It’s really cool to look back on the early 90′s and remember how exciting my first Nintendo system was. Just the fact that I got to control Mario jumping around a screen dodging mushroom heads and spitting fireballs was awesome at first. Then some four years later when I was probably around 8 or so, Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo were released and re-blew everyones mind. Everything on the Genesis and SupeNES was faster, brighter, more fluid, and more detailed than the previous generation. The same thing happened when the Nintendo 64 was released.

I vividly remember that Christmas. I was 12 and getting to move a joystick around to play a game with a true 3d environment was something absolutely unbelievable. Part of the joy of playing Mario 64 was at first was just the eye candy. I must have wandered around aimlessly for hours playing that game all Christmas just gazing at the water ripples, the 3d trees and everything else that went with it. I doubt I really progressed much at all at first because I was so taken aback at the awesome 3d graphics that had never been done before on a gaming console.

Nowadays, the transition seems almost complete. Games and movies today are so realistic that it makes all the previous generations of graphics seem incredibly out-dated. I went back and played some of my older games and I really couldn’t believe how bad they looked compared to what is available today. However, in some ways, I really do miss some of those transition years.

For one, there was something unique and endearing about the older graphics. Today it seems like the common motto is simply, “if the graphics are better, then IT is better.” However, in a lot of ways I think that this is missing the point. When one has less to work with and less “wow” effect, then concentration must be focused elsewhere. Whether in movies or games, one must pay a great deal more attention to all the subtle details of the storyline, soundtrack, environment, and presentation in order to pull it off. More specifically, one can’t just pull the token “awesome graphics” out of their butt and call it a day. Rather, trees must have a certain originalism, a character might be drawn up in a out of the norm way, or environmental movement might have its own unique tone and presentation to it.

The one thing that I’m uncomfortable with about the ever increasing realism in animation and graphics is throwing artistic thought and endearing qualities to the wayside.

Regardless, I do cherish the fact that my generation has been able to be in the front row to witness innovations of a decade passed and decades to come.

this week i commented here : http://csoohoo.wordpress.com/2010/04/20/blog-entry-12-l-a-noire/#comment-56

and here: http://cinnamellon.wordpress.com/2010/04/17/blog-post-12-alice-in-wonderland/#comment-48

Fortunately I took a computer graphics class back in 10th grade and was able to find a free 30 day trial on the Macromedia site. Once I had it up and running, the rest of the project really took off. However, looking back on it, if I were to do it over again I realize I missed out on a lot of cool and useful effects.

My whole project consisted of about 150 frames. Each frame is known as a ‘keyframe’ in Flash. I’m now realizing that although this is much easier than hand drawing each frame on paper, it’s still the most roundabout way of doing flash. I realized this about halfway through my work, but at that point it didn’t make much sense to go back and scrap the whole project again. Still, I figured out that rather than making each animation increment manually frame by frame, I could have made fluid transitions using several of the tools available. This would have made a lot more professional looking, rather than a simple bare-bones animation. I’m pretty proud of the project nonetheless because it was entirely drawn by mouse on the computer, but it would have been a lot more interesting had I realized how to use some of the other tools going into it.

The above is a well done piece in which the animator creates animations with a really life-like organic feel to them. Some scenes it comes across that the plants are made of some sort of clay, while other times they appear much more robotic or in fact realistic. Regardless, its fairly original and the creative movements of the plants interacting with the rest of the scenery make it so that the animation doesn’t immediately grow dull.

This is an interesting take because it appears that the animator took pre-shot videos of various tree trunks and other natural elements and created a layer on top of them to add a busier, more eye-catching video. The plants and growths work in seemlessly for the most part and really succeed in blending in naturally. Obviously, some of the movements aren’t entirely realistic looking, however, I’m not sure a few were actually intended that way either.

Without a doubt, an extraordinary amount of time was taken to make each of the many scenes that make up the three minute video. Sometimes there are countless small movements all being made at once but at different speeds and different ratios that all add a lot of depth and realism to it.

This week i commented here : http://cwebber25.wordpress.com/2010/03/29/blog-post-9-popeye-the-sailor-man/#comment-54

and here: http://sandyshore2.wordpress.com/2010/03/25/blog-post-8-shane-ackers-9-better-at-11-or-79/#comment-17

I recently came across an artist from some Ukraine tv show who got pretty famous, or something. Regardless, I was pretty impressed with her style. She does animations just by using her fingers and a backlit board covered in sand. What’s unique about it is that it’s a fluid, constantly changing picture. What starts off as a school on a hill quickly changes into something else with brief transition time. When she goes to mold it into something else, she doesn’t just wipe the board and begin from scratch. Instead, what used to be a tree might become a blob with a few squiggles and all of a sudden you realize it’s an old man sitting on a bench.

Although I love animations made off computers and any other traditional platform, it’s always nice to view something that’s a break from the mold. It’s a refreshing change.

Another element that makes these sand drawings unique is the way the artist uses different layers of sand in combination with the backlit board. By rustling sand around and creating a higher concentration of it in one area, she creates shading and depth. Obviously, the higher concentration of sand blocking the backlight, the darker the area becomes. It proves very useful in creating shades and contrasts.

Contrast is another thing that really jumps out when watching this. The sharp transition of almost total white to total dark in the foreground or figures draws the eye while in the background its a much more gradual change from light to dark. It’s impressive how seamlessly it’s done as well. I don’t know whether or not her animations are rehearsed pre-hand or not, but the smooth and decisive finger strokes creating new scenes are really what make the animation work.

this week I commented here : http://ohjeeztheclimax.wordpress.com/2010/02/02/blog-post-2-a-scanner-darkly/#comment-4

and here: http://lyverfive.wordpress.com/2010/03/23/blog-8-for-3232010-john-lyver-scrappy/#comment-25

I honestly had no idea what to expect going into the movie. Part of the intrigue for me was that it was a short and simple book through and through. The characters were all drawn messily on purpose and the villains couldn’t have been any uglier. The lasting memory I have of reading that book is their pale white, English looking faces with gigantic noses and misplaced weird looking moles.

Thus, going into it, I was really curious how the movie would flow, much less the character designs and movements. Wes Anderson’s dry humor coupled with a stop-motion animated feature seemed like a pretty strange marriage and first. Whether purposefully or not, the stop-motion used in Fantastic Mr. Fox is many steps above the few scenes it’s used in Life Aquatic. Where as Life Aquatic‘s animated characters felt jerky and choppy at times, Fantastic Mr. Fox feels extremely refined and thought-out.

The outdoor scenes are what first won me over. Every single blade of grass is visible and moves slightly differently whenever the wind blows upon the hill where Mr. Fox lives. The hairs on Mrs. Fox’s head all rustle with a life like bend as well. The detail and attention paid to the outdoor scenery is just really refreshing. What could be nothing more than a cool sunset looking frame is immediately brought to life as well as the fact that the wind direction leads your eye naturally from one end of the screen to the other.

Another thing that caught my eye that I thought was really well done are the various zoom ins throughout the film. They’re used pretty often but are effective each time. They aren’t random or leave you scratching your head either. For example, when Mr. Fox is trespassing in an apple cider storage cellar, he makes a loud noise that lures Bean to flip on the basement lights and check things out. The camera zooms in to the door and the swings back to a startled face of Mr. Fox. It all feels natural and further adds the element of surprise and alarm to the situation.

Scenes like the above are found throughout the movie. While Fantastic Mr. Fox contains the typical elements of dry humor and dysfunctional conversations that are a Wes Anderson staple, it was really the subtle detail given that made it an enjoyable watch.

and

tonight, tonight. vs. trip to the moon

What I think makes this combination work is that the animation isn’t very modern looking. In a movie that’s geared toward a retro simplicity, the animation chosen fits right in to a certain degree. The use of stop animation does catch your eye more than would a more realistic looking style, though, in the long run it doesn’t feel too distracting or come off as a “look what I can do” type gimmick.

In fact, in some ways the quirky looking figures created through stop animation actually serve to further some major points. For instance, much of the movie centers around Bill Murray setting out on a voyage to track down and kill a never before charted species of shark that attacked and ate his best friend. In some ways, it’s the story of the anti-Moby Dick. The directing of the movie saves the climax for the very end in which Murray takes a small pod down to the ocean floor where the viewer gets to see the long awaited tiger-shark for the very first time. While only getting to see it for some twenty seconds, I think the stop animation adds to the mystery of the whole scene in getting to view an undiscovered shark species. It also enables the creature to be more strangely illuminated and other-worldly looking rather than if the animators just plopped a realistic looking shark that wouldn’t make the viewer think twice about.

All in all, the oddity of seeing the style of animation used to create this weird looking shark puts the viewer in the same shoes as the actors in some ways. Its cool to look at, but we’ve never really seen anything like it.

This week I commented on http://sandyshore2.wordpress.com/2010/02/22/5-lotte-reiniger’s-scissors/#comment-14

and http://earlycuyler.typepad.com/blog/2010/03/post-6-gullivers-travels-disneys-first-competition.html#comments

Another aspect that is well-done in this movie is the colors and facial expressions flowing well with the mood. When it’s a down point in the film, the animators use deep blues, grays, and greens normally accompanied by steady rainfall with a few drops landing inside a cold window here or there. During these times, the characters move noticeably slower and have drawn faces that a reflected well with the rest of their body language.

I love that the animators saw the beauty of simplicity in Robin Hood. The one scene that really was impressive was the point in which the Sheriff began making his rounds of the town to pickup Prince John’s “rightful share of taxes.” The old blacksmith (a dog) was walking around on a cast with some crutches and gave every last gold coin he had except for one single coin he was hiding in his boot. However the Sheriff wises up to it and very human-like lifts up the dogs cast and gives it a couple good taps until the coin drops out. It wasn’t an over-the-top amount of force; rather it was just enough to get the coin out and see the pain on the old blacksmith’s face with every swift tap to the cast.

I commented here: http://balberry.wordpress.com/2010/02/14/blog-post4-the-trials-tribulations-of-making-toy-story-3/#comment-30

and here: http://hallingham.wordpress.com/2010/02/14/blog-4-virtual-bands/#comment-12

A buddy of mine recently linked me to a video by the band Queens of the Stone Age. It’s sort of your typical “high speed chase” music video, but there’s definitely something redeeming about it. For one, it only uses three different colors of what looks to be a cel-shading type animation throughout. Although the usage of just black, red, and white is comes across as somewhat redundant in terms of originality for anything relating to the music industry, it actually fits well with this video, in particular.

This video in many ways is in contrast to what I normally look for when it comes to art. I normally like things that are less polished with a more home-made original 90′s feel to it. However, when it comes to a lot of animation, this doesn’t always work. In the “Go With the Flow” video, everything is very polished. The scenes zoom in and fade out and all the character’s movements, from their mouth movements to the car zipping around the deserted highway, just slide around the screen in a pleasing way.

There’s definitely a lot of detail and the use of all the reds work well too. They fit in well with the sunset and even the redline on the odometer is incorporated well. The whites and blacks offer a sleek contrast to one another as well. In some ways it reminds me of the “Sin City” comic animation style while still carrying a level of originality at the same time.