Week 20 Comments

The big 2-0. Can't believe it's been 20 (actually more) weeks. This week I was able to finish my Stop-motion project. I'm happy with the results and can't wait to show it to those who haven't seen it yet. Unfortunately, every one keeps wanting to see it. So the shock value might go down for some people. What frustrated me this week was that I kept forgetting to bring ketchup to class. I needed ketchup for a certain reason in my project and it took me like 3 days to remember to bring it! I'm not too mad though but that's just the first thing that came to my mind about what frustrated me this week. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's Independent study and getting more work done on my final project. Now link of interest time.

I had to put this. I'm a big Star Wars fan and the Force Awakens has me beyond stoked to see it. I love what J.J Abrams is doing with it, and everything I've seen so far looks amazing! It was a toss up between having this, or the new Star Wars Battlefront trailer which I'm also excited for. But I had to go with this one just for how long I, and fans have been waiting for new movies. Anyways, I hope everyone finished their Independent studies on time. Good luck to anyone doing some last minute work!

Director Pro Tips

This article/video was about a few tips for becoming a better director. First is Clear direction. This of course is making sure you know exactly what you want to do, so you don't set the bar too high or too low. Next is don't always stick to the script. If something made sense to you when you were writing it, but doesn't make sense now don't feel obliged to stick to it. If it makes sense to change it for filming, change it. Next is study other styles to learn yours. Not everyone knows what their style is right away. So watching other peoples work can help you learn and add on to yours. Next is take your time and be efficient. If your work is rushed, its super easy to tell. Don't ever rush to finish. Pace your self, and make sure the end product will look great. Next is find a clear way to communicate your goal. This means to make sure you know what your goal in the end is,and find the best way to achieve that goal. Next is friends can make your life easier. No one likes filming alone, when you have friends they can help you out with other jobs you'd otherwise have to do. And they can also provide some entertainment during the stressful parts of film making. next is how view finders are helpful on set. View finders are lens like devices you can use to see what the shot will look like when you film it. They give you a better idea of what the camera will see, in comparison to just your naked eye. Next is spend your time wisely. If you waste all of your time, then all the production just goes to waste. Just pace yourself, and make sure work is getting done on schedule. Next is avoid fights on set. No one likes when things get ugly, especially when making movies. Try to avoid fights so work can get done and no one claws anyone's eyes out with a screwdriver. Next is stay hydrated. This might seem weird but if everyone is dying of thirst, not a whole lot of work will get done. Just make sure everyone is comfortable. Next is don't worry about gear. It doesn't matter if you don't have the latest and greatest equipment. Just make due with what you have and not just wish you had better equipment. Next is respect your actors and team. No one likes being unappreciated. Make sure everyone is happy to be a part of your production. Next is actors need motivation not just marks. This is basically to tell your actor what he's feeling to give him a better idea how to act for a scene. Next is respect your actors process. Everyone's acting style is different. So respect how you actor prepares for the role. And finally the last point is to get it done and move on. Once your done with your project, don't just wish you did things differently. Just move on to your next big project.
Wow jeez, I did not expect to write this much stuff. Anyways, I thought this was a good article and can help people on making great movies. I'll try to use as many of these tips as possible next year in video class. And even some of the tips here apply to Animation as well that I'll try to use.

Hands-off Animating

This article/video is about Adobe's new program they are bringing to their CC service. In Adobe Character Animator, the program detects your face and tracks it through your webcam. It not only tracks your head movements, but also does auto lip sync and lets you assign certain actions to the character. You can also import your own characters through Photoshop or Illustrator. This tool is very useful for animators who want to make simple puppet animations without all the hassle of setting key-frames. I think this program seems useful for people who want to make short videos without wanting to do a bunch of key-framing. And also useful for people who animate in After Effects who maybe want to skip a few steps like Lip-Syncing. I was a bit worried that you would have to use preset characters, but I'm relieved you can import your own. I don't know if I'll use this ever, but it seems useful for a lot of people.

Week 19 Comments

This week was shorter because of the day off, but never the less was pretty worked filled. What made me happy this week was after I had my presentation done. I was kinda nervous because I didn't know if I had enough content in my presentation, But I think I pulled it off alright. I thought for the most part, everyone did a good job on their presentations too, so good thing we got through it guys eh? Nothing really frustrated me too much this week. I'm a bit worried about finishing my Stop-motion Project in time, but I think for the most part I'm on track for finishing in time pretty well. I'm looking forward to finishing my animation and also seeing everyone elses. Now, Link of Interest..

I promise that this will be the last GTA V video I ever use for this haha. The only reason I'm doing this is because that the game finally comes to PC tomorrow, which I've been waiting for the better part of two years for. The game has never looked this amazing before and I'm seriously stoked. But yeah that's all for this week. Let's hope we all finish our projects on time.

How movies control your mind

This Article/Video was about how movies can control the way your brain works to get a reaction out of you This study is called Neurocinema. The video explains how a study was done to see how a group of people's brain would react to movies. The participants where attached to an MRI and their eyes were tracked. During the study they watched the good the bad and the ugly. And the results showed that their brains reacted very similarly to each others, and their eyes tracked the same parts of the screen. Next they compared those results, to watching of other things like Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Curb your Enthusiasm and footage of a dog running through a park. The results showed that more brain activity was used when the scene was more engaging. With The Good the bad and the Ugly scoring high along with Alfred Hitchcock Presents, but Curb your Enthusiasm and the video of the dog scoring much lower. The Video then ends with talking about how this information could be used in the future with maybe videos you are watching change based on what your brain activity would be like. This would be ideal for Horror movies and could promise a very interesting experience. I thought this article was very interesting. I think it's interesting that our brains react differently to what we are watching based on how engaging it is. Like I said earlier at the end they talk about how this could be cool for an interactive experience where the movie changes based how you watch it. I think this is true, but I feel like this goes even more for Video Games. Specifically Virtual Reality games just because It's so much more immersible and interactive. You would feel like you are really there, and the game could really mess with your head because it knows how you are thinking. But anyways, good article and I look forward to seeing if this goes anywhere in the future.

Careers>Jobs

This article is by Will Finn, a veteran animator. He writes about how you shouldn't want a job in animation, but a career. He explains how he always looked up to animators who had generations of work with primarily one company. For instance, the 9 old men at Disney. He finally got to fulfill this by being an animator on Fox and the Hound. But this didn't last long as his work was pretty meh even for a newbie, and was fired. He then got work with Don Bluth and worked on projects like Space Ace and Dragon's Lair. He then worked with FILMATION on projects like Chipmunk Adventure and The Gumi Bears. He then went back to Disney to work on stuff like The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin. And really after that he started jumping from Dreamworks to Disney back and forth. He finally stresses that it's best to be a freelance worker in animation, and each job is part of your even bigger career. I thought this article started out strong about the importance of freelancing, but then basically just turned into his filmography list. It's interesting to see all the projects Will Finn has done, but I thought that most of the article was kind of boring just to read the projects he's done. But I do think the importance of Freelancing is good to know, and that part of the article I thought was interesting.