Maya: Intro to Dynamic Bodies

Active / Passive Bodies: Stand In Object (Chain Links)

Active / Passive Bodies: Hinge & Spring Constraints (Catapult)

Active / Passive Bodies: Nail Constraint (Newton’s Cradle)

Active / Passive Bodies: Pin Constraint (Earing)

Maya: Hi Res Characters Part 1 - Modelling(Torso blocking)

Transcription: Unit Evaluation

I think I found Megan :D

Transcription started about 12 weeks ago and I cannot believe we already handed it in. Our first individual project which gave us the freedom to do whatever we want was an exciting one. It opened  up our horizons to what we can achieve in that short amount of time.

For me, doing a short animation to myself was something I wanted to do since first year but never thought I could achieve it due to the amount of problems I was faced with technology every day. But after a lot of effort I finally managed to do it and be proud of my first, not perfect, but reasonable animation.Time management was important in this this project as I was aiming to get my rendering done before I left for home and spend a lot of time of editing while I was there.
Probably the most interesting part to work on was animating Megan which was my first attempt in character performance. I used real footage and even went on an Animation gig in London where I seaked some advice from a professional animator from Double Negative.
 I very much enjoyed the whole progress,from the interview to the thumbnails and from the modelling to animating. My skills improved dramatically and I am confident enough to takeover more tasks.
So now, we get to work with Pete Wallace as part of our work experience

  

Transcription: I present to you "Megan's Alien" !

And after 10 weeks of hard work it is finally done. I am pleased with it but it could have been better in terms of animation. I hope you enjoy it :)

My incomplete turnaround will be edited after the crit.


The Art of Megans Alien

Technical Paper- Megan's Alien

CD Design

DVD Case Design

Transcription: Megan's Alien- Coming soon!

With all things going to plan I hope this turns out well. Hope I don't disappoint :P

Transcription: Film Review on Waltz with Bashir (2008)

Director: Ari Folman

Producer: Ari Folman, Serge Lalou,Gerhard Meixner, Yael Nahlieli, Roman Paul

Year: 2008

This extraordinary animated documentary by Ari Folman unfolds some of the tragedies behind the Sabra and Chatila massacres of the 1982 Lebanese war, which according to him Israel has decided to forget about. His masterpiece is something like a mix between a dream and a trip down memory lane, a hyper-real rotoscoped footage that tells the stories of the interviewees in the most capturing way. Peter Bradshaw points out that: "The film uses hyperreal rotoscope-animation techniques, similar to those made famous by Bob Sabiston and Richard Linklater. Live-action footage on videotape has been digitally converted into a bizarre dreamscape in which reality is resolved into something between two and three dimensions." (Bradshaw.2008)

Fig.2: The scenery

What made the film so unique was for its clever of colours and shadows. The two most common colours used in the film is yellow and black, one for used for brightness and the other for shadows. It is rather amazing how those to colours was all that the film needed to portray the events of war, like overhanging clouds not letting the light of the sun peak through them and the toxic yellow sky often symbolizing the war aftermath. Even the way the shadows used  to cover up parts of the characters' faces and the eyes always always appeared bright under their helmets or under a casting shadow.
Perhaps the most shocking part of the film is the ending where Folman turns the stylised animation into a real news footage. The sudden shot of an angelic child's face emerging from the rubble, was a reality-shock, a reminder that the events actually happened and are not just made up stories that interviewees made for the sake of the film. " 'Waltz' is by no means the world’s only animated documentary, a phrase that sounds at first like a cinematic oxymoron." (Scott.2008)This film is no story, but a documentary based on real life experiences told by real life figures

Fig.3: The animation turning into reality. 

List of Illustrations

Fig.1: Film Poster At: http://movietally.blogspot.com/2010/06/waltz-with-bashir-2008.html (11/3/2012)

Fig.2:    At: http://www.reverseshot.com/article/waltz_bashir  (11/3/2012)

Fig.3:   At: http://guriguriblog.wordpress.com/2009/09/28/waltz-with-bashir-memorialising-through-animation/  (11/3/2012)

Bibliography

Bradshaw Peter (2008). Waltz with Bashir   At: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2008/nov/21/waltz-with-bashir-folman (accessed on 12/4/2012)


A.O Scott (2008) Inside a Veteran’s Nightmare At: http://movies.nytimes.com/2008/12/26/movies/26bash.html (accessed on 12/4/2012)

@Phil Framing Practice: Essay Breakdown

Hello Phil,

Hope you are enjoying your holidays? I was wondering if you could have a look at my essay structure. I am not sure if I've gone too broad again. I tried to cover up the main traits that makes animation in each culture unique.

Thanks in advance.

Essay Question: What does animation connote culturally in the East and West?

Intro

 What connects and what makes cultures different? All cultures have an art identity, and one of them is animation, an art form which has taken different directions globally.

Main Body

Chapter 1- What does animation denote?

- Animation means moving image.

- How did it start? Very brief history (Zoetrope, Praxinoscope)

- What makes it so fascinating and satisfying to us humans?

- Metamorphosis in animation (forming images) - unique narrative continuity

Chapter 2- Animation in Popular Culture 

- How has animation spread globally?

- What is it used for? (Education, Entertainment..)

- How is it different on each part of the world? (America, Europe, Asia)

- What are the themes covered in animation?

- Binary Oppositions

Chapter 3- Animation in the West

- Brief History

- Walt Disney and Disneytification

- Disney Animation: Child Friendly (avoiding to make any comments on sex or violence)

- Disney's Hyperreal Worlds

- The Preference in "Unlikely Heroes"

Chapter 4- Animation in the East

- Anime Origins (Osamu Tezuka)

- Hayao Miyazaki - His worlds are about alternative realities

       Shojo: Feminism in his films (strength plus vulnerability in a way that is intriguingly feminine)

       "My neighbour Totoro" : The Parallels of the loss of a family member

- Other themes anime covers:

        "Akira": Adolescence, Identity, Feeling of Entrapment

       "Barefoot Gen", "Grave of the Fireflies": War Aftermath, Victim’s history, innocent children devastated by war’s destruction.

Conclusion


Culture is identified by what makes us different or unique. Animation  has its origins in the key factors and values of culture. Despite their variations they all have common aims: To provoke emotions or speaks about forbidden themes.

      

Transcription: Alien's 3D Progress

With the hand drawn animation of the alien progressing I couldn't help not to work on his 3D model, too. Now that I see him alive ( even if he is just skinned) I am tempted to work on him more with a very basic rig on his eyes, body and a few blendshapes. 

His animation will be fairly simple with him entering the screen waving 'Goo Goo Ga!" like Megan mentioned. Of course this will be during the credits, as the main animation of Megan is completed.

 The Alien's basic rig.