difficult to describe, explaining that they cut and transition based on instinct. On emotion. So we kick off the exploration on how editors think and feel. We begin with eyes. Eyes are the most expressive part of the face, and so when the actor does really good eye acting when the cut to what they see is made we know how they feel. He also discusses how adding or removing time from a shot can cause a different emotional response. Shorter shots build momentum and longer shots let events sink in. Shots usually have a rhythm to them, and cutting to that rhythm makes the editing feel invisible. It concludes by saying that the only way to learn it is to just do it.

I liked this one. I found the breakdown of how editing can drive the tone to be both fascinating and useful. I will try to employ this in my final project. I especially like learning that long shots are good for letting things settle in.

Sorry about what's below

The colors were acting all wonky on my last post so I eventually got that funky mess below. All the words are visible, so theres that

You Know What's Easier? Practical Effects!

Before we begin, he forgot a button. Moving on, the science is a combination of the physics of the lights bouncing off of everything and computer science; which is primarily the coding of the real life light physics into an algorithm for rendering the the scene's lighting. The Math is what a computer does best, and the base for most computer code. It takes form in geometry, coordinates, vector, and matricies.

Rasterization is when light rays are traced from the object to a single point (the camera) While Ray casting is a ray from the camera to the object.

The first problem with rasterization was that it failed at depth. The objects were layered based on when they made rather than their position in 3d space, with required a Z buffer to fix. Ray tracing solved this automatically only acknowledging what the camera beam first hits. Another problem was shadows. This was solved by drawing a secondary ray after contact is made from the camera rat, redirected to the light, based the lightness on interference with the ray. Another problem was reflections. This is solved by having the secondary rays mentioned before targeting other objects and splitting further.

 Direct lighting is light directly from a source, while indirect light is the light that bounces of stuff. Since light naturally bounces off everything, it is more realistic to have indirect light in the scene while it is less dramatic. 

The problem was over come when James Kajiya calculated the equation of light based on physics. However it was complicated and needed lots of computer power and time.

Moore's law is that the number of transistors in a circuit doubles every 2 years, ie computers are getting way more powerful all the time. While Blinn's law (is it the same Blinn that made the Blinn texture in Maya?) states that rendering time is constant, because the more powerful the machine, the more we do with it.

CGI is far in a way different from other art forms. Primarily due to other forms being physical in some way or another, with CGI is entirely math. Boring and tedious to make, but unique to no end. An overuse of CGI is lazy on part of the Director, not the animator

Comment Time for this Week!

 This week I learned that Gage's greatest weakness is getting hit with a folding chair. I also learned that KFC is owned by the Pepsi Corporation.

 I want to learn what the final project is.

 The best part of this week was playing Automatron!

 The downside of this week was accidentally kicking my Xbox controller off the top bunk. Luckily it's undamaged.

 Here's a channel I enjoy. It's about a man... and movies... and comics... and stuff...

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0XPzwmDL_qeZlR4JuX-VLQ

I already Freaking saw this!

 A shot reverse shot is when you switch between 2 or more angles back and forth, generally in dialogue. This video examines the Coen brothers' spin on this simple technique. First is their framing, the shots are simple, the character is usually centered with strong contrast to the background, making them pop. They keep the camera very close to each of the characters faces rather than the more common over-the-shoulder shot for dialogue. This helps create a more comfortable feeling, like your right in the middle of the action rather than a distant spectator. They often use wide angle lens to exaggerate the facial expressions of the actors. They aslo cut between shot fast to keep the rhythm of the conversation in a rhythm and constant momentum to prevent the scene form getting awkward or stale. They also use ques beyond the speaker to cut between shots, stuff like body language, expression, emotion, and movement help keep their cuts lively.

 I already saw this video, but I do like this and the other videos on his channel. They are helpful in both creating and critiquing the visual techniques of cinema. Overall it is a great way to look at movies in a way that allows a greater appreciation of the director' style.

Draw Dem Dudes

 You don't need to be the ultimate kung-fu master of human anatomy to be an animator, learning little about it wouldn't hurt your craft. This article has some pointers so let's jump right in.
 First you'll want to draw the line of action; a line from foot to head that curves to the body's stance so the character feels more fluid, as well as emphasizing their body language. Then comes height proportion, the head is the best reference to measure things out, but a quick tip is that legs are half a persons height. Now for shoulders, a the article recommends a 3 head width, but unless they're Superman I'd personally recommend a 2 1/2 head width. Also, eyes are in the middle of the head, you should draw people bald before adding thick, luxurious hair on them. Necks ain't straight, they're tilted a little back. Facial muscles don't allow lip corners to move up and down, forcing our mouths to be in a permanent lemon shape. Finally, start the head as a cube to help yourself when it's at an angle.

 I liked this one. It had some useful tips, though admittedly I won't follow them all as hyper-realism craps my style.

Workly Clomernts!

   I learned this week that some cuts are harder than than others.

   I want to learn how to make time move slower so i can get more time for the short.

   The highlight of the week was getting tons of pop.

   The low point was not having much to say about the blogs.

   Here's a little something that could give you more appreciation for Micheal Bay's style.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2THVvshvq0Q

Horizontal Bop!

   Humans are stupid. A slight movement change can change how people view things? The crap is that? You may not have noticed the effect that left or right movement has on you, but your brain did. Things moving left to right makes us feel all happy and stuff, and things moving right to left make us want to vomit. But why? Some say that it's because we read from left to right, but does that mean that for the Japanese this phenomenon is reversed? Because that's how they read? Regardless, this can be used to establish comfort or create a sense of safety and comfort. It's similar to how camera angles can create a sense of vulnerability or intimidation.

   This was also freaking short. I don't know what to say. So use rightward movement when you want to scramble someone's brain.

Rockin' Tunes, Man!

   Jon Williams writes us an amazing score for... up, nope, he's telling us about pretentiousness ground zero, Art School. Art school exists for artists that want to show off, and people who want to be artists but don't have any ideas. He has the grit to say that art school isn't necessary! But that it also won't hinder you're aspirations. (except for the debt) Since you can't teach creativity art school mainly serves as a way to show people ways they can express their creativity. Truth is, when itn comes to the arts, employeers rarely care about your credentials, but some are daft enough to think it matters. Ultimately the industry of art, be it drawing, music, movies, or whatever, it doesn't matter how much schooling is under your belt if an audience enjoys your work. Ol' Jonny also understands the 3D scrambles brains, and tells us to not to stress over changing software, and to just worry about the art fundamentals. Jon also says that we suck and we should lose any ambition we may have. Because wanting to be the best = ego. Ok. Fair enough. If you tried to jump off Quentin Tarantino's ego you'd never hit the ground. It also makes people not want to work with you, and work can really suffer. Case and point: The Room. 'Nuff said. Jon closes by saying we can always improve. Nice to end on a high note.

    So... this existed. Not much to say. Good pointers? Pretty good advice, but nothing mind-blowing. So obey these simple rules and do these simple things and you'll be getting inspiration every fifteen or twenty minutes.

Shooting the Stuff for the Week

After our little light demo I learned that the lights are fragile and should never be near them.


I want to learn how to clone people for $5 that way I wouldn't need to worry about actors.


The best part of this week was a show my grandpa recommended, Mad Dogs, which is really really good, and I highly recommend it.


The worst part of this week is my shoddy documentary and the return of the blogs.


Check this crap out! This guy watches some the worst movies ever.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpsjEC4PlHmhM84yX5Y3rrg

Buy a 3D Printer...Buy...Buy...Buy...

Technology makes it easier to bring you're ideas to life. In the age of the inter...uh...3D printer, you can turn your drawings into toys. With the power of 3D printing you can make anything from a ball to a rocket ship component, if you got the cash, obviously. Anomalisa, created by Charlie Kaufman uses a 3D printer in the process of creating characters and set dressing. But let's talk about our old friends, LAIKA, the dudes that use 3D printing as steroids in the stop motion industry. Swapping character bits is still a pain and a half, but it's faster than the past. Stop motion, blah blah, tedious, blah blah blah, ask Geoff for details. Kaufman, the maker of Anomalsia didn't hide some of the things that made the characters look like they were 3D printed, he said it was a stylistic choice.


This was a thing, I guess. The author thinks if they praise the machine hard enough they'll get a free 3D printer. This articale was more of a "this thing does stuff" than "stuff you can do" type dealy. No advice to take other than "buy a 3D printer." Frankly if I had the money I'd rather a Play Station and the Sly Cooper games.

How to Make Your Movie Look More like a... Movie?

Making a good shot is tough when your on a budget. Especially if you're the only one working on it. But when you have materials and a crew you still have to make that shot interesting. Lighting is one of the most crucial parts of a scene. But what if the studio lights are scary? Or you're not exactly swimming in cash? DSLR guide came riding in on a white stallion to show us the light, cheap studio light that is. The sun makes a decent light source, the flickering is predictable and you don't need to replace it for a couple billion years. But what about inside? I'm getting there. Shoot near windows for some nice soft light. From the sun. Unfortunately Earth hates movies so you'll have to pick up what the weather puts down. If you want dramatic rain walking but it's sunny, you could spin it so the happy weather juxtaposes the sad person. Since cinema is a visual medium it's import your scenery is portraying the feel you want. Lights, location, environment, COLOR! All important. Location is straight forward, it's where the heck you are. If you want a drug deal in a warehouse it shouldn't look like a living room in a suburban home in your scene. The pace of the scene should be complimented by the editing. If you have high octane action there should be velocity, quick cuts, following the action. But if you want a slow scene you should linger on stuff. Color is color and color be color. It plays with your mind so choose wisely. Generally negative scenes are more monochrome, and positive scenes are SATURATED. Make sure a character's color scheme matches they're emotion, sad people in gray, etc. You can use other elements in your scene, like smoke, shadows, liquid, and the like. That crap the audience will eat up.
 The title of this thing is stupid. Aside from that I learned about colors, so I be a happy little man. This advice ain't bad so we should use it. Just today I used sunlight to light a scene in my class competition. Coincidentally it was about an unhappy camper and the light was pretty gray. So yay.

Last one of the stupid freaking week...

This week I began grasp how much deadlines suck.


I want to learn the motivation behind different styles of pants.


I learned that the cheaper tripods are better.


The worst part of this week was dropping the camera.


The high point was having my brother show me Rick and Morty. A fantastic show.


The other high point is finding this channel with lots of tips and tricks for crafting on Fallout 4.
 https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCCN2CzWJZPeLzrA_gZfMS6A

Writers block? More like briters wlock! ooohhhh!!

Writers block is the Hitler of creativity. Wait, what? The biggest culprit is COMMUNISM! If communism was synonymous with distraction. If we're daydreaming about an animated movie about embracing futility, we're not focusing on pants research. So cancel out your thoughts and ignore everything. Since we can't refine a project immediately after we come up with an idea, we have to pick one and ignore the others. Ideas are so wonderful it's torture to not be able work on all of them. Finally, just go. You can fix it in post. It's easiest to figure out what you want while fixing crap, so make mistakes.
      I feel the best advice is the last bit. Editing is where you hate yourself. In addition jumping to post gives you time to get stuff you'd otherwise get screwed out of. Aside from that there's not much to say. Writers block sucks. Personally I find giving up solves it. I get inspired by entertainment and get right back to it.

A Froggy Response

Merrie Melodies and Chuck Jones are a couple of animators that made some popular animated things, I guess. Since Flash got invented and Joe Shoe could become (famous animator) so more and more people look back on old shorts and admire how 2D they are. Enough love of this old stuff has produced a memorial to "One Froggy Evening."


Amid Amidi's parents liked alliteration, but he also wrote this thing about how we'll always garbage so why try. He says that "A Froggy Evening" is the most awesomest animation ever. Beyond perfect. Nothing could improve it.



Sorry double A, but I am inclined to disagree.



We should respect pioneers for sure, but innovators deserve just as much respect. Calling something perfect discourages people to try something new. If nothing new happens stagnation occurs, where everything is safe, but also boring, and the medium dies off. Yes, it's good, but it's not exactly leaving me aghast wondering about the meaning of life. It's personal taste, his favorite animation is A Froggy Evening, mines yet to be made. Enjoy what you like, tell people it's brilliance, but if you love something you have to allow innovation as well as preserve it.