A Collection of Awesomo Clips!

I was looking over some new posts from the blogs I follow on Reader, and found a few neato ones, but I also remembered some I saw a while ago that I never got around to posting...

I love anything that takes the piss out of Hipsters. Especially love the beatnick's poetry in this!



I can't enough of this clip.. the attention to detail is so impressive and they managed to capture the old-school fright-flick aesthetic perfectly. If I ever end up in 3D, this is exactly the sort of quality I'd hope to produce.


Gawper from A Large Evil Corporation on Vimeo.

Great cinematography in this one, and very creative. The music compliments it so well too, I must find a way to obtain that track... :-)


Address Is Approximate from The Theory on Vimeo.

The panda in this is so CUTE!!! I just want to cuddle him.. poor thing! I really like the whole style of this, all the colours and line work. And their use of perspective in some parts is pretty amazing too. Fantastic concept.


TIJI "COLOUR" HD from AKAMA on Vimeo.

AHAHAHAHA!!!!! Why the hell did I not know that Juicy Fruits had some famous 'Serenading Unicorn'? WHY WAS I NOT MADE AWARE OF THIS???

Rotoscoping Goes To Funkytown!

So here's the final result of my rotoscoping assignment. I might have gotten slightly carried away here, but I had a lot of fun making this one! The quality of this compressed video is a bit crappy but I wasn't sure what else I could do. Still, I'm really happy with how it turned out overall. And for someone who can't stand dancing in public and will do anything to avoid it, I'm pretty chuffed with my efforts.

Disco Stu had to be thrown in there somewhere too... Disco Stu makes everything look super fly! Mmmm hmmmmm.... 

:-]

Copacabana Bean Progress



Steve the Bean is coming along well. He looks extra spiffy with some shiny new props thrown in! I'm much happier with the spacing now, a little bit of polishing went a long way...



'The Goat and the Well' by Ben Cady

Just had to post this one, I think it's adorable! The simplistic approach to design is really effective here, and anticipation has definitely been used well especially in the looks exchanged between the goat and the woman. The end is just classic! :-)

Basement Jaxx vs. Metropole Orkest

Basement Jaxx vs. Metropole Orkest - HEY U from Sundeep Toor on Vimeo.

What do you get when you mix Basement Jaxx with an Orchestra? Brilliance, that's what! This clip was created by an animator going by the name 'Sundeep Toor' who happened to listen to the song and was so  intrigued by it he decided to make a video.
The style of this is so exotic and vibrant, and compliments the music perfectly. Some of the spacing could've been better maybe... but loads of effort must've gone into this, the characters look fantastic. I find it massively appealing, especially the peacocks about 4 mins in. And I totally understand the draw to animate for this, the music is epic!
This has actually given me some ideas for my rotoscoping assignment... oh yes indeedy!

How Darrel the Dinosaur Became Depressed...

Here's the final result of my comic assignment. I had a lot of fun drawing this, especially Darrel and Santa! Also I should probably explain the title, as it is exceedingly lame. I've read a lot of Archie comics in my time and their titles usually have a really campy play on words. I wanted to get that same wholesome vibe going throughout this comic too, so it'd be an interesting contrast to the actual theme of it all.
So yes, I'm well aware that the title is quite pathetic, but it's meant to be!!
Enjoy :-)

The Uncanny Valley and Other Disturbing Things

This post is in part a response to Frank's comment on the 'Don't Hug Me I'm Scared' video I posted recently, and is also on something I've been meaning to blog about for a while now.
Frank said there was something about that video that made him uneasy, and I completely understand what he means. The makers went way too over-board with the macabre stuff at the end of the clip and it definitely crossed over from entertaining to just a bit too unsettling. Which is a real shame, because I think it ended up ruining what could've been a really interesting and funny clip.
I can't stand it when people go and spoil the potential of something with all that 'shock value' stuff. It's like they don't trust their ideas will reach people unless they find a way to slap us in the face with it. This got me thinking about all the movies I've seen that started off with so much potential, only to be ruined by bad taste in the end.
One that always comes to mind is Jim Carrey's 'A Christmas Carol'. Dicken's classic is a fantastic ghost story which is pretty eerie at times, but this is balanced out perfectly with a healthy dose of wholesome festive charm. However there were parts of Jim Carrey's Christmas Carol that I found down-right terrifying and completely uncalled for, like the door-knocker ghost laughing so hard his jaw comes unhinged and starts flapping madly, or the gradual decay of the ghost of Christmas present (see below- crappy quality video, but it makes my point).



I'm all for a good scare, and think it adds a lot to any adventure story.. but seriously?? That's just tasteless.. and it stripped away whatever charm the movie might have set out to achieve.

Aaaanyway, this takes me to the second part of this post, and to a discovery I've been meaning to blog about for a while now- the 'Uncanny Valley'. And this is something I think that we especially as animators all need to be aware of. Basically the Uncanny Valley is a theory of the robotics professor Masahiro Mori, which states that artificial replication of real human features (such as through robotics and 3D animation) increases steadily in audience appeal as it gets more and more realistic. However there is a massive drop-off in this appeal as the realistic nature of it is just about to reach the real thing itself- and this is where it falls into the zone of the Uncanny Valley. When something becomes so uncannily real- and yet you know it isn't- that instead of inspiring attraction in its audience, it triggers a deep sense of repulsion.
Some excellent examples of 3D animation gone too far are (of course) 'A Christmas Carol', 'The Polar Express', and in my opinion the new 'Tin Tin' movie. Animators have tried so hard to get that perfect look of reality in their models, but we as humans can instantly sense it's unreal and it unsettles us.
I think we need to keep this in mind when considering the appeal of our characters, as it could either make or break them. However the Uncanny Valley can be just as much of a help as a hindrance. Just think- if you have a character that you want to be so hideously repulsive that it makes your audience's skin crawl... mess it up a bit, then make it look as real as possible. Why else do we think zombies are so grotesque? They fit so neatly into the Uncanny Valley..

I even have a chart to demonstrate my point! And here is a link to the Wikipedia entry if you want to know more-  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_valley

So in conclusion to this massive rant of a blog post; shock tactics should be used sparingly and with careful consideration, and DON'T VENTURE INTO THE UNCANNY VALLEY!! Unless you really want to give someone the wibbly jibblies... :-S

'Green Is Not A Creative Colour'

Stumbled across this clip on blog.drawn.ca called 'Don't Hug Me I'm Scared' by This Is It.
I absolutely LOVE the style of this clip with the plush feel of everything, and the overly cutesy vibe is such a great contrast for what comes at the end (you'll see... it gets a bit nutso, even by my standards).

The notepad's hair cracks me up!


Don't Hug Me I'm Scared from This Is It on Vimeo.

Inside My Brain

A few weeks ago we had to draw a representation of our brains, and I decided to portray mine as an apartment building made up of different rooms and their occupants. I have various rooms containing my main inspirations- children, art, and fashion. And up in the observatory I have someone constantly on the lookout for new ideas. All of these rooms have piping leading to a central furnace where all the creative juices are fired up and sent off to the mad scientist at the top of the building. Here he creates (hopefully) marvellous concoctions! These are then packaged and sent out into the world, through the top of my head.
The shifty looking shadowy guys near the bottom are my self-doubts and fears etc, which I aim to keep locked up and out of harm's way. But sometimes they manage to escape, like the one tunnelling out of his cell..
And the little guys tending the lawns and painting the building are there because I like things to look as good as possible! :-D

Norwegian Railway Ad

I just found this awesome ad for the Norwegian State Railway system (of all things...), using puppets to demonstrate all the favours you'll be doing the wildlife if you opt for public transport instead of cars. 

I think the character portrayals are great- especially the flower with the crutch, and the little touches like the fish in the seagull's beak.. 

And the colours are so bright and sunny! :-D

Now why can't our own transport ads be as swingin' as this?

3D Jim Henson Tribute

This has to be one of the most amazing animation shorts I've ever seen. 'Overtime' is a tribute to Jim Henson by Oury Atlan, Thibaut Berland, and Damien Ferri. I get choked up every time I watch it! I love the nostalgic cinematography, and the music is just gorgeous. So glad Jim Henson got the recognition he deserved.

Now I have a strange desire to go and download some Yiddish music.. 

:-]

Overtime from ouryatlan on Vimeo.

She's a lumberjack and she's okay!

Here's my final lumberjack exercise. I wish I could've made it smoother, but it's not too shabby. I think Oxanna would look great in a Russian vodka ad...

'Drink Smirnoff! It put hair on Oxanna's chest, make strong like mighty Ox!'

Darrel The Depressed Dinosaur's Debut Appearance!!



Must-See Paper Art and Animation

So I've always been a massive, massive fan of paper art. The level of craftsmanship that goes into it is just phenomenal. Take the following artists for example;

From the book 'Paper Illusions' by Isabelle de Borchgrave. All made from paper which was hand-painted...

Or these by Su Blackwell..

Or one of my personal favourites, Peter Callesen..

Eeheehee! It's a little apple core!

And then there are those that are just beyond belief, like these by Allan and Patty Eckman.

Now what if you took all of this skill and intricacy and turned it into an animation? BEHOLD! Amos Lee's 'Flower', a paper and clay animation. Holy mother of God, I LOVE THIS CLIP.
Ah Amos! A man of impeccable taste if ever I saw one... great song too.

Bean Bounce Exercise

Lecherous Lima Bean

G'day gooooorrrrgeousssss.... 'Owya goinnnnn....? *hic!*

Bouncy-bouncy...

Hooray, I animated in Maya without developing a headache!! EGAD.

Look at my hooooves!!!

Here's a progress shot of my 'I love animation' character. I AM A FAUN, WEEHEE!!!
:D

Inked Bodies

This afternoon we had our second life-drawing lesson, which I have to say I am enjoying very muchly. I'd always been too chicken to try a life drawing class on my own so I'm glad we're doing it at college now. I'd definitely consider taking classes outside of this course, I can tell it's going to be a very useful skill..
Anyway, today marked my first attempt with inks. I've always been a bit scared of watercolours and inks etc. Such wild, unruly mediums!! Or maybe that's just my inner control-freak coming out...
 :-P

Sketches from The Little Mermaid

Howdy-doody,

I was watching The Little Mermaid this afternoon, and found myself thinking over and over again, 'Aagh! I wish I could draw like that!!' So what the heck, I had a go..
All the reference images on the net were rubbish so I decided to pause the movie at some of my favourite moments and get my own screen captures.
I'm not used to drawing that really cartoony sort of style so it was a bit of a struggle at first, but I think I got the hang of it eventually. All good practise, eh what?

The crazy French chef, definitely my favourite character!

The Little Mermaid at the height of fashion in a charming hessian sack ensemble designed by Scuttle.

Scuttle; 'I can't find a pulse!'

Her Morning Elegance

A friend of mine sent me this clip today, which I think is gorgeous.. It reminds me of all those Target ads they had a while back (but this one's much better!). Especially love the sock fish.

My Highly Incompetent Chef

Apart from the slight wibbling and wobbling in his body when shaking the pan (I had some issues with resizing him properly after importing the scanned images), I'm happy with how he turned out. :-)

The Strange Tale of the Crack Fox

I was busy reliving the 3rd season of The Mighty Boosh today, and found a nice little morsel of animation to blog- namely the story of the most infamous character of all... the Crack Fox. I just love the artwork by Noel Fielding, and the effect of the realistic grass layer as a backdrop.
The Crack Fox has to be one of the most unsettling characters ever created... he's just all kinds of wrong. God love him.

Mine Stickman

I finally decided to post my very first animation, which I made last year. I'd only just downloaded iStopMotion on my Mac and was keen to see how the program worked. So this stickman was really only intended as a short test, but I guess I got a bit carried away..
Remember, first attempt here! This was before I became aware of the Principles of Animation (thanks Frank!), so of course there's all sorts of things wrong with it.
Still, it took a lot of work- those are 800 individually-cut frames of greaseproof paper, people! I didn't have a light-box at that stage and I needed a transparent medium. But hey, it's all a means to an end, right?
:-]

Bean Me

Progress so far... Great Success!!

Max likes long walks on the beach...

El Maxo!

"¿Dónde está la casa de Frieda Kahlo, por favor?"
 (Where is Frieda Kahlo's house?)

The Diapered Desperados

Well I be happier than a weasel in a hen house, it's finished!!

:-D

Notes On Biology

Awesome animation clip from YouTube. It takes a while for the action to kick in, but it's so worth it- unbelievably clever stuff. I can't get enough of 'Robot- Elephant', cracks me up every time!

Max in Maya

Archer- 'Make Your Move'

Sweetie for a sweetie...? 

Dialogue Key Pose

First key pose for No-Mouth Dialogue project. (Still need to add more colouring to head-dress)

Bean Character Design

'Hey there sweet thang...'

In the interest of preserving my sanity, I made him as simple as possible.

They're getting younger and younger...

Hi everyone, check out this fantastic little animation I found on YouTube on the weekend, done by a 13-yr-old kid on a whiteboard. (Must not compare myself, must not compare myself... :-P)

Key Poses for Big Chief Baby Character

Character Design for Team Exercise (Villain)

Chuck Jones

Today we watched clips of two Merry Melody episodes from Warner Brothers Studios, which were both directed by Charles (Chuck) Jones; 'The Case of the Missing Hare' (1942), and 'The Aristo-Cat' (1943). In the '30s and '40s Jones tried to immitate the animation style of Disney, and even had a brief stint there in 1955 while working of Sleeping Beauty. However from the late '40s and into the '50s Jones began to produce a style of work which soon caught on in popularity and influenced animation history- he favoured a less realistic, and more cartoony style.
In the Pixar movie 'Mosters Inc.' the directors paid tribute to one of Jones' films 'Feed the Kitty' (1952). Frank would like to add that this is in fact his favourite cartoon.

Library Resources for Animation

Today we explored unchartered territory and went on a tour of the Tafe Library, looking specifically at what resources were available for Animation students. And here is what we discovered...

The librarians are able to help out with Copyright information for students, alternately you can look it up for yourself on the Library Catalogue site, under 'Resources'.

Located on Level 2 are all of the journals, and while there's quite a variety to choose from in Digital Art, Graphics, and Cinematography, probably the most relevant one is the Animation Journal (had a flick through and liked what I saw, definitely need to have a closer look at some point).

Frank went to the ends of the earth a couple of years ago (Paris) and brought back with him an excellent resource from Gobelins called 'Paris: Chambre de commerce et d'industrie de Paris. This is the only copy available to Animation students in all of Australia. Yay Frank!

On the 3rd floor of the library you'll find a very important book by Richard Williams (creator of the Princess and the Cobbler- woohoo!) called The Animator's Survival Kit, as well as the DVD by the same title- another one I'm keen to have a squiz at.
The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation, written by two of Disney's 'Nine Old Men'- Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston is also located on level 3.

The library also has films by Miyazaki, a Japanese animation director. Available are Howl's Moving Castle, Spirited Away, Nausicaa, Kiki's Delivery Service, and Porco Rosso.

And although The Lost Thing by Shaun Tan (2011 oscar-nominated short film) isn't yet out for loan at the library, two of his books are; The Bird King and The Arrival which display some excellent illustrations.

Ray Harryhausen

Ray Harryhausen earnt the title of 'The Grandfather of Model Animation' for his contributions to the art of stop motion animation or as it was known at the time; 'special effects animation'. Using intricate models based on expertly articulated armatures (metal skeletons), and a process which he pioneered and named 'Dynamation'. Here is a brief discription of the process...
1) An image of the live action film was projected onto a translucent screen from behind using a rear projector. 
2) A table with the miniature models was then set up infront of the screen.
3) Infront of that table a glass screen was set up. Black matte paint was used to black out the foreground areas of the image as seen through this screen that were to remain infront of the model characters.
4) A camera was then arranged infront of this all. As the original live action film was played frame by frame, the models could be manipulated to look as though they were interracting with the characters/ environment in the film convincingly.
5) Once complete, the film and the projection were wound back to the beginning. The glass frame was then replaced so that the inverse areas could be blacked out this time and the entire film was shot again to create a complete image in the final production.

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958), Mighty Joe Young (1949), and Jason and the Argonauts (1963) all included scenes utilising this technique. One of the most famous scenes Harryhausen created using Dynamation is a skeleton fight scene in Jason and the Argonauts. Although the scene only lasts for about three minutes, it took him four months to produce.



Two Old Men

In Brad Bird's films the Incredibles and The Iron Giant, he includes the cameo appearances of two of the finest animators of Disney's history- Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. Frank and Ollie were two of the original 'Nine Old Men', a name which was given to a group of supervising animators by Walt Disney. These nine animators oversaw the production of Disney classics such as Snow White, Bambi, and Pinocchio.Frank Thomas

Ollie Johnston

In The Lady and the Tramp, Lady's character was animated for most of the film by Ollie Johnston, while Frank Thomas was responsible for the famous scene where the two dogs chew on a string of spaghetti and share their first kiss.

When Frank and Ollie appeared in the Incredibles as spectators (courtesy of Brad Bird), they say to each other;

Frank: 'You see that? That's the way to do it. That's old school.'
Ollie: 'Yeah, no school like the old school.'

This is probably intended as a refernce to their time working at Disney together, along with the other Nine Old Men- a time during which some of Disney's finest films were produced.

Grim Tales- Watch this clip!!

One of the best kids shows in existence, and one I happened to grow up with, has to be 'Grim Tales' starring the British comedian Rik Mayall. I haven't met many other people who know of or remember this show, which is a real shame. He basically retells all the old Grim fairy tales but in a completely ridiculous manic way. A few of them have some fantastic stop-motion animation thrown in at intervals. This episode is called 'The Witch Among Thorns' and only goes for about 12 mins. It looks like it's been ripped from a VHS tape so the quality's pretty poor unfortunately.

But you'll still get the gist. I especially love the portrayal of the witch with the traffic cone on her head. So here it is... enjoy!

Lady and the Tramp task

The original concept for Lady and the Tramp was thought up in the 1930s when Walt Disney had dinner at Joe Grant's house and was shown a story that Grant had illustrated about his own dog Lady. Disney particularly liked the soft silky portrayal of Lady's character. They began refining ideas for a movie based on her.
In 1943 the original storyboard was presented to Disney but he didn't like it- he thought there was something 'too soft' about Lady's character. So the idea was put on the shelf and not touched again until the 1950s.
It was then that Disney read a story by Ward Greene called 'Happy Dan the Whistling Dog' which centred around a rough cynical male dog character, and he believed that if Lady and this new character were played opposite each other, an interesting story could evolve, so he hired Greene to work on the film.
Greene was the author of the book 'Lady and the Tramp' which the final film was based on. Another inspiration in making the film was that Walt claimed to have given his wife a puppy in a hat box as a gift, a moment which was included in the movie also.
'Lady and the Tramp' was officially released in 1955.

Princess and the Cobbler clip

Here's the link to the 'The Princess and the Cobbler' I mentioned. Okay, so I know I said the cobbler was a mute in my post but I guess my memory's a bit off. He's mute for the most part, and has very limited dialogue. Anyway, have a look- I chose this clip because it has one of my favourite scenes with the thief in it, trying to infiltrate the palace by climbing up the sewerage pipe system... classic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=da3AZf5AVX8

Hi everyone, welcome to my humble web-abode. Come in, come in! Pull up a chair, grab a woolly blanket, and a big old steaming mug of cocoa and let Aunty Lydia take you on a marvellous journey into the inner workings of her animator's mind!

Well now that I've said that I'm not sure how to live up those expectations... I've never had any practise with blogging but I'm sure I can find a few things to start rambling about (it is after all my forte).

So! Our first blog is to be about what inspires us in animation. I've only just recently decided I wanted to get into animation so I'm still not familiar with a lot of movies and animators names that I've heard thrown about the classroom. But I know what I do like, and what I tend to be drawn to.

And I suppose the best place to start with I'm drawn to, is the one sort of character that gets me everytime- the shy, reluctant hero. Whatever book/ movie he's in, I find myself instantly magnatised to him and falling in love within seconds. Some good examples of what sort of character I'm talking about are the mute Cobbler from 'The Princess and the Cobbler', Edward Scissorhands, and Victor from 'The Corpse Bride'. I love their innocence and naivety, and how no-one else seems to understand them. If you haven't already, go and read 'The Little Prince' by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. The Prince is the perfect example of everything I love about this sort of character! Seriously, it's such a beautiful book, it'll only take you half an hour or so... so go read it. Now. Go on, scoot!

WAIT! Not until you've finished reading my blog that is.. ;-)
The reason I started with my favourite type of character is because nearly everything I like revolves around him in one way or another. I'm drawn to Tim Burton's works because he seems to have a similar inclination to such characters and a certain sympathy towards them. And his visuals are just stunning- the lone Jack Skellington walking down a curling hill into a pumpkin-strewn graveyard, backlit by a an enormous yellow moon. Sigh! Perfection.

And the Princess and the Cobbler has got to be one of the saddest losses to animation in history. Sure, we got a 'complete' version in the end (after the new director had taken over and hacked it to pieces, then patched it up again with cheap asian labour to make it marketable). But to think what kind of masterpiece it may have been, had Richard Williams been allowed to continue working on it and completed it to his original intended quality- no matter how many deadlines he missed or how over-budget he went- would have been just mind-boggling.
He had some of the best animators in history working on it, the characters and scenery were all hand-drawn and so deliciously intricate. All in the days before new-fangled computer animation. And animated on ones too! Like I said, mind-boggling.
I'll see if I can fish out some decent youtube links to it. Once you've seen it, you'll understand.

Another animated fave of mine is Daria. It's so simple, yet packs a brilliant punch! Quinn is by far my favourite character, the perfect stereotypical snob with her Fashion Club minions. And Britney would have to come a close second. That what I love about that show, every cliched character is explored and given a story, and all the way through it you find yourself thinking, 'Oh my god, I knew someone like that! That's exactly what they sound like!'

Well that should about do it for now. Still have to look into how to link clips to this thing... technology and I haven't been on speaking terms for a while now.

Anyway, stay tuned... My stores of rambling have been depleted. But not for long..