Long time coming

So I have been neglecting my blog, I know.  But I've always been wanting to post.  I've just been too busy.  even now, I should really keep working on my projects but I figured I had too many animations done and not posted that I really should do a massive update this week.  And next week... FINALS!  So you will see the final products of all the things I've been working on.
Also, someone gave me the idea to put tutorials online for various techniques.  I might just do that, once I figure out what to post.
Regardless, let's start with my walk cycles.  Yes, 2 of them.  The first is just a basic study with a tail, which is designed to help us figure out secondary motion.  If anyone out there things the tail or whatnot is automatically scripted to move, think again.  While big production houses might be able to set that up, often these things are going to be hand done.  Especially with students.
So... first the tail walk cycle:

Next up is a walk cycle that uses attitude.  It can portray anything at all, be it excited or sad or whatever.  I decided  to do an animation for a tough cowboy.  But I'm not really into cowboys... unless their robot cowboys.  So... here's a robot cowboy:

Now I bring to you a full character animation.  Sure the last animation was a full body robot rig, but I bound his hands to his hips.  This next animation focuses on controlling a character more, and acting.  Here, we have to show a change of emotion, and a shift of weight.

Speaking of weight... the next animation is all about lifting them.  Honestly, this animation isn't finished, I want to add a joke at the end, however it did satisfy the requirements of the assignment, which is to show a sense of weight and balance in a character, and use acting to make something look heavy. More importantly, we learned how to make a character look like they are holding something. We do this with Ik handles and locators, which can "attach" an object to another when used properly.

[Right now there is an error on Youtube, so I will upload this in due time.]

More?!  Well yes, there is lots and lots more!!  I have a project I will be uploaded parts of soon that involves a robot, a girl, and a junkyard.  Right now I'm calling it Junk, and it is only 3 shots.  In fact, it isn't even that.  it is really only 1 fully animated shot and 2 shots still "in production".  This is on purpose as it is to help students figure out how long it takes to make an animation in preparation for the senior project.  I will be posting some of the work on this later, so please look forward to it.

Finally, I have a dialogue animation.  It is not done yet, so what you see now is merely a Work In Progress (WIP) which is only on the second animation pass.  This animation is going to be an entry in the 11 Second Club. This will be done and entered into the contest by the end of the month, which is coincidentally at the end of the quarter as well.  In other words, this is my final project in this class.  Here is my current WIP.

One last thing, I have been working on a new portfolio website, as well as a new portfolio, resume, demo reel, business cards, etc. for my other class, professional development.  You can find my new site at DHixon.com, and I will be posting some things on here as well.

Well that's all for now, I have tons more work to do!  I should have work from my finals up by next week.  Don't forget to follow me on the 11 Second Club (look for my entry in the forums, under the name WeaklyAnimated).

Ta ta!

Sleep Comes After Death

So for anyone who is familiar with SCAD, you should know that students there are often so busy with work, they don't have the time in a day to do what needs to be done for their classes.  That is why God invented night.  It is normal - nay - required that SCAD students work overnight at least once a quarter, if not once a week... or more.  Last quarter freaked me out a little because, while I did work all night once, I never went without sleep in a 24 hour period.  However, this quarter I am paying for it.  Already I have had to stay up working overnight 3 times in one week... twice in a row even.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining.  I enjoy the work (for the most part).  But sleep is something every SCAD student craves and rarely gets.  For me to have to lose so much sleep so soon is a little crazy, and I can only think about what the next few weeks will bring.  I suppose better time management is one option, but the reality of it is that I never should have taken 3 studio courses at the same time.  Unfortunately, I have to in order to graduate in a timely manner.  There is a reason students joke that SCAD stands for Sleep Comes After Death.
But for me it is more like a rite of passage.  If I can get through this, I can handle anything anyone can throw at me.  So far I've done well, and I will continue to do my best.  I am thinking of declaring a minor even, so that I have more classes to help me fill out the ones I have left.  Who knows, maybe I'll go for the MFA program too (which I am seriously considering), but we'll have to see what happens a year from now first.  I will, however, keep that goal in mind in case I decide I want to do it.
That being said, I wanted to let everyone know that they blog will not only be about my art and animation, as well as my development in the art world and my take on all thinks animated, but will also involve shorter posts similar to this one to help me illustrate problem solving.  This is actually a recommendation from one of my professors who urged us to use our blogs for showing how we can think and evaluate and solve the problems we run into in our art.
I should also have a walk cycle up soon, but it is a boring plain one that everyone in the world has on their demo reel already.  Just wait till you see the one I do with "attitude".

Stay tuned!

Basic 3D Animation tests

Yesterday I got to go to a talk from a Disney Interactive Director, and it was really inspiring.   He knew most of my teachers, and couldn't say enough good things about SCAD and the advantages we have here.  The day before I went to "AtlantAmation", a local film festival sponsored by SCAD, with many student films from SCAD.  While some were better than others, I was also inspired to make my own short film.  I may talk more about that later, but for now, I have several large projects looming over me.
Today, since I am knee deep in another quarter and already losing sleep over it, I will share with you 2 assignments I just completed.  These are both very simple animations using Maya, and are standard animation training exercises which you will see lots of.  The Bouncing Ball, and the Flour Sack.  The purpose of the bouncing ball is to understand some of the most basic principles of animation, those being timing, squash, and stretch.  If you look carefully, you'll see lots of bouncing ball animations online in every type of animation media out there, be it 2D or 3D.  The Flour Sack animation is designed to help develop your ability to emote through a character with no face and limited motion.  You are suppose to show a change in behavior or a reaction to an event or object through body language or pantomime.  Again, there are lots of animations out there of flour sacks.  I have a bouncing ball and a flour sack animation hand-drawn, which is posted on this site.  Just look for them.  Other than that, here are 2 new animations, this time in 3D!

Final Results

Well with the Winter quarter over, I have the final results of my classes.  At least, that is, I have final projects.  In all honesty I don't have as many this year as previous years, but I will be posting a little more in the near future from my Action Analysis class.  It was all drawing, and a really great and fun class, but I have to get together from images first before I am willing to show them.
The biggest project I did was actually the scenes I did in Autodesk Maya 2012, which I posted earlier.  However, I do have something else to show from that class which got me an even higher grade, and an A for the class (YAY!).  That would be a character modeled in Maya using "edgelooping" to follow the flow of the muscles of the character to allow for better animation and rigging.

Originally my design was a lot more... conservative than this... and it was boring as a result (boring as in my teacher said it looked like a men's room sign and required I change it).  So with some help from teachers and colleagues, I *ahem* enhanced it.  This was supposed to be a modernization of Annie Oakley... and I did quite a bit of research on her.  In the end, she should have an another layer of clothes at least.  That and I didn't model a gun.  So for now... screenshots of "Annie".

Oh... and if you are averse to nudity... 1) grow up... 2) avert your eyes.  But really... no details or anything, but the clothes are removable (which means I should be able to make better clothes later) but some of these might be NSFW.  Also, all of these are using the smooth preview so they are not renders, just screenshots.

Overview Front Shot

Upper Torso Shot

Face with Edgeloops turned on

Face without Edgloops

Upper torso Dynamic Angle Shot

Closeup of buckles around boots

Closeup of medals on coat

Closeup of gloved hand

Closeup of ear

Money Shot :P

Back with Edgeloops (without coat)

Back without Edgeloops (without coat)

Front with Edgloops (without coat)

Front comparison to character design sketch

Side comparison to character design sketch

So I made her body first, then duplicated the faces of her body to make the jacket in pieces and merged them together.  I actually used a cloth dynamic in Maya to let the coat and skirt rest on her body better, but the coat is so tight it didn't move much.  The gloves and boots are part of her body and don't come off.  Her hair was made one "strand" at a time, with about 2 dozen modeled individually.  The hat was modeled separately, as well as the buckles around her boots and the epaulettes and the medals. She was a LOT of fun to build, and I am working on fixing up her modeling a little, especially in her coat.  Maybe I'll add an undershirt option as well.  Her face isn't perfect either, so I will go back and tweak it some more till I have a better shape.  But all said and done, I made this model in about a week, and it is my first character model ever!  Pretty impressive for a first I think.

I will post more pictures later with better lighting and so forth, but I am having an issue where the coat is under "stress" (apparently a few vertices are poking through unnoticed...) which results in a funky artifact where the clothes are full of "banding"...  Check it out...

So I'll be fixing that at some point and posting more images later.  I'm pretty happy with it.  And yes... I've noticed she has a large chest.  Everyone keeps reminding me.

So next time I'll post some more on my Action Analysis class, as well as a review of Arriety.  I also got a request from someone to compare GMU and SCAD, so I will be writing up a comparison, although I think it will end up being more about the differences between my experience, a typical public college, and a specialty school like SCAD.

Aloha!

Animation from America to Japan

Today's post will be a bit more of an intellectual one.  I have put together a term paper for one of my classes focusing on an aspect of animation I have been interested in learning more about, and will present it here as a post.  I hope you find it interested, and please feel free to contact me with questions or feedback.

Animation from America to Japan and Back

by David Hixon, © 2011

As early as 1915, Japan has been creating their own animations for public display.  However, despite these early films, animation in Japan didn't really come into its own until after WWII.  Anime as it is viewed today around the world really began with artists such as Osamu Tezuka, who created a series of manga which eventually became animated in a unique style.  However, if it wasn't for the animation from other countries and artists, in particular Walt Disney, he may never had inspired the anime genre as we know it.

I will explore the international influences that shaped anime into what it is today, and how that unique animation style has begun to affect mainstream media throughout the world.  Many people believe that the essence of anime has changed due to western influences, but I argue that western influences have always been strong in Japanese animation, and it is this clash of cultures that creates what is exciting and different.  I will begin by exploring how Western artists have influenced Japanese animators, focusing specifically on the works of Tezuka Osamu.  I will then explore the ongoing influences that go between eastern and Western artists, and how the cultures of these artists have begun to globalize.  I will finish by showing how the Japanese style of animation has invaded what we watch in theaters and on television today around the world.

The roots of anime really begin with early animators from America and Europe, such as Blackton and McCay.  In fact, by 1915, there were 21 foreign animations played nationally in Japan.  Both American and German artists, such as John R. Bray, the Fleischer brothers, and Lotte ReinigerIt, were strong inspirations for early Japanese animators.  A slew of animators emerged in Japan, including Shimokawa Oten, Kouchi Junichi, and Kitayama Seitaro, the earliest Japanese animators.  While they pioneered the techniques and genre, there was little they produced which was particularly worthwhile.  Shimokawa Oten was  trained as a caricaturist and cartoonist before being hired by Tenkatsu Studio to animate specifically in the style of Émile Cohl, while Kitayama Seitaro was particularly experienced with the Western style of painting.  Already, in the earliest years of anime, the Japanese style of animation was heavily influenced by the works of Western artists, not merely the techniques they pioneered.  These Western style influences were not limited to the origin of anime and continued into the 1930's.  Artists such as Ikuo Oishi broke away from other contemporary Japanese animators' styles, and modeled his characters after American animations such as Felix the Cat.  Yokoyama Ryuichi founded the Otogi Studio in Japan after having fallen in love with animation through Walt Disney's Skeleton Dance, which aired in Japan in 1930. He created several animations and manga, and would appear in the Mainichi newspaper.  He had the privilege to visit the Disney Studios in 1955, and met Walt Disney himself.

In the 1930's and 40's, the many Japanese animations were made as propaganda films during World War II, which probably caused a strain on the animators in terms of inspiration.  It seems likely that could they directly copy the styles of Western animators now that they were at war. And yet even during this troubling time, the animators would sometimes portray American soldiers as recognizable characters such as Bluto from Fleischer's Popeye as seen in Mitsuyo Seo's Momotaro, Eagle of the Sea released in 1943.  Political references like this continued throughout the war and beyond.  Even after the war, the government of Japan encouraged animators to make films that showed the possibilities of the West, such as the 1946 film by Masao Kumagawa, The Magic Pen.  However, this had little to do with the style of the animation, and more to do with propaganda.

It wasn't until a medical student decided in the 1950's to try his hand at manga and eventually anime that the modern style of anime was born.  Tezuka Osamu was privileged in his youth to have access to both manga and film, including animation.  Tezuka is said to have watched films like Felix the Cat in his youth, and was also influenced by Disney films, and French New Wave Cinema.  This lead to his unique way of looking at animation and manga as a cinematic experience in terms of film editing, camera work, and other cinematic devices.  His love of art and film from around the world gave him a unique viewpoint into the world of animation.  Even the character design of Astro Boy was an homage to the early Walt Disney character styles.

On the first day of 1963, Astro Boy (Tetsuwan Atomu) was aired in Japan, and in America soon after, which was during a time when there were limited channels and airtime on television.  One of the more interesting facts about this relationship between America and Japan was that Astro Boy would regularly mirror the civil rights struggles in America of the day, adding to the relations between the two countries and furthering the expansion of anime into the American market.  While Astro Boy started off roughly, it soon became a world famous show, spreading the art of Japanese animation early, and invading the homes of people around the world.  Tezuka produced several more series both before and after Astro Boy, which made big waves in America and abroad.  Of these, Kimba the White Lion (Jungle Emperor) was among the most popular on American television. 

In1967, Yoshida Tatsuo's Speed Racer (Mach Go Go Go) was aired in America as well.  It gained popularity on American television, and eventually the original manga it was based on was released to western audiences as well.  It became an icon of Japanese animation in its own right.

We can clearly see here that the Japanese styles used in animation were heavily influenced by their American and Western colleagues since the earliest days of Japanese produced animations.  These influences continued throughout the decades, culminating in the cinematic styles that Tezuka adopted.  While it is clear that the origins of anime were influenced as such, the American audience was also being slowly introduced to the phenomenon known as Anime, and despite the often controversial and bizarre shows, it became engrained in the minds of future American film makers and animators.

Astro Boy has been translated into over a dozen different languages, and Tezuka himself was one of the first Japanese artists to attend international festivals for comics and animations.  He not only pioneered airing his shows in America, but around the world, and was critically recognized for his work.  The influential styles of Japanese animation were not limited to Japan, and had already been seen by artists and future animators around the world.  One film which shows this obvious cross-pollination of story telling and visuals is Disney's 1994 hit movie The Lion King.  Many critics have pointed out the many similarities between this film and Tezuka's Kimba the White Lion.  Kimba aired on American television stations in the 60's and 70's, and many of the animators who worked on The Lion King would have grown up watching Kimba on television.  Critics have claimed Disney heavily “borrowed” from Tezuka, and controversy over the idea of homage versus plagiarism sparked.

While the films and animations of Japan continue to spread throughout the world, both the styles and culture of Japan spread with it.  Historically, Japan has been heavily influenced by Western cultures, and yet continues to hold onto their own unique perspective and cultural identity.  It is this mix of West meets East, tradition meeds modernization, that has shaped the very soul of modern day Japan.  Japan is becoming a country of a globalized culture, where they struggle to find their own identity and a place to fit within the world.  Anime is one way in which Japan has turned the tables, and allowed their art to influence other cultures more than their own, and yet it also conforms to many globalized standards.

Characters in anime productions are often depicted with large eyes, multiple colors of hair and eyes, and even skin.  While the characters are not always intended to be from another country, they are more often than not Western looking, copying the styles and appearance of Western cultures and people.  Characters often have blond, brown, or even red hair, as well as a slew of eye colors, which directly mimic these foreign people.  On the other hand, many anime characters also sport blue, green, purple, or even pink hair, as well as red or purple eyes, and even blue or green skin.  This seems bizarre, but is one of the defining characteristics of anime, and brings it out of any particular culture and into something all it's own.  By adopting a non-Japanese, or even “stateless” look in the characters is part of what makes anime so easily acceptable by cultures around the world.

Such mixing of ideas and styles goes both ways.  Several television shows and movies in America directly reflect the Japanese style, and even the anime characteristics that define it.  Avatar: The Last Airbender is one such show.  The directors and producers not only copied themes, styles, and designs as well as cultural references for their series from Japanese animation, but they also researched what studios to use, and chose a Korean studio that had previously worked on Japanese anime and were familiar with the style and demands of the process.  And it is not alone.  Several studios are adopting an anime style for certain shows, in order to reach the demographics they are looking for.  They are not just trying to mimic the look either, they are looking to emulate the style to a point where it is impossible to tell the difference between “Anime” produced in Japan versus America, at least in terms of quality and story-telling.  At the very least, studios are trying to take visual and stylistic cues, and leave the real anime style to the Japanese masters.

Many American and Japanese comics are already cross-pollinating, and both manga and anime are becoming less and less a product strictly of Japan, even if the primary demographic is Japanese.  The majority of Japanese anime with Western money backing it seems to be from making sequels and projects that did poorly in the Japanese market.  The West's desire to acquire or produce Eastern, and particularly Japanese art dates back to the 19^th Century.  Anime shows a mix of traditional Japanese art that was so fascinating to the people of the time, such as Kabuki and Woodblock Prints (Ukiyo-e), and modern and even experimental cinema and artistic tools.

While many American studios have shied away attempting to emulate the Japanese style, and others have tried to make it their own, there have been several projects developed that are joint-projects between Japanese and American groups.  Warner Brothers Studios  commissioned a series of short animations from various anime studios and producers in Japan on more than one occasion, each time with a different movie they are to be based on.  Animatrix, released to home video in 2003, is a collection of short animations, each with a different Japanese director, focusing on telling more of the story of the Wachowski Brother's Matrix.  Again in 2008, they released Batman Gotham Knight under the same pretense.

These collaborations have extended into full length films as well.  Several remakes and re-imaginings of different anime and manga stories have been produced in America, and several more are in production and planning.  In 2009, a mainly American produced version of Astro Boy was released to theaters, with some limited interaction and approval by Tezuka Productions.  This followed the 2008 release of Speed Racer, and several other anime-to-live-action remakes.  This trend, to turn anime into live-action films, tends to produce mixed results, and yet there are several more films in the works for the next few years.

Beyond remaking anime series and movies for a Western audience, either through live action or animation, the most notable influence of anime in western cinema is the style it inspires in original Western works.  Blockbuster films, such as 300, The Matrix, Kill Bill, and even Up, and Ratatouille, are directly inspired by the cinematic and visual styling of anime.  Kill Bill went so far as to include an animated sequence produced by a Japanese animation studio in the middle of the film.  However, the most interesting influences are those between anime and animation.

Hayao Miyazaki fell in love with animation in 1958, when he was in high school, and went on to create one of the most influential animation studios in the world.  His first major motion film, which was Castle Cagliostro, made way for his much more epic masterpieces, such as Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind, that defined his style and the studio he started, Studio Ghibli.  He was not a fan of Disney-style animation, in both the use of cinematography, and rotoscoping.  He wanted to create a truly Japanese style of animation which focused more on the essence of animation in expression and motion, rather than smoothness of motion.  However, he was still heavily influenced by western cartoonists such as McCay, Fleischer, Back, and Norstein.  Because of his unique way of looking at animation, from writing the telling the story to the art style and visuals, his animations have influenced artists world wide.

Many artists, including those at Pixar Studios, grew up watching Miyazaki's films as a children, and continue to draw inspiration from him in their movies.  Many have studied the drawings and animations Miyazaki made, and used what they could learn from him to his work in films like Up, and Ratatouille.  Miyazaki himself became friends with John Lasseter of Pixar, visiting him at Pixar Studios on what Lasseter announced was “Miyazaki Day at Pixar”.

This type of international relationship between East and West are becoming more commonplace, and as a result, the highly stylized art and often adult and mature themes of anime have begun to spread globally and permeate cultures around the world.  As a result, it can be said that Japan is losing its singular unique identity, but replacing it with a unique cultural identity of contrasting elements of society and art.  Japan is both traditional and modern, conservative and edgy, and this contrast is reflected in the animation they have produced.  As a result, it is easily accepted in many cultures around the world, and has influenced the artists, cartoonists, sequential artists, and filmmakers of tomorrow, and today.  While the rest of the world struggles to keep up with the style of anime, the Japanese artists have drawn on inspirations from other cultures to make their art more unique and universal.

The future for anime is bright, and with international collaborations, it will prove to be even brighter.  Anime was born from the unique perspective of Eastern artists studying Western art, while drawing upon their own past and experiences to support it.  Thanks to efforts from artists such as Tezuka and Miyazaki, anime will continue to be an international influence on film, pushing the envelope and advancing what is possible on film, by unleashing the imagination.

Bibliography

Cavallaro, Dani. (2006). The Anime Art of Hayao Miyazaki.  Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co.

Drazen, Patrick. (2003).  Anime Explosion!  The What? Why? & Wow! Of Japanese Animation.  Retrieved from

Kime, Chad. (n.d.).  American Anime: Blend or Bastardization?.  Accessed on October 9^th, 2011.  Retrieved from

Koyama-Richard, Brigitte. (2010). Japanese Animation: From Painted Scrolls to Pokémon. Paris, France: Flammarion.

Lamarre, Thomas. (2009). The Anime Machine. Minnesota, MN: University of Minnesota Press.

Lu, Amy Shirong. (2008).  “The many faces of Internationalization in Japanese Anime”.  Animation: An Interdisciplinary Journal.  Retrieved from

Miyazaki, Hayao.  (January 28^th, 1988).  “About Japanese Animation”. Course Japanese Movies 7: The Current Situation of Japanese Movies. Iwanami Shoten.  Translated by Ryoko Toyama.  Accessed on November 5^th, 2011.  Retrieved from

Napier, Susan J. (2005) Anime from Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle.  New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.

Sharp, Jasper.  (2004).  Pioneers of Japanese Animation at PIFan.  Accessed on November 5^th, 2011.  Retrieved from

Van der Lugt, Peter.  (n.d.).  Exclusive Interview with Pixar Storyboard Artist Enrico Casarosa.  Accessed on October 9^th, 2011.  Retrieved from

Zahed, Ramin. (November 2004). “Astro Boy's American Cousins”.  Animation Magazine, vol 18 (no. 11). 

Filmography

  Bender, Lawrence (Producer), Tarantino, Quentin (Director).  (2003).  Kill Bill Volume 1 [Motion Picture].  United States: Miramax.

Bird, Brad; Pinkava, Jan (Directors). (2007).  Ratatouille [Motion Picture]. United States: Walt Disney / Pixar Animation Studios.

Black, Christopher (Executive Producer), Somers, Karen I. (Director).  (2007).  Anime: Drawing a Revolution [Television Documentary].  United States: Starz Entertainment.

Bowers, David (Director).  (2009).  Astro Boy [Motion Picture]. United States: Imagi Animation Studios / Imagi Crystal / Tezuka Production Company.

DiMartino, Michael Dante; Konietzko, Bryan (Producers).  (2005).  Avatar: The Last Airbender [Television Series].  United States: Nickelodeon Animation Studios.

  Disney, Walt (Producer), Iwerks, Ub (Director).  (1929).  Skeleton Dance [Animated Short].  United States: Disney.

Docter, Pete; Peterson, Bob(Directors).  (2009).  Up [Motion Picture]. United States: Walt Disney / Pixar Animation Studios.

Fleischer, Max (Producer). (1933).  Popeye The Sailor [Animated Short].  United States: Fleischer Studios/Paramount Studios.

Hanh, Don (Producer), Allers, Roger; Minkoff, Rob (Directors).  (1994).  The Lion King [Motion Picture]. United States: Disney.

  Hidehiko, Takei; Yamamoto, Satoshi (Producers), Ishiguro, Noboru (Director).  (1963).  Tetsuwan Atomu (Astro Boy) [Television Series]. Japan: Mushi Productions.

Kumagawa, Masao (Director). (1946). Maho no Pen (The Magic Pen) [Animated Short]. Japan: Kyoto Eiga-sha.

Melniker, Benjamin; Thomas, Emma; Timm, Bruce W.; Uslan, Michael E. (Executive Producers).  (2008)  Batman: Gotham Knight [Animated Film]. United States: Warner Home Video.

Miyazaki, Hayao (Director).  Katayama, Tetsuo (Producer).  (1979).  Rupan sansei: Kariosutoro no shiro (Lupin III: Castle Cagliostro) [Motion Picture]. Japan: Tokyo Movie Shinsha (TMS)

Miyazaki, Hayao (Director), Takahata, Isao (Producer).  (1984).  Nausicaä Of The Valley Of The Wind [Motion Picture].  Japan: Studio Ghibli, Disney.

  Seo, Mitsuyo (Director). (1943).  Momotaro no Umiwashi (Momotaro, Eagle of the Sea)  [Animated Short] Japan: Geijutsu Eiga-sha / Zakka Films (USA distributor).

Tezuka, Osamu; Yamamoto, Eiichi (Producers).  (1965-67).  Janguru Taitei (Kimba the White Lion) [Television Series]. Japan: Mushi Productions / NBC Enterprises.

Tezuka, Osamu (Producer).  (1967).  Mach Go Go Go (Speed Racer) [Television Series].  Japan: Tatsunoko Productions Company.

  Wachowski, Larry and Andy (Producers).  (2003).  Animatrix [Motion Picture].  United States: Warner Brothers.

Wachowski, Larry and Andy (Producers).  (2008).  Speed Racer [Motion Picture].  United States: Warner Brothers.

Supplemental Material

Anderson, Craig. (November 2009). Kimba the White Lion's Corner of the Web.  Accessed on November 5^th 2011.  Retrieved from

Anime_Nanet.  (n.d.). The Anime History - origin and roots from 1900 to the 21st century.  Accessed on November 5^h 2011.  Retrieved from

Hiatus halted

Greetings to everyone who has landed on my humble blog.

Recently, I have been busy with cleaning up my apartment, taking classes in Photography and Drawing, and spending time with family and friends as much as I can.  That isn't to say that I am making an excuse.  I really should just update my blog more often, and therefor I will be making no more excuses, and I will just update my blog.

From here on out, my posts will overall be shorter, but I plan to continue to do movie reviews at least once a week.  I have a lot of things to talk about, and am anxious to get started again!

First I would like to get people used to who I am, and what I think about.

For one, I have a BA in Digital Art at George Mason University, I have a passion for animation and film, and I am currently attending SCAD for animation, and I hope to get an MA.  I like to have and share my opinions with others, and I respect everyone's opinions as long as they are logically sound.  I believe in skepticism and you should investigate things on your own, and not just listen to rumors.  I am often proven wrong about things, and so I admit I am not always right, but I take these opportunities to learn and adapt my opinions.

Animation for me is a pure form of film as art.  Of course I love traditional film, with sequential photographs synchronized to sound, but animation is taking the limitations of photography out of the picture.  With animation, you are only limited by your skill and your imagination.  Granted, budgets are a major part of this as well.  Animation is all about being visually stunning, each and every element of the image being painstakingly crafted, so the overall visual field is a work of pure imagination and talent.

Animation is old, older than photography.  The original attempt at animation date back thousands of years to cave drawings which depicted movement through multiple limbs in different positions.  There has even recently been discovered a bowl in Iran that dates back 5,200 years that uses a form of animation called a zoetrope.  Throughout the ages, people have tried to mimic movement in art, from Phantasmagoria to the Thaumatrope to the Phenakistoscope.  Animation made it's mark in film 1900 with "The Enchanted Drawing", which depicted a man drawing a face, and then interacting with the face and other drawn objects.  6 years later, the same man, J. Stuart Blackton, created the first fully animated film with "Humorous Phases of Funny Faces".  The oldest films date back to the 1880s, meaning that animation has been a part of cinema since the very beginning.

Today, animation is seen as something more for children than adults.  True, there are the few adult animations like Heavy Metal and Fritz the Cat (among others), but the biggest industry for animation not solely aimed for children or families has been the Japanese Anime industry.  Today, you are as likely to find an anime intended for an adult audience with an 18+ rating as you are to find one for a small child.  Despite this, animation still suffers from an identification crisis.  Adults don't watch "cartoons", and anime is for "fanboys" and "perverts".  Luckily, this has not held back the animation industry, although it has had many rough times.  Even Walt Disney himself grew tired of making animations, and focused on live-action films such as 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Mary Poppins, and Davy Crockett.

For me, I like to explore animation not only for the innocence and whimsy they often portray, but also the art, the technical aspects, and the various themes.  I embrace animations for older audiences, and find joy in truly family films.


I will talk more about all aspects of animation, while I continue on my quest to earn an MA and find my way into the animation industry.
Other topics I will cover include video games (or interactive media/interactive animation), 3d (or stereoscopic), theaters, film, and even IMAX.  If you haven't read it yet, check out my explanation of IMAX using the search bar.

Briefly, I will mention 3D and IMAX, as per requested.  I feel 3D (stereoscopy) has a place in the future.  It has been around since the 1800's as many early photographers wanted to explore depth in their work.  I both like it and dislike it as it stands now.  There are times when 3D is used correctly, and actually can add another element to the visual field, however it has been abused too much and turned into a gimmick.  This of course hurts the reputation of 3D.  When a film is made with a 3D camera, you usually get a decent 3D effect, however it seems that today there are more "3D" movies coming out that are only made 3D in post-production, which is an atrocity and usually is a gimmick to add $5 to your ticket.  3D can cause headaches, eye strain, and can even be bad for children's eyes.  And yet, people still go to movies to see 3D films, and 3D has started to invade homes more than ever.  I suspect it will be here to stay, even if it starts to lose money.  I can only hope they perfect the technology, and stop making 2D films and then converting them into 3D!  Either make your film 2D, or 3D, don't fake it!  I can't blame anyone for getting turned off by 3D, with the massive price tag and gimmick factor it has lately been sporting.

As for IMAX, there is true IMAX format, and then there is IMAX brand name (also known as Digital IMAX).  Now usually the IMAX brand name is at least good quality, large screen, etc.  However, the films that come out in "IMAX" are for the most part not using the IMAX format film, which is a 70mm film format.  Instead, they just show 4k or 2k (equivalent to 35mm) digital film on a large screen, like any other theater will do, and charge you more for it.  While sometimes this is fine, and seeing things on a big screen is always impressive, often it is a waste of money.  If you want to truly see IMAX, then the screen better be a square, not a rectangle.  The IMAX format uses a 1.44:1 ratio, while typical films use 1.85:1 or 2.39:1 ratios.  This means that IMAX format with a true IMAX quality image will be close to the standard television aspect ratio of 4:3 (1.33:1) and not widescreen at all.  To top it off, the size difference of the screens are drastic.  An IMAX brand screen can be any size at all, but they are typically not much larger than a large standard movie theater screen, while a true IMAX format screen can be from 52 feet tall and 72 feet wide to almost 120 feet wide and 100 feet tall!
"But wait, I saw Harry Potter/Batman/Transformers/Superman/Spiderman/etc. in IMAX and heard it was filmed in IMAX."  Sure you did, and the pope wears a thong.  Seriously though, what you usually run into with major films are either IMAX DMR (or "upconverted") films, or partially filmed in IMAX films.  The first is a way to take movies like Apollo 13 and make it look better on a large IMAX screen through a complex upconverting process.  This actually cannot add any more detail to the image when it is on a large IMAX screen, it only makes it not look as bad as it would had it not gone through that process.  As for partially filmed in IMAX movies, usually only 1 or 2 scenes in a film will be made with an IMAX camera, in the IMAX format.  The rest of the movie (about 95% of it) will be with a regular camera and probably upconverted as well.  Any film that is made with only IMAX film will look far more crisp and detailed than the upconverted films, and will always fill an IMAX screen, while the others will not.
So it is my hope that the IMAX format starts to become more prevalent, and more IMAX format theaters open, rather than Digital IMAX.  I enjoy seeing the big screens and seeing big movies on them, and I have never run into a Digital IMAX theater I didn't like, but is it worth the extra money?  Probably not.  It is not as gimmicky as 3D, unless you see a 3D IMAX movie.  However, when it comes to home theaters, which is where most people end up watching movies anyways, IMAX filmed movies will look no better than any other HD movie.

So to sum up:
3D = bad, but with potential, but heading in the wrong direction to get any better anytime soon.
IMAX = be wary of what you are watching and where.
IMAX 3D = hole in your pocket.

Till next time!  ADIOS!

"Finally..."

This week is Finals Week at SCAD.  To all those fellow students out there, Good Luck!

The strange thing about art students is that we don't often get huge terrible nightmarish exams at the end of the quarter like other fields do (I'm looking at you science and math), instead, we get huge terrible nightmarish projects, which end up being more work than the tests.  Not to mention, we still have tests.  Maybe they aren't as hard or important as those final exams from other fields, but they still have to be done, and still affect our grade.  I know my Public Speaking class makes the final test more of the grade than many of the other classes, so it is really up to each class to decide how they will handle it, but usually the art classes want us to complete some big final masterpiece to show off everything we've learned so far, and often incorporate something new as well.
That is the case for my Drawing II class.  Right now we have to complete a very long drawing... 11" x 60".  Yes...  60 inches!  That's 5 feet.  1.5 meters for all you metric users.  And that's about 28cm high.  We have to incorporate perceptive drawings, still life drawings, textures, and self portraits while paying close attention to the ratio of the objects and the layout of the image.  Oh, and we are finally being introduced to Pastels (dry, not oil).  So half the image (or more) will be in color, the rest in black and white charcoal.  This is the first and only pastel project we are doing, and I'm sure some people will struggle with it.  However, we are all familiar with color pencil, and while they are drastically different, parts of them are very similar, especially the way you mix colors to get different hues, shades, tones, etc.  I am glad I've done a lot of pastel work in the past, but I guess this is just one more of those things that happens when you are in a quarter system.
Not only that, but I also have a project in optical mixing to do.  Think pointillism.  La Grande Jatte.   Seurat.  By using individual colors in a close arrangement to each other, you can create an optical mix of the colors, and instead of seeing yellow and blue dots, you see green, when there is actually no green at all in the image.  I am NOT looking forward to this project.  I am already behind on it, but I blame the fake bomb scare guy for that.  Regardless, I have to finish this, and I have barely started.  So I have tons of work to do, plus a speech to complete and give, as well as 3 tests... all due this week.  Thursday is my last class, and then I am relatively free for the summer.  I plan on attending some community education classes (cheap and for my own knowledge and not graded) on digital photography and portraiture, but I still have to arrange things with my wife and visiting her.  However I can't think of things after Thursday, I have to finish these projects and start studying for tests.  Wish me luck!

Oh, and as far as my grades from the last big projects go...  while I am still waiting to get them back for one project (Andy Warhol color palette comparison), my speech outline got an A (94%), my Bezold Monogram (see previous posts) got an A+ (100%) and will be displayed in the hallways throughout the summer and into the fall, and my drawings and installation got a B (89%), so all that hard work paid off!  With all A's in my speech class, I am totally going to "phone in" the speech itself.  While I am passionate about the topic (vaccinations and why you should get them for your kids), I can't dedicate too much time to it.  So I will present the data I have, I will make it far more loose and ad libbed than my last speech, and much much shorter.  I want to convince them that vaccines are good, using real evidence and science and the like, but I can't dedicate that much time to it.  The drawing final is worth more of my grade than the other assignments, 20% of the total, so it has to be awesome.  The Color theory optical mixing assignment is worth the same as any large project (same as the Bezold) so I have to do well, but there is less pressure to make it an A+, and the lowest grade in the speech class will be dropped.  So if my "phoned in" speech does well, awesome, if not, who cares?

Oh, and as far as animation goes... I start classes in the fall (all animation classes), I am still interested in seeing Tin Tin despite the possibility of a visit to an uncanny valley, there is going to be a trailer to Pixar's next movie "Brave" when Cars 2 comes out in a few weeks (from what I've read it reminds me of studio Ghibli stuff), and I saw Kung Fu Panda 2.  Awesome movie.  See it.  I'll review it later.

That's all for now.  Ta ta!

Not dead yet...

As the famous phrase from Monty Python's Quest for the Holy Grail states... I'm not dead yet.
I am tired though.
Problem is, there are only a few weeks of classes left, and that means all my classes are focusing on our finals.  I need to finish up one project in Color Theory that involves color matching Andy Warhol images to other examples of art (commercial, pop, classic, modern, whatever), and then it is off to crunch time.
Right now I have a speech about why you should vaccinate your children (persuasive argument speech) to prepare and make by the end of the month, I have an 11x60 drawing with a self-portrait, landscape, and still life objects portrayed in pastels to make, and a pointillism (think Seurat's La Grande Jatte) project involving creating an artist's book.  Sleep is a luxury few can afford right now, it's finals time!

And what was it that I was spending so much time on last week that made me miss 2 nights of sleep?  Well, one was an installation of a collection of drawings (I may post a picture later).  The other was a Monogram cutout initiating a Bezold effect.  Sound confusing?  Well just know it took me 14 hours just to cut the pieces out for this, and several more hours to simplify the pattern, pick out the colors, make studies and tests, and complain about the amount of work I had to do.
Want to see it?  Sure:

What do you mean who is CH?  My wife!
:P

The Bezold effect is not as strong as I'd like it to be, but we had to pick out a color palette based on an ancient culture, and I chose Arabian.  I didn't see the red as an option until it was too late, but these were 2 common colors, combined with black, and it seemed to have a strong Bezold effect during testing.  I think it is lost a bit with the massive amount of intricate details, but I think you can still see it.  If you are wondering what i am talking about, it is related to the Albers thing I mentioned in a previous post.  In short, the C and H are the same color, but the idea is to make the background different enough that the surrounding spacial color makes the letters seem different colors (or shades).
Weird thing about Bezold... he created one of the fundamental color theory effects/illusions, and yet... he was a physicist and meteorologist.

That being said, take a look at the new TinTin movie trailer.  Curse their decision to show such limited faces in the trailer... the uncanny valley calls but is TinTin diving in?  No TinTin, it's a trap, don't jump!

SCAD midterm review

Hi all!
Today I'm updating from my iPhone through email (is there a blogger app?), mainly because I am on campus waiting to meet with a professor to go over my midterm review for Color Theory. I have been doing well in my classes overall, but I can see there is room for improvement. Regardless, I am just killing time while I wait, although a fellow student, Rachel, just told me I can go early.
I just wanted to point out that if anyone thinks art is easy, they should see my schedule for the next day.
Tomorrow I have 2 classes
In those classes I have 5 projects due.
Of those projects, I have 14 pieces to turn in.
While none are completely finished, 8 of them need a significant amount of work before I can turn them in.
So... Yet another all night. Wish me luck!

Public Speaking, Disney, and Albers

DId you hear?  Walt Disney was cryogenically frozen and buried at the bottom of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride in Disneyland!  Well, if you heard this and thought it was true, you'd be wrong.
I recently did a lot of research about Disney for one of my classes at SCAD, my Communications Public Speaking class.  I always hated giving speeches, but perhaps bad experiences in the past tainted my view of it.  I decided not to let these bad incidents affect how I perform, or at least let me learn from them for the better.  To this end, I made sure to write a kick ass speech (which I would have sworn then was not worth the 100% my professor gave me), and prepare a really kick ass presentation, complete with visual aids and more.  I wish I could have done even more, but my time limit really cut down how much I could do.
Regardless, I gave my speech on Thursday, and it was recorded to DVD, which I have just watched and ripped to my computer.  I will now present it to the world to see my speech, so they too can share in my experience.  I wonder if this now qualifies this as a mass communication and not a public speech?  Or maybe both...

Anyways, here is my speech, enjoy!  Oh, and CONSTRUCTIVE Criticism is ALWAYS welcome.

Thank you, thank you.  I know I could have done better, but you should have seen some of the other speeches that day.  Lets just say I may have set the bar.  (I swear I sound like I'm rushing this, but I went 43 seconds overtime with was a penalty!)

Now besides my speech, which is done and over with (yay!), I have 2 new assignments which I find both annoying and fascinating at the same time.  First, my color theory class is going over a topic I am very interested in, Josef Albers and his study of the Interaction of Color.  I have actually studied this before, and find it fascinating.  Essentially, Josef Albers, and experimental artist of the 20th century, discovered through observation that the human eye or mind will perceive color different depending on the other colors surrounding it.  Usually we do not notice this in everyday life.  However, by isolating colors, you will see things that aren't really there.  Take a look at this:

The X shape in the center of each square is actually the same color.  Don't believe me, look at the center of the top of the image, you'll notice the X's link, and the color never changes.  The surrounding color affects the way we see the color of the X's.  Here is another:

The little green boxes in the middle of the image are the same color also.  Even harder to believe isn't it, but it is true.  Albers was a genius that didn't teach art so much as he taught perception and observation.  He taught how to really see, something no one ever really thought about before.  We are currently studying Josef Albers in Color Theory class, but this is a very hands on class.  As I mentioned before, these assignments are both fascinating and annoying.  Well now you've seen the fascinating in my color theory... the annoying is that we have to make these ourselves, and not just one kind.  We need to make 2 different ones, 2 or 3 of each.  I am now going through hundreds of samples of color (via color-aid), trying to match them up to achieve these effects.  Thrilling...  I sure as hell better be a master is color by the end of this class.

My other class, Drawing, has be drawing a hand, my own in fact.  While this is a fun exercise (although not nearly as fun as a figure drawing), it is a bit tedious.  My professor also wants me to do this large format, and with color pencil.  Now I am in trouble.  That will take me days to finish.  Seriously, I will not finish in the normal 8 to 10 hours we are suppose to finish in (like I am ever that fast anyways).  To top it off, I am covering someone's shift tomorrow, leaving me very little time to myself to draw.  Great.

Well, that is my summed up week from SCAD for today.  I would love to go more into animation, especially since I actually have a few things I would like to talk about, but it will have to wait till next time.  It is late, and I need sleep while I can still get it.

Oh, and about Walt Disney, if you didn't watch my speech, he's cremated and buried at Forest Lawn National Memorial Park in Glendale, California.  No frozen Walt Disney zombie for you.