Avatar Review

Today, I would like to do a brief review of James Cameron's latest film, Avatar.
As most of you know, Avatar is a movie about an alien world inhabited by blue people who are fighting for their own world against humans. Well that is part of it at least. I never like to give away spoilers, although most people have seen this film already.
When I first heard about this movie, I was confused between this Avatar, and the TV series Avatar, The Last Airbender. The airbender tv series is a great animated show with a very different theme from Cameron's movie. Both were announced as movies at around the same time, and with he same name. They are even both due out this year, although one has been in theaters and the other is due out in a few months. Regardless, the confusion over the name used to be a very strong thing, and still affects a lot of people. Just doing a search for "Avatar" in Google Images, you will find the first several pages dedicated to the tv series, not the movie.
Luckily, M. Night Shamalan, the director of the airbender film, has decided to change the name to simply The Last Airbender, which hopefully will clear up any further confusion.
Now on to the film.

I felt that I needed to see this film twice in order to get a full idea of the story, characters, and effects. Both times, I saw this at an AMC "IMAX" 3D screen. This is a great experience, which I could go on about for hours, but I will keep this very brief. In order to summaries, I will split this into sections: story, characters, effects, IMAX 3D, and finally quality and overall.

Story:
I have heard many people say that this movie is just a reenactment of Disney's Pocahontas, or even Dune. However I have to respond that it is not the same, and despite the strong similarities, there is another view. All stories borrow from other stories. Whether they are movies, comics, books, or whatever, there are no original stories. So while this may borrow heavily from other titles, it is still a unique aspect, and a well delivered story. And indeed it was well delivered, closing any loose ends, bringing together all the important and even some subtle bits of information into a cohesive ending. They did an excellent job of giving this story life, and of making it enjoyable from beginning to end. The main themes are universal and well understood, with a strong message that has been repeated many times lately. Our planet is a living thing and we need to treat it better. I do like the aspect that the spiritual and natural ways of the Navi are actually measurable scientifically. By using special neural connections in their hair, they can interact with animals, plants, and event he planet itself in way we can only imagine. The connections between all these living things physically embody the ideals of many of the American tribes, and give us even better reason to believe that these beings are not just pointlessly spiritual, but that they are physically and mentally connected to every living thing.
I have heard others say that even though this movie is roughly 3 hours long, it does not feel like it. And I agree. After we saw this film for the last time, it was already after 10:30 at night, and I could have sworn it was only 9. This may be so in part to the story, and in part to the effects.

Characters:
The characters are well rounded, 3 dimensional characters with a lot of development.  While the main character of Jake Sully starts off with a past, problems of his own, and even a family, the story quickly launches him into a world where we has no more family, no more goals, and just want to stick with what he does best, despite his lack of funds to allow him to be healed so he can fight again.  The changes that happen to him so fast in his life lead to him being the character we all have to associate with.  He knows little to nothing about Pandora, he has never piloted an "Avatar" before, and he open to learning just about anything.  It is this openness, and his skills as a marine (combined with the only way he has been able to walk and run in years) that has lead him to really engage with the Avatar program.  He must pilot a biologically grown Navi body.  It is this same openness and warrior status that drive the Navi to teach him their ways, and accept him, eventually, as one of their own.  That is all I will give away, since it is really the premise of the film, but I will say that many of these characters are strongly affected emotionally by the events and actions of the story.  The heir to the clan is of course skeptical and only wants to protect his clan, his people and planet, his position, and his woman.  But as he grows, eventually he too changes his views as events unfold.  The female lead here, a Navi flying warrior, also grows.  She is next to be the spiritual leader, and at first views Jake as an enemy, then as an annoyance, growing into curiosity, to a friend, and eventually lover, only to feel betrayed later on.
Even the character of the General in charge of the human forces is well designed.  He has one goal in mind, to protect his people while they mine for resources.  But in the end, his own tough attitude and power hungry ego gets the best of him as he wages an all out war not only against he Navi, but also against his people, and the man he once relied on for intel.  Even the head of the company's operations is a conflicted characters, not wanted to hurt or attack the Navi, but not understanding their view and forced to look out for the company's best interest as he sees it.
I must say that these characters are all multifaceted, with a lot of development and emotional connections.

 

Effect

Wow!  Amazing!  I can't think of anything as amazing as the effects in this movie.  The quality of the effects is astounding!  Every minute of the work that went into this film was well worth it.  Every frame is a masterful work of cinematic art.  But lets get down to it.

The effects are indeed drop dead gorgeous.  If the story and characters weren't also excellent, this movie would still have a chance on the graphics alone.  Granted, all these aspects are astounding, but none of them show off the quality of this work as well as the graphics do.  The characters interact so flawlessly, I can not for the life of me see where the CG begins, and the acting ends.  It is just flawless.  I feel that the best part about this was the outdoor scenes.  Every blade of grass, every leaf, every animal, every drop of water, mist, clouds, fire, everything is completely believable!  It is full of subtle details that really make you wonder how they could have done so much!  The characters are a close second however.  The Navi are incredibly amazing, with perfect details and animation.  The subtle emotions on their faces, the body movement, the way they balance on their feet, their tales, even the fact that the Avatar bodies (having human DNA mixed with Navi DNA) have 5 fingers while the natural Navi only have 4, are flawless spectacular details that I only dream about doing myself one day.  Even the humans are perfect.  Makeup on the colonel is amazingly good and distinctive, really adding to the character.  The actor Sam Worthington, who plays the main character Jake, is a healthy active guy who stars in many action movies, and yet here, he is a crippled human with legs that have dystrophy (weakened and unusable).  I am amazed at how realistic they made his legs look when you see him moving around with these 2 bony weak legs, like anyone in Jake's position would naturally have.  Amazing.

On that note, I did notice two, and only two things that may or may not have been there.  With my keen eyes and attention to detail, I noticed 2 scenes, fairly close together, where is something off.  The first is a scene when Jake wakes up in ashes (you know what it is when you see it), the arm band he wears is black with little blue stones in the center.  However, without any interaction from navi or humans in between scenes, by the time he is landing before the people on his newly acquired "ride", he has a cyan beaded armband.  Why would be go change armbands, and how?  Still, I might have overlooked something there.  The second issue is actually in this same scene.  As he approaches the clan leader, the look on the leader's face is priceless (mouth agape), but it is also a little off.  This one is a graphics issue, which I have noticed twice now.  The lighting that shines onto the face of the leader doesn't look quite right in the area of his mouth, almost like too much light is getting into around his teeth.  It almost looks like he has a CG glowy mouth, but the rest of him is real.  Now it could be that it is an artifact of the light shining into his face, and is at just the right angle to make it look this way, but it did look off to me.

Regardless, if these are the only problems that I could find, then I have to say it is by far the best CG I have ever seen in my life.

IMAX 3D

 This film was presented in IMAX 3D.  In the AMC screen I went to, this is not the IMAX format screen, but an IMAX brand screen.  Therefore it is NOT the full sized IMAX screen and you may actually lose information due to this.  What I mean is that some movies, like Dark Knight, and Transformers 2, use select scenes to fill an IMAX screen, and present an amazingly engaging scene.  But the IMAX format for these traditional IMAX screen are very square, and very large, at a 1.44:1 ratio.  In fact, the average traditional IMAX screen is 72 ft × 53 ft, while the largest is 117.2 ft × 96.5 ft.  Typical films use 35mm film, while IMAX films use 70mm film.  Regardless, the AMC IMAX screens are not even close to this.  However, they are very impressive.  One big disadvantage of the traditional IMAX screen is that any seat that is not in the ideal spot can be downright painful to watch a movie in.  I have seen several films this way, where in one I was so far off to the side that I got very bad neck aches, and in another I was so far to the front I got awful eye and head aches as well.  This screen is still very high quality, and does not have this problem no matter what seat you get.  Luckily, it is a good experience in most seats.  The IMAX quality is still there, although, like I said, not in IMAX format.  This means it is not a 70mm film, not is it a 1.44:1 ratio screen, and is probably not as wide either.  But I would still say that this is an excellent experience to see.  These screens are high, high quality, and have sharp detailed images with no distortion, no noise, no dirt, nothing.  A flawless presentation.

The 3D, aka stereoscopy, was impressive, but more subtle than I would have liked.  There are 2 planes for 3D films.  The back plane, where the stereoscopy happens "behind" the screen, and the forward plane, where the effect is in "front" of the screen.  Really good movies try to utilize both, to great effect.  Downright bad movies focus too much on sticking out and can really give you a headache trying to focus on the action.  However, this movie focuses more on the back, pushing the effects into the screen.  Instead of seeing the flying reptiles hovering over the front row, you see him on the screen, while the background goes way back into the distance.  I like this for the reason that it presents itself more as a film, and less as a gimmick, and lowers the amount of headache complaints.  However, as others have told me as well, I think it should use a little more of the forward plane than it does.  I does indeed use the forward plane, and to good effects, but usually for minor foreground objects like debris and floating seeds.  It brings you into the scene this way, but I feel they could have pulled a few things out a little further to really show off the 3D.

That being said, I will say that this subtle 3D style is perfect, and looks amazing.  You get so used to it, you hardly even realize it is there after a while, you just get used to seeing it.

OVERALL

 Finally, the overall quality of this film is perfect.  You can not find a better presented film with better effects, better story, or more memorable characters than this.  The amazing visuals really bring in the audience, who are then taken by surprise by the amazing story to go with it.  Everything from the grand outdoors scenes, to the subtle details and movements, to the lighting and color, this movie is as good as it gets!

I can not give any movie a higher recommendation than I give this one.  A+++!!!  If you only see one movie this century, Avatar is the one to see.

Well that about raps it up.  Again, Avatar is an amazing movie worth seeing multiple times.  I can't wait to get it on Blu-ray, and by the time this film hits 3D in the home, I may just have to upgrade my system again.

If you have already seen it, see it again!  If you haven't, GO SEE IT NOW!

If you really get into the story and world of Pandora, check out this great book, Avatar, An Activists Survival Guide.  It shows a lot of things you didn't notice, teaches you things about the world you didn't know, and is a fun book to just pick up and flip through.

Portfolio is up and running

I have just recently created a new website designed to accompany this one. While WeaklyAnimated.com will remain my main blogging site, with all the latest information and updates, this other site will feature some of the artwork that I complete, stored there for easy access.
It's called David's Portfolio, and it is what it sounds like. My portfolio website currently includes some of my older works, along with some image editing samples, some photography and drawings, and of course several animations.

It will be updated every few weeks or so with new content, many of which will appear on this site. I hope it is an easy and convenient way to see a good sample of my works, and most of the content posted here.

It's easy to get to the site, I will be adding permanent links on this site soon, but for now, just visit http://web.me.com/cptgreedle.

Thanks for the support, please enjoy the site!

Weak 1 Animatic

Exciting news everyone!
I have finally finished the animatic for the Weak 1 project.  While it is currently under the working title, "Red light, Green light", it will have a final name before too long, but no rush.
This animatic is still a work in progress, and some tweaking will be needed, but I have uploaded what I have done so far to show you.  Most of this is black and white, poorly scanned, with very sketchy drawings.  It might be a little hard to understand right off, so please give me your feedback and tell me what you think.  The most important this here is timing and layout.
Does it go by to fast?  Is it too slow?  Is the scene confusing?
Do you like it?  Do you hate it?
Please let me know, and be helpful too.  I am always looking for ways to improve things, so please let me know what you think and how you think it could be better.
Well, without further ado, here it is!

Possibly good news

Yesterday, my beautiful and bright wife was going through Facebook when she saw an ad for a school that had my name on it... literally.
It is called the DAVE School, as in Digital Animation and Visual Effects School.  It is based in Orlando Florida, and is part of Universal Studios.  Now this is not a 4 year degree program type school, it is more like a 12 month technical school.  They teach you everything you need to know, in small but intense classes.  And since they attached to Universal Studios, you know they have the knowledge and equipment needed.  What's their main focus?  Get you to have a really kick-ass demo reel in a year.
What's a Demo Reel you ask?
A Demo Reel is the usually short example of work you have done in the past, much like a portfolio on a DVD.  Usually, for animation, acting, and film, a demo reel will either be your portfolio, or accompany it as part of the portfolio.  You put all your best work on there to show off your talent and (hopefully) get the job.
I do not have such a hot demo reel.  In fact, I was trying to make some animations through this website to use as part of my demo reel.  However, it will take me a long time to really make that happen, and there is no guarantee what  produce will be anything like what the industry pros are looking for.  I have really been hoping to get into a school to get more experience and work to show off, but usually I am tied down with pointless general education classes, and classes that do not focus on what I want to do.  It can take years before you even start taking the classes that are really interesting, and the quality and quantity of that work varied greatly depending on the school.
The advantage of a school like this is if you have some background with animation already, you have a head start into a very intense course.  If not, they will still teach you everything you need to know.  As their representative told me over the phone, it is a "Boot Camp" for VFX and Animation.
Oh didn't I say, we submitted info for an information packet, which is coming in the mail.  This morning, they called me and we talked over their school and my situation a bit.  I am glad to hear from these guys so soon, it means that they mean business and are actually interested in me.
I have a lot to do to decide if this is really right for me, I have done a lot of things in the past looking for schools.  I graduated from GMU (George Mason University) with a BA in Digital Art and Animation, but I was never really satisfied with what I learned.  They didn't have access to a MoCap (motion capture) studio, and they taught me a grand total of 1 (one) 3D modeling and animation class.  For an animation degree, it was more like a light glance at the topic than what I wanted.  Needless to say, I didn't have the skills I needed to get into the jobs I wanted.  Not that GMU is all bad, it was that specific set of years they were redefining a lot of the classes, changing instructors, adding a new college, and more.  I ended up getting stuck with repeat classes, temporary instructors, mislabeled courses, and no way out.  Since then I have been trying to get into a graduate degree program, but found that most places wanted me to take a slew of remedial courses, or just start with another undergrad degree before I was eligible for a graduate degree.

I even tried taking courses online through Westwood, but it just wasn't for me.  I tried looking into Ohio State University's (OSU) DAIM (digital animation and interactive media) program through their ACCAD (advanced computing center for art and design) laboratory, but it is very hard to get into and asks for a lot of experience up front.
Well, that is all behind me now.  I hear that GMU has greatly improved their animation offerings, and I will still keep OSU in mind, but what I really need is a jump start in the right direction.  This DAVE school sounds like a winner to me, so far.
The biggest downside is that they use only Windows PCs.  As most of you know, I am a mac head, but I have used and even built PCs, so if this is the only drawback, I will just have to swallow my pride and do what it takes.  At least I know they help people like me build PCs, so who knows, they might like my new one as is, or they might make it even better!

I will keep you all posted how things turn out.

I have a lot to look at and think about, especially since it would involve moving to Orlando Florida for a year.  Classes start every 3 months, so I could sign up as early as March if I really wanted to.

Tools of the trade

Hello again everyone!

I have something exciting to show you later this week, unfortunately, I have been too busy to complete it just yet.  I have been working on an animatic for the first animation.
For those who aren't familiar with that term, it is essentially an animation made using the storyboard images, in order to get a better sense of timing and layout.  It is also a good way of showing people the concept behind the idea of a scene, and sometimes end up as extras on a DVD or Blu-ray.
I am over half way done with the animatic now, and it shouldn't take too much longer to complete, so I should be able to post in online, via YouTube, later this week.  Of course, I will also post a new blog entry when I do.

For now, however, I want to talk about some of the tools I use to make the animations.  There are a huge variety of tools, both hardware and software, that people use, and I cannot pretend to know them all.  But I will give a list of a few of the ones that I do use.

Hardware:
Paper
Big surprise, I use paper to draw.  I usually use 3x5 notecards for storyboards, but for all sketches, I use a sketchpad, usually by Strathmore.  Green covers, marked Sketch, are the ones I use the most for sketching, while the brown covers, marked Drawing, are for final drawings, but I am always on a look out for recycled paper as well.  When it comes to drawing the final images, I use drawing paper, which is usually thicker and nicer, but not as thick as Bristol board, which is used mostly for my nicer work, such as poster-style art or pen-and-ink drawings.  Although I usually use Strathmore for most of my paper, sometimes I find good deals on other brands, such as the "create" style spiral bound books at Borders Books, which usually convince me to buy some of those as well.  I use Bristol Board for all my nicer work, usually poster-style artwork.  This current animation project is using the Create book, while the web comic I am working on is in a Strathmore Sketchbook.
Pencils
Yup, I use pencils with my paper.  I find that unless I am drawing very detailed shadow work, such as following form and contours with detailed lighting, I usually just stick to mechanical pencils.  They are always sharp, sturdy and easy to transport, and can be very comfortable and accurate.  I like to use graphite at around HB - 2B, but I also use blue (aka non-photo blue) graphite for the initial sketch which allows me to remove any unwanted lines easier.  I have also used a variety of charcoal to draw, but I usually use that for larger art pieces, and not for digital work.  However, one animation, which I hope to post soon, was made entirely out of charcoal.  I did not have the time to achieve the effect I desired, but I think it turned out very well despite that.
Computer
In the world of computers, there are usually 2 camps of thought, Macintosh and Windows.  There are other Operating Systems out there, such as Linux, but they are not as popular overall.  I do have friends that swear by Linux, but most of them also use other computers as well.  As far as I am concerned, I have worked with both PCs and Macs.  I have built PCs, and I grew up with Macs.  I always prefer my iMac for anything important, such as work and artwork.  My PCs are almost always used for gaming.  I have run into several things that Macs actually do better in terms of graphics, but you will find people who will argue against it.  I can say that in my experience, I have run into fewer bugs, fewer viruses, fewer compression errors, and fewer compatibility issues when I use my Mac.  If you love your PC, great.  I will give you some advice about things I have run into on a PC to keep a look out for, but if you have a high end machine, you should have no real issues.  I currently use a 24" iMac, (although I would really love a mac tower), and also a custom built i5 processor PC.  All my work here will be done on my iMac.  This is mainly cause the software I use is on my iMac, and some of it is not even available on the PC (how about that for a change).
Tablet
While I don't use it as often as I should, I do have access to a relatively small graphics tablet.  These are usually made by Wacom (pronounced Wack-um), and are very useful for digital artists.  They are very expensive, and I need to upgrade to a newer model, but that is something I will have to save up for.  Regardless, tablets are great for fine detailed work an accurate drawings in the computer.  You can draw straight in the computer with one, or trace an existing drawing, or edit a scan/photograph with extreme precision.
Scanner
Having a background with National Geographic Society, I know a think or two about scanners, since my main job involved work with the scanning technicians to make the best images available.  The scanners they have there are very expensive, large, and accurate.  I have access only to small, cheap, and somewhat lacking scanners, but they are good enough to get the job done.  I am not scanning in high quality photographs and positives/negatives, I am only scanning in drawings.  To that end, I use a Canon Canoscan LiDE.  It does have some artifacts, but with the right editing, they are easily removed or reduced.  I use a scanner for this work because I like to draw on paper rather than straight into a computer, plus you have flexibility of mediums and techniques.  I will explore direct digital drawings with tablets at a later time.
iPhone
I know I need something better, something more dedicated, but for now, until I can afford a better solution, I use my iPhone for a variety of purposes.  I use it to take pictures for reference shots, I use it to record sounds outdoors if I need something like a car engine, I use it as a calculator to figuring out frame rates, etc.  It is very useful, but there are better things out there for each job.
Home Theater
I use my HDTV with 7.1 surround sound home theater to test my animations when they are done.  I can play things on my PS3, either as files or DVDs (I cannot make Blu-rays yet).  It is a great way of seeing the final product and showing it off, especially when playing with surround sound.
Accessories
I have a lot of accessories I use as well.  For example, I use a PowerMate, by Griffon Technology, for "scrubbing" and navigating timelines.  I also have a variety of hard drives, including La Cie drives, and Western Digital drives, not to mention a MyBook drive used as backup.  The grand total of space I have right now is around 1.75TB, but I backup only 1.5 of it.  I am only using around 500GB at the moment, but it is good to have breathing space.  I also have JBL speakers, surround sound headphones, several USB mics, and much more.

Software:
Adobe Photoshop
I use Photoshop CS4, but in all honesty, most people don't need something that new or advanced.  For basic editing, you only need Photoshop Elements.  However, for animation, having Photoshop is great.  I am used to it, I know it very well, and I use a lot of the advanced tools all the time.  You can easily use CS, CS2, or CS3 as well, having CS4 only adds a few new nice features which you don't need.  Unless you do medical work, or 3D work, there is NO REASON in the world you should get the extended edition.  It is great, and I do have it, but I never use the extended features.
Adobe After Effects
Again, I use After Effects CS4.  It has been a while since I used After Effects, so I am relearning some of the tools, and I find that it is a very good program.  I used to use CS, but have been out of the loop ever since.  I will be exploring some of the newer features, and experimenting with it.  But After Effects is essential to these animation, because it is the main program that puts all the elements together into an animation.
Adobe Flash
Once again, I have Flash CS4.  I am not familiar with Flash, in terms of animation and programming.  So for me, it will all be a learning experience.  I will not start out with Flash at first, since I am trying to get back into animation after such a long hiatus, and want to stick with things I am familiar with.
Apple Final Cut Pro
I am not using the latest Final Cut, but it is still sufficient for my needs.  This is the program that takes all the scenes, the music, the text, etc., and put them together, and renders it into one single file ready to burn onto a disc.  I have the entire suite, but I have to figure out how to use more of it since I only ever focused on 2 of the programs in it before.  This is not available on the PC, but the Mac/PC equivalent, which I will also explore and experiment with, is called Adobe Premier.  Premier advertises that it burns Blu-ray discs, but Apple computers lack the hardware at the moment.  (Then again, so does my PC).
DVD Studio Pro
The second program I learned in the Final Cut Suite.  Also not available on PC, this program lets you create the menus and options for use on a DVD.  You can burn a final product with this program.  I think that Adobe Encore is the Mac/PC equivalent to this, but I must explore it more.
Maya
This is for people who want to explore world outside the second dimension.  For 3D modeling and animation, Maya is a must-have.  While many companies have their own software (Pixar uses Marionette), they are not available to the general public, and learning Maya is usually the best way to get a head start in the right direction.  This is a very advanced, expensive, and complicated tool.  I am trying desperately to better familiarize myself with it, but it will be a while before I can really dig my teeth into it.  I need to get a few 2D animations out first to get the workflow organized and refined better.  You can also use Studio Max and other software to create 3D effects and models.  Maya comes with MotionBuilder, which I fully intend to explore, and also Combustion, which I am not familiar with... yet.  There are other tools 3D artists use, such as ZBrush, which gives you more refined control over various aspects of the modeling and animation process.  ZBrush lets you brush in details to a model with ease and accuracy.  I need to save up to get this.
Other
There are lots of other programs I use.  I use Quicktime and Sound Studio to record audio, but I may be exploring other options.  I use Soundtrack Pro also, for mixing sounds.  I use Firefox, Safari, and Chrome when I do web work, as well as Dreamweaver for creating websites, which I will probably not use much for this project.

Well, that is it for now.  Another long post, but a there is lots of information in it.  If anyone wants more information about what tools I will be using, or have suggestions for any tools you use that might work better, please send me an email.  And no anti-mac/anti-pc spam please.  I use both, I like both, I just prefer my Mac.  If you prefer your PC, more power to you.

Review of Monsters Inc.

One of the items you can always find on my holiday and birthday wish lists are Blu-rays.  For those who don't know, these are the DVD-like discs that play movies in High Definition.  Where a DVD has up to ~9GB, a Blu-ray has up to ~50GB, allowing for better image, better sound, and better extras.  It also uses more interactive features, including the pop-up menus, picture-in-picture, games, and even web content, to name a few.  The image is usually very sharp and amazing, the best in the market to-date!


Well, one such title I recently watched was Pixar's Monsters Inc.  For this review I will cover 2 different aspects of the release, the movie itself, and the Blu-ray.

MOVIE
What an amazing movie!  The story is unique and fun, playing on the idea of the world of the monsters that live in your closet, and how they are more afraid of you than you are of them.  The main characters, Mike and Sully, are employees at the Monstropolis power plant.  Their power?  Children's screams.  They must frighten kids in order to power their city.  But when one monster tried to cheat on the all-time scare record, a fearless little girl, dubbed Boo, playfully waltzes into their world, where children are thought to be toxic!
This is a great movie, with lots of fun characters and surprises, and a story that really impresses me.  The characters are well-developed, and grow to care for the child they once thought to be deadly, and set out to make sure she gets home safely, even if that means they can never see her again.  I have seen this movie several times, and I still feel for these characters.
The comedy throughout the movie is spot-on.  With plenty of slap-stick, and a number of visual gags, kids will love this movie.  But there are also a number of jokes only the older audience will get (or at least appreciate), leaving most of us with something to really chew on.
There are some pretty dramatic scenes as well.  While most of the monsters are funny, cute, or even cuddly (Boo calls Sully "Kitty"), there are a few that might be too scary for little kids.  There are also a few scenes that get very intense, including the great door chase at the end.  However, I think these make this movie really spectacular.  The visuals are stunning, and colors are bright, and the setting is fun.
I highly recommend the movie to everyone who still has a little kid in them.

BLU-RAY
The Blu-ray release itself will be split into different categories, including Video, Audio, Extras, and Overall.

Video
The video on this movie is stunning!  The characters show more detail and subtly than I remember in theaters.  The colors are bright and stunning, and the dark levels are good and even through the whole movie.  The image is so good, in fact, that you can see the fine details that give away how old the movie is.  Sometimes the lighting doesn't bounce off the image just right, or the shadow doesn't quite work right.  However, this is a very minor thing and is something I would like to stay in the movie, since it shows, in-part, the evolution of the medium.  To have created a main character with long detailed fur was really pushing the envelope, and to have pulled it off so well is very impressive.
Speaking of fur, this leads me to the one aspect of this film that kept hitting my eyes like needles.  Sully's fur is detailed, and colorful, and aliased.  All the fur on this shoulders (i.e. the long bouncy fur) is aliased through most of the movie.  It can be seen in screenshots, but even more so in the animation, as movement creates an effect that makes it stand out even more.  I am sure MOST people will not notice this problem, but eagle-eyed as I am, I cannot avoid it!  I promise not to point this problem out to anyone I invite over to watch the film, as I am sure they will not see it unless I point it out.  My eyes just go right to it, and stay there the rest of the movie.  I am not sure if this is a resolution issue, a rendering issue, or a source issue, but whatever it is, it is a distraction.  I hope this is merely a rendering issue.  I am sure the HD is high enough resolution that it should be a problem there, however it is possible the rendering technique is not detailed enough to pick up the small hairs smoothly with enough anti-aliasing.  If that is the case, they would need to scrap the HD source they made, make the proper adjustments to the files, and re-render everything!  I doubt they will be willing to do that, and I would be surprised if someone in their staff didn't notice this.  It is probably something they figured would be a minor glitch no one would notice, but I hope that someday they fix this issue.
That being said, I want to say that besides this small aliasing artifact, the rest of the movie is amazing!  It IS still worth a Blu-ray release just for the video.

Audio
But the audio is even more impressive.  They remixed this movie with a Home Theater 5.1 surround sound mix, using lossless compression, for the highest quality sound.  Every sound is accurately depicted and well placed in the sound field.  The range is impressive as well.  You have some scenes where the voice acting really moves the story (and what great acting it is), and others where the sound effects and the music really take over.  The musical score is another hit, with a song by Randy Newman, and a score that really fits well with the film.  The voice acting is perfect.  They got a wonderful cast and a lot of great interaction between them.  The sound effects really take the cake though.  You can really hear the work of the foley artists who created them, and can really appreciate the amount of work that went in to adding the sounds of their world.  One scene is particular is very impressive.  The door chase scene is full of large sounds, from the booming of the factory, to the powering up of the doors, and, of course, doors closing all around you.  You can pinpoint where the characters are exactly on the sound alone.
That being said, the English version is in full quality, but also included are DVD-quality French and Spanish versions.  It is interesting to note that the animators actually made a few minor adjustments to the video to better fit the language.  For example, in one scene, Sully is trying to get Boo to go to sleep.  He uses his hands to visually act out the words, resulting in a bit of humor as well.  In English he says, "You go to sleep" while he points at her for You, then shows his fingers walking for go, followed by holding up 2 fingers for to, and then puts his hands by his head like a pillow and pretends to snore for sleep.  However, in the other languages, he does not hold up 2 fingers, but instead waves 1 finger. While I cannot figure out EXACTLY what he is saying in each language, it makes sense that 2 fingers would not translate well.  I am very impressed that they actually have these changes on the Blu-ray release.

Extras
There are actually 4 discs in this set.  That's right, 4!  The first is the movie on Blu-ray, with everything in HD.  The second is an extras disc, which should all be in HD, or at least mostly.  The third is the DVD copy of the movie, so you can watch it on-the-go, or on the computer, or anywhere you don't have a Blu-ray player.  I love this idea, cause it not only helps persuade people to buy into Blu-ray, but also gives them more value for their money.  The fourth disc is the digital copy in SD, which allows you to put the movie on your computer, and even your iPod/iPhone.  Another great idea, since this helps fight the idea of piracy.  People complain they want to watch the movie on the metro or bus, or on a trip, and that they need it even more portable than a DVD.  Now that excuse will not work with a digital copy.  It allows you to watch the movie on your computer, on the train, on the plane, anywhere you can fit your iPod/iPhone.  Obviously this won't stop pirating, but it is a step in the right direction.  Even I have made copies of DVDs before, although I only copy movies I own, and never give them out.  I use these copies as backup and to watch foreign DVDs on my PS3/iMac when they are the wrong region (somewhat less of a problem with Blu-ray).
I have not gone through the second disc yet, but I can say that the first disc has all the basic extras from the DVD, as well as a few new things, including a tour of a new ride in Disney Tokyo, where you can play flashlight tag in the streets of Monstropolis.  There was one thing, however, that was not on the first disc that I spent a while looking for.  At the end of most Pixar movies are usually gags that they like to play during the credits.  While I don't recall there being any in the movie Up, I know that Monster's Inc had both gags and a fake play Mike and Sully were using as an excuse in the movie.  They actually acted out the events of the movie in a low-budget play (CG of course) for their company.  Only, there was no singing and dancing at the end of the movie, no gags or jokes, and I could not find them on the disc at all.  I did find the short Mike's New Car (which is hilarious), and also the short that played before the movie in theaters, For the Birds, but no company play or gags.  However, it has come to my attention, thanks to my friends over at www.Blu-ray.com, that both the gags and the play are indeed on the second disc.  But you'd think they would put these regular extras on the first disc where most people will look for it
The 2nd disc advertises that it has a 100 door challenge, with 100 mini games, a factory tour, banished concepts, "and much, much more".  I have not gone through the second disc yet, but I do plan to look at it soon.  I may (or may not) update my review with the content from disc 2 at a later date.

Overall
The Blu-ray itself is impressive, but not the best by Pixar.  The aliasing issue on Sully is a distraction that seriously dampened the experience for me, but I think I can overlook it.  It is still an amazing release, worthy of a Blu-ray, full of detail and color, with amazing sound and loads of extras.  I give this a 4 out of 5 stars, due in part to the aliasing issue, and the misplaced gags and short.


That does it for my review for Monster's Inc.  This is an amazing movie, with touching scenes, adventure, and lots of comedy.  If you have a Blu-ray player, add this to your collection!  If you don't have a Blu-ray player, what are you waiting for?

Weak 1 Update part 2

Here I am with part 2 of this simple update.
If you haven't guessed by now, I am planning to call each project a "weak", so this is week 2 for weak 1.
I have finished scanning in all the cards for the storyboard, and I am starting the next phase or 2.  The next 2 phases involve drawing the actual images and scanning them in, and compiling all these storyboard cards into an animatic.
An animatic, for those who don't know, is a simple and dirty animation that uses the storyboard cards to show a basic idea of what the final scene should look like.  Often, there are many tests between the first animatic and the final product, and these are also sometimes called animatics, and sometimes just called test scenes.  I am not going to be doing any test scenes for this short, since it is very simple.  However, I will probably explore tis idea later for a future project.
For now, I am going to draw more of the images I know I am going to use, as well as putting together this animatic.
I will try to make the animatic by the weekend, so I have something animated to show.  This will let me feel better about myself, get a better sense of the timing and length, and also set up videos on this site (probably through youtube).

So now I am off to pick up my sketchbook, which was accidentally picked up by a friend and is still at her house.  I have a lot to do, and little time to do it in, but what else is new?

Next, I will post a review of Monsters Inc. on Blu-ray.

Weak1 update

Well, this week, I was a little behind.  I had birthdays and parties to go to, so I didn't get everything finished in time, but I am still working on this and I have something to actually show this time.

I just finished hooking up my scanner again, so here are some very sketchy and weakly-drawn storyboards for your enjoyment.

I have a total of 35 cards, but I will only upload the first 5 for now.  Also, these are early storyboards that probably could use some better direction.  I am keeping this animation limited in terms of complexity, such as camera scanning and movement, and animation.  However, if there are techniques and other tools I should use to make these better, please let me know.  I will be researching more into this on a later project, but for now I will try to get through as much as I can.

Here are the first 5, enjoy:

I may post more of these later, but I will probably put together an Animatic to test the timing and to make sure all the scenes work out.  The actual drawings I have finished for the animation itself are looking really good so far, and still have more work, but I am excited that this project will actually get off the ground.
As always, I am open to constructive feedback and criticism, but do keep it helpful. :)

Happy New Year!

Hello everyone, and welcome to Twenty-Ten!  It sounds so futuristic!  Speaking of future...
I am trying to get this blog started up now officially as a way of building a series of animations and strengthening my skills for my own future.  Last year, I lost my job, in January!  So it has been a full year since I have had a steady job, but I have been working freelance for a few months now.  It brings in some money, but it isn't what I want to do.  Photography is great, and I am really good at what I do (which is photo-editing and design), but I am bored with it, and really want to create something!
That is why I am working on this site now.  I want to document, and broadcast my latest projects and things that really interest me.

If you haven't read any of this blog yet, don't worry, you haven't missed too much.
Here is a brief list of what I will do with this blog:

• Project Updates on my animations
• Movie reviews
• Things that inspire me
• Ideas and inspirations I want to share
• Working through the hard times...

by working through the hard times, I mean there are a lot of hard things in my life right now, and I need something to help me work through them.  That means anything from the difficulty to making these animations, to the realization that time doesn't stop for anyone, etc.  Now I will NOT use this blog to complain or talk poorly of anyone.  All criticism will be for productive purposes only, and I appreciate the same from anyone who feels they have something to contribute!

So let me get started with this blog this year.  And to start the blog, I need to start my first animation.  Well I already started last year, if you read the other posts on this blog, but I had to give it a rest for the Holidays.  Since I haven't gone far, I have decided to slightly revise this site.  Instead of trying to finish a project every week (which is a little insane), I will try to set a goal every week and meet that goal, and then give an update at the end of the week on what I did or did not accomplish.
So far, I have brainstormed my first animation, drawn a storyboard, researched some imagery, and even started drawing.  However, I have mostly only drawn backgrounds, so this week my goal is to draw some animation, to finish all the small animation, and hopefully the drawings of the character himself.
Once that is done, I will use next week to focus on scanning, coloring, and layering all these files for use in the animation.

There is one drawback to this.  The school I hope to apply to has a deadline in the middle of the month, and I will not have time to finish any new animations before then.  So I will be gathering what I have done in the past, writing up some letters, and trying to get the ball rolling ASAP.  Unfortunately, it may still be too late to really do this, I fear.  But I have come this far with the goal of getting into a good school, and I am not going to stop because a deadline is coming up!  I am going to face this head on with hope that they will accept that work I have already done.
Maybe someday I will post some of these animations online, in fact one is online now, but I will link to it later.  For now, I will focus on the animation, and getting into school.  Now I already have a BA in digital art and animation, but I was not satisfied with what I learned, and I want to take it much farther, hence my goal to get into a better school.

Well that just about does it for this post.  This week I will be focusing on the animation and the submission process, as well as my regular freelance work.  There is one more thing however, I just feel I have to mention...

For those that know me, I am a bit of a videophile... ok ok..  I am a big videophile.  What's a videophile you ask?  Simple.  A videophile is someone who really likes and is very particular about high quality video.  That means I can easily spot flaws, compression, dirt, noise, DNR (digital noise reduction), and other visual effects on a variety of screens and formats.  I really love HD, especially Blu-ray, so I have been getting a few titles every so often.  For Christmas, I got one of my favorite movies as a child, The Dark Crystal.
I am not going to do a movie review at this time (although I might later on), but I did want to mention something that inspired me that was on the Blu-ray (possibly also the DVD).  There are 2 featurettes on the disc that essentially look back at what they did and how they did it when they made that movie.  Looking at the images of Jim Henson, and his staff/crew of talented professionals, I am always awestruck.  He managed to create an entire world, fully believable and alive, through puppetry.  The concept is one of creating something completely new and original.  While many will argue there is nothing original anymore (and in many ways they are right, and there never had been anything original), I must say that the world he created has really struck home with me.  I see the passion and the eagerness he has to build and create and direct, and I am filled with the desire to just create something like he did.  It took him 5 years just to get to a point where they could start filming, and I know that I have that kind of drive, if I only had the resources and knowledge he had.  It doesn't help that today, puppets are mostly only for kids and almost no one uses them anymore.  The only thing people do now are computer graphics.  However, director Guillermo Del Toro has stated that he wants to use puppets combined with CG to create something no one has seen before.  That idea also inspires me!  A puppet that is designed to be partially or fully integrated into a CG creation can truly take the best of both worlds and put them together.  With puppets, you have the instant interaction, the ad-lib ability with other members of the cast, and a talented actor in the form of a puppeteer.  With CG, you have amazing effects that can defy explanation, you have ultra realistic characters and environments, the ability to create fully animated worlds and characters, but you lack the instant acting and ad-lib gratification without using motion capture.  But if you combine puppetry with CG and MoCap, I am sure you can achieve more than ever!  Characters that are completely non-human, but absolutely believable and amazing, and well acted.
So right now, the thing that is inspiring me is Jim Henson and his crew, and his ideology of combining the impossible with the possible, the real with the imaginary, to a point where the entire story is imaginary and created, the entire world and all the characters are his creation, but with the same acting talents as any live-action film.
I may explore this idea in the future.