Week 3 of Stuff

This week I learned how to use the basics of Flash. It's kind of a pain, but that's how it always is when you start using a new drawing program.

I hope I learn how to actually get the images to move and all of that rad stuff. I mean, I've messed around before in Flash, making simple things in my attempts to impress senpai, but nothing super cool.

I didn't really have anything that bothered me this week. I guess my inability to think of anything to write for these blog posts is kind of annoying, but it isn't something that is new for this week.

I am glad that the shortcuts in Flash are the same as those in Paint Toll SAI. Like, command-y is redo instead of command-shift-z. It's just easier for me for to get to command-y.

┗(＾0＾)┓ I remember when this came out in my subscription box and I had half a heart attack because Final Fantasy is rad and so is dancing. The two together is just one awesome ball of rad.

Article Response: Compare and Contrast: Jim Henson and Walt Disney

Article

Things Learnt

• I never knew the name of the guy (Jim Henson) that made The Muppets. 
• The house in "The Dollhouse" was made for Jim Henson's kids. 
• Jim Henson also did things with Snoopy, which is rad.

Opinions

• I think it's kind of strange that I never knew the name of the person that made The Muppets and Snoopy, two things that I loved as a child. I guess back then, I didn't really care.
• I liked how the author didn't doge around with opinions. The article is pretty much just info.

Question

• Why did I never know the name "Jim Henson" even though he was just as influential as Walt Disney?

Article Response: Dreamwork's Storyboarding Tips

Article

Stuff that was learned

• Storyboarding can help make you piece more masterful. I figured story boarding was just there to get the basic things down before you forget.
• Having three vanishing points helps to add depth to a composition. I might try that next time I draw something. I'd probably need help figuring it out though.
• Drawing a grid can help put things in the correct areas. I've never thought of doing that before, but I will have to try it out the next time I do anything.

Opinions

• Though storyboarding might not be necessary, I feel like there needs to be some basic outlines just incase you forget something. Even if it's like one frame out of every 10,000. I feel like it would be silly to forget what you are trying to do just because you didn't draw one simple picture.
• I liked all the images showing what the author was talking about. It is really helpful to have them. Without them, I would never have made anything out of what I was reading. 

Question

• How does three point perspective work? It'll probably be hella helpful in stuff.

Article Responce: Controversial Scarecrows

Article

Things I learned

• Chipotle knows how to get a point across with a cute animation
• Chipotle also knows what people are seeing as wrong in current agricultural practices and is using it to their advantage. Chipotle knows that some people that care what they are eating and frowning upon all of the hormones and additives thrown into our "beef" They did a good job of showing how that isn't what is happening with Chipotle food.
• Chevy needs to learn that people aren't going to buy your cars just because you got people dancing for money. 

Opinions

• I think that people get a little wound up over nothing? Maybe it's just that I'm not in the agriculture business but I think that flipping your marbles everywhere a commercial like that is kinda childish. Also, you can't say that they don't fill animals up to the brim with hormones, because that would just be one big large fib.
• I really like how the color in the city is dark and dreary and depressing, but the colors at the scarecrow's house are bright. That's a really good way to show a contrast between two places. Color does rad things.

Question

• Why are farmers mad about this? Is it because it might over-accentuate what goes on behind closed doors?

Article Responce: Scary Music Makes us Feel Scared?

Article

Things I learned

• Music directors are really good at making music to fit the emotion of what is going on. It really help immerse an audience when music reflects what's going on.
• Music = a lot of cool emotions. I didn't think that music had such a strong effect on people.
• They use sounds that we can't even hear to scare us. That is a crazy thought. How is something that we can't even hear scaring us. 

Opinions

• I like how it has actual quotes from famous producers and actors about this kind of business. It give it a strange amount of legitimacy with quotes around it. 
• I liked how it had examples old and new relating to this article. 

Question

• How do sounds we can't hear unnerve us? How do we know that sound is even there if we can't hear it?

Week 2 of Things

I learned some pretty useful things in Illustrator just by messing around and working around in it. Like, for example, when breaking the handles break the handle into the direction you plan on drawing. I don't know if I explained that well or not, but whatever. I tried, right?

I hope to learn the shortcuts better. I hate having to look around the menu for stuff all the time. It is probably taking me some time.

What frustrated me is this cell shading/straight line stuff. I like to blend and stuff, but you can't really do that in this program. Or maybe you can, I just don't know how.

Finally drawing a lot definitely made me happy. Drawing is #1 on my list while test taking is probably at the lowest of the low.

ヽ(=^･ω･^=)丿 This is so cute I can't even continue with this sen-

No but seriously, the animation is cute and just everything perfect. 

Article Response: Low Budget Perspective Stuff

Article

Things I learned

• I learned that directors have a lot of neat tricks up their sleeves so that they can do cool things that they wouldn't otherwise be able to do.
• I learned that every place in the world is also in California. Pretty neat.
• Some of the same places might be able to be seen in multiple movies.

Opinions

• I liked how it was very informative and even told some of the techniques that are used to make models seem larger. 
• I liked how the effects were convincing and realistic and just mind-blowing in general.

Question

• What other movies beside Close Encounters of the Third Kind use this kind of perspective magic?

Article Responce: Hollywood's Oversaturation of Animated Movies

Article

Stuff I learned

• I learned that 3D animation is a very popular media in the movie industry. More popular than I thought it was. 
• I learned that there is a lot of competition between animation companies and that some companies get screwed over when animated movies come out in clusters.
• I also learned that animated movies normally rank second to action movies at the box office, which is pretty interesting. I always thought that romantic comedies and other things would rank higher.

Opinions

• I feel like with more 3D animated movies coming out, the more competition. I think that the more competition there is between companies, the higher the quality of the movies. The companies will work harder to make prettier movies with better stories so that they can beat out their rivaling companies.
• I wasn't all that interested in 3D animation before but I think that it may be something interesting to try.

Question

• After reading the article, it still leaves me wondering how the over-saturation of 3D animated movies with affect the job market. Will it make it harder or easier to get into animation?

Week 1 of Stuff and Things.

I learned a ton this week. So much that I probably forgot all of it. I learned how to use some of the basics of Flash. I think I still prefer to use Paint Tool SAI and Photoshop, but that's only because I am used to that style of doing things. 

I hope to learn how to get used to using basic tools like the pen that often take a lot of time for me to get to even work.

Something that frustrated me this week was that pseudo-stroke thing. That can go far away. I don't even think I was doing it right. There is probably an easier way to do that kind of thing.

This week was pretty hectic, what with all the quizzes and such. Even with the quizzes, I am hella pleased with being in a class that actually pertains to my career. Pretty sure trigonometry will never help me draw pictures. 

This is absolutely relevant to what I want to do when I get older. It is so amusing and silly and just everything that is needed right at the start of a school year. It is also very relevant with the upcoming Pokemon X and Y release that I may or may not be excited for.

Stuff and Things.

Test post for animation class.