Hallow's Eve

When I carve pumpkins I feel like a mad scientist. Lobotomizing through the top with a huge knife? Digging out their innards? Carving all that thick gourd flesh? Don't tell me you don't feel it too.

FOUNNNDD!!

Dan found my USB drive! Its brief vacation from my bag was stressful but finally OVER!! And I'm so glad.
Here's that final-ish animation I promised! I hope this one's clearer. Its still not inbetweened, but the second half is infinitely better.

Pitch

Junior Pitch was today!
Pitching isn't exactly my favorite thing, but I survived. I had three concepts. None of them made it to the semi-finals, but...so it goes.
I still had fun with the paintings though!

Animation!

This is the old copy of our first Animation for Cynthia's Animation Studio 2 Class. I just lost my USB, the final version was saved there.
Since I'm paranoid about losing even this back-up copy now, I'm posting it here before I can lose it or blow up the computer or something.

On the bright side - this girl is based on Giselle from Disney's Enchanted and just in case you haven't seen it, the animation and music on that film are drool-worthy!! This was a awesome excuse to watch the beginning sequence and listen to the soundtrack repeatedly.
If I ever find the final I'll try and post that one too. It's much better.

Monkey's Aunt

Remember that song? "I love the monkey's uncle"? Disney? From their old school live-action stuff? I'm not sure which show exactly, but I used to dance around our living room to that song all the time.
It really has nothing to do with this Physics simulation, but it's what I think of every time I see it.
Here's a sampling of the 200-some concept-sketches too.





Oh yeah - and I couldn't kill the monkey. It's implied that he's hit off-screen, but that's not true, I put up a bullet-proof barrier to protect him right off camera. So rest assured, no fictional monkeys were harmed in the making of this quicktime.

"I'd live in a jungle gym - in order to be with hiiiiii-iiiim. I love the monkey's uncle and I wish I were the monkey's aunt!
[monkey's aunt!]"
Yay classic-Disney nostalgia!

Quick Draw: Audrey Hepburn

"Pick a day. Enjoy it to the hilt. The day as it comes. People as they come...the past, I think has helped me appreciate the present and I don't want to spoil any of it by fretting about the future."
~Audrey Hepburn


I like Audrey Hepburn. (Well, seriously - who DOESN'T?)
Not only did she set style standards that are practically immortal, she was also really good as a person. She was pretty wise in what parts of her life she made public and private and she really cared about the people she came in contact with. She was smart. She thought about a lot of things very deeply. As her friend Rob Wolders said of her, "In my experience, Audrey was the most introspective person I have ever met, always trying to discover, self-discovery. On the other hand, she had an extraordinary ability to laugh, to try to enjoy life. So she would be very determined to get to the essence of an issue which required study and application, but then afterwards, she had this tremendous need to laugh, to amuse."
She was conservative in her personal presentation - beautiful but not showy or gaudy. Though she was filthy rich she was still very resourceful and generous with her money. Her childhood was definitely not the best (growing up in WWII) and she got stuck in two horrible marriages (though she gave them both her best shot) but she was still really even-tempered and wonderful to be around. I admire that. With all the prima donnas in the media now who spend their time whining about what the world owes them...it's refreshing to think that at one time celebrities had more depth than their superficial, on-screen personas.
She wasn't a saint, of course, but still a really great public role model. Too bad SHE can't be running for president...

Here's to you, Audrey!

Fun fact: Alberto Grazia de Rossi, Audrey's lifelong make-up stylist would use a safety pin to separate each of her eyelashes for her signature knock-out eyes.

I got my information from the book "What Would Audrey Do?" by Pamela Keogh. Which is rad, just in case you were wondering.

[An aside: I know my Quick Draw doesn't do her justice at all: much too surly and the colors aren't right. Sometime when I have time I'll do a more in-depth study. She has fabulous bone structure and I love drawing her eyes!]

Interpretation

I saw 'Hero' the first time today.

Wow.

I didn't even know films could BE that good. What an amazing movie. Visually it was incredible: colors transcended their usual background-role. They were practically characters they were so powerful. The martial artistry was beautiful, the scenery was gorgeous, the composition of each shot was inhumanly perfect. I don't know how Zhang Yimou did it. The music was gorgeous, the acting: amazing. The story was deliciously twisted yet refreshingly simple. The themes are still settling into my mind, and I don't feel like I absorbed even half of it. The self-sacrifice theme was powerful, but the emperor's sword-symbol analogy was very profound. I loved that.
I need to see it again (and again and again) before I'll really start understanding all of its layers, though.
But wow. WOW. What a great, great film.

Finishing it, I felt like I'd just been led past an enormous gourmet buffet full of delicacies I wanted to try, but before I could sample more than one or two items, I had to go. It was over. I wanted to restart it immediately, but my brain needs some time to digest.

While I was having my catharsis and wrestling with the irresistable desire to become Chinese just so that I could claim that movie came from my country, a girl behind me started asking questions like, "So...who was that 'Sky-girl'? I don't get it. What am I going to write about?"
AUUUGHHH! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! How does that happen? How could she sit through two hours of 'Hero' and so completely NOT get it??
It was like watching someone taste the (exquisite!) bread pudding from the Commander's Palace in New Orleans, put down their spoon and ask for Dairy Queen instead.

It was just...sad.


I've been thinking about it more and more lately - how films are so completely unique to each individual viewer. It's a fascinating phenomenon. And I like comparing it to food because the same thing happens through taste and food. Films (and all media, really) are mental food. And what we're eating mentally is affecting our health. Affecting us even more than our physical food, really, it's just not as easy to measure...

Geese

Today we tried the bird thing again. And I DID try to exaggerate the first time! It was even funny! But my drawing skills haven't caught up with my ideas yet, so it wasn't very pretty. Instead, I did a little more shape-play with the Stacey-technique. I don't think she invented it, but since she uses it a lot and I learned it from her - 'tis what I'll call it.

Oh, and it's Friday. YESSSSSssssssss.

Good morning, Fall Semester!!

I found out today that Google is continuing their peaceful world takeover with the creation of their new web browser: Google Chrome! The funny thing is, even though I know they're expanding with no sign of capping off - I just keep buying it! Or rather...not buying - because it's free! But, heck, Google seems to know what's what. If people ran countries the way Google runs business and handles their users...the world would be a better place.

School's started again though!! And while that means working out some fantastic schedule headaches, it also means that EVERYONE'S BACK! It's great! It's like watching a star form (not that I've ever done that...) - all this energy amassing in this one place - bursting with ideas and ambition and hunger for knowledge! I love it!

It's kind of stressful, though. I could really use some yoga.

Quick Draw: If Elvis were blond...and a bird.

We were going to try and exaggerate birds today, but no one ended up REALLY exaggerating. We'll have to try that again.