Dead point

Its been three weeks now and so far I have only a vague idea of how the villain might look like. Its easy with the sidekick, I have few ideas, but the hero.. I had no strong ideas of how the hero could look like so far... These are the developmental drawings I did, however, non seem to offer the solution..  Well, today I'll be concentrating on that more and hopefully some good ideas of shape/structure and just a direction of hero's design will come. This is a collection of some sketches..

Car Modeling Progress 2

As modeling progresses it really becomes more and more complicated to edit geometry. The advice to keep the geometry as low-poly as possible makes great sense now -  you really don't want to find yourself moving dozens of vertexes around your model. Its such a waist of time and the result is still not satisfying. The current car model still needs lot of tweaking and cleaning...

Character design: Lecture 3

This lecture was al about the skeleton of the character and the differences in anatomy of male and female characters. The task was to deconstruct the structure of well known characters (here are examples, of Jafar, Hercules, poppey ect.) and then attempt to create a female version of it.

Intro to Lip Syncing

Scream and Postmodernism

I just want to say, this was the best horror movie I’ve ever seen, really enjoyable and entertaining. Loved it from the very first minute. The decision to get the sexy blond (Drew Barrymore) killed right in the very beginning was an unexpected turn. Much like it was in Hitchcock’s Psycho – when Marion Crane, the presumed protagonist was brutally killed in the first half of the film.


What makes this film postmodern?

To start from the obvious , Scream intentionally references other horror films (Halloween, Friday the 13th ect) .For intance, one of the characters is surnamed Loomis, a name shared by a character in Halloween, and another in Psycho. 

It  is ‘built’ On the overused formula of horror films like Halloween, Friday the 13th and their sequels. Its always about a psychopath stalker with mask, a group of teenagers left alone ect.

But yet  Jem Bloomfiel in his film review writes: "Scream invented a new genre, the so-called “postmodern slasher flick” or “meta-slasher”. Its for this film is self-aware of the formula of slasher film its using. The conventional rules of it are parodied by characters who themselves are experiencing the established routine of a slasher movie.


For example one character explains that “there are rules for surviving a horror movie”, which involve suspecting everyone, never drinking or having sex and certainly never saying “I’ll be right back.”



So the film references the past style but at the same time is self-aware satire of the slasher film genre.

Life Drawing Games

This life drawing wasn't like any other last year. In the first half of the session we played a game where the task was to work on a drawing for a minute and then move 2 easels to the left and work on what you've found there for a minute, till all of as made a full circle. Finally when we came back to our own easels, we had 3 minutes to work on what we found and add something to make the drawing "our own".

  

And we didn't have a model that day  ,so instead Jono, Paul and Godwin kindly posed for us :)

for more of Life drawing by J.J. *Jolanta Jasiulionyte* go here

Also, please consider following my blog, full of creative visuals, CGI and reflective writings on film, animation and art theory. Cheers! 

Car Modeling Progress

These tutorials really add up to the previous  experience of modeling for the summer project. The questions I had then are now answered. Talking in particular, mainly about the correct  flow of geometry. There were quite a few  very useful tips for some geometrical solutions (for instance, diamond face structure to get the fluid transition from sharp edge to  flat surface). Still lot is left to be done but so far so good I guess.

Vilain and Sidekicks design visual reference research

I'm going for two distinct feels in character design. For aliens I've researched bugs, insects and bacterias. The visual research boosted up my designs. I saw lots of new shapes and more important,  what feel it brings.

The Search for Shapes

This week's asignment was to try and think about our character designs, but only in terms of their shapes. As posted previously, shapes define the feel of the design so this was an atempt to try and capture the right feel for the appropriate design ( vilain's, sidekick's  or hero's) and to pick some of them to develope further.
Again, my words were Monsters ans aliens.
Also, this is the logic I'm following:

                            

  

What Inspires You?

Fidgit Box* , a network dedicated to the celebration and distribution of creativity and inspiration , invited students and lecturers to answer  the question of what inspires you  in only one word.  This video might be interesting for the firstyears to see,  there's a great compliment just  for you all :D

Fidgitbox:The One Word from Fidgit Box on Vimeo.

*FIDGIT BOX aims at being nothing less than the first spark of creativity and inspiration that gives life to the hopes and aspirations of the Twenty-First Century creative. FIDGIT BOX welcomes and encourages the interaction between creative individuals. 

The company interviews artists picking their experiences in the creative industry. The stories are great because of their information, but more importantly how inspirational they are. 

Visit the website @ http://fidgitbox.com/

Follow on facebook @ http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Fidgit-Box/125098384202165?ref=ts

Character Design Lecture 2 : SHapes in design

 Diskussed By J.J. *Jolanta Jasiulionyte*

The second lecture of character design covered the importance of shapes in design.

Shapes are important in a way it can evoke a particular feeling and perception of the character.

To give few examples,circle is used mostly to create a feeling of security, harmlessness and cuteness. Its only because in our life the shapes that are round have this meaning. For example babies.

Contrary to that triangles are used to create uneasiness and a feeling of danger. Like Justin Wyatt explained, its deep in our subconscious – man is scared of sharp things and understands it as potential threat.

And squares should evoke a feeling of strength, reliability and security. Just like architecture is stable , so can  a design look,  made using lots of firm squarish shapes.

But the true designing begins when one try’s to employ a variety of shapes to convey the personality of the character. A great example Justin Whyet gave us was Obelix’s design.He’s a gentle giant, so the two main shapes used in his design are square for the upper part (firmness) and a circle for the lower part (soft and harmless).

After being  acquainted with shape purpose in design we were given a task to draw few designs using variety of shapes.

To see more examples of  theory application for character designs done by J.J. *Jolanta Jasiulionyte* go here

Ed Wood

Ed Wood is a film directed by Tim Burton. It’s a biographical drama about the, so titled, worst Hollywood director – Ed Wood. Edward Davis Wood made a sequence of cheep movies in 1950’s. His films were poorly produced, filled with technical errors and cheesy special effects. 

The film portrays the period when the director produced his most known films like “Glen or Glenda” and “Bride of the Monster “.

Unlike majority of other Tim Burton’s film this one isn’t style-driven . Although few times some resemblance to “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” (Wiene, Robert; 1920) occurred (Tim Burton was influenced by this film).  In particular, the scene where Bela Lugosi (actor Martin Landau) was laying in the coffin at the coffin shop.  I noticed the make-up and the over all setting had the painted-light style. (Maybe the picture down under doesn’t quit show it , but it was better seen  as camera was tilting in the film).

But the concentration was on the life and experience of Ed Wood through his eyes. Film tells of his work methods when making a film, his love life and main connections he had. One perhaps could get a general idea about the persona of Ed Wood after seeing the film, even if not having heard of this director before.

Just some observations. The shots looked really well layered and quit usually the main action wouldn’t even happen in the first (the closest to camera) layer of the scene (for example in the restraint scene we see the woman talking with barmen in the first plan, in the second Ed Wood discussing the play with his crew, ant there’s a third layer with people passing by behind the window).  Perhaps it’s to create the vivid and energetic feel of the scene and the film in general.  

Over all, though slightly extended the film felt, it was interesting to see something of difference to other films Tim Burton directed and to get to see the biography of a personality you hear about from time to time.

Thumbnail Storyboards for The Attack of 50ft Alien from Toyland Trailer

Last week our studio Void Canvas was working on the development of the story. Then we (Bob, Ethan, Earl and me) came up with lots of ideas of what shots our trailer could include. As we were talking I tried to capture our thoughts with quick and veeery rough sketches. After these "workouts" (and these were real workouts, try to visualize and think of shots and the scenes, discuss it with the colleagues and draw all at the same time: D ) I would go back to the sketches and colour them ad add all the details and other elements . SO far these act as guidelines of the parameters of the world we're having so far. In near time we'll add some more shots, just not to leave it boring as it would be if the trailer had only that many shots in it.

And these were the original sketches :

Basic Plot and Influence Map for Character Design Project

There are few things to do before starting to think about villains, sidekick’s and hero’s character designs. We were asked to first think of what is the basic story in whicg these characters play.


The project asks to create these three designs for a Saturday show’s cartoon series.This means the show is family-friendly, and the genre is suited accordingly. So its necessary to think what’s a good approach for both the story and the design.






My words were Aliens and Monsters. And the story is simple:


There’s a planet where tyranny of evil ruler takes place. He’s a powerful vilain who’s much pleased of the extent of his power and feels the need to see evidence of it all the time. He’s accompanied by a loyal servant – his sidekick. In all his characteristis he compliments the Tyron –week and silly, he’s a mere follower, but faithful and concerned.

But like in many stories, there’s a hope for the people to be saved by a strong-harted hero. A trutfull, optimistic, a bit naive fighter for the good of people.




So far I think the idea and the feel of the story resembles that of Samurai Jack (Tartakovski, Genndy; 2001-2004).

The story doesn’t lack of action, humour but at the same time there’s the epic feel , since all the series emphasize and add up to the same goal – To defeat the evil ruler Aku. But the seemingly meaningful idea behind It soesn’t stop from making the animation highly stylized anf full of suggestive design decidions ( textured planes stad for fields of trees ect. )

I  imagine my character design’s to have freedom in style.


Just to give a glimpse of what I have in mind I collected some images on the influence map.

I was looking at all the most amazing designs of aliens and monsters, which still try to keep a good level of believability by paying attention to details (texturing, proportions, final resolution). I’d be reaching for something much like that, impressive original design but enough complex and finessed.  

How Postmodernism Relates to Kill Bill Vol.1

Quentin Tarantino, director of Pulp Fiction (1994) created another debatable film in 2003.

The film’s story is about a bride, who wakes up after a 4 year coma. She was crudely beaten by a group of people. As bad as it may look already, she was also pregnant but now the baby was gone. Subsequently she looks for revenge to the people who participated in the execution.






The story appears to be quit simplistic. But this is the first indicator of postmodern art work. Quentin Tarantino’s films are linked with postmodernism by many film reviewers.

So to introduce postmodernism, it is term defining the times from 1960s. As the author of ‘As Time Just Sits there’ defines, It’s a product of the occurring (and not radical) effect of a number of continuous historical processes connected with gradual globalization of capital and increasing invasion of consumerist practices. Postmodernism is a result of gradual change in man’s lifestyle (particularly the amount of information we are available to get today, the freedom of choice of experiences one prefers having ect.)


To buletpoint main characteristics of Postmodernism:


It’s a culture of fragmentary sensations. As Donald Barthelme, author of postmodernist fiction, notes this is simply the essence of art in the modern world, where the ultimate apotheosis (idolization) is collage and fragments are the only truly trustworthy form.




Eclectic (selective best peaces of styles/methods/ideas) Nostalgia, postmodern nostalgia, which is different from past nostalgias, as the author of ‘As time just sits there’ mentioned book notes, for it misses not the past but its culture. Nostalgia is eveident in the modern works which reference past times.


Promiscuous superficiality.


Postmodernist greets the absurd and favours ‘depthless’ fabulations (lies and stories),
Pastiche (art work made from different sources)
Bricolage (something made together using whatever materials were available)



Many of that mentioned above is evident in Kill Bill Vol. 1 :


It’s a nostalgic, fragmentary film. ‘Kill Bill makes no secret of the fact that this is a film that is informed by much of what has gone before’ (Hyde, Chris)

He references past times, a variety of cultures and puts it all in discontinuous time order.

Tarantino takes bits and peaces from cinematic canon and mixes them up. Film reviewer Chris Hyde names few of the things the director most likely referenced.For example, Film Lady Snowblood,(Fujita, Toshiya;1973) (“A young girl is born and raised to be an instrument of revenge”) could have influenced the creation of O-ren Ishii, character in Kill Bill Vol. 1. Thriller: A Cruel Picture (Vibenius, Bo Arne; 1974) , for the one-eyed killer Elle Driver. And other films, like Modesty Blaise (Losey, Joseph;1966), Black Sunday (Frankenheimer, John;1977); Five Deadly Venoms (Chang, Cheh; 1978) and many more. Cinematic reworking is evident in all Tarantino’s films.

But at the same time the film’s he create aren’t perceived as mere collage of various styles and cultural references, but as a great representation of current era – postmodernism and as Boxoffice prophets (boxofficeprophets.com/hyde/killbill.asp) reviewer concludes, Kill Bill is utterly representative of the zeitgeist (the spirit of the time; general trend of thought or feeling characteristic of a particular period of time) of the current era.