Class evaluation

1. Why did you take this class?
 I took this class because I wanted to get into animation or game design and it seemed to be a great idea.

2.  In general what did you like most about this class?
I liked being around people with similar interests as me, who ended up becoming good friends of mine.

3. In general what did you like least about this class?
 I didn't care for the deskwork type things we do: blogs, critiques, storyboards (though helpful, I hate them so much), etc.

4. What was your most favorite project?
 Well this year I liked the video poem, because I enjoyed choosing a song/poem that I enjoyed and turned it into something new. Also, it actually looked half decent for something I did and that's just grand.

5. What was your least favorite project?
I suppose it would be the documentary. I didn't exactly love it, and perhaps its because my partner wanted to take full control over it, even though it wasn't an idea we even agreed on. But, I went with it so I suppose its partially my fault.

6. Discuss the overall effectiveness of the instructor.
Ms. Licata is a great teacher, she was definitely well versed in the software we used and could usually figure out any problems we were having. She was there very often and kept us in line. She was fair and just, not too strict, not too lenient.

7. What are the most valuable things you learned in the class?
I learned to take criticism and give it. I used to be upset if people told me negative things about my work, but now I know that those things are details that I can change to make my work better.

8.  Do you feel that this class will help you achieve your future academic or career goals? 
I believe this class helped me and will help me, it has taught me many new skills and lessons that I can use later in life.

9. How could the class be improved?
Well, the class could really use a private sound booth. The vast majority of our projects involve a need to record audio, whether it be for voices or sounds, for both animations and videos. There really isn't a place in the school that is absolutely silent to record anything.

10. Additional comments
This class has been the best thing that has happened to me in my 13 years as a student. I've learned so much, and not just things for films, but life skills and lessons as well. This class even taught me how to write a résumé, something that my home school did not. I've definitely grown being around other people with similar goals and interests as mine. Its been a blessing being here and I greatly appreciated of it. Thank you so much.

Weekly comments due 5/17/15

1. I don't think I learned everything this week, it's just been working nonstop, and then a test.

2. I'd like to learn what to do with my final project. I have all the filming done but I don't think it's actually interesting enough alone. There does seem to be any place to add any random effects either.

3. Not happy with my project... I guess I'm done with it, but I wish I could make it look better.

4. I like having a bunch of work days to get work done, I just wish I knew what to do with this time. Heck I've even started this blog assignment early.

Okay, so its reached the point of no ideas for links anymore... Umm... Here's a bunch of ducks. Should keep anyone entertained for like ten minutes.

http://ducksarethebest.com

Response to Animation demo reel article

Starting a career in animation can be rather difficult. Your demo reel and portfolio are what employers will be looking at to see if you are good enough to hire. Usually they have many different portfolios and material to review so they will not have much time to look at yours. This is why you should make a great first impression of your skills. Only put in your best work, because you want them to see the greatest things you've done. Don't pick something just because you liked it, but because it was very well done. Keep your demo reel short and sweet, one minute or a max of two minutes long should do. Your portfolio should also include work other than animation like drawings, storyboards, and a short film. This way you'll appear to be more well-rounded and could get you work in other areas of production as well.

Well, we learned most of this last year, but I guess it's a good refresher. It's an understatement to say it's important to leave a good impression on a future employer no matter the field or profession. It's vital to getting any job. I'm glad I now have more experience with video and can put my projects into my portfolio. It should be obvious that we all would put our best work out to be seen and not our... well, less than stellar projects. I know that animation isn't exactly in my future, mainly because I'm a poor artist, but video is something that I would like to acquire a career in, especially editing. I'm not sure if I need a demo reel for video, that'd be nice to know.

weekly comments due 5/2/15

1. I don't remember actually learning anything... I suppose I learned some cool things to do in Premiere when revising my poem.

2. I'd like to learn whatever I can in regards to hands on camera work. I love new tips and tricks to do on, like, no budget.

3. I am frustrated with my school and such, but I can't currently think of anything I'm this class that bothered me... Except my Director paper grade... That hurt me.

4. I like my poem revision, and when I showed it to others, they seemed to like it too.

So, since one article said something along the lines of "There's no quality animations on the internet nowadays", allow me to introduce Bravest Warriors. I love this series.
http://bravestwarriors.cartoonhangover.com

response to 3d printing animation article

LAIKA, the company who made Coraline and The Boxtrolls, know that stop motion animation is a precision job. Accidentally moving a character can mean having to restart from the beginning. LAIKA had 3D printed various puppets for Coraline, and for ParaNorman they had used color 3D printing for complex hues and textures. The puppets had tiny metal skeletons which allowed ease of movement for them, the puppets had to get custom miniature outfits for their films, and the puppets allowed for more than a million different facial expressions.

I can respect stop motion animation, especially since it is risky. One bad movement and you have to do a whole project over. I loved the film The Nightmare Before Christmas and I could never make one of those films, they are very time consuming and it is rather difficult. I think it's pretty cool that they were able to 3d print those puppets, I didn't even know that 3d printing was common when Coraline was being made. Making tiny clothes for those puppets had to have been a nightmare, and a weird thing to ask someone else to do.

response to disposable animation article

Nowadays, animation can be seen everywhere from TV shows, to movies, to web series. It is becoming increasingly difficult to make good animations that will last long. When you have all these sources of animation a lot of it becomes considered disposable, or just made to please the audience for a bit and then forgotten. The works of Walt Disney or Hannah-Barbara are still remembered to this day, they have had a long lasting appeal and are considered timeless. Most works of today are not seen as high enough quality to reach the same level as the timeless cartoons of the past, and may not be remembered in the future.

There's a lot of bias going on here... For one, animators nowadays are not all lazy, they take time in their projects (mostly) to produce quality animations for the audience to enjoy. The article makes it sound like on the internet there are no quality web series that people put all their time and heart into to make something that will be remembered in the annals of animation. Independent animators DO put in a lot of effort, the problem mainly is that they don't have the money and experienced workers that companies like Disney have. And whose to say that current internet animations won't be remembered in the future? There are some web series like Bravest Warriors that have a large fan base, especially fans of Adventure Time.

weekly comments due 4/19

1. I learned that recording audio outside is super cool if you can get the ambient noise done right, plus fresh air is nice.

2. I'd like to learn how to film a dark scene without it looking super grainy and gross, but not lit up either. I can't seem to get it right.

3. I was frustrated for a bit with my poem, ran into some problems and had to record audio a couple of times, and reshoot video a couple of times. Plus rain got in my way of filming outside, but I dealt with it. Also I hate NT high school. For many reasons.

4. I liked that I DID finish and hand in my poem with no time to spare... The grade probably won't be great though... 3 days late, no prep work...eww. But it beats a zero so there's that side.

Weird link issue, I'll fix it in class tomorrow.

response to becoming a better director article

Directors do not have it easy, it's the hardest job in the field, mainly because they do a little to a lot of everything. It takes time, effort, and more time to master being a director, but here's some of the article's tips that can help. 1. Know what you want done, and how you want it done. Then clearly explain it to the people who will get it done. 2. Don't always stick to the script, sometimes you'll get some feedback and ideas from the people around you that can actually make your film better. Sometimes they are dead wrong, but learning from mistakes is a part of growing too. Lastly as previously stated being a director takes time. Be patient, take your time and be efficient, people will be coming to you with questions and you should usually know how to answer them.

Nice tips! I think I want to be a director more than any other (realistically attainable) career. So, its nice to learn about it. Especially since being the director seems like the most tasking job in filmmaking. You are the top dog and you bring everyone together to get the job done right. I believe its important that the director should know what he wants done and how to do it, especially since practically all my projects have been some sort of improvisation due to time constraints... or snow... Snow, you monster. But yeah being a director is super cool even though its hard work.

response to animating with your face article

Recent technologies have led to one of the easiest way for animators to work on their characters, filming their own face and the character copies it. Adobe's new character animator allows a Photoshop or Illustrator layered character's face follow the features of the animator via a web cam. This allows ease of animating eyebrows, eye position, simple head movements, and blinking, along with lip syncing as well. A program like this can help out beginners who are new to character animation and experts alike. Currently the program can even aid in characters breathing and swaying body parts.

A rather small article, but neat. This is an animator's dream, and by that I mean an easy way to do a tedious task. Facial movements are normally not an incredibly hard thing to animate, however time and time again one might find themselves looking in a mirror to see what their expression looks like at a certain time. This software can make that happen much more quickly. Just record your own face and boom, easy. I'm certain it probably has its bugs and kinks now, but think about what this could mean for the future! You could film your entire body and have the computer do all the work! Walk cycles will actually be fun! And, NO MORE BONE TOOL!!!

response to how films can control our minds article

Movies actually do have the ability to 'control' ones mind....kind of. It depends on the skill of the director, for example, Alfred Hitchcock was notably great at it. One can study the brain of a viewer and see which scenes are the most engaging by looking at how much activity is going on in the brain at specific points. In theory, the director would be able to make their movie great completely by studying the viewers mind and fixing the boring parts.


Well it's official, directors can brainwash their viewers... Bring on the mass panic. I mean sure we've essentially been brainwashing people for years, (propaganda, etc.) but this is still a little unsettling. I love that we have the technology to study a person's brain and we're using it to see how engaging a movie is... Welcome to the future. Also, it's not like we would need to have someone view a movie and the movie would change itself, the director would view it and edit it where they needed to. I'm not sure If I like the whole idea about mind controlling people, but hey, if you're film makes money than do your thing.

response to why you shouldn't want an animation job article

This article is about Will Finn's career and how when he got a job in animation he'd expected to get a career of it working for a place like Disney. The article is not a list of reasons why someone shouldn't get a job in animation, instead its the chronology of this man's MANY different experiences at doing different jobs that he worked at then left or was fired until he found another job and the process would repeat. Finn is stating that each job he took built his career, and he learned something from each gig. It took a lot of jumping from one gig to the next but it built his skills, reputation, and knowledge.

I don't think he meant what I read the article title as. When it says something like Why you shouldn't want a job in animation I think he's saying "hey don't get into animation, its a bad career choice and here's why" but it seems to me he's saying you shouldn't get ONE single long job, but instead take multiple different jobs and learn from each experience. Don't get a job, get a career. As previously stated, the multiple jobs he took were new experiences that increased his skills and that he learned from. That's pretty cool.

(Obviously stating each place he worked at and what he did would just be tedious, and there's not a whole lot of information besides that. Weird article to do this kind of response to.)

Drones are actually very useful accessories for filming, especially for cinematic aerial shots. The formerly tough or expensive shots can now be done cheaply and easily, plus these drones are small enough to bring wherever one needs it. (Fun fact: There is a film festival for drone... films... drone filming? I don't know, filming with drones) Drones can also be sent to places unattainable by humans, such as around an active volcano too dangerous for people to be near. Apparently Harry Potter movies had used drones, along with Skyfall.

You had me at making fun of Kanye... And irritated me with the selfie-er "dronie" as it was called... Ew... But anyway, Drones! I'm kind of sick of hearing about them because people can't shut up about them. Now it would be amazing to get some nice shots with little actual effort, so yeah these things are cool. Heck, apparently they're being used to ship packages to people now. It's also pretty sweet that you can get drones close enough to a volcano to get some sick shots that would be too dangerous for a normal dude to try and pull off. And you can use them to spy on third world countries! Oh, that's a different type of drone? Oh well. Then just spy on your neighbors, you creep. Joking aside, these can be a really cool tool for a video fanatic, and they're probably more fun than those rc helicopters that we all wanted when we were little. Don't lie, you wanted one.

response to go with your strengths article

Animation is a dynamic being. Most animators are given a new scenario each time they work on a new film causing them to have to make new decisions and solve new problems. They may have to change their style for new technologies, methods, or audiences. This means to be a successful animator, one should be adaptable. One should not focus on any specific 'strengths' they have because they must be able to change their skills to keep up.

Yes, it is important to be able to keep up with an ever changing market like animation. And I can see how if one were to try doing the same thing over and over as their priority just because they are good at it, it would most likely be their downfall. One definitely should be able to adapt to overcome any and all new obstacles. I've never heard the term self-efficacy before, and learning new words is always fun.

response to six reasons to film everyday article

A professional camera man or video fanatic should film video everyday. The article clearly expresses six reasons why. The first reason is that when you film everyday you familiarize yourself with the cameras and equipment. This makes using the equipment a second nature for you. The second reason is that you get better when you do something over and over. Your skills will increase with more and more experience. Reason three is that you will be able to experiment with different things (camera angles, framing, etc.) and you'll learn new ways to shoot. The fourth reason to film everyday is that you will start to realize what your strengths and weaknesses are, causing you to learn from mistakes and improve yourself. Reason number five states that you will make filming a habit and habits can be your friend. Lastly, you should film every day because it makes you look for new subjects and ideas.

I probably could've shortened this list a bit, but ehh. Alright, so really good tips, if I actually had access to a good camera everyday, I'd probably start shooting in my free time. It's always a good idea to train yourself if you want to be good at something. I like the idea of realizing what your weaknesses are and improving upon them. It might seem a little tedious but if you like video, why not shoot something everyday to better your skills?

weekly comments #16

Yes I know its number 15 but I screwed up last week, so... Yeah...
Anyway

1. I learned that prep work is a pretty decent grade and should probably be handed in, that being said maybe one day I'll be able to do that.

2. I'd still like to learn or remember when its okay to jump cut between shots and when I should fade/dissolve to a new shot.

3. I was frustrated that I forgot both last week's blogs, AND THE FREAKING FILM CRITIQUE, MY GOD WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME!?! I need brain help.

4. I think I liked my fictional short, or at least I liked it and then I saw some of Lucas's, and now I think mine is dumb. But it was all improvised so 7\10. (Maybe if Brian didn't constantly need me to help him for his, which totally could've been our combined project anyway)

Anyway, ran out of ideas for a link so since one article was about SpongeBob here's some unsettling Photoshops of spongebob, Patrick, and squidward in real life. WARNING CONTAINS MATURE LANGUAGE (ABUSE OF THE F-WORD, ETC.) AND IMMATURE IDIOCITY, ONLY FOR THOSE WHO REALLY WANT TO QUESTION WHY THEY WATCHED THIS AFTERWARDS. That being said, you've been warned, no liability.
 http://youtu.be/EJs0LiIfPV4

response to spongebob article

The new SpongeBob movie: Sponge out of Water is already the second highest box office performer of 2015. The film uses a style of 3D CGI characters on live action backgrounds. The characters's 3D models had to be textured a special way to make their appearances stay as true to the 2D appearances as possible. To help with the live action filming, they had stand ins dressed in frameworks and props for the life sized characters. They also puppeteered maquettes for the smaller characters.

I was always a spongebob fan as a kid, I knew most of the episodes by heart, and knew all the references. And I enjoyed the first movie as well. CGI is a step that I don't believe SpongeBob had ever taken before, and as I look at these new visions of the simple cartoon characters, I can see that they did something right. I'm excited to see this movie, I know it's already out, but I haven't had an opportunity to see it yet. It looks amazing and I like that the article shows us the behind the scenes type shots and pictures.

Response to bouncing light article

Bouncing light is a good idea for when you need to only make a slight adjustment to the overall intensity of the light in a scene. Bouncing light is also used to redirect light from a light source and make it go further to\through your scene. Directly lighting a subject can create harsh shadows behind them and if you do not desire them, bouncing the light off a wall or reflector can help cut down or eliminate them. Using a reflector can give you more control over the lighting of your subject than pointing the light at a wall. Bouncing light also creates a nice soft light on your subject.

It's always nice to learn tricks and tips such as these. Well it's usually boring... but, still useful. Lighting is not my cup of tea, and I usually screw it up one way or another and don't notice until I'm editing my footage. So I hate the idea of grabbing these reflectors and all this extra equipment for a shot, but it does look better and it is helpful. I do like the idea of bouncing the light off of a wall because that's easy and convenient. Most people have walls (and they have to be guarded by men with guns), so hurray for being lazy.

weekly comments #14

1. I learned what my problem with the PSA was, though I learned it much too late... turns out I hit a different button than I was supposed to and that glitches all my footage in After Effects.

2. I think I hit the limit of stuff I want to learn. Maybe I'll just try to learn how to do what I already know how to do better and quicker.

3. Anger with school stuff, same old issues. Nothing really bothered me in class.

4. So unbelievably happy that I handed in the competition in time. Not exactly in love with it, some problems that I wish I had destroyed earlier, but I handed it in, it's a grade, and so I'll accept it and move on to the next thing.

Running out of ideas for links of interest that are actually in some way pertaining to our class, at this rate I might just start sharing cat videos. Here's a tutorial for a lava effect in after effects
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YjNetDZRxAQ

response to faking a crowd article

A filmmaker may find out that they want/need a large crowd of people for their shots. Sometimes you won't have the money to get a storm of extras in your scene, so you gotta do the next best thing. Grab just a couple people and fake it. It's easier to make these crowds in post production. Here's the four steps to fake crowds before you start editing them. 1. Group your extras close together. 2. Shoot with a long lens. This creates depth and makes it feel like there are more people than shown. 3. Place your subjects on a different plane of field than your extras. This adds depth as well and adds to the illusion that there are tons of people walking around. 4. Get close-ups of each of your extras. It's harder to distinguish just the back of someone's head, so you can show it repeatedly at times and it wouldn't seem to be the same person over and over.

It's always nice to have some tips and tricks for video production, especially when they save you money. I've known that you can fake crowds with good camera angles and placement of people, but not exactly how. So this is good to know. I most likely wouldn't have thought to place my subjects on a different plane of field than the extras. I'd like to think that I'm good enough in after effects to do this stuff easily, but that would be a pretty big lie, so thanks for the tips!

response to super bowl ad article

Oscar Stromberg, director of Maleficent, made a super bowl commercial for the new Mercedes-AMG GT S. The commercial featured a comical retelling of the classic story, The Tortoise and the Hare. This is his first time directing a commercial. The most difficult part of making the commercial was creating the diversity of animals along with giving them all human characteristics and appear to have personalities. Each character started as a drawing, was then put into Photoshop to be adjusted, then rendered, and finally made into a 3d model in Maya. The commercial ended up as a success and was even turned into a game for contestants to win the car.

I thought the commercial was very cute when i saw it, The Tortoise and the Hare was one of the first fairy tales I'd ever read and was one of my favorites. I think it's interesting, the amount of work put into not only making the animals but giving them personality and life as well. Very cool that the director made such a good commercial when he never directed one before. Though, he is an Oscar winning art director so I suppose it's not too surprising.

weekly comments #13

1. I learned not to film without a script, god lord I sat alone in my room thinking of the best thing to say for ten minutes, probably longer.

2. I want to learn how to fix some issues I've been having with the camera I used and my computer. A project that should've been ready days ago now needs to be handed in 3 days late because I have to keep fixing things that after effects does.

3. So much anger and frustration with my PSA, everything goes wrong.

4. Wasn't happy with anything.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qn_HFEDNZ_Q
Every Michael Bay explosion ever.

Response to Michael Bay article

Michael Bay is a director who loves putting in crazy action shots and explosions in his films. One tactic he pulls off in the latest Transformers film he made is to show a big action, cut to a smaller action, then end with more big action to really show off how intense something is that's going on.
Bay does a lot of "winging it",a lot of his ideas for a shot are spontaneous when he gets to a scene. His process is usually "This would be cool, let's try this." He'll see a location and think of what he could shoot there then add in extra details.

Personally I believe people need to stop giving Michael Bay money before he explodes every single shot in his movies. The man is insane, but I love how much planning he puts into a shot, which is most likely two minutes. He thinks it, does it, and makes it work. That's skill. Plus you can't be bored by his movies, with all the action going on there's no time for boredom. The man is either talented or insane, either way he won't stop blowing stuff up so you gotta love it or leave.

Response to battle of five armies article

The Hobbit: Battle of five armies had one renderer used for the full production called Manuka. This renderer from Weta Digital was used as on Dawn of the planet of the apes for specific shots but was not the main renderer. Manuka helped render large scenes efficiently. The attack of the dragon Smaug on Laketown is the result of different sims working together. Two important ones are the next-gen fire and water sims. Weta Digital also used a new tool called the army manager for their fight with the dwarves, elves, and orcs.

I always get so jealous when I hear about how movies are made, specifically animated ones. I don't think I could ever pull off the work that these people do. It's interesting to hear that they made their own renderers and had their own lighting tools. That would take serious time. I also liked that the dragon in the film was almost solely lit up by the fire simulation, that even just sounds cool. I really want to see this film, which is strange because I'm not even a LotR fan really.

weekly comments #12

1. I learned very little... Seriously though, we talked about explosions and I kinda learned time warp. That was basically it.

2. I guess I want to learn more about explosions? I do need more practice with them. I only touched them for one or two days.

3. I wasn't really frustrated with class, though my tutorial did go a little screwy and I don't know what to do for these assignments.

4. I liked doing 'SPLOSIONS!!11!1! (Ones for added excitement)

I found another Michael bay thing.
If Michael Bay directed Star Wars Episode VII: Th…: http://youtu.be/zU8B8RDtbIw

response to why manipulating character size is a powerful tool article

At some points in a movie you may want your characters in a specific scene to appear "larger than life" to show power. Size can also change the audience's emotions and point of focus. Shooting with a wide angle lens is one way to play with size, it will make the foreground look larger and the background appear farther away and smaller. The audience will judge size in comparison to anything or other character in the scene.

Size is a good illusion commonly used in movies, and it creates feelings of power in characters. We learned that the bigger something appears, the more powerful it is, and smaller would be weaker as well. Making a character look bigger is a good idea when they are triumphant or when you want to emphasize that they are the hero. This illusion is almost always found in movies and games alike. It's gotten to the point where I see it and I think "Yeah I get it, the Bird's eye view makes them look weak..." Please don't abuse it.

response to Disney developed a technique for rendering eyes article

Scientists have developed a process for making realistic looking animated eyes with different cameras and lighting. It catches every detail of the eye that are often neglected by animators. One problem for animating eyes to this detail is that they can not be copied and pasted to another character, all eyes are different. So this process would have each character have a different individual scan their eyes. This would no doubt lead to realistic life-like characters in future animated movies and games.

Yay, nightmare time. This is undoubtedly creepy, but also interesting. I thought that animated movies were supposed to have a sense of "cartoony" style. If we make hyper realistic characters that look like real people, that sense is lost. There's little reason to have realistic animated characters when you can have normal actors and special effects. I don't think it's necessary to evolve animation to that degree, but I won't deny that it could have some uses.