Hi all.
Sorry for the delay in posting. Today, I will be giving a brief review of my trip to the Atlanta campus of SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design).
(I will be adding a few pictures shortly, since they are still stored on a different computer).
SCAD is a full accredited college, with 4 locations, one in Savannah, one in Atlanta, one in France, and one in Hong Kong. They also have online offerings for several eLearning courses. There are lots of opportunities to go between campuses if you wish. Because their acceptance is for the entire school, if you accepted to one location, you can go to any location you want. So if you wish to take some courses through eLearning, you can chose to take them while attending other classes without any trouble.
The Atlanta campus is located in the heart of Atlanta, where they have taken residence in a variety of buildings across the city. They occupy several buildings, but I took a tour of 3 of them. The most impressive thing about these buildings is that they either refurbish existing buildings, or they build very green buildings. Their goal is to be as environmentally friendly as they can, while integrating themselves into the community. The buildings I had the opportunity to tour included the Main building, the Digital Multimedia building, and the student housing.
The main building was once a government building, that was later owned by a "dot com" company that went under shortly after spending millions to refurbish the building. It is a very large building, with several floors dedicated to separate areas of study, and a large cafeteria, where students and mingle with each other and meet people in other areas of study. There is a large library, several galleries, including student work in hallways, and professional galleries for inspiration to students. The main building even has a student store, where the students can sell their work to guests. Some of their more interesting and impressive points include traditional presses for printing press classes, large dark rooms for traditional film processing, a large fashion department using a variety of industry standard devices, and a very impressive sequential art department.
The Digital Multimedia building is the most interesting and exciting building there. This building was made in 2009, using very green methods, and designed to function with green technologies. The building uses recycled materials throughout the structure, water that is naturally cooled to regulate the temperature within the building, and natural lighting whenever it is possible. The building includes a real, working film studio, where they can broadcast and film, including green screen technologies, and motion capture. They include Wacom Cintique monitors in all the classrooms for students to use. The facilities are very impressive, and are located close to the main building, with regular transportation provided.
The student housing building is actually a refurbished hotel. This building has a pool, community areas, and security. The rooms are hotel room sizes, with 2 beds, which can be bunked, and fully furnished from Ikea. The best part of this building is that it has a secure walking path to the main school building, and is less than a 5 minute walk away.
All of the buildings are open 24 hours, with full security. There are a variety of other building that I did not get to tour. One of them is a large mansion, but I did not have the opportunity to look at it.
I will go more into this at a later date. I will update this post with pictures from the tour, and any updated information as well.
I will be posting some movie reviews soon too, so Stay Tooned!
Showing posts with label schools. Show all posts
Showing posts with label schools. Show all posts
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Comics for beginners, part 2
Last time, I said I would talk about how to find good figure drawing classes, and also how to get good resource material for drawing. I will talk about this today, but I will also talk a little about one of the great comic book artists and writers, Phil Foglio, in my next post! But first, the art stuff.
There are really 2 types of drawing classes: regular drawing classes (from simple to advanced), and figure drawing. Most student love to take figure drawing, but you almost always start with drawing still-life... that is, the boring pictures of fruit and cubes.
Still-life isn't always boring, and many artists have demonstrated a perfect knowledge of color, lighting, and shade by using still-life. The advantages of still-life over figure drawing is that an apple doesn't need to breath or scratch, an orange doesn't need to take a break, and a wooden cube rarely charges by the hour. So these are perfect for learning how to draw, when it comes to understanding light, shadow, form, and relationship. As regular drawing classes progress, they often explore deeper topics. Sometimes it gets so deep, they start to explore the relationship between drawing and painting. What is the difference? Why does it matter?
Once you get up to figure drawing, you start to learn the way the body is shaped, the connections and relationships, the inner-workings and the elegant lines of the form. It is necessary for all good artists to understand the human form on a deep level if they wish to ever draw a human. That often means drawing bones, muscles, and skulls. But it also means drawing from live models.
My school was lucky enough to have the art department situated next door to the dancing department. I had the pleasure of drawing many attractive young women, which is ideal for art. Unfortunately, there were very few attractive young men who were interested, so I had only 1 class with a young man.
When you are looking for a figure drawing class, there are 2 places to look, universities/colleges, and art groups/clubs or galleries.
In order to take classes at a university or college, you first have to be enrolled in the school, often in the specific field of study, and paying your dues and fees. Because college classes need to budget ahead of time for their term, they usually have to charge students an extra fee to help pay for the models, who do not come cheap. This usually means there is an upfront cost, which can easily be over $100 for a term. Not all university classes will be able to use young, attractive models either. When young models are not available, there are plenty of older people ready to take their place. (I swear, as an art student, you start to wonder if the only thing people do when they retire is pose naked in front of other people.) Now drawing older people is very good too, and you can learn a lot about drawing different body types, different details such as wrinkles, and how the body ages. I did find that most of these older models were quite good.
However, unlike colleges and universities, art groups and art galleries can chose to allow anyone to participate, provided they are willing to learn and pay to participate. Sometimes there is a membership fee, sometimes it is an up front class-by-class fee, sometimes it is a term fee. While I have not priced them myself, I have heard that models can easily make $100 an hour, and they will pose for several hours at a time. That is easy money, if you think standing still in a room full of people staring at you naked is easy. So classes of all sorts need to compensate their models for their time and service. You may also find that some colleges and universities will offer figure drawing classes to anyone interested as well.
You will find that most figure drawing classes advertise in local art publications, local art galleries, art stores, and even online. Art clubs and other art groups will often hold a figure drawing class in a studio, where they will either have a series of instructions for those who pay to take the class, or they will have a free form drawing session, where they provide the model, and you draw whatever you want, however you want. That way, they do not instruct the class, they merely provide a service. Usually, these classes range from weekly to monthly. The average cost for these classes seems to be around $10 per class. They will also often advertise the types of posts they will provide. Sometimes they have long poses, that can last up to an hour, or short posts, that may last 5 minutes or less.
One exercise is to do gesture drawing. This is where the model posts for about 30 seconds, maybe less, and changes between different poses one after the other. The idea is that you have only enough time to get a feel for the motion, the gesture, the essence of what they are doing, how they are moving, and to get that on paper without any actual detail. This usually allows for a good idea of motion, but it also lets you see people in motion, standing in an uncomfortable position, something you can not do in a long pose, where the model has to be as comfortable as possible. When they have to sit or stand for 30, 45, even 60 minutes, they often needs breaks, have to be as still as they can, markers are often left where their limbs were so they can get back into position after their breaks, and maybe even need heaters to keep them warm.
Now the biggest and best advantages of drawing from real life, is that you have a person you can communicate to for your pose. If you need them to lower their hand, or change their balance, or shift their weight, or anything else, they can do it for you. You also have a 3D life-size model in the room, that lets you walk around them, chose your best position, and even take compliments when they do a good job. The disadvantages are important to know as well, but are workable. First, they are not cheap. Also, you have a human, who moves and itches, and scratches, and has gas, and gets cold, and can sweat, and needs to breath, and take breaks. This means they are going to be moving, even if just a little bit, which could be enough to throw you off, if you are still learning. Sometimes the model will be perfect, other times they will be troublesome, and if you have never worked with the model before, you have no way of knowing. Finding the right model can also be hard. If you need a middle aged woman to pose for you, but all you can find are old men, you are out of luck. However, the way I see it, all the great masters managed to create the most beautiful art using live models, long before still-pictures, aka photography, was invented. If they could create these great works of art, there is no reason we can not follow their example.
Luckily, thanks to the modern science of photography, drawing from a picture is a very good experience as well. Here, you can draw someone who is in a pose that a live person can not possibly hold, such as in the middle of the air or some other action. You will also find photographs don't move or take breaks. There are also a large variety of books and other resources, giving you a plethora of choices for your model and position, and usually books cost less. However, there are some major draw backs to drawing from photography. First, the camera. When you are drawing from a photograph, you have to remember that a camera does not tell the truth, it tells only what it sees. So nothing is in 3D, you cannot walk around the model and chose your position, you can not chose to readjust the focus, the lens and aperture and film and such all can affect the way the model looks. Most images are printed at a set resolution, usually around 300 dpi, which means you are stuck with the details presented on the page, and you can not get a close look to get more information. Whats more is that, while there are a plethora of options, sometimes it isn't enough, or it takes too long to find exactly what you want. If the model is not right, you have to find one that is close, or keep looking. If the model is in the wrong position, you can only change what you can figure out, but you can't reposition the model. If the camera is at the wrong angle, there is nothing you can do to fix it.
That being said, there are a lot of good books available for figure drawing resources, that are a great help when you don't have a live model available. This is better for if you are trying to draw something for a comic, because you can use stylization and like to compensate, but not so good for leaning if you are just starting out. If you already can draw people, and have already had classes, these books are great.
Pose File. From what I can tell, are are 2 series of Pose File books. The American pose file books are good mainly for costumed super-hero and anime/manga themed comics. All of these models are dressed, either fully, or at least in underwear. The often are dressed in costume as well. The book itself uses a series of camera angles for each pose, showing all of them on one page. However, if you look at the included CD, you will find that they actually took many photos from a series of angles, with even more positions than the book has. Since they specialize in costumes, you can see anything from superhero costumes, to schoolgirl outfits. And of course, they pose as these comic characters should as well. They provide various flying poses, fighting positions, weapon forms, and so on. You can even see some detailed shots of the weapons they use. It is good for getting some unusual shots and positions most reference books just do not do. They have a series of them available, mostly involving action and combat poses.
Besides the American Pose File books, there are the Japanese ones
. I have not had a change to look at one of these myself, but I can say that they are available on Amazon, and usually involve nude models in various poses, including sports, dancing and martial arts.
The Nude Figure. There are a few books by photographer Mark Smith, which explore the nude figure. While he usually works with female nudes, you can also find men, couples, pregnant women, and unusual poses. He has books with models jumping and dancing and moving. His photography is excellent, with each model well depicted. Since this is a traditional reference book, he does not provide costumes or props, and does not cater to the comic artist specifically. However, he does an excellent job choosing which photographs to use, and provided top quality, detailed images. His books are usually black and white, but some of them (such as this one) is in full color. The one drawback to his work is that he does not provide panning or revolving perceptive. He only takes the images as they are, from his perspective, and from no other position. I find that, because of this, these are very limited in use for something like a comic artist, since we often need to have the characters in just the right position, from just the right angle.
People and Poses. There are actually 3 books in this series. Each one of these has a different theme, which is specific for the comic artist. There is People and Poses, Men and Boys, and Women and Girls. While there are other reference books by the same artist, these are the only ones that follow this theme. He tends to photograph specifically for the comic artist, choosing which angle to present in the book. These are in full color, and use a series of camera angles for each shot, similar to the Pose File books, but unlike the post file books, he does not represent them all on each page. Often, these books use a single dynamic shot, one that would be ideal for a comic layout. These each have flying shots, jumping, weapons, fighting, and more. they use dynamic photography to give you those head on, close up, and angled shots you love to see in comics. They even include pages from actual artists that used these models in their art, often with a presentation on how they made the shot. The best part is, these also include a CD, which has a huge variety of poses, weapon close ups, angles, and more. All of these use excellent side lighting to see the best details of the models, and they are all in full color. Unfortunately, while they provide a few costumes, there are no nudes, and the models are all fully dressed or in underwear. However, this is a minor drawback as these offer some excellent photographs, with some excellent tips and advice.
Facial Expression. This is perhaps one of the best tools for any artist. While you may be limited to using a mirror for your own face, these image provide you with a series of models posing in a large variety of expressions, often exaggerated for effect. The models are listed in order from youngest to oldest, and include everything from young attractive men and women, to acne riddled teen, to the wrinkly old woman. They include all face types, and the photographs are taken from 3 different positions surrounding the face. They include side shots, overhead shots, 3/4 shots, straight on, and several in between. The end of each model also has some art inspired by the expressions of that model, which are often creative and expressive. This is an excellent way to see how other people react, how emotions are portrayed on the face, and how the age and gender and race can differentiate how we look. As my good friend would say, it is also the favorite book of her kids, who call it the "funny face book". The best part of this book is that it includes not only a huge series of expressions from many angles, but also a sequential expressions gallery for animators, a kissing gallery (woohoo!), a hats and headgear gallery, and a Phonemes gallery (that is the shape the mouth makes when you say words and make certain sounds)!
This is only the tip of the iceberg for reference photo books. There are literally thousands of them out there. There are entire websites that are dedicated to giving you the best reference picture you can find. Some of them specialize in live models in various poses for your drawing benefit, others give you samples of various parts of the body for 3D modeling and the like. There is even a program out there that gives you a full 360ยบ rotation around the model, for best viewing angle.
So for the best reference material out there, you have to get to a figure drawing class or session. The more live model practice you get, the better you will become at drawing a figure from your mind, or from a small reference material like a book. Book and photograph reference materials are also great, but only if used right. Don't forget you can use the internet, such as google, to search for a pose, a figure type, even a costume, if you need help. And while the photographs at websites like istockphoto, corbis and gettyimages are not free, you can often download a watermarked image with their giant logo on it, and use that for your reference for your drawing. Just make sure you don't draw their logo with it.
Next time, Phil Foglio, and Girl Genius!
There are really 2 types of drawing classes: regular drawing classes (from simple to advanced), and figure drawing. Most student love to take figure drawing, but you almost always start with drawing still-life... that is, the boring pictures of fruit and cubes.
Still-life isn't always boring, and many artists have demonstrated a perfect knowledge of color, lighting, and shade by using still-life. The advantages of still-life over figure drawing is that an apple doesn't need to breath or scratch, an orange doesn't need to take a break, and a wooden cube rarely charges by the hour. So these are perfect for learning how to draw, when it comes to understanding light, shadow, form, and relationship. As regular drawing classes progress, they often explore deeper topics. Sometimes it gets so deep, they start to explore the relationship between drawing and painting. What is the difference? Why does it matter?
Once you get up to figure drawing, you start to learn the way the body is shaped, the connections and relationships, the inner-workings and the elegant lines of the form. It is necessary for all good artists to understand the human form on a deep level if they wish to ever draw a human. That often means drawing bones, muscles, and skulls. But it also means drawing from live models.
My school was lucky enough to have the art department situated next door to the dancing department. I had the pleasure of drawing many attractive young women, which is ideal for art. Unfortunately, there were very few attractive young men who were interested, so I had only 1 class with a young man.
When you are looking for a figure drawing class, there are 2 places to look, universities/colleges, and art groups/clubs or galleries.
In order to take classes at a university or college, you first have to be enrolled in the school, often in the specific field of study, and paying your dues and fees. Because college classes need to budget ahead of time for their term, they usually have to charge students an extra fee to help pay for the models, who do not come cheap. This usually means there is an upfront cost, which can easily be over $100 for a term. Not all university classes will be able to use young, attractive models either. When young models are not available, there are plenty of older people ready to take their place. (I swear, as an art student, you start to wonder if the only thing people do when they retire is pose naked in front of other people.) Now drawing older people is very good too, and you can learn a lot about drawing different body types, different details such as wrinkles, and how the body ages. I did find that most of these older models were quite good.
However, unlike colleges and universities, art groups and art galleries can chose to allow anyone to participate, provided they are willing to learn and pay to participate. Sometimes there is a membership fee, sometimes it is an up front class-by-class fee, sometimes it is a term fee. While I have not priced them myself, I have heard that models can easily make $100 an hour, and they will pose for several hours at a time. That is easy money, if you think standing still in a room full of people staring at you naked is easy. So classes of all sorts need to compensate their models for their time and service. You may also find that some colleges and universities will offer figure drawing classes to anyone interested as well.
You will find that most figure drawing classes advertise in local art publications, local art galleries, art stores, and even online. Art clubs and other art groups will often hold a figure drawing class in a studio, where they will either have a series of instructions for those who pay to take the class, or they will have a free form drawing session, where they provide the model, and you draw whatever you want, however you want. That way, they do not instruct the class, they merely provide a service. Usually, these classes range from weekly to monthly. The average cost for these classes seems to be around $10 per class. They will also often advertise the types of posts they will provide. Sometimes they have long poses, that can last up to an hour, or short posts, that may last 5 minutes or less.
One exercise is to do gesture drawing. This is where the model posts for about 30 seconds, maybe less, and changes between different poses one after the other. The idea is that you have only enough time to get a feel for the motion, the gesture, the essence of what they are doing, how they are moving, and to get that on paper without any actual detail. This usually allows for a good idea of motion, but it also lets you see people in motion, standing in an uncomfortable position, something you can not do in a long pose, where the model has to be as comfortable as possible. When they have to sit or stand for 30, 45, even 60 minutes, they often needs breaks, have to be as still as they can, markers are often left where their limbs were so they can get back into position after their breaks, and maybe even need heaters to keep them warm.
Now the biggest and best advantages of drawing from real life, is that you have a person you can communicate to for your pose. If you need them to lower their hand, or change their balance, or shift their weight, or anything else, they can do it for you. You also have a 3D life-size model in the room, that lets you walk around them, chose your best position, and even take compliments when they do a good job. The disadvantages are important to know as well, but are workable. First, they are not cheap. Also, you have a human, who moves and itches, and scratches, and has gas, and gets cold, and can sweat, and needs to breath, and take breaks. This means they are going to be moving, even if just a little bit, which could be enough to throw you off, if you are still learning. Sometimes the model will be perfect, other times they will be troublesome, and if you have never worked with the model before, you have no way of knowing. Finding the right model can also be hard. If you need a middle aged woman to pose for you, but all you can find are old men, you are out of luck. However, the way I see it, all the great masters managed to create the most beautiful art using live models, long before still-pictures, aka photography, was invented. If they could create these great works of art, there is no reason we can not follow their example.
Luckily, thanks to the modern science of photography, drawing from a picture is a very good experience as well. Here, you can draw someone who is in a pose that a live person can not possibly hold, such as in the middle of the air or some other action. You will also find photographs don't move or take breaks. There are also a large variety of books and other resources, giving you a plethora of choices for your model and position, and usually books cost less. However, there are some major draw backs to drawing from photography. First, the camera. When you are drawing from a photograph, you have to remember that a camera does not tell the truth, it tells only what it sees. So nothing is in 3D, you cannot walk around the model and chose your position, you can not chose to readjust the focus, the lens and aperture and film and such all can affect the way the model looks. Most images are printed at a set resolution, usually around 300 dpi, which means you are stuck with the details presented on the page, and you can not get a close look to get more information. Whats more is that, while there are a plethora of options, sometimes it isn't enough, or it takes too long to find exactly what you want. If the model is not right, you have to find one that is close, or keep looking. If the model is in the wrong position, you can only change what you can figure out, but you can't reposition the model. If the camera is at the wrong angle, there is nothing you can do to fix it.
That being said, there are a lot of good books available for figure drawing resources, that are a great help when you don't have a live model available. This is better for if you are trying to draw something for a comic, because you can use stylization and like to compensate, but not so good for leaning if you are just starting out. If you already can draw people, and have already had classes, these books are great.
Pose File. From what I can tell, are are 2 series of Pose File books. The American pose file books are good mainly for costumed super-hero and anime/manga themed comics. All of these models are dressed, either fully, or at least in underwear. The often are dressed in costume as well. The book itself uses a series of camera angles for each pose, showing all of them on one page. However, if you look at the included CD, you will find that they actually took many photos from a series of angles, with even more positions than the book has. Since they specialize in costumes, you can see anything from superhero costumes, to schoolgirl outfits. And of course, they pose as these comic characters should as well. They provide various flying poses, fighting positions, weapon forms, and so on. You can even see some detailed shots of the weapons they use. It is good for getting some unusual shots and positions most reference books just do not do. They have a series of them available, mostly involving action and combat poses.
Besides the American Pose File books, there are the Japanese ones
. I have not had a change to look at one of these myself, but I can say that they are available on Amazon, and usually involve nude models in various poses, including sports, dancing and martial arts.The Nude Figure. There are a few books by photographer Mark Smith, which explore the nude figure. While he usually works with female nudes, you can also find men, couples, pregnant women, and unusual poses. He has books with models jumping and dancing and moving. His photography is excellent, with each model well depicted. Since this is a traditional reference book, he does not provide costumes or props, and does not cater to the comic artist specifically. However, he does an excellent job choosing which photographs to use, and provided top quality, detailed images. His books are usually black and white, but some of them (such as this one) is in full color. The one drawback to his work is that he does not provide panning or revolving perceptive. He only takes the images as they are, from his perspective, and from no other position. I find that, because of this, these are very limited in use for something like a comic artist, since we often need to have the characters in just the right position, from just the right angle.
People and Poses. There are actually 3 books in this series. Each one of these has a different theme, which is specific for the comic artist. There is People and Poses, Men and Boys, and Women and Girls. While there are other reference books by the same artist, these are the only ones that follow this theme. He tends to photograph specifically for the comic artist, choosing which angle to present in the book. These are in full color, and use a series of camera angles for each shot, similar to the Pose File books, but unlike the post file books, he does not represent them all on each page. Often, these books use a single dynamic shot, one that would be ideal for a comic layout. These each have flying shots, jumping, weapons, fighting, and more. they use dynamic photography to give you those head on, close up, and angled shots you love to see in comics. They even include pages from actual artists that used these models in their art, often with a presentation on how they made the shot. The best part is, these also include a CD, which has a huge variety of poses, weapon close ups, angles, and more. All of these use excellent side lighting to see the best details of the models, and they are all in full color. Unfortunately, while they provide a few costumes, there are no nudes, and the models are all fully dressed or in underwear. However, this is a minor drawback as these offer some excellent photographs, with some excellent tips and advice.
Facial Expression. This is perhaps one of the best tools for any artist. While you may be limited to using a mirror for your own face, these image provide you with a series of models posing in a large variety of expressions, often exaggerated for effect. The models are listed in order from youngest to oldest, and include everything from young attractive men and women, to acne riddled teen, to the wrinkly old woman. They include all face types, and the photographs are taken from 3 different positions surrounding the face. They include side shots, overhead shots, 3/4 shots, straight on, and several in between. The end of each model also has some art inspired by the expressions of that model, which are often creative and expressive. This is an excellent way to see how other people react, how emotions are portrayed on the face, and how the age and gender and race can differentiate how we look. As my good friend would say, it is also the favorite book of her kids, who call it the "funny face book". The best part of this book is that it includes not only a huge series of expressions from many angles, but also a sequential expressions gallery for animators, a kissing gallery (woohoo!), a hats and headgear gallery, and a Phonemes gallery (that is the shape the mouth makes when you say words and make certain sounds)!
This is only the tip of the iceberg for reference photo books. There are literally thousands of them out there. There are entire websites that are dedicated to giving you the best reference picture you can find. Some of them specialize in live models in various poses for your drawing benefit, others give you samples of various parts of the body for 3D modeling and the like. There is even a program out there that gives you a full 360ยบ rotation around the model, for best viewing angle.
So for the best reference material out there, you have to get to a figure drawing class or session. The more live model practice you get, the better you will become at drawing a figure from your mind, or from a small reference material like a book. Book and photograph reference materials are also great, but only if used right. Don't forget you can use the internet, such as google, to search for a pose, a figure type, even a costume, if you need help. And while the photographs at websites like istockphoto, corbis and gettyimages are not free, you can often download a watermarked image with their giant logo on it, and use that for your reference for your drawing. Just make sure you don't draw their logo with it.
Next time, Phil Foglio, and Girl Genius!
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Update, Schools, and Review
I have been very bad lately. The point of this blog is to help give me the incentive to work on animations, and even comics. I wanted to use this as a reason to draw every day, to finish more animations for demo reels and just for the experience of it. And of course to have fun.
Instead, I have been using excuse after excuse in my head, to avoid working on the things I really want to do. The problem is, I don't get paid to do what I want to do. In fact, I get paid very little, and only when I find the work doing freelance jobs. This is not a complaint, only an observation, on which I have full control over the situations. Currently, I have been doing album layouts for a wedding photographer, some image edits as well, and I just finished up a big job with a photographer who is trying to get his work in a museum. He also has a few book deals in the works and he may want my help with that too. I am busy, no doubt about it, but I do not enjoy the work I do, not the way I should. I am good at image editing, I enjoy the artistic side of it, but I am forced to do menial tasks, with little reward, and limited creativity. I don't mind a deadline, in fact I work best when under a deadline, but the work that I do is not enjoyable to me and I am unable to really get behind the work I should be doing. In the end, I avoiding the work I want to be doing as well. I rather spend my days doing house keeping and playing games, but this will get me no where, and I must use all the time I have to work on what needs to be worked on.
I have made too many promises to too many people that I have not fulfilled, due mostly to my lack of discipline and self-motivation. I can not go back on these promises, I will move forward and work on these, as well as all the work I need to do for both income and education. I have a lot of work ahead of me these next 2 days, but I will somehow find the time to prepare some more art to fill this blog by this weekend!
It's time I put my mind and efforts BACK on the right track!
This brings me to the topic of schools, which I am still looking at. The DAVE school was an experience, and it isn't a bad school at all. There are a few downsides, the cost being the biggest for me. Since it is not accredited, it is not eligible for scholarships or grants. The best a student can hope for is a student loan, in the amount of approximately $40,000! Now this is a one year school, and it is not an unheard of price for a specialty private school, such as this, and they are well within their rights to ask for such an amount. However, for me, since I am already in debt to a school that didn't go anywhere for me, I need to consider my options more carefully.
Luck is with me on this topic though. It just so happens that I have been put into contact with a company, College Lift Off!, which specializes in finding the right school, at the right price, for each person. We have been working on finding a school that both excels in the field of animation and visual effects, and is also affordable with ample financing options. There are several candidates right now, one of which is especially interesting, and I am hoping to learn more this week. I have tried to get in touch with them, but my timing has been off. I must concentrate on what I need to do, which is making money, and finding a school. I have long-since given up the job hunt, since my unemployment benefits are no longer active, so I should be spending all my time furthering my career, not just get a job. I am a little hesitant to mention specifics at this time, I feel it is in my best interest to continue my search for now, and report back later when I have something significant to post.
So since I am currently, and reluctantly, without any art or animations for you to gaze upon, I will offer a short review on the latest anime title my wife and I have been viewing on Blu-ray, Samurai 7.
Samurai 7 is a retelling of the classic 1954 film directed by Akira Kurosawa, Seven Samurai. The original film is a masterpiece of cinematography, story telling, acting, and film making. I know of no other film to date that can compete with the subtle complexities of the story and cinematography. Seven Samurai is, without a doubt, one of the greatest films ever made. I could go into a detailed explanation and review on how absolutely magnificent this film is, detailing the masterwork in each scene, but I will not. For one, many people may not appreciate all the nuances and subtle ingenuity, in much the same way most people do not recognize the genius of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Of course most film enthusiast would agree that both these films are timeless works of art. Regardless, a work of art Samurai 7 is not.
Blu-ray
Movie
Oh, boy, where to begin. Most of you know I am a big fan of the Japanese pop-art 'sensation' of anime. I have been an avid watcher since the early 90's, before most people knew what anime was, so you can say my interest is not a mere passing fad. I appreciate any good animated feature, although recently I have found little to interest me short of Hayao Miyazaki and Pixar films. Still, I have been interested in the cover art of this particular series when I see it on shelves, and I decided to rent it on Blu-ray to give it a twirl.
Imagine Seven Samurai, now replace all the bandits with (dear God I can't believe I am saying this) Giant Robots. Yes... Giant Robots. Oh, I should have stopped watching there, right in the beginning of the first episode when they first showed up, I should have turned off the disc, returned it, and removed the next 2 discs from the queue. Sadly, I did not.
In an attempt to make the struggle between the samurai, the farmers, and the bandits all the more epic and grandiose, they turned the bandits into 4 story tall robots. It appears someone from the staff of Gundam snuck in to a staff meeting and decided to throw in a few of his poorly sketched mecha designs. Granted, the reasoning behind this is quite complex, although convoluted. They intended to further develop the complexity of the relationship between the samurai, the villagers, and the bandits, as well as the capitol itself, which is run by merchants. By having the bandits steal the rice, they could sell it to the capitol, which would use it for trade, to become wealthy, and keep the villagers under thumb. While this seems simple enough, the mechanical nature of the bandits leads to discrimination and fear for anything mechanical. To this end, they attempted to further complicated the already complicated and well developed character of "Kikuchiyo" (Which the English dub pronounced "Kikucho" or "Kiku" for short), by turning him into a mechanical samurai as well, so not only does he bridge the gap between the farmers and the samurai, but he also brings in an innate understanding of how the bandits work and think, as well as becoming a point of hatred for the leader of the merchants, who fears anything mechanical.
Kikushiyo isn't the only character butchered by this loose interpretation. While many of the samurai undergo minor character changes, the villagers are downright backwards. Instead of the village elder sending out 4 men into the city to look for samurai, they decide to send 1 man, 1 "water priestess", and 1 little kid. Of course, the water priestess is a combination of Shino and many of the villagers, yet she is not Shino, as her character still shows up. This new character has the ability to dowse for water, or apparently samurai. The little girl seems to have no point but to be an annoyance that dumbs down any complex aspect and retells the story for those who fell asleep. Cute, sure, but pointless and annoying. The rest of the villagers have little importance. The conflict between the youngest samurai, Katsushiro, and Shino is not even existent. Instead, they try to move the love triangle (a triangle??) to Katsushiro, the water priestess, and Kambei. YES... Kambei. Oh, is that a spoiler? Well, trust me, watching this will spoil your appetite, and probably your eyes.
I could go on. They continue to mutilate this story by adding new characters, factions, overly complex politics, overly simplified and lacking character development and relationships, and extremely unrealistic and laughable fight scenes. It is amazing they managed to take a 4 hour long masterpiece and turn it into a 26 episode long travesty. The gigantic explosions at the end of the series signify not only the destruction of the capitol, but also the destruction of any redeemable quality of this anime. There is a reason I don't watch many anime series anymore, so many of them turn out like this. Apparently, they assumed that by sticking direct quotes from the original movie into this series would be enough to justify these mutilations, but they only serve to further bury the enormous sonic sword into the heart of Kurosawa and all cinematography.
I give this a 2 out of 5 stars. It could have sucked even more, but it is so far from the original source, it should be banned in most countries.
Video
Oh. My. God! This has got to be the worst Blu-ray I have ever seen in my life! Nay. The worst disc! I am sure the DVD would look better than this. Allow me to explain. This transfer most assuredly uses a 1080p HD image, capturing all the detail, or lack thereof, that this anime boasts. Unfortunately, like some other animated movies, banding is an issue. That is actually a lie, banding is much more than an "issue", its a serious problem. It is hard to watch ANYTHING with the MASSIVE banding issues this series sports. It is consistent through the entire series, from the first unexplained and confusing flashback, to the final eye-gouging explosion. It is downright hard to see any of the other compression errors this series has thanks to the massive banding. Scenes that should have no banding at all are full of them. It is as bad as trying to watch a movie with an 8-bit color pallet, only worse. The flashbacks, previews, and reviews at the beginning and ending of each episode use a cookie-cutter effect, filled with black dots that start to look like dead pixels or dirt. Granted this is a minor annoyance, but enough to distract me and make me want to clean off my screen.
The real problem is the fact that the Blu-ray producers decided that 50GB meant they can stick 8 or 10 episodes per disc, rather than the standard 4. This means they instead of dedicating the extra space to quality video and audio, they compressed the HELL out of it to fit on more content. The result.... a mess that wreaks as bad as the bog of eternal stench.
I give this a 1 out of 5 stars. It was in HD... I think... but I bet you watching the DVD will prove less painful.
Audio
I am not really sure where to go with this. The Japanese had much better sound than the English. The English changed names and such. They used decent voice actors to more or less fit the parts, and the acting is not half bad, but there is really no quality to the audio. It just didn't impress me... sort of blah.
I will give this a 2.5 of 5, since it neither has absolutely awful quality, nor was it really notable. Just meh.
Extras
What are those?
Overall
This is quite simply the worst anime I have seen in a long time. Not the worst I have ever seen, but it is pretty bad. The original movie is so full of nuances and complex relationships, as well as well developed characters and an epic battle, I was hoping to see some of this in anime form, with more explanation into what was going on. Instead, I am bombarded with a corrupt government stealing rice from farmers through a complexly organized system of giant mechanical bandits who sell rice to "gaurdians" who in turn trade it to the merchants for land (?), who in turn sell the rice for trade. No one eats this stuff except the samurai, who have no real part in society. The ingenious schemes of Kambei are suddenly more convoluted and far less impressive. The crazy antics of Kikuchiyo have turned him into a mechanical samurai equivalent of a 5th grader on crack. The restructuring of the characters is both pointless and annoying, and only serves to further complicate matters in the wrong way. Main characters are given completely different goals, outcomes, and roles. All these things, while occasionally throwing in a random quote from the original film where it best suits them. About the only thing they did right in this series was kill off the right characters in ways similar to the original film... mostly.
What is it they say? You can't judge a Blu-ray by its cover? Something like that...
I give this a 1.5 out of 5. The story is awful, the video quality is unforgivably vomitous, the audio falls short of anything acceptable, and there are no extras in sight. But most importantly, they put Akira Kurosawa's name RIGHT ON THE FRONT of this atrocity! Kurosawa must be spinning in his grave. The abomination called Samurai 7 is an attempt to assassinate quality film, and the Blu-ray format, as well as HD, anime, and human sight. To call this watchable is an overstatement. Most would probably not even rate this as bearable. I will say it is unforgivable. A POX on the Blu-ray Authoring group who made this pile of muck. Even though the story is convoluted, laughable, and an atrocity to the source it names itself after, the very least you can do is spare our eyesight from the banding...
... The Banding...
... THE BANDING!!!
Instead, I have been using excuse after excuse in my head, to avoid working on the things I really want to do. The problem is, I don't get paid to do what I want to do. In fact, I get paid very little, and only when I find the work doing freelance jobs. This is not a complaint, only an observation, on which I have full control over the situations. Currently, I have been doing album layouts for a wedding photographer, some image edits as well, and I just finished up a big job with a photographer who is trying to get his work in a museum. He also has a few book deals in the works and he may want my help with that too. I am busy, no doubt about it, but I do not enjoy the work I do, not the way I should. I am good at image editing, I enjoy the artistic side of it, but I am forced to do menial tasks, with little reward, and limited creativity. I don't mind a deadline, in fact I work best when under a deadline, but the work that I do is not enjoyable to me and I am unable to really get behind the work I should be doing. In the end, I avoiding the work I want to be doing as well. I rather spend my days doing house keeping and playing games, but this will get me no where, and I must use all the time I have to work on what needs to be worked on.
I have made too many promises to too many people that I have not fulfilled, due mostly to my lack of discipline and self-motivation. I can not go back on these promises, I will move forward and work on these, as well as all the work I need to do for both income and education. I have a lot of work ahead of me these next 2 days, but I will somehow find the time to prepare some more art to fill this blog by this weekend!
It's time I put my mind and efforts BACK on the right track!
This brings me to the topic of schools, which I am still looking at. The DAVE school was an experience, and it isn't a bad school at all. There are a few downsides, the cost being the biggest for me. Since it is not accredited, it is not eligible for scholarships or grants. The best a student can hope for is a student loan, in the amount of approximately $40,000! Now this is a one year school, and it is not an unheard of price for a specialty private school, such as this, and they are well within their rights to ask for such an amount. However, for me, since I am already in debt to a school that didn't go anywhere for me, I need to consider my options more carefully.
Luck is with me on this topic though. It just so happens that I have been put into contact with a company, College Lift Off!, which specializes in finding the right school, at the right price, for each person. We have been working on finding a school that both excels in the field of animation and visual effects, and is also affordable with ample financing options. There are several candidates right now, one of which is especially interesting, and I am hoping to learn more this week. I have tried to get in touch with them, but my timing has been off. I must concentrate on what I need to do, which is making money, and finding a school. I have long-since given up the job hunt, since my unemployment benefits are no longer active, so I should be spending all my time furthering my career, not just get a job. I am a little hesitant to mention specifics at this time, I feel it is in my best interest to continue my search for now, and report back later when I have something significant to post.
So since I am currently, and reluctantly, without any art or animations for you to gaze upon, I will offer a short review on the latest anime title my wife and I have been viewing on Blu-ray, Samurai 7.
Samurai 7
Blu-ray
Movie
Oh, boy, where to begin. Most of you know I am a big fan of the Japanese pop-art 'sensation' of anime. I have been an avid watcher since the early 90's, before most people knew what anime was, so you can say my interest is not a mere passing fad. I appreciate any good animated feature, although recently I have found little to interest me short of Hayao Miyazaki and Pixar films. Still, I have been interested in the cover art of this particular series when I see it on shelves, and I decided to rent it on Blu-ray to give it a twirl.
Imagine Seven Samurai, now replace all the bandits with (dear God I can't believe I am saying this) Giant Robots. Yes... Giant Robots. Oh, I should have stopped watching there, right in the beginning of the first episode when they first showed up, I should have turned off the disc, returned it, and removed the next 2 discs from the queue. Sadly, I did not.
In an attempt to make the struggle between the samurai, the farmers, and the bandits all the more epic and grandiose, they turned the bandits into 4 story tall robots. It appears someone from the staff of Gundam snuck in to a staff meeting and decided to throw in a few of his poorly sketched mecha designs. Granted, the reasoning behind this is quite complex, although convoluted. They intended to further develop the complexity of the relationship between the samurai, the villagers, and the bandits, as well as the capitol itself, which is run by merchants. By having the bandits steal the rice, they could sell it to the capitol, which would use it for trade, to become wealthy, and keep the villagers under thumb. While this seems simple enough, the mechanical nature of the bandits leads to discrimination and fear for anything mechanical. To this end, they attempted to further complicated the already complicated and well developed character of "Kikuchiyo" (Which the English dub pronounced "Kikucho" or "Kiku" for short), by turning him into a mechanical samurai as well, so not only does he bridge the gap between the farmers and the samurai, but he also brings in an innate understanding of how the bandits work and think, as well as becoming a point of hatred for the leader of the merchants, who fears anything mechanical.
Kikushiyo isn't the only character butchered by this loose interpretation. While many of the samurai undergo minor character changes, the villagers are downright backwards. Instead of the village elder sending out 4 men into the city to look for samurai, they decide to send 1 man, 1 "water priestess", and 1 little kid. Of course, the water priestess is a combination of Shino and many of the villagers, yet she is not Shino, as her character still shows up. This new character has the ability to dowse for water, or apparently samurai. The little girl seems to have no point but to be an annoyance that dumbs down any complex aspect and retells the story for those who fell asleep. Cute, sure, but pointless and annoying. The rest of the villagers have little importance. The conflict between the youngest samurai, Katsushiro, and Shino is not even existent. Instead, they try to move the love triangle (a triangle??) to Katsushiro, the water priestess, and Kambei. YES... Kambei. Oh, is that a spoiler? Well, trust me, watching this will spoil your appetite, and probably your eyes.
I could go on. They continue to mutilate this story by adding new characters, factions, overly complex politics, overly simplified and lacking character development and relationships, and extremely unrealistic and laughable fight scenes. It is amazing they managed to take a 4 hour long masterpiece and turn it into a 26 episode long travesty. The gigantic explosions at the end of the series signify not only the destruction of the capitol, but also the destruction of any redeemable quality of this anime. There is a reason I don't watch many anime series anymore, so many of them turn out like this. Apparently, they assumed that by sticking direct quotes from the original movie into this series would be enough to justify these mutilations, but they only serve to further bury the enormous sonic sword into the heart of Kurosawa and all cinematography.
I give this a 2 out of 5 stars. It could have sucked even more, but it is so far from the original source, it should be banned in most countries.
Video
Oh. My. God! This has got to be the worst Blu-ray I have ever seen in my life! Nay. The worst disc! I am sure the DVD would look better than this. Allow me to explain. This transfer most assuredly uses a 1080p HD image, capturing all the detail, or lack thereof, that this anime boasts. Unfortunately, like some other animated movies, banding is an issue. That is actually a lie, banding is much more than an "issue", its a serious problem. It is hard to watch ANYTHING with the MASSIVE banding issues this series sports. It is consistent through the entire series, from the first unexplained and confusing flashback, to the final eye-gouging explosion. It is downright hard to see any of the other compression errors this series has thanks to the massive banding. Scenes that should have no banding at all are full of them. It is as bad as trying to watch a movie with an 8-bit color pallet, only worse. The flashbacks, previews, and reviews at the beginning and ending of each episode use a cookie-cutter effect, filled with black dots that start to look like dead pixels or dirt. Granted this is a minor annoyance, but enough to distract me and make me want to clean off my screen.
The real problem is the fact that the Blu-ray producers decided that 50GB meant they can stick 8 or 10 episodes per disc, rather than the standard 4. This means they instead of dedicating the extra space to quality video and audio, they compressed the HELL out of it to fit on more content. The result.... a mess that wreaks as bad as the bog of eternal stench.
I give this a 1 out of 5 stars. It was in HD... I think... but I bet you watching the DVD will prove less painful.
Audio
I am not really sure where to go with this. The Japanese had much better sound than the English. The English changed names and such. They used decent voice actors to more or less fit the parts, and the acting is not half bad, but there is really no quality to the audio. It just didn't impress me... sort of blah.
I will give this a 2.5 of 5, since it neither has absolutely awful quality, nor was it really notable. Just meh.
Extras
What are those?
Overall
This is quite simply the worst anime I have seen in a long time. Not the worst I have ever seen, but it is pretty bad. The original movie is so full of nuances and complex relationships, as well as well developed characters and an epic battle, I was hoping to see some of this in anime form, with more explanation into what was going on. Instead, I am bombarded with a corrupt government stealing rice from farmers through a complexly organized system of giant mechanical bandits who sell rice to "gaurdians" who in turn trade it to the merchants for land (?), who in turn sell the rice for trade. No one eats this stuff except the samurai, who have no real part in society. The ingenious schemes of Kambei are suddenly more convoluted and far less impressive. The crazy antics of Kikuchiyo have turned him into a mechanical samurai equivalent of a 5th grader on crack. The restructuring of the characters is both pointless and annoying, and only serves to further complicate matters in the wrong way. Main characters are given completely different goals, outcomes, and roles. All these things, while occasionally throwing in a random quote from the original film where it best suits them. About the only thing they did right in this series was kill off the right characters in ways similar to the original film... mostly.
What is it they say? You can't judge a Blu-ray by its cover? Something like that...
I give this a 1.5 out of 5. The story is awful, the video quality is unforgivably vomitous, the audio falls short of anything acceptable, and there are no extras in sight. But most importantly, they put Akira Kurosawa's name RIGHT ON THE FRONT of this atrocity! Kurosawa must be spinning in his grave. The abomination called Samurai 7 is an attempt to assassinate quality film, and the Blu-ray format, as well as HD, anime, and human sight. To call this watchable is an overstatement. Most would probably not even rate this as bearable. I will say it is unforgivable. A POX on the Blu-ray Authoring group who made this pile of muck. Even though the story is convoluted, laughable, and an atrocity to the source it names itself after, the very least you can do is spare our eyesight from the banding...
... The Banding...
... THE BANDING!!!
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
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:
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.
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...
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.
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