tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60643913376750965812024-03-19T10:29:53.008+00:00AmberDust : The Online Blog of Gemma RobertsAmberDust is the online blog of artist and animator Gemma Roberts where you can check out her artistic projects at university and other various goings on in her peculiar life!AmberDusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05451834639704173823noreply@blogger.comBlogger64125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064391337675096581.post-16487083422893483342013-12-07T18:00:00.000+00:002013-12-07T18:04:15.217+00:00BFI Southbank: Disney's "Frozen" Preview & Director Q&A!<i>*This review will be spoiler-free! :) Sensitive spoiler material will be written in white text so you have to highlight it to read!*</i><br />
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Last Wednesday (4th December) I got the exciting opportunity to see a preview of Disney's latest CGI feature <i>Frozen</i>, as well as the short film opener <i>Get a Horse!</i> followed by a Q&A with the Directors and Producer at the BFI Southbank after work in London.<br />
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The part 2D hand-drawn black and white, part computer generated colour film, <i>Get a Horse!</i> (directed by Lauren MacMullan, the first female Disney animation director) was a treat to watch. The original steam-boat willie style animation was recreated beautifully and the CGI counterparts were also very closely animated to the same style. In fact in a recent <a href="http://www.skwigly.co.uk/podcasts/skwigly-animation-podcast-14-eric-goldberg-lauren-macmullen-teri-hatcher-saschka-unseld/" target="_blank">Skwigly podcast with Eric Goldberg and Lauren MacMullan</a>, Eric Goldberg said that they managed to fool Disney veteran John Musker that the old style, tea-stained black and white cels they were creating were actually authentic cels from the '30s, not "new" animation.<br />
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Most interesting is the fact that the clean-up artists actually had to unlearn their skills to trace back perfectly with a fine, clean line and instead learned to animate like the creator of Mickey, Ub Iwerks. In this short they actually had to leave intentional mistakes, at the cost of their professional sanity! Lauren MacMullan joked that this 'mistake pass' was actually painful for some of the artists. But the most gripping thing about it was its' inventiveness. The interaction between 2D and CG was flawless and truly showed off Disney's technical capabilities. There was a ton of laughs and lots of fun references, and of course Walt Disney's original recorded dialogue for Mickey Mouse! It was a lovely short and I can't wait to see what they do next with mixed mediums like in this and <i>Paperman</i>. 2D is definitely still alive.<br />
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But on to the main show! I first heard of Frozen a couple of years ago, it was first pitched as a 2D film based on the Snow Queen which would have been particularly exciting but what with the not-so-big success of <i>The Princess and the Frog </i>and the phenomenal success of last year's <i>Tangled </i>and <i>Wreck-it-Ralph</i>, the change in direction is understandable, but more-so, I don't think the style of 2D would have fitted this film quite so well. If it were a direct adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's <i>The Snow Queen</i>, then I could have easily seen it as a hand drawn feature, but Frozen is a story <i>inspired </i>by The Snow Queen, not adapted from. From a technical standpoint, the snow and ice could not have been rendered quite so convincingly in 2D (at least not without a lot of time and a huge budget) and the CGI approach is highly suited to this gorgeous, heart-felt, modern and progressive film.<br />
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I originally had misgivings, the teaser they released a few months ago, featuring the sentient, talking snowman Olaf (played by Josh Gad) and another dog-like horse character (like Maximus in <i>Tangled</i>) in the form of a reindeer, Sven, seemed to reveal another whimsical, tongue-in-cheek comedy flick. And I wasn't that fond of the snowman character, but boy, was I wrong!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieAz6XCMm33XD0EAPcayUmX_HWQ1r0hCVSjQPUfu2YITJIceSmrRodveUdqXlw8XCNfYQe1gb4gT8kJ-JGH-7UTqmYPBdnWM2H67-kEJtkaizFQ0mX7CXC7rPLh3B-zUY2DwXndggfwHY/s1600/Frozen-Character-Visual-Development-Sketches-disney-frozen-35955815-1280-904.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieAz6XCMm33XD0EAPcayUmX_HWQ1r0hCVSjQPUfu2YITJIceSmrRodveUdqXlw8XCNfYQe1gb4gT8kJ-JGH-7UTqmYPBdnWM2H67-kEJtkaizFQ0mX7CXC7rPLh3B-zUY2DwXndggfwHY/s1600/Frozen-Character-Visual-Development-Sketches-disney-frozen-35955815-1280-904.jpg" height="282" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As much as I love 2D drawings, Frozen was stunning as a CGI feature.</td></tr>
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Put simply, if The Princess and the Frog, Tangled, Wreck-it-Ralph and Pixar's <i>Brave</i>, were all leading up to something, it would be this movie. Frozen takes the lush CGI visuals of Tangled, combined with the 2D drawovers they did on top of the CG to bring appeal to the poses (Glen Keane notably did this process for Tangled, but since his departure from Disney, Mark Henn has taken over this role for Frozen); the feminist role reversals from Brave; the modern attitudes and humour from Wreck-it-Ralph; and the traditional fairytale roots of The Princess and the Frog and everything leading up to it, and ended up with the next step of Disney's legacy.<br />
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In a spoiler-free nutshell, Frozen is a story of two sisters, Anna and Elsa (played by Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel respectively), who are princesses of the kingdom of Arendelle in a country based roughly on Norway. The older sister, Elsa, was born with extraordinary powers to create ice and snow from her hands, but is forced to keep it a secret from her sister Anna, causing a rift between them. Eventually Elsa's secret gets out and she escapes Arendelle to keep her powers from hurting anyone, so Anna and a village boy, Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) and his best friend reindeer, Sven, go on a mission to bring her back.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A tale of two sisters, not a Princess looking for her Prince.</td></tr>
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Like in <i>Lilo & Stitch </i>in 2001, and last year's Brave, it's really special seeing an animated movie centred on such strong, funny, entertaining and complex female characters. It's still appalling that this is a rare occurrence, but thankfully Frozen has all the empowering qualities a girl could ask for, complete with a feminist twist! Not to mention it is officially the first feature-length animated Disney film directed by a woman (!): Jennifer Lee (screenwriter for Wreck-it-Ralph) co-directed with Chris Buck (<i>Tarzan</i>, <i>Surf's Up</i>) and she also wrote the screenplay. If only this had happened years ago!<br />
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In the Q&A, director Chris Buck (and I'm paraphrasing here) explained that in the process of creating Frozen, Chris and Jennifer Lee wanted to explore what 'True Love' meant from fairytales, as often in stories and curses, the spell wouldn't specify that true love has to come from a love interest, when it could quite simply come from the love of a family member or platonic friend. So it became a question of what is True Love versus Romantic Love? Chris Buck joked that "Romantic Love only lasts about 6 months--sorry to break it to you!", but true love from your family that would do anything for you can be much stronger and last forever. This has been pointed out in original fairytales for a long time, so it's about time that animated features caught up!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">BFI Southbank in London. Front left to right, Peter Del Vecho, Jennifer Lee, Chris Buck and BFI Interviewer</td></tr>
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They were asked about the changes in the story of Frozen from the Snow Queen, as they are very different stories. Jennifer Lee explained very understandably that the changes were necessary to better understand the Snow Queen's character and make her more human and relatable and not just an evil villain. In earlier versions of the story, there was a more evil and older version of The Snow Queen that became problematic for them because she couldn't be connected emotionally to Anna, so instead they made them sisters and then royalty soon after that (which merchandising was very happy about!) to raise the stakes. Jennifer Lee said that she would refer back to the book by Hans Christian Andersen many times throughout production to make sure they were on the right track, but ultimately she said the original was too dark and episodic to turn into a Disney feature, but that the heart of Anna (or Gerda) was the true force of the story.<br />
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Ultimately I believe these changes were vital for the story they wanted to make and gives it such a passionate and important message. I was initially disappointed that Elsa wasn't the iconic snow queen I know from the book, but having seen the film, I now adore Elsa and the relationship to her sister Anna. I do think you have to go into this film not expecting a retelling of the Snow Queen and take the movie its' own right.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Concept art of Anna and Kristoff by Minkyu Lee</td></tr>
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The Directors also spoke about taking the film to Ed Catmull periodically. In the ending of the film (I won't say what part it was, but if you've seen it, you'll know!) it was planned to end in a particular way from the very beginning, and Ed Catmull would say (to the Directors) that it was great and that they could take any path they wanted to get to that ending, but they couldn't change it and he had to really <i>feel</i> it. And it wasn't until June 2013 (not long before the film would be finished!) that he finally said he felt it. It's one of the best parts of the film so it's wonderful that is was there from the start of the whole project.<br />
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The powerful emotional core of Frozen is all the more strengthened by the utterly breathtaking soundtrack featuring songs written by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez (<i>Winne-The-Pooh</i>, <i>Avenue Q</i>, <i>The Book of Mormon</i>) and scored by Christophe Beck. The married song-writing duo turn Frozen into a true broadway musical, the songs blend perfectly from talking to singing and bring the power and passion of the characters out of the screen. The lyrics perfectly accentuate the themes of the film and there are lots of lovely details to pick up on repeated listens. Christophe Beck also went to great lengths to get the Norway inspired music, some of which was recording with genuine Norwegian instruments and choirs.<br />
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And do I even need to explain how amazing and catchy these songs are? I'm going to let this one sing for herself:<br />
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<i>*Warning: You will not be able to stop listening to this once you start, also, it's really worth saving this scene for the big screen first!*</i><br />
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It also helps to have real broadway performers voice and sing for your characters, hats off to Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell, Jonathan Groff, Josh Gad and Santino Fontana, they all do an excellent job bringing these characters to life and of course singing their hearts out! When is the broadway musical coming out, Disney?<br />
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The producer, Peter Del Vecho, also explained during the Q&A that this film was made under extremely tight turnarounds, so that production had to start well before the script was even finished! It's truly marvelous what they managed to accomplish with such overlap between writing and animation (which is way too expensive to change so decisions have to be stuck with!) but the Directors said that they didn't have to compromise that much and production seemed to go quite smoothly despite the schedule.<br />
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Personally I felt that in some aspects of the story, the fast production did show, but only in respect to setting up the world and the characters, i.e. where did Elsa get her powers from? Does it run in the family or is it a 'one-off'? And for that matter, *<i>mild spoiler*</i> <span style="color: white;">where do moss-covered stone trolls come from and why so they adopt Kristoff and his reindeer? And why did Elsa never reveal to Anna that she had nearly died as a child? It's not that important but could definitely have added to the drama!</span> *<i>/mild spoiler* </i>I also really do wish the first song, "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" could have been that little bit longer! Elsa and Anna as children are so fun and adorable and I just wanted to see more! And the song is too short! More verses, another chorus... now! ;)<br />
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And really, all that means is that my main problem with the film is that I just want <i>more, </i>which is arguably a good thing for a film to leave a viewer wanting. So for now, I'm happy with that...<br />
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One aspect that didn't look rushed at all though, has to be the animation and effects. Everything that Disney has done so far has really culminated here, you can almost see the charming pencil drawings move through the CG characters, showing again that a traditional understanding of animation is vital in producing computer animation. It really pays off too, Elsa and Anna really do look like they are singing and they are so endearing the whole way through. They squash and stretch and move in intricate and dynamic ways. And Olaf the snowman (the one character I wasn't sure about) actually ended up being a lot of fun and it's clear that the animators <i>loved</i> getting his scenes to play with. Jennifer Lee mentioned that they loved breaking him apart so much (one of the perks of being a sentient snowman with no internal organs to worry about) that when it came to the more emotional scenes they would have to reign them in and say "can we keep his head on just this once, please?"<br />
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The art direction by Michael Giaimo (<i>Pocahontas</i>) demonstrates how a world covered in white snow can actually be multiple colours at once (never just white!) and the characters design and costumes show lovely traditional touches with great appeal. Frozen did have some prior criticism due to the likeness between Elsa, Anna and Rapunzel from Tangled, but in the film the likeness doesn't show. They have similar 'pretty girl' looks but the direct likeness is more apparent in promotional artwork rather than the film itself.<br />
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And then there's the effects which have really gone above and beyond what has been done with ice and snow thus far and created such a magical yet believable world. The effects department had to go in and create new software to create dry, powdery snow, or crystal clear ice, or wet, slippery snow, the possibilities were endless. Chris Buck said their first test looked like 'packing peanuts' so they must have really come a long way to reach this level. The ice palace sequence for Elsa's "Let it Go" song (the video embedded above) is the most stunning sequence in the whole film. On Disney's Facebook page, they posted recently that the scene where she walks out on the balcony for the first time is 218 frames long and in particular, one of those frames (just one) was the longest they've ever had to render for a film. It took <i>5 whole days</i>!! Just for one frame! Thankfully the result is worth it and this is really one of the best CGI films to date.<br />
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All in all, we have a wonderful feminist film that is great for both children and adults (and those big kids in-between!) with instantly gripping music, beautiful visuals and a story full of heart co-directed and written by the first female Director for a feature and another for the short <i>Get a Horse!</i>, we have certainly been spoiled this Christmas! I sincerely hope Disney keeps this up with their future films.<i> </i>There really isn't much else I can say except to go and watch this amazing film and just--<br />
LET IT GOOOOOO, LET IIITT GGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooOOOOOOOO!! I CAN'T HOLD IT IN ANYMOOOOOOoooooooOOOOORRRREEEEeeeeEEEEE!!<br />
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-BRB, listening to the soundtrack for the 100+ time :3<br />
P.S. expect a lot of Frozen fan art from me this Christmas. A Lot.<!--3--><!--3-->AmberDusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05451834639704173823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064391337675096581.post-21967440583144962042013-10-08T18:39:00.001+01:002013-10-08T18:39:57.886+01:00My Thoughts on Downton Abbey, Episode 3<i>****Trigger Warning and Spoilers Ahead!****</i><br />
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Last night I sat with my family to catch up with the latest season of Downton Abbey on ITV player, as we had missed episodes the last two episodes of season four. Last year's season had tragically killed off two main characters from the show (and one on Christmas day, no less) and episode one was the grim aftermath of that death, but still we watched, expecting the usual upper class drama and light humour.<br />
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I clicked to watch episode three and received a minimum age warning to play the episode. Odd. Downton is normally a 12 certificate in the UK. The warning didn't explain the reason and I carried on regardless. As the episode played out, it slowly dawned on me what the warning was intended for. During the climactic end moments of the episode as the visiting singer Dame Nellie Melba performs, the kind and happily married Anna, is brutally raped by one of the visitors to Downton, unbeknownst to the rest of the house.<br />
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<i>(Side note: I don't wish to glorify the subject, so will avoid the use of provocative words while trying to discuss my thoughts on this episode, for my own sanity and the readers!)</i><br />
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To my relief, the show spared the audience too many details, but needless to say it was cruel and violent and cut me to the core. It then returns to the warm, happy party upstairs and an utterly agonising wait to see Anna's fate ensues. Eventually Mrs. Hughes returns to her room to find Anna there begging for help. It was incredibly distressing to see, made all the more unbearable by Joanne Froggatt's spectacular performance.<br />
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It was a shocking and poignant, but I'm not writing this to criticise this episode, nor to applaud Julian Fellowes' 'tackling' of the subject, but rather to ask, <i>why?</i><br />
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Earlier that day, I had watched the documentary '<i>Miss Representation</i>' on Netflix, highlighting the issues of over/hyper sexualisation in the media for women and men and there were parts of that were difficult to watch. I won't go into detail but it's a very important and fascinating documentary that I urge you to watch. In a nutshell, seeing the effects of sexism in America was deeply depressing. Here in the UK statistics are significantly better for women, but even so, any abusive act towards women is terrible and seeing poor Anna in that situation really pin pointed what I had seen that day.<br />
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In recent years I've noticed that when the media highlights an issue, it is fully demonstrated for audiences for the sake of 'awareness'. So if there is a concern that someone wants to do something about, they tend to do it by showing how bad it is. This can be effective, but it's very difficult to then take the next step, which would be someone <i>overcoming </i>the issue or showing how it doesn't have to exist any more. When a popular show like Downton raises the issue of sexual assault, while it is certainly still prevalent, it is one of possibly many demonstrations of how bad it is. Furthermore, if you take the statistics from <i>Miss Representation</i> of the number of women who have been raped in America, that is potentially 1/8 of your audience who will relive a traumatic experience or more likely refuse to watch it.<br />
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Am I saying that all instances of abuse should be avoided in media for the sake of the audience? No. Of course it is important to remind viewers that these problems exist for a great many people. However, media should be taking extreme care and caution with these subjects so that they are not glorified. While I do believe this episode of Downton <i>was </i>skilfully and carefully approached, I still hated to see it happen. The dance outing to York with Rose and Anna, the punch-up at the dance venue, the stranger who came to Downton in the middle of the night to seek Rose afterwards, all of these subtly pointed to the horror to come. But for it to happen to Anna was truly heartbreaking.<br />
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Perhaps Julian Fellowes is pleased that myself and others suffered so much at the results of his writing, as writer, you want to stir emotions in the viewer, but is sexual assault really the best way to do this? Does it draw attention to the ugliness of it, or is it glorification? I don't watch a lot of Television, so I don't know if this episode is making any particular point compared to what else is on at the moment.<br />
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I admit, as horrible as it was to watch, it was very carefully put together. It was short and showed just enough to know that it happened without telling everything and the assault was definitely negatively portrayal and to be taken seriously. The question is, what will be done with it? From the preview for next week's episode, it looks like Anna and her husband, Mr. Bates are drifting apart, from Anna's trauma and inability to tell him what happened. Where they go with it will play a big part in what the whole point of that scene was. Why put the cast, crew and audience through this experience if you're not going to say something about it?<br />
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I patiently await what this Sunday's episode will bring as I try to shake off yesterday's feelings.<br />
GemmaAmberDusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05451834639704173823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064391337675096581.post-33514769671073896122013-08-18T18:26:00.001+01:002013-08-18T18:26:56.990+01:00Princess Mononoké Animation Production Cel<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span class="fbPhotoCaptionText">This is a genuine animation cel from
Hayao Miyazaki's 'Princess Mononoké' (1997) that I bought from the
Japanese Gallery in London. (<a href="http://www.japanese-gallery.com/" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank">www.japanese-gallery.com</a>)
This is one of the 144,000 cels that were hand inked and painted for
production before being layered on top of painted backgrounds and sometimes other coloured cels (additional characters, props and special effects) and shot
under a camera for the finished film. Miyazaki himself oversaw every cel
in production and is said to have personally redrawn parts of 80,000 of
these cels, so it is likely he had a part in producing this cel!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI9tY-lWNoDoDmBXxd0QvsqbzTk8DHm5_8QOBRhPtG8vXUYb6cuaDagllHHTcwZfcax3fax5CVi-uP3Ct1l1hlW5cgOwnqkCVOupNbSdVzOuQEEIZAhdnboSpJOfai5T9I4m1ltOQst7w/s1600/DSC_0491.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI9tY-lWNoDoDmBXxd0QvsqbzTk8DHm5_8QOBRhPtG8vXUYb6cuaDagllHHTcwZfcax3fax5CVi-uP3Ct1l1hlW5cgOwnqkCVOupNbSdVzOuQEEIZAhdnboSpJOfai5T9I4m1ltOQst7w/s400/DSC_0491.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The colours are wonderfully vivid! You can see the pencil outline around the painted cel, it's slightly misaligned due to the positioning of the paper (the pegbar holes are not matched between cel/paper when mounted and framed).</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9hCxw6AE52VfMmrRFHE5fvHmjIZyuXWMvBt9BhFu0et7UplUq_ymhufZrpa4WA4X60XD5Rg7Jp30DBXepvTJwb9nVieSLaDhiCCiydLIIrvl1C6GmBGERdGiVRgMqdHLHmB1KW59LEwM/s1600/DSC_0462.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9hCxw6AE52VfMmrRFHE5fvHmjIZyuXWMvBt9BhFu0et7UplUq_ymhufZrpa4WA4X60XD5Rg7Jp30DBXepvTJwb9nVieSLaDhiCCiydLIIrvl1C6GmBGERdGiVRgMqdHLHmB1KW59LEwM/s320/DSC_0462.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span aria-live="polite" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"type":45}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption">Authenticity
sticker on the back from <a href="http://www.japanese-gallery.com/" target="_blank">The Japanese Gallery</a> in London, UK, they are a really lovely
shop with very friendly and enthusiastic staff and will hopefully have
more stock soon, so keep an eye out on their website! They rarely get Ghibli cels, but they have great stock from Dragonball Z, Sailor Moon and sometimes Pokémon! They have a lovely Shinji cel from Neon Genesis Evangelion at the moment, too!</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoyvEkI17u8VopHLmgnZiIGaAHDLTCZP-y1qM8oAIIaVXlH6SqhGvQtqZGKwA5gO3UqbcgDHsWVcNgKb-NhUzAaKv-TX31hBJRSmJBop3wbTY4YustqupMDmitffV0-Xj3peInVGqXCDs/s1600/DSC_0472.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoyvEkI17u8VopHLmgnZiIGaAHDLTCZP-y1qM8oAIIaVXlH6SqhGvQtqZGKwA5gO3UqbcgDHsWVcNgKb-NhUzAaKv-TX31hBJRSmJBop3wbTY4YustqupMDmitffV0-Xj3peInVGqXCDs/s320/DSC_0472.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Mononoké is the last Studio Ghibli film to have been hand painted on cel (nowadays the films are still drawn, but coloured and put together on a computer instead) so this is a piece of cinematic history that I'm very happy to own (and it is one of my favourite films, too!). Animation cels are an expensive investment, as they are completely unique works of art and but they are beautiful pieces to own and it's an art form that doesn't really exist anymore thanks to digital colouring so they are also more valuable as they age.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPGlhn0CB6OG_ET2P_WLKz4aNbqtGjiPtM2AQPO7hBcz15jq86KHByblOa0s3BavE0mp159-Q39tx98npRPRF2l6mZxPP7pABvqlW5FkS3z02IeiGiPXxPtuXpgMXZgG8x8mb9-1ZItdk/s1600/DSC_0486.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPGlhn0CB6OG_ET2P_WLKz4aNbqtGjiPtM2AQPO7hBcz15jq86KHByblOa0s3BavE0mp159-Q39tx98npRPRF2l6mZxPP7pABvqlW5FkS3z02IeiGiPXxPtuXpgMXZgG8x8mb9-1ZItdk/s320/DSC_0486.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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An animation cel is produced by tracing the lines of the characters from an animation drawing in a dark ink onto transparent cel (so you can see through to the background beneath) and then carefully painting the colours (light and dark) onto the back of the cel. In this example, the line between dark and light colours are also drawn in a coloured ink (see close up below) so that the shade will not flicker between frames and the line will not show on the finished film. This is the result, but when you look at the back of a cel, it's an interesting mass of colour that is odd to look at but very revealing of the production process! Sadly the back of this cel cannot be accessed due to reasons explained below.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUhVyc5Z6w6mUM9ufA8BZTwZE6v1Kq8wC897DgLsijXBKxCV4dsaG1Y3zpY8w8wELBi8HnAA4k9Ad_6eELLoGvYcS2mwiP4hJhmY0Osp3PwSxCAga9nevolJ4IsK70pwVp6Utm3yZwPOg/s1600/DSC_0507.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUhVyc5Z6w6mUM9ufA8BZTwZE6v1Kq8wC897DgLsijXBKxCV4dsaG1Y3zpY8w8wELBi8HnAA4k9Ad_6eELLoGvYcS2mwiP4hJhmY0Osp3PwSxCAga9nevolJ4IsK70pwVp6Utm3yZwPOg/s400/DSC_0507.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span aria-live="polite" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"type":45}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption">Here
you can see an example of skin tone by Ashitaka's ear where they
painted a corrective colour on top rather than scrape off the original
tone from the paint and repaint it. You have to look very closely to
notice!</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj676jdxHZba0VG8JEenPUR2OZA25d5J2lRci2lDGVJsjz1HwPvkxhNtKERb2DYrUalDjpVnfoeamxt5gWWw3E-r4ILeKDzyszL7zAyydP0H-NlHrk6ZdKxuw605l9LbyACaDKmD0YEWDc/s1600/DSC_0510.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj676jdxHZba0VG8JEenPUR2OZA25d5J2lRci2lDGVJsjz1HwPvkxhNtKERb2DYrUalDjpVnfoeamxt5gWWw3E-r4ILeKDzyszL7zAyydP0H-NlHrk6ZdKxuw605l9LbyACaDKmD0YEWDc/s400/DSC_0510.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span aria-live="polite" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"type":45}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption">The
cel is mounted on top of the production drawing beneath (in Japan these clean-up drawings are called 'douga'). Sadly the two are
completely stuck together and I'd hate to spoil either the cel or drawing
in the process of separating them! This happens sometimes when the drawing and cel are shipped together, instead of being stored in special cel bags to avoid them sticking. Some of the red from Eboshi's kimino has also bled onto
the drawing underneath which is a real shame.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAb9iQaMmQsPnn0pRzOf0RE6vcCrcIWKqjoMwtLAtIQYGtFZcYxra1-QYBc8u5U4KuQX5apIKJM4puduaLgUnW0vsy5-8AA2xpuLPO_7Z0VSSLp35hTmcGNfE6n4lG3tejyFuTz-0b53U/s1600/DSC_0512.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAb9iQaMmQsPnn0pRzOf0RE6vcCrcIWKqjoMwtLAtIQYGtFZcYxra1-QYBc8u5U4KuQX5apIKJM4puduaLgUnW0vsy5-8AA2xpuLPO_7Z0VSSLp35hTmcGNfE6n4lG3tejyFuTz-0b53U/s320/DSC_0512.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfOCsggVmSQqHz72bEndM9JWt9x5p4ZVpKwck7QKkDTi4oSY1wwfWUlHZai-UGme82zu6ycVR0lS0pXldInjJ8CxKKOMjA8kVJZMeivuBH0_C_njTQEmXOmqVPfP4FkN9VfAlVw6voCoc/s1600/DSC_0513.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfOCsggVmSQqHz72bEndM9JWt9x5p4ZVpKwck7QKkDTi4oSY1wwfWUlHZai-UGme82zu6ycVR0lS0pXldInjJ8CxKKOMjA8kVJZMeivuBH0_C_njTQEmXOmqVPfP4FkN9VfAlVw6voCoc/s320/DSC_0513.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFBU-1QY9AiS_tt1lHDhk7rbqb3p9jn-itmiNlcKfS22ykELS0ZsLfly7h5L7jtTYRPx5L1ZXswcgSit86vUwZN3Xir5kJzaA43G4QsZNWEkQFPRCoY9F6px_K-E5youkRpnDob4Arf2A/s1600/DSC_0514.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFBU-1QY9AiS_tt1lHDhk7rbqb3p9jn-itmiNlcKfS22ykELS0ZsLfly7h5L7jtTYRPx5L1ZXswcgSit86vUwZN3Xir5kJzaA43G4QsZNWEkQFPRCoY9F6px_K-E5youkRpnDob4Arf2A/s400/DSC_0514.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span aria-live="polite" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"type":45}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption">The slight ripples in the cel are reflected here. You can also see the coloured pencil lines on the paper which are used to differentiate shading and/or different characters.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcqA85eXH1bN3BSl98AyZ0E-prFJFXeR6NZ5W0im8AWNiGECr3c9R10yeBZsIulGSQ4S7WPfZ46NIh4Q0RqMoCarWeDiJF1XFN3LeWHV37Nr-EADbZd2aYRjMEfaKE-CknU97zPQS6lA4/s1600/DSC_0560.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcqA85eXH1bN3BSl98AyZ0E-prFJFXeR6NZ5W0im8AWNiGECr3c9R10yeBZsIulGSQ4S7WPfZ46NIh4Q0RqMoCarWeDiJF1XFN3LeWHV37Nr-EADbZd2aYRjMEfaKE-CknU97zPQS6lA4/s320/DSC_0560.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span aria-live="polite" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"type":45}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption">The
cel is number B-16. The 'B' means it is the second cel layer/field (there are
background characters and an effects layer in this scene, too) and the
16 denotes the 16th frame in the scene. The number isn't circled, so it
is probably an in-between, rather than a key, but it looks like a key
drawing when you see it in the context of the scene in the movie.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlSIbQZNdAavXpMMyXk1kf5F85Tid5i-OoYtm-_4FweaL5Vvl33VVvM9Dqzg51-PLDl-n641kgt0U5aBHJbI7odUQpN166n52kV_0o1GqcufOp42nor5anX9NhSRa7Og-LXQ5vfTpLIu0/s1600/mononoke-cel-b16-still.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlSIbQZNdAavXpMMyXk1kf5F85Tid5i-OoYtm-_4FweaL5Vvl33VVvM9Dqzg51-PLDl-n641kgt0U5aBHJbI7odUQpN166n52kV_0o1GqcufOp42nor5anX9NhSRa7Og-LXQ5vfTpLIu0/s400/mononoke-cel-b16-still.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A personally captured still from <i>Princess Mononoké</i> (1997)</td></tr>
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<span aria-live="polite" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"type":45}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption">This
is the exact frame of Princess Mononoké that this cel was used for.
It's from my favourite sequence in the whole film where Mononoké enters
Irontown to kill Lady Eboshi, but Ashitaka, who wishes for peace,
intercepts their battle to return the princess to her forest. I cannot
wait for the Blu-Ray release of this film! <i class="_4-k1 img sp_4gnmwy sx_9833f8"></i></span></span></div>
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This is the first animation cel I've ever purchased, and hopefully not the last as I adore traditional animation and have a tendency for collecting things... I don't know when I'll find and buy my next cel, but I'll post more pictures when I do! :) If you have any questions, feel free to ask! :)AmberDusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05451834639704173823noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064391337675096581.post-90394138795619593532013-05-27T20:33:00.000+01:002013-05-27T20:33:17.705+01:00Dr. Sketchy's Japan: FuturePast - Life Drawing with Hatsune Miku!Last weekend I attended a Dr. Sketchy's life drawing event in Chester with my sister and friend Zara--a special "erotic" drawing class with a Hatsune Miku cosplayer, <a href="https://twitter.com/DoitCosplaygirl" target="_blank">@DoitCosplayGirl</a> and traditional Japanese dancer Kana Nagashima!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://i1284.photobucket.com/albums/a573/drsketchywales/japflyer500_zpse607bee3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://i1284.photobucket.com/albums/a573/drsketchywales/japflyer500_zpse607bee3.jpg" width="281" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The poster for the event</td></tr>
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Here are some of my drawings from the night, I found that drawing clothed models was a little trickier than drawing nude models like in other classes, as I concentrated too much on the costume, but once I started using a brush pen, my drawings relaxed a bit and the looser style fit the session a bit more.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSZ0ZQvO9VSwRQ89aB7bZGmdTbJZ1YnoIet-t0_Zw11bryQ82Kk5v9NMIJIKvKW37_f8rQj9sox1RiyDPopRFg4lTJ5XPg9ludhtNrpAfXgIQbCqhmypnqJv5uR5zyaf6j-9oIkAygiq8/s1600/Hatsune-Miku_01_Small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSZ0ZQvO9VSwRQ89aB7bZGmdTbJZ1YnoIet-t0_Zw11bryQ82Kk5v9NMIJIKvKW37_f8rQj9sox1RiyDPopRFg4lTJ5XPg9ludhtNrpAfXgIQbCqhmypnqJv5uR5zyaf6j-9oIkAygiq8/s320/Hatsune-Miku_01_Small.jpg" width="291" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrkQUvDfJFb8Ri73KoVGiJjgs3F2-zHBtdU8b27r2_R8ZwHqmrz9qw787PFh0mWV7XsMz1cc5ssdSOQombUA5g50LHQFSrfiPOpBYFTT8gY1qmgrLUnm374CmjLXGDA9Wjixbkag5DSDE/s1600/Hatsune-Miku_02_Small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrkQUvDfJFb8Ri73KoVGiJjgs3F2-zHBtdU8b27r2_R8ZwHqmrz9qw787PFh0mWV7XsMz1cc5ssdSOQombUA5g50LHQFSrfiPOpBYFTT8gY1qmgrLUnm374CmjLXGDA9Wjixbkag5DSDE/s320/Hatsune-Miku_02_Small.jpg" width="283" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpPK6wwEGqR3Haf7T77nujTKpj6jZxwg8YrT2yot7SDLoMMuuHOzXP9Vypaka_I3UTRH66ljVIntJBwaqzR5wxY8tRZej9ALz7jmKN7jYNh4GXu-awrkvJwVYMgCyXdBSBg073pBGwSXM/s1600/Hatsune-Miku_03_Small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpPK6wwEGqR3Haf7T77nujTKpj6jZxwg8YrT2yot7SDLoMMuuHOzXP9Vypaka_I3UTRH66ljVIntJBwaqzR5wxY8tRZej9ALz7jmKN7jYNh4GXu-awrkvJwVYMgCyXdBSBg073pBGwSXM/s400/Hatsune-Miku_03_Small.jpg" width="232" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHp0-PpmMQEbTiqwTUfq84IJew7tL6sIB2rxK097BUMHkvtLh-KGa2nus3HL0QiM2TwLON2XFMr86-K039_ER8_X6nhzzJhr6uP2IcOql7WvFS10Hl8z-0USEDJu7b7702bs_KjgDhztw/s1600/Hatsune-Miku_04_Small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHp0-PpmMQEbTiqwTUfq84IJew7tL6sIB2rxK097BUMHkvtLh-KGa2nus3HL0QiM2TwLON2XFMr86-K039_ER8_X6nhzzJhr6uP2IcOql7WvFS10Hl8z-0USEDJu7b7702bs_KjgDhztw/s400/Hatsune-Miku_04_Small.jpg" width="241" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A 'manga-fied' portrait of my sister</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A 'manga-fied' portrait of me by Zara!</td></tr>
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It was a really fun night with lots of artists (new and experienced) and was complete with vocaloid music. It was a great atmosphere and at the end all the artists put their favourite drawings on the stage to be picked by Madame Ex (the organiser), the models, and a wonderful guest artist, <a href="http://echosilver.deviantart.com/" target="_blank">Jodie Wynne</a> (who presented a great 'how to draw' manga style demonstration) for prizes.<br />
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One of my drawings actually got picked by <a href="http://echosilver.deviantart.com/" target="_blank">Jodie Wynne</a> for a prize, a lovely illustrated book called <i>So Good for Little Bunnies</i> by Brandi Milne, which took me by surprise! The drawings on show were amazing!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8qNqfb5w4Rg6tDJhHhvFv8nHnXFznAcv_zCOZ0B_qKtbRAom0uUteuhgy34EFSO3Gjk0y5KzNla33Dcp8671YRS2QOabuVpOrklcLuEakwTS8Ik5FtlUJYBMWHMISMLgqG6tj1-dI4nA/s1600/2013-05-19+22.00.45.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8qNqfb5w4Rg6tDJhHhvFv8nHnXFznAcv_zCOZ0B_qKtbRAom0uUteuhgy34EFSO3Gjk0y5KzNla33Dcp8671YRS2QOabuVpOrklcLuEakwTS8Ik5FtlUJYBMWHMISMLgqG6tj1-dI4nA/s320/2013-05-19+22.00.45.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Drawings by Zara (bottom) and Edalie (top)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our lovely models!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My favourite drawing from the night and the awesome book I won :)</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgXRKA7TLIy2fE7TWYp-X7keQ-Dr8Puk6y17KoMbFGbQSvonZxVrTYSr2VbUNgn4KNPQ6C6tf1-F6AflAJHFT7VE2pIPH83jXQ-b62epCWQvT2_TtAQASOUClK5CNk297CpbTadJWwWvM/s1600/2013-05-27+17.18.52.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgXRKA7TLIy2fE7TWYp-X7keQ-Dr8Puk6y17KoMbFGbQSvonZxVrTYSr2VbUNgn4KNPQ6C6tf1-F6AflAJHFT7VE2pIPH83jXQ-b62epCWQvT2_TtAQASOUClK5CNk297CpbTadJWwWvM/s200/2013-05-27+17.18.52.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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Dr. Sketchy's drawing events aren't too frequent but I can't wait to go to the next one this summer! :) I highly recommend them. :)AmberDusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05451834639704173823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064391337675096581.post-54820113879811688752013-05-27T19:41:00.001+01:002013-05-27T19:41:53.775+01:00Funky Aardvark Life Drawing 17th / 24th AprilSome life drawing I just got round to scanning from two life drawing evenings at Funky Aardvark in Chester. It's a great session of quick and long poses in a fun and relaxed atmosphere with tea and music! Unfortunately I only managed 2 classes before I started my new job in London as they are on Wednesdays... hopefully I can make it back there in the summer!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Watercolour + pen</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oil pastel</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back poses, the model had gorgeous wing tattoos on her back so they had to be included!</td></tr>
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Funky Aardvark is a fantastic art shop in Chester where I'm looking to sell art prints + cards with my sisters in the near future so look out for that! :)AmberDusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05451834639704173823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064391337675096581.post-30994830850989037742013-02-24T19:58:00.001+00:002013-02-24T20:01:26.625+00:00Acorns Wins 'Royal Television Society' Wales Centre Award for Undergraduate Animation!<br />
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On February 22nd 2013, my graduation film <i><a href="http://littleacornfilm.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Acorns</a></i> was awarded First Place in the Undergraduate Animation category from the <a href="http://www.rts.org.uk/rts-wales-centre-student-television-awards-2012" target="_blank">Royal Television Society</a> (Wales Centre Student Television Awards 2012). The award was presented at the <a href="http://ffresh.com/en" target="_blank">Ffresh </a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://ffresh.com/en" target="_blank">Student Moving Image Festival of Wales</a> Awards Show taking place at Glyndwr University.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Although I had attended the festival and volunteered there this year, I sadly was unable to attend the awards show, but thankfully my fantastic friends <a href="http://utopiaofthepond.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Bryony Evan</a>s and <a href="http://thezukineework.weebly.com/" target="_blank">Zara Williams</a> (also nominated for the award) were able to collect the award for me (and surprise me with it at lunch the next day!), thanks guys! I was completely unaware I had even been nominated for this so it's such an incredible surprise!</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The RTS Jury had this to say about <i><a href="http://littleacornfilm.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Acorns</a></i> on their website:</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i><strong>Acorns</strong> was also very accomplished and felt a very complete animation project. It was classy, enchanting and sophisticated, providing a captivating representation of the seasons through colour and it also featured a stunning piano score. Overall, Jury Members were unanimously impressed by its sophistication and high quality.</i></span></blockquote>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The first prize winner in each category will also be submitted for judging at the UK final of the RTS Student Television Awards, to be held in London during April.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">For a full list and breakdown of the nominees for the award, please visit the <a href="http://www.rts.org.uk/rts-wales-centre-student-television-awards-2012" target="_blank">Royal Television Society website</a>.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I was absolutely astounded to have received this award for my film and am so thankful! Months and months of constant hard work and dedication went into realising it as well as the invaluable help of my crew without whom the film would never have been finished! </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">As such, I give a huge thanks to Co-Writer and Colourist <a href="http://www.emilyjroberts.co.uk/" target="_blank">Emily Roberts</a>, Lead Colorist/Additional Art Director <a href="http://edalie-chan.deviantart.com/" target="_blank">Eleanor Roberts</a>, a beautiful musical score by <a href="http://benrusch.com/" target="_blank">Ben Rusch</a>, production scanning by Alex Huxley and Alex Brewer, additional compositing by Cosmo Wallace and Michael Alfred, my army of Clean-Up Artists and Digital Colourists, </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Nadine El Kheshen, Cassie Austin, Gemma Ursell, Ying Sun, Kojo Acquaah Harrison, Emmanuel Viscarra, Victoria Clark, Zara Williams, Nina Ashill, Sarah Huxley, Paul Littlefair, Eva Wagner and Stephanie Walker, my fellow film makers Rob Morgan, Jess Leslau, Zara Williams, Bryony Evans, Claire Spiller and Vikki Clark, my Uni lecturers for never-ending feedback and tutorials and of course my Mum & Dad, grandparents and friends & family for their unwavering love and support. <3><!--3--></3></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Without further ado, here are some pretty pictures! </span></div>
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And then our family cat, Mila wanted to get in on the fun!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAGtC_OcPoOQ4PmQtDfE_74zmF15yLI6LlPlJCdDjVyXAs2yC8x-YLt8q3e4BbDt4kHXnhn_W35lKaZZCbz6bw2n5lsHOBdfARRfv2nXg9xbBA32xEvvzSIZEAnlePMkPoGgs677BSxSN6/s1600/DSC_0206.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAGtC_OcPoOQ4PmQtDfE_74zmF15yLI6LlPlJCdDjVyXAs2yC8x-YLt8q3e4BbDt4kHXnhn_W35lKaZZCbz6bw2n5lsHOBdfARRfv2nXg9xbBA32xEvvzSIZEAnlePMkPoGgs677BSxSN6/s400/DSC_0206.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 11px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;">Thanks to my sister Emily for my fab photo!</td></tr>
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Thanks everyone for this amazing award, I still cannot believe it! :)</div>
AmberDusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05451834639704173823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064391337675096581.post-84367264441205800692012-12-03T16:17:00.001+00:002012-12-03T16:17:36.057+00:00The Snowman and the Snowdog Trailer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's nearly here everyone, the long awaited sequel to Raymond Briggs' "The Snowman" from 30 years ago! <i>The Snowman and the Snowdog </i>is a brand new film from Channel 4 and Lupus Films in London that I have had the incredible privilege and pleasure to work on this year... one of the many reasons I have been so busy since Uni!</div>
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The film is set thirty years on from the original and features a new boy, the same old Snowman rebuilt again and a new Snowdog! Some have frowned upon a sequel to the original who feel like this is just a 'remake', but it is a totally new adventure and is a real treasure to watch as it respectfully celebrates the original while also updating the beloved story. </div>
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I was invited to join the crew in London as a 'line tester' so I was testing the original hand drawn animation under a camera (everything was drawn properly on paper like the original, not with a computer!) to show the animators and Director how the scenes would look before they are scanned. I did this for a couple of months before joining the rendering department where I hand coloured scenes in pencil for the final film! It was an incredible experience and I loved every minute.</div>
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So without further ado, here is the finished trailer for the film, which will have its full broadcast premiere on Channel 4 this Christmas! Don't miss it!</div>
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AmberDusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05451834639704173823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064391337675096581.post-18729275043437150532012-12-02T20:41:00.001+00:002012-12-02T20:43:03.463+00:00Steam Train in WatercolourThere's been a lot going on in my family recently, some good, some bad. A few weeks ago we discovered that my Grandpa was very ill and this week he was diagnosed with several health problems and he may not have long left. I've only seen two family members pass away in my lifetime so it comes to me as quite a shock.<br />
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Nevertheless, my family and I are optimistic and are helping him with a better diet and lifestyle to fight back. I visited him for the first time since I graduated from University today and he did start to look better with our company.<br />
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This week I tried out some further watercolour experiments as it is a medium I struggle with (unpredictable patterns, long drying times, buckling paper, etc. etc) but if it goes well I get the most satisfaction out of it and I love the look of watercolour artwork. I decided to do a North Wales-inspired landscape with a steam train running through the hills. My Grandpa is a train fanatic and I will always remember his 75th Birthday where we gave him the experience of driving a steam train (with all of us as passengers!) as a present in Llangollen in North Wales.<br />
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This is my finished result on A3 paper which I framed to give him, he loved it, though he did say there should be more steam coming out of the front of the train, which I knew he would say! I seemed to have forgotten it.<br />
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I still have a lot to learn with watercolour and will be doing more attempts this Christmas.<br />
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Wishing my Grandpa all the best xox<!--3-->AmberDusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05451834639704173823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064391337675096581.post-46571404074574610882012-12-01T14:19:00.000+00:002012-12-01T14:19:19.035+00:00How to make a Zelda Triforce NecklaceLast year I went to the 25th Zelda Anniversary Symphony in London with my family and in the row front of us were two girls and one of them had made her own Zelda Triforce necklace. I wasn't sure how but that's what she said she had done and ever since I knew I wanted to make one too!<br />
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This year, Nintendo released an official Zelda Triforce keychain in the UK, which I thought was the perfect pendant material, so you don't have to make anything from scratch if you don't want to (or if you're not a metal worker, like me). In the UK you can buy one from Forbidden Planet for £5-6 and the necklace won't be more than £1-2 so it's very cheap to make!<br />
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So first, buy your materials. The keychain can be bought <a href="http://www.forbiddenplanet.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=67030" target="_blank">here</a> in the UK or <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Legend-Zelda-Twilight-Princess-Triforce/dp/B004LEUVY6" target="_blank">here</a> in the US.<br />
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To match the keychain, you need to get a bronze-coloured chain, it helps if it already has the necklace clasp on it so you don't have to match separate findings. You can get them easily from arts and crafts shops, eBay, online jewellery shops etc. Just search "bronze necklace chain" and you should get something suitable. I got a set of 6 necklaces for a little over £2. I accidentally ordered 18 inch chains which weren't really suitable so I connected two together and trimmed off the excess with wire cutters.<br />
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I recommend getting between 26-30" chain so that it is long enough to suit the pendant. These kind of chains are what you need.<br />
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Then I took off the keychain 'loop' from the Triforce chain (pictured above) and thread the smaller Triforce chain onto the ready prepared necklace. You can remove the small chain attached to the Triforce if you want, but I liked that it could hang from the necklace a little lower.<br />
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And that's really all there is to it, a quick and cheap do-it-yourself Zelda necklace (all for under £7!) now you can make and wear your own too! Enjoy! <3 p="p"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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AmberDusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05451834639704173823noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064391337675096581.post-47556908114410726452012-08-26T19:01:00.001+01:002012-09-08T22:06:07.451+01:00Brave: An Impression<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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After months and months of waiting, first for the UK release, then for the weekend due to my new short-term job (more on that soon) I finally got to watch Pixar's <i>Brave</i> with my family last weekend.<br />
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Having been tormented by reviews and articles for months labeling the film "good" or "bad" or "unlike" a Pixar film, I was determined to not let my opinion be swayed by their judgements and hopefully enjoy it for what it was. And in the end I did, but in this particular case there are small issues to the story that my friends and I aren't sure how to deal with due to the circumstances of the film's production. So firstly, a little introduction.<br />
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When <i>Brave</i> was first announced several years ago as <i>The Bear and the Bow</i>, my friends and I were so excited about the new Pixar film, their first title to be set in a fairytale and not only to feature a female protagonist, but the studio's first feature film directed by woman, non other than Brenda Chapman who co-directed Dreamwork's <i>The Prince of Egypt</i> with Steve Hickner and Simon Wells, another favourite of mine. Later re-titled as <i>Brave</i>, the project was originally pitched and directed by Brenda Chapman who took on Steve Purcell as co-director and Steve Pilcher as concept artist.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Merida concept by Steve Pilcher</td></tr>
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Then in a highly controversial move, Pixar removed Brenda from the project in 2010 and hired Mark Andrews to direct over alleged "creative differences". Much has been speculated over this decision, indeed it is not the first time a Director has been replaced in animation or even for Pixar. Brad Bird took over from Jan Pinkava for <i>Ratatouille</i> and Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise replaced Richard Purdum on Disney's <i>Beauty and the Beast </i>and of course the infamous <i>The Thief and Cobbler</i> which was taken from Richard Williams and practically butchered into an pale imitation of the original masterpiece. Nonetheless, the bad press Pixar have since received for denying Brenda of what could have been a truly groundbreaking film, is perhaps reason for concern. When the credits started rolling on <i>Brave</i> I felt a twist in my gut seeing Mark Andrews name appear before (and not next to) Brenda Chapman's name as director. Nothing against the filmmaker of course, but the circumstances are unfortunate.<br />
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Now it has been revealed that Brenda has left Pixar and is possibly headed for Lucas Films Animation. She had this to say in the New York Times:<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It has been a heartbreakingly hard road for me over the last year and a half. When Pixar took me off of “Brave” – a story that came from my heart, inspired by my relationship with my daughter – it was devastating. Animation directors are not protected like live-action directors, who have the Directors Guild to go to battle for them. We are replaced on a regular basis – and that was a real issue for me. This was a story that I created, which came from a very personal place, as a woman and a mother. To have it taken away and given to someone else, and a man at that, was truly distressing on so many levels. But in the end, my vision came through in the film. It simply wouldn’t have worked without it (and didn’t at one point), and I knew this at my core. So I kept my head held high, stayed committed to my principles, and was supported by some strong women (and men!). In the end, it worked out, and I’m very proud of the movie, and that I ultimately stood up for myself, just like Merida, the protagonist in “Brave.”</span></blockquote>
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There have also been statements from director Mark Andrews and producer Katherine Sarafian, but when adressing the director changeover, they skirt around the topic. Mark Andrews had this to say in an article in the Metro "<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #352114; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I think Brenda and her team just kind of got stuck in labour. We gave it every chance but we had a release date and this is a business, at the end of the day." (</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.metro.co.uk/film/908803-pixar-adds-a-new-string-to-its-bow-with-brave#ixzz24fiUPYr8" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: #003399; cursor: pointer; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-style: none; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://www.metro.co.uk/film/908803-pixar-adds-a-new-string-to-its-bow-with-brave#ixzz24fiUPYr8</a>)</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Further clues are given in more Brenda Chapman interviews as slowly the story can be pieced together.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 22px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">"It does get difficult when a project goes on too long. <em style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Brave</em>’s release date kept getting pushed back after Disney bought Pixar to accommodate sequels of other Pixar films and other Disney animated films. Ideas that were once thought brilliant or funny started to feel tired and not so funny--not because they had changed, but because people got bored with seeing them so often. It’s heartbreaking some of the ideas that we lost just because people couldn’t remember their initial good reaction to them.</span></span> "</blockquote>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 22px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 22px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">"My other favorite is when both Elinor and Merida go too far after the archery scene where Merida wins herself. When Merida slashes the tapestry and Elinor retaliates by throwing the bow in the fire, they both have gone beyond what they should have. Merida is too young and inexperienced to realize her mistake in the moment, but Elinor is quicker to regret and know she has behaved badly. Her remorse gives the audience reason to love her and sympathize with her. Haven’t we all at one time or the other let ourselves cross the line and know that we didn’t do the right thing--set the good example? I do regret how the scene was eventually cut--it was only a few seconds longer, but it gave the characters more time to feel and register their emotions--as well as the audience. It feels a bit rushed to me in its current version. Nonetheless, it still gets the point across, and does its job."</span></span> </blockquote>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 22px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">(<a href="http://blogs.indiewire.com/womenandhollywood/cross-post-brenda-chapman-on-writing-brave">http://blogs.indiewire.com/womenandhollywood/cross-post-brenda-chapman-on-writing-brave</a>)</span></span> </blockquote>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Who was really in charge of changing Merida's fate?</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Because of this, I find it a very difficult film to judge: what was Brenda responsible for and what did Mark Andrews change when he came onto the film? Shouldn't the film be just as good no matter who worked on it? Perhaps the real reasons will never be known as whatever is said would sound petty and there is also confidentiality between them and Pixar. As much as I love Pixar and it's not right to start pointing out who to blame, this whole production has unintentionally revealed much of their inner workings, for better or worse. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #352114; line-height: 19px;">As much as I have rambled about the backstory of <i>Brave</i>, I do actually intend to speak about the film itself too. All in all, I still loved the film. I adored the characters--they are a triumph and shine through despite everything. Merida is strong, funny and resourceful. She doesn't get 'bowled over' by a Prince in the beginning, middle or end of the film and works hard to save the day on her own. A few papers have complained about the fact that she's still "a Disney Princess" but she certainly doesn't act like one! Perhaps by this point, a Princess rejecting marriage could just be taken as standard, as opposed to making a big deal of it. Merida could have had her adventure without the undesired prospect of marriage spurring her motivations, it didn't have to be such a big factor, but it's still refreshing to see a Princess stand with her family rather than suitor for once.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #352114; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #352114; line-height: 19px;">Merida's parents; Elinor, Fergus as well as the wi--I mean, 'wood carver' are all wonderful characters too and all of the voice acting is to such a marvelous standard, I particularly love all the rich Scottish accents, they bring such personality to the cast! The attention to detail is superb, from the little dimple or scar in Elinor's chin to the curls in Merida's hair and the decorative bears that litter the film's environments.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The most gorgeous CGI hair yet! If only I could have mine like that...</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #352114; line-height: 19px;">Visually, the film is groundbreaking. The environments, colours and lighting and the realism of performance in the acting is fantastic as usual. The bear performances are incredibly realistic, especially spell-binding transitions between distinctly human/animal behaviour. And of course the stunning hair and clothing simulation! My sister and I came out of the cinema raving about Merida's hair! So much so that my Mother and I braided my youngest sister's hair that evening so that it was all curly the following morning. Being a log, wavy brunette, I've always wanted bouncy ringlets and red hair is so beautiful! My sketchbooks are getting very side tracked into continuous Merida fanart! The environments are a true feat and are clearly well observed. After reading the 'art of' book though, it stated a few times that a huge chunk of the film was going to be set in a snowy Winter and the artwork for these sequences was so incredible I am very sad it didn't make it into the film! </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #352114; line-height: 19px;">The music is wonderful and fits the style and location so well, I was very pleased to hear Mumford and Sons take part in the soundtrack as well and the traditional Scottish style helps tie it all together. My favourite track has to be Elinor and Merida's lullaby, which is all at once haunting, beautiful and emotional. Sung in Gaelic, it is a wonderful melody.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #352114; line-height: 19px;">But criticism-wise, my concerns are mostly story related. The characters are fantastic and are entertaining as stand-alone individuals as well as when they are together. To those I've spoken to however, it's like the film had a solid beginning and end but no particular "middle". I expected a perilous, epic journey over the course of the film, but in fact most events take place in or around the castle where they live. The locations outside of the castle don't feel that far away or difficult to get too. It didn't feel like it was the right 'scale' for an adventure story. Despite the awful curse that Merida and Elinor face in the story, there was no real sense of danger or pressure until the very end.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #352114; line-height: 19px;">A couple of scenes even felt to me like they were in the wrong order; Merida's "speech" in the middle felt like a realisation for the end and the discovery of a certain character's 'absence' should have happened earlier as I'm sure someone would have noticed after a whole day and night. When Elinor's crown is misplaced, nobody mentions it later on, despite the significance the cinematography placed on it. The jokes were good but at times made the story feel too light-hearted and took some of the sincerity away. The story had consequences and lots of important things at stake, but the execution of it at times reduced this scale and didn't feel like the gripping, unpredictable stories of previous Pixar films.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Indeed, Brenda Chapman also stated in the previously quoted article that, "for a plot, I try to plan what my beginning and end will be, then figure out the path between those two points. But many people like to write “straight ahead” figuring out what happens next as they go and know the end only when they get there. I find that approach sends me on too many wild goose chases and I burn out. Others love that discovery process. I think it just depends on the writer and what feels right to them." So potentially she had the beginning and end all worked out and the middle was still being worked on at the point Mark Andrews became Director, but this is just speculation.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #352114; line-height: 19px;">There has been another article comparing the differences between <i>Brave</i> and other Pixar films (claiming that it feels more like a Disney film, which makes sense considering Brenda's background) but I won't describe them here as I personally felt a lot of them were unjust or scraping the barrel to find extra content.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #352114; line-height: 19px;">Of course, most scenes were lovely, the intro was adorable with a young Merida and every scene with Merida and Elinor together was just magical. Fortunately the ending was pure brilliance too, redeeming most issues with the middle. The conclusion was perfect and afterwards my Mother turned to my sister and I and asked "is my mascara running?". The character conflicts all came together and were resolved in an action-packed climax with spectacular music and visuals so I was very happy to see the story conclude properly.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #352114; line-height: 19px;">In conclusion, I'd <i>like</i> to say that <i>Brave</i> is a perfect film after all the expectations I built around it, and while I enjoyed it immensely and there are many aspects I loved, I feel that I can't rave about it completely. At times I even found myself at a loss for words at how to express my thoughts on it (which is partly why this "review" is a week late) because of what I had read about its production. Perhaps if I had watched it without knowing who directed it and all the politics of it, I would think differently. Instead, I feel very sad that the project was taken from the original creator and even that we have possibly been robbed from what was nearly a classic and I think that clouds my perception.<br />
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I do however, urge viewers to check it out and make up their own minds in this case. It's a lovely film nonetheless and great for families with children. Fortunately it has a wonderful pro-family and feminist message that makes a refreshing change from usual boy-centric cinema. How many animated films with mother/daughter relationships as the main focus do you know? Now compare that with animation about father/son relationships. Exactly.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #352114; line-height: 19px;">Thank you Brenda Chapman for these beautiful characters and ideas and hopefully this film and others will indicate a change for the better in female cinema roles! All the best for your filmmaking future. :)</span></div>
</span>AmberDusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05451834639704173823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064391337675096581.post-13211028124941097412012-06-18T22:36:00.002+01:002012-06-18T22:36:49.287+01:00Annecy Animation Festival 2012This year myself, 3 friends and my fiancé travelled to Annecy in France for their annual animation festival, which was fantastic! I cannot recommend it more to animation lovers and animators pursuing a career in animation!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAktRdOrGgh2wzAzSXrrHyU6gRuf0htH1lGW1YTTpiYXmMcx_ACizqMW-NwoNldMcnvSHmZuq001NzFcKYDzlmvHW9HxdsJVI9Zg2jE8SGne8ByhvQPlhW0lrqcoTH5ddC_8GMG83u_uM/s1600/DSCF6865.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAktRdOrGgh2wzAzSXrrHyU6gRuf0htH1lGW1YTTpiYXmMcx_ACizqMW-NwoNldMcnvSHmZuq001NzFcKYDzlmvHW9HxdsJVI9Zg2jE8SGne8ByhvQPlhW0lrqcoTH5ddC_8GMG83u_uM/s200/DSCF6865.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy3DGisBRc5uEIJv2ICLrqDffJnC1Y5pLEHN_zXOGYeIKzy652VlA4qV6HZqygvl7Hn3RYGhUnINIuEqDGqqQxAl6bPXmbJkZhgFD0rC-cssLZEMPAo1NSDuiTGr1D7w9ysQF7tAOrgeA/s1600/DSCF6921.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy3DGisBRc5uEIJv2ICLrqDffJnC1Y5pLEHN_zXOGYeIKzy652VlA4qV6HZqygvl7Hn3RYGhUnINIuEqDGqqQxAl6bPXmbJkZhgFD0rC-cssLZEMPAo1NSDuiTGr1D7w9ysQF7tAOrgeA/s200/DSCF6921.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">From pouring rain to sweltering hot! It was like we never left Wales!</span></div>
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As poor students, we were only camping there, which meant we managed to get soaked and sunburnt in the same week (or day, even!) thanks to highly sporadic weather, but the place is beautiful and the work was fantastic.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.animationmagazine.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/Arrugas-Wrinkles-movie-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://www.animationmagazine.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/Arrugas-Wrinkles-movie-3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Arrugas</i> (Wrinkles)</td></tr>
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Particular works of mention were the features; <i>Arrugas</i> (Wrinkles) a hauntingly touching film about growing old with Alzheimer's, <i>Approved for Adoption</i> about a Korean boy adopted into a Belgian family and the difficulties with fitting in, <i>Zarafa</i> a 2D film about an African boy traveling across Europe to save a baby giraffe and <i>A Letter to Momo</i> which is Production I.G.'s most recent feature about a girl and her mother learning to cope with the loss of their father and husband respectively (with added supernatural demons).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDlEpscAKzS16DDy8wjQA65DzixCrt-dL76P-0eSNVkM0M7iNehMnNlJs23gn8k3uaThqEjPXm7GxXwv4eGGd0du3dZUifNw4toBZOprv7_FisIvsRAfe0q2XT7ib2WQpabLS3fdrHReE/s640/hi_no_youjin_otomo_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDlEpscAKzS16DDy8wjQA65DzixCrt-dL76P-0eSNVkM0M7iNehMnNlJs23gn8k3uaThqEjPXm7GxXwv4eGGd0du3dZUifNw4toBZOprv7_FisIvsRAfe0q2XT7ib2WQpabLS3fdrHReE/s320/hi_no_youjin_otomo_01.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Hi-no-youjin</i> (Combustible)</td></tr>
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The shorts; <i>Tram</i>, a hilarious film about female sexual frustration, <i>The People Who Never Stop</i> a lovely film about the effects of the Japanese disaster last year, <i>Le Jardin Enchanté</i> a cute musical about a down-to-earth hippy and a tech-savvy guy who don't get along, <i>Chinti</i>, a sweet mixed-medium film about an ant who wants to visit the Taj Mahal, <i>Father</i> about a handful of children in different mediums who share their experiences with their fathers, <i>Pythagasaurus</i> a funny CG Aardman film about cavemen and their encounter with maths, <i>Hi-no-youjin</i> (Combustible) a beautifully detailed and ornate story about a brother and sister who are forced into social roles, <i>Paso Doble</i> a wonderfully animated sequence between a dancer and a bull and <i>The Making of Longbird</i>, a British 'making of' film documenting the restoration and remake of an old animation that turns into hilarious banter between a paper cut-out longbird with a Russian accent and it's creator... just to name a few!!<br />
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There were of course more films that we didn't even get to see and then countless CalArts and Irish screenings showing fantastic films throughout the years. It was a fantastic event. The only downsides, were, as students, the exclusivity of some of the events. The Making of Brave, Wreck-it-Ralph and the premiere of Paperman were either invite-only or so limited to seating that you had to be at the front of the queue to even get in. For the Making of Brave, we stood in a queue for 2 hours only to discover that there were only 30 tickets available for students, 22 of which were already reserved so at least 100 people were queueing for only 8 tickets!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQS8TvkXcyWc0wVT5o_UNx5GPzpzBUQCpTePNl1hAqWMhl5SOjJTUgwGI3LoMt2_UWXrRQAS3mxnn1IfNF2FiXC79HHfBLwzn-7MyaTP-wT1t7AkT7plGzLIMcgbGqc9RvEQxFfvJqXsM/s1600/IMG_4401.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQS8TvkXcyWc0wVT5o_UNx5GPzpzBUQCpTePNl1hAqWMhl5SOjJTUgwGI3LoMt2_UWXrRQAS3mxnn1IfNF2FiXC79HHfBLwzn-7MyaTP-wT1t7AkT7plGzLIMcgbGqc9RvEQxFfvJqXsM/s320/IMG_4401.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The DIsney Booth!</td></tr>
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Fortunately our day at the Disney booth at the Mifa building completely made up for our disappointments. We spent the whole day speaking with real Disney animators, concept artists, story artists and talent seekers. Their talks were fantastic and we got amazing one-on-one sessions with them afterwards to look at our portfolios. Unfortuantely I didn't have much to show but it was still an unmissable event and I'll never forget it! I'm going to try submitting my portfolio too so you never know!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQulPDCmj6RhsP_7yUpv_rzbYlLqRb8exjB_cz2GyHyO-PsUObUXcF4sQz6acikXbggTGbwR3Hb8OeTOINVODDHSQNxzWFp_Sg-LOInpA9KdEdq-XlDwuKO96ckQwnL4ajY5CZZrmC5PM/s1600/IMG_4368.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQulPDCmj6RhsP_7yUpv_rzbYlLqRb8exjB_cz2GyHyO-PsUObUXcF4sQz6acikXbggTGbwR3Hb8OeTOINVODDHSQNxzWFp_Sg-LOInpA9KdEdq-XlDwuKO96ckQwnL4ajY5CZZrmC5PM/s320/IMG_4368.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A life drawing of me and my fiancé that filmmaker Jake Nelson did at the same time that I was drawing him! I clearly wasn't being as secretive as I thought</td></tr>
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The whole experience was amazing, the food was great, the gorgeous book shops, the atmosphere and place, the films and the people! You never know who you might bump into: we shared a taxi to Annecy with the lovely Shelley Page from Dreamworks without realising it (unbelievable!) and Peter Lord from Aardman was on our flight back to Bristol--three seats in front of me!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLY2eHxyXkynBpQPfVYPe6WfwMuozuUC7cGR3XFKCOPCYSY3u_aS-Mp7SC5MOjK1LDwtwv7jd-lpiat7suaYwb7nANQxH7xr_KKaAIp06tbkvQwFFPxo8xKJAjd7jEd4JuGJWka6an8UY/s1600/IMG_4405.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLY2eHxyXkynBpQPfVYPe6WfwMuozuUC7cGR3XFKCOPCYSY3u_aS-Mp7SC5MOjK1LDwtwv7jd-lpiat7suaYwb7nANQxH7xr_KKaAIp06tbkvQwFFPxo8xKJAjd7jEd4JuGJWka6an8UY/s320/IMG_4405.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and Pascal Campion!</td></tr>
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My friend Bryony and I also bought art books by the incredible Pascal Campion who was doing a book signing at the festival. He did marvelous pen and ink drawings in our books and was such a lovely and charming guy to talk to. Hope I get to meet him again one day!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgchu_mwOd7fkSthCcdR24oPghN6ZWeRXDf4hUDGA8e6nRVo6HZygBekgMe5Q0aMrP9ioX-owTKxLgQ661derSGWmXq7WEfCJW1z3xRJ11bVRw0_-lIN5lOCeQacWX1bAk-osB6Xz8AwtI/s1600/IMG_4413.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgchu_mwOd7fkSthCcdR24oPghN6ZWeRXDf4hUDGA8e6nRVo6HZygBekgMe5Q0aMrP9ioX-owTKxLgQ661derSGWmXq7WEfCJW1z3xRJ11bVRw0_-lIN5lOCeQacWX1bAk-osB6Xz8AwtI/s400/IMG_4413.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Annecy swag!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihnE6VRpgdxpUyvBc61Tg1vJ71Q4ZXXgUVTknKPBaFtJTme8AkUK77Dp5i_Psmr_YvFB6j6ouLzVVQhNuscpkRrMwOOQRArEbw5MX7nYUgfVKDlzNGs3U50OsT7aQw36PH8egCUotwxpg/s1600/IMG_4414.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihnE6VRpgdxpUyvBc61Tg1vJ71Q4ZXXgUVTknKPBaFtJTme8AkUK77Dp5i_Psmr_YvFB6j6ouLzVVQhNuscpkRrMwOOQRArEbw5MX7nYUgfVKDlzNGs3U50OsT7aQw36PH8egCUotwxpg/s320/IMG_4414.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pascal's drawing of his family at a Caribbean beach!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAqaUF_xQ03s2vz193IL9YHzsirQXUwFiyRMIzA6_lotednVdnNf7qRLdz3CIpdmm_W7naJO-fiNVw2ZF1RAvKaOeqWoZZQbnN-4iEzll56VGJYNO3iqhjw1BbPmSkL3s0dL0Ywv2rCEM/s1600/IMG_4415.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAqaUF_xQ03s2vz193IL9YHzsirQXUwFiyRMIzA6_lotednVdnNf7qRLdz3CIpdmm_W7naJO-fiNVw2ZF1RAvKaOeqWoZZQbnN-4iEzll56VGJYNO3iqhjw1BbPmSkL3s0dL0Ywv2rCEM/s400/IMG_4415.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pascal's drawing of his family at a Caribbean beach!</td></tr>
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My friends and I hope to go again next year, cannot wait! :D ... As long as we don't have to camp again, ha ha!AmberDusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05451834639704173823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064391337675096581.post-75699802174098862062011-12-29T19:46:00.000+00:002011-12-29T19:46:26.542+00:00A Very Busy Year IndeedActivity on this blog has been pretty slow lately, reason being I'm on my final year of University and I'm now at the point of making a 3+ minute animated film which all of my time and work is going into. I have another blog on this account where I upload all of my progress, so if you wish to follow my film "Acorns" do have a look.<br />
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<a href="http://littleacornfilm.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="262" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vSsdfEa3GwM/Tvyy6AaeTRI/AAAAAAAAApE/TX8LGB9TisA/s320/Film-Poster-02.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://littleacornfilm.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Acorns - Production Blog for a Short Film by Gemma Roberts</a></div>
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As 2011 draws to a close, I'm very excited to get into the production of my film. I'm just finishing pre-production now, so designs and story are still being tweaked until they are final for about mid-January. I'm animating, colouring and compositing by myself with assistance from a composer and my housemate who does sound mixing for the post-production soundtrack side of things. It's a lot of work so I'm anxious, but still excited!<br />
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So yeah, don't expect a lot here, but do see my other blog for production updates!<br />
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Apart from that, I had a fab 21st Birthday seeing the Zelda 25th Anniversary Symphony in London... utterly fantastic performance and atmosphere, I have the recorded performance too from the special edition of Skyward Sword which is incredible, but only 8 tracks! It was a great night and I highly anticipate their return next year!<br />
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A week after I visited home to catch up with family after my Birthday and to see Tori Amos in Manchester who was stunning, not everyone's cup of tea, but an amazing singer and she did lots of classic songs including <i>Precious Things</i> which my sister did a fantastic music video of in college last Spring.<br />
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Then in November, I saw Lee Evans in Cardiff followed by Alter Bridge a week after, which were two more great nights. Lee Evans was hilarious and it was my first time seeing him so it was a great experience. And Alter Bridge were supported by Theory of a Deadman and Black Stone Cherry so that was amazing goes without saying.<br />
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Things settled down late November/December as work picked up. I was creating a detailed production bible for my first deadline which was far more work than I realised. It's a collection of my art showcasing what my film and characters would look like and contained my latest animatic, synopsis, schedule, budget, storyboard and other information that would be necessary to make my film. Basically it should be enough information about your film (visual + written) that if you were not able to make it, the bible could be passed to someone else to finish, so it has to be really thorough.<br />
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Fortunately I got everything prepared for the deadline after two weeks of non-stop work and then spent the next 3-4 days writing 4000 words for my dissertation first draft, which I so wanted to start in November but kept favouring other work instead. My dissertation is about the portrayal of men and masculinity in animation with examples to <i>Tangled</i> and <i>Beauty and the Beast</i>. It's based on an article by Susan Jeffords called <i>The Curse of Masculinity</i> which spoke about Disney's <i>Beauty and the Beast </i>and how the story was about focusing on the Beast instead of Belle by making him childish and selfish instead of sophisticated but not actually taking responsibility to change himself. All very interesting but I won't delve into it now!<br />
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Now I'm home for Christmas and New Year which has been lovely and flying past much too quickly! I've recently rediscovered a love of watercolour that I've been using to paint friends and family personalised Christmas cards. These are my paintings! :)<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aePVRRfIqgQ/Tvy7z-em6uI/AAAAAAAAApQ/C0Xm1EAR5Ts/s1600/Compilation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aePVRRfIqgQ/Tvy7z-em6uI/AAAAAAAAApQ/C0Xm1EAR5Ts/s400/Compilation.jpg" width="302" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These are characters from my friend's films, excluding the direwolf 'Snow' and the Moshi Monster 'Zommer'!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zk2QuTgiq8U/Tvy74bXj4II/AAAAAAAAApY/_XF4YbbpBtY/s1600/Compilation-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zk2QuTgiq8U/Tvy74bXj4II/AAAAAAAAApY/_XF4YbbpBtY/s400/Compilation-2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These are for my family, the animals are originals (the bunnies and the daschund are based off pets) then there's Link and Zelda from 'Skyward Sword', Cloud from 'Kingdom Hearts', a dragon-esque 'My Little Pony' and a homage to James Hance's 'Wookie the Chew' crossover.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I'm using watercolour now for some of my film's concept art, which I can't wait to upload and paint more of. I've done an expression sheet for my character Amber and she looks very cute coloured... it looks like it would make a sweet children's book, so I might see about putting it together if I ever have time!<br />
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I've so much to read at the moment too, I got <i>lots</i> of art books for Christmas... The Art of The Lion King (amazing! My Mum managed to find it on eBay), Harry Potter: Page to Screen (a massive, in-depth look behind the art of all 7-8 films), The Art of Kiki's Delivery Service, Watercolour Impressions of Nausicaä and then The Art of My Neighbour Totoro left over from my Birthday... they are the best inspiration I could ask for, I just hope I have time to read them all! My youngest sister got the art of Okami as well, which is the most luxuriously designed and presented book--utterly beautiful and may just have to get a copy myself! And on top of that, the <i>Game of Thrones</i> book series, so I'm set for the next year!<br />
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All in all it's been the best Christmas in a long time, it's been great to be home and I'm not really ready to go back to Uni yet! Hopefully I can get myself back into a working frame of mind soon!<br />
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Until then, have a great new year! Ta ta for now! :)<br />
Love Gem xoxoxAmberDusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05451834639704173823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064391337675096581.post-58692546412805444642011-10-25T00:59:00.001+01:002011-10-25T01:00:55.098+01:00Alex's Birthday "Link" DrawingBelow is a drawing I did for my boyfriend for his Birthday... got to see <i>The Adventures of Tin-Tin: The Secret of the Unicorn</i> in celebration tonight which was pretty cool--the animated transitions between sequences and storytelling/flashbacks in the film was fantastic. Still not too keen on the style, but I enjoyed the nod in the beginning to the original artist and style. It was very entertaining with some good laughs and action.<br />
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Tomorrow we are off to London to see <i>The Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary Symphony </i>in celebration of my own Birthday (my boyfriend and I are one day and a year apart)<i> </i>which will be fantastic. It's going to be difficult to top this year's outing!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 9px; font-weight: bold;"></span><br />
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Anyway, here's the drawing of 'chibi' Link as he appears in <i>Wind Waker</i> playing an Ocarina in homage to the <i>Ocarina of Time</i> artwork, I thought it only appropriate and he liked it rather a lot. It's drawn with pen and colour pencils using reference. :3<br />
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</div>AmberDusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05451834639704173823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064391337675096581.post-61549420687461942312011-09-26T22:15:00.001+01:002011-09-26T22:16:03.136+01:00How to Make a Scott Pilgrim "Plumtree" T-ShirtHi all, here's a little tutorial for a shirt I customised for my boyfriend, Alex, to cosplay Scott Pilgrim for a party. Below is a step-by-step of how to make a "Plumtree" T-shirt like the one Scott Pilgrim wears in the movie, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLTfe1JLg77wQkXJRLfGUOs5UdYOWDGOhqvXeeTiYR3JKEVFRog0WMzdlL9vWiROarJV20je1xGSLHpRTj-emGVVUydH2SZMdummPoizjCjvUAQbFvYMMul7cb49MR_pL9zaG6-wh5ksk/s1600/IMG_3675.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLTfe1JLg77wQkXJRLfGUOs5UdYOWDGOhqvXeeTiYR3JKEVFRog0WMzdlL9vWiROarJV20je1xGSLHpRTj-emGVVUydH2SZMdummPoizjCjvUAQbFvYMMul7cb49MR_pL9zaG6-wh5ksk/s320/IMG_3675.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
You'll need:<br />
<ul><li>1x blank Yellow T-Shirt</li>
<li>1x sheet of sturdy A4 card that can be printed on</li>
<li>A craft knife or scalpel</li>
<li>A mat or thick card to protect surfaces from the knife</li>
<li>Spray mount/spray adhesive</li>
<li>Red spray paint (for fabric)</li>
<li>Scrap newspaper to cover surfaces<br />
</li>
</ul>I had most of the necessary equipment already, but the T-Shirt and red spray paint only cost £6 all together! Look in pound shops and cheap clothing places like Primark! Firstly, print off the Plumtree logo onto an A4 sheet of sturdy card. You can grab the image I used here courtesy of http://s18.photobucket.com/home/rpaterson<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijqTDqjT0rkriTgD7TR4IFJUUfW-FId6jiWALW2XHB7nbn7tuuCHFPm-aKAR8koB-KbV6jJPYI9j7NxR6mFEgDo8JCB6QjaC3S2j7dsSuQQxfKkIuK4Nmqx7IfnhBn-9IMQLNLcq9AoMc/s1600/Plumtree.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="108" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijqTDqjT0rkriTgD7TR4IFJUUfW-FId6jiWALW2XHB7nbn7tuuCHFPm-aKAR8koB-KbV6jJPYI9j7NxR6mFEgDo8JCB6QjaC3S2j7dsSuQQxfKkIuK4Nmqx7IfnhBn-9IMQLNLcq9AoMc/s320/Plumtree.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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Once it's printed, use a craft knife and a mat or thick card to protect whatever surface you're using to carefully cut out each letter, removing the coloured letters and leaving the white card to create the stencil. This can also be done as a sticky stencil if you have the right materials, but this was all I had at the time!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioiUatfgKh7_eQhDdSQ5Jet1l5P4zXUqUi-JZgeGEhN20hylTkhoAGj_nxx7Vz08gYFHK1fyPWPV_drOtYzmi8ASOs1AUxFjdhyphenhyphen781910C3Thgky8fwJwyANUZuzOrGmjnrDJ2jmNO_I8/s1600/IMG_3674.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioiUatfgKh7_eQhDdSQ5Jet1l5P4zXUqUi-JZgeGEhN20hylTkhoAGj_nxx7Vz08gYFHK1fyPWPV_drOtYzmi8ASOs1AUxFjdhyphenhyphen781910C3Thgky8fwJwyANUZuzOrGmjnrDJ2jmNO_I8/s320/IMG_3674.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Remember when cutting out to connect the inner sections of letters like "P" and "R" to the main stencil to make it easier. Or keep the bits you cut out to stick on the shirt later. When you're finished it should look like this:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1DvsJn72fL0Kp-48f5oWNoJV_IhQXoo66XvGpGvqIssshnJ4Wcoqg8Sttwx-5ecQi5ilB2s226cZhEaZjPuVFhmBTxn4DQaw_uAzAS5sNYaOiqgYyNBEjipBamsIYstqOShX76nN11dc/s1600/IMG_3676.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1DvsJn72fL0Kp-48f5oWNoJV_IhQXoo66XvGpGvqIssshnJ4Wcoqg8Sttwx-5ecQi5ilB2s226cZhEaZjPuVFhmBTxn4DQaw_uAzAS5sNYaOiqgYyNBEjipBamsIYstqOShX76nN11dc/s320/IMG_3676.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Next, stick the stencil to your T-Shirt using adhesive spray on the back of it. Make sure it is securely stuck to the fabric, so that none of the spray paint will bleed through the lettering. Put some card or newspaper inside the shirt (beneath the stencil) so that the spray won't seep through to the back of the shirt.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhptwACsOGoGJH2RG6wefjlWjTbaP74ryZFhFSCYGgfGs4UYq5vPdlUNRzYFtiyLHunWW1a3JspHjjHcOdlvTMb43cARdy2O8pYffucWwscl4finUrR10QrZgNIZNmpV5TO5YCiRVomcSY/s1600/IMG_3678.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhptwACsOGoGJH2RG6wefjlWjTbaP74ryZFhFSCYGgfGs4UYq5vPdlUNRzYFtiyLHunWW1a3JspHjjHcOdlvTMb43cARdy2O8pYffucWwscl4finUrR10QrZgNIZNmpV5TO5YCiRVomcSY/s320/IMG_3678.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Before you get spraying the paint around, cover nearby surfaces with some old newspaper to avoid ruining the carpet! Cover the rest of the T-Shirt too as the spray has a large radius!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz9PIPxSZz7uyzQ9nf0SmYtYYiAynETjP4GypiR9Z4BuTBhPyCPwYLC-spkt5Joj6msk0W0LbIyCxFWO4ZZQyViEwthjbk2pSeAzKRvCqC02Dz7r8vKwDJ-3rfIK4nKrJhv0VJe8fw_7s/s1600/IMG_3679.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz9PIPxSZz7uyzQ9nf0SmYtYYiAynETjP4GypiR9Z4BuTBhPyCPwYLC-spkt5Joj6msk0W0LbIyCxFWO4ZZQyViEwthjbk2pSeAzKRvCqC02Dz7r8vKwDJ-3rfIK4nKrJhv0VJe8fw_7s/s320/IMG_3679.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Now you're ready to get started! Make sure you have a little practice spraying the paint on some scrap newspaper first to make sure it's not blotchy or dripping and to get a feel for spraying evenly. When you're confident enough, spray the shirt from several inches around and move quickly and evenly left and right to avoid blotchy coverage. Don't spray too thickly or the design might bleed through!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ7AGr5hly3nFokEqeggvlQgf2keYZwYbxVpbqS3fKweY9D7MT0PD6TwDU9JJJ-9GAxHiOi6SS4FD2B76gkFzN3EVy9_-v_NnBJ3jkM79hV4TFtObE0vAySSPiroXXOTlzzbt-IjaVZFg/s1600/IMG_3680.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ7AGr5hly3nFokEqeggvlQgf2keYZwYbxVpbqS3fKweY9D7MT0PD6TwDU9JJJ-9GAxHiOi6SS4FD2B76gkFzN3EVy9_-v_NnBJ3jkM79hV4TFtObE0vAySSPiroXXOTlzzbt-IjaVZFg/s320/IMG_3680.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Slowly peel off the stencil and place to one side on some extra newspaper.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8d0OCGTghMQL-5Pms0dn9wBdFgMchIiZxtxFO9m-cgM3sdFdBxWK7tFq7Xxt55VKnTtXwE4sGVCvSJGQ1U8DZ88_MR3bNjIkUsCRY0xbgRAlfmXhXkWOqOxFdjVUp2VRStGxt6txy-TM/s1600/IMG_3681.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8d0OCGTghMQL-5Pms0dn9wBdFgMchIiZxtxFO9m-cgM3sdFdBxWK7tFq7Xxt55VKnTtXwE4sGVCvSJGQ1U8DZ88_MR3bNjIkUsCRY0xbgRAlfmXhXkWOqOxFdjVUp2VRStGxt6txy-TM/s320/IMG_3681.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Ta-Dah! Not bad, though there is some bleed on the letter "P", which goes to show how careful you need to be to avoid messy mistakes like this! I didn't want to risk spraying the sleeves and collar red too, but you can give it a go yourself if you're up to it! Leave to dry and enjoy your new Scott Pilgrim shirt!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYh_nYqEbgnUAwuMN3BJzN2pRfyRdTYEInPUj7jYgRdvmSOcGaN_mKKUVtSOBVznpOzZXMIWBJIc35UNRqD-F69FiyLxsZrCczwYG0qmZTFY8ge7rVZGeYxV1_X3tzw8xAmf3OILcqW3E/s1600/IMG_3682.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYh_nYqEbgnUAwuMN3BJzN2pRfyRdTYEInPUj7jYgRdvmSOcGaN_mKKUVtSOBVznpOzZXMIWBJIc35UNRqD-F69FiyLxsZrCczwYG0qmZTFY8ge7rVZGeYxV1_X3tzw8xAmf3OILcqW3E/s320/IMG_3682.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXCYsdfXh1VylKxS9HWB3FzCDoEMCFybl90cN625PwiHpz1ulcWGqmJyKgCJdGB-AGbD-z5JSqXdku3KIEN7t8-NYMdci591Xm_G6uHrgoNJ4bQ6UdyhfeG4WoWtMDGJjHJq1o_tHa86Y/s1600/IMG_3684.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXCYsdfXh1VylKxS9HWB3FzCDoEMCFybl90cN625PwiHpz1ulcWGqmJyKgCJdGB-AGbD-z5JSqXdku3KIEN7t8-NYMdci591Xm_G6uHrgoNJ4bQ6UdyhfeG4WoWtMDGJjHJq1o_tHa86Y/s320/IMG_3684.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
As a final note, depending on the spray paint you used, your design may come off in the wash, so definitely wash on low temperature between 15-30 degrees and don't mix with whites!<br />
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Enjoy! :3<br />
Gemma xoxAmberDusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05451834639704173823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064391337675096581.post-63425525465874369512011-09-10T00:36:00.001+01:002011-09-10T00:37:32.249+01:00Abstract African ArtNew art up on DeviantArt tonight! <br />
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An 18x24 Acrylic painting I did as a 'thank you' present for my Nan and Grandad, for all of their support during my Uni years. <3<br />
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They love South Africa and their culture and fab animals and art, so I painted this inspired by African colours, designs and creatures (and the land mass itself) for their living room.<br />
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It was great to go back to real paints again, though it looked pretty awful to begin with and took many layers of paint to get the colour and shapes right! Just goes to show that I should have planned it more! XD There's a load of gold paint on it too, which looks a lot better in person, but hopefully you get the gist!<br />
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<a href="http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/257592213/">Abstract Africa</a> by *<a class="u" href="http://amberdust.deviantart.com/">AmberDust</a> on <a href="http://www.deviantart.com/">deviant</a><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/">ART</a><br />
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Enjoy! :3<br />
Gem xoxAmberDusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05451834639704173823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064391337675096581.post-85581884603903522242011-09-06T23:42:00.000+01:002011-09-06T23:42:37.604+01:00Anya's Ghost by Vera BrosgolA couple of my Uni animation friends recommended this fantastic graphic novel to me by storyboard artist, Vera Brosgol. I enjoyed it so much I had to write a quick 'nutshell' review and spread the word! :)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.floatingworldcomics.com/main/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/anyas-ghost.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.floatingworldcomics.com/main/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/anyas-ghost.jpg" width="281" /></a></div><br />
Vera Brosgol captures an engaging story with realistic characters (even despite one of them being a ghost from 70 years ago!) in her brilliant graphic novel debut. It tells a modern story of a Russian girl trying to fit in with American culture in high school, get noticed by her crush, lose weight, get popular and of course avoid daily embarrassments to retain the remaining shreds of her dignity, but all that changes when she literally stumbles upon a ghost whose been waiting for a rescuer for 70 years. The ghost, Emily, has the ability to change Anya's life as well as be the friend she always wanted! However, when Anya gets what she wants, she starts to realise that appearances can be deceiving...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.wired.com/geekdad/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/AnyasGhost-excerpt-12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.wired.com/geekdad/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/AnyasGhost-excerpt-12.jpg" width="220" /></a></div>Anya's Ghost is a mature story that doesn't patronise or talk down to the reader, (like some teen books do!) and is entertaining for any age, but particularly teen girls, like Anya, who may identify by their current or past experiences. The artwork is carefully rendered in a simple, but very expressive way which relates you to Vera's lovely characters even more.<br />
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It's an utter page turner from beginning to end, and I remember savoring the last pages, taking everything in slowly in my attempt to make the book last longer! I didn't want it to end and sincerely hope Brosgol has a sequel in the works!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/AnyasGhost-excerpt-7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/AnyasGhost-excerpt-7.jpg" width="219" /></a></div>I highly recommend this to graphic novel lovers and teenage girls/young women everywhere!! If you need further convincing, the <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Anyas-Ghost-Vera-Brosgol/dp/1596435526/">book is available on Amazon.co.uk for £7.61</a> (and for <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Anyas-Ghost-Vera-Brosgol/dp/1596437138">$13.59 on Amazon.com in America</a>) and you can check out Vera's amazing art and style on her blog here:<br />
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<a href="http://verabee.com/">Verabee.com</a><br />
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And of course it comes highly praised by critically acclaimed writers, Neil Gaiman and Scott McCloud... need I say more??<br />
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Enjoy! :)<br />
Gem xoxAmberDusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05451834639704173823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064391337675096581.post-3562239287933426432011-08-29T12:12:00.000+01:002011-08-29T12:12:47.807+01:00Sunset Colour StudiesHere's a progression of a sunset outside my window yesterday, as a rough colour study. The first image took around 10 minutes in Photoshop and the following two took just over 5 minutes each to change colour, mood and make tweaks to the original painting.<br />
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I had to be very quick as the colours vanished in just a few minutes! Enjoy! :)<br />
Gem xoxAmberDusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05451834639704173823noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064391337675096581.post-28863409166972338142011-08-28T00:08:00.000+01:002011-08-28T00:08:03.951+01:00Final Film Idea 'Seedlings'Hey all, (not neglecting the bloggin's today, hurrah!)<br />
So, as previously mentioned, I've been racking my brains <i>ALL</i> summer trying to come up with an idea for my Final Film for the third year at University. This has proved unimaginably difficult as it's got to be a story that..<br />
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A. Has entertaining characters and story<br />
B. Has personal meaning to me<br />
C. Is actually FUN to do, otherwise I'm spending a year developing and animating (at 24 drawings per second!) something I don't even like!<br />
D. Makes a statement<br />
E. And (hopefully) displays my abilities as a character animator, designer and storyteller so I can get some kind of employment after Uni<br />
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So I've been really stressed out about this, though it's not like I haven't been coming up with ideas, the problem is coming up with the <i>right</i> idea.<br />
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After writing a couple of shorts that would work well as storybook animatic videos (but not my final film) I came up with a short animation idea about the creation of Earth, but from the perspective of twin creation students (or Gods-in-training). One (sister) is creative and passionate, while the other (brother) is wise and logical, so, naturally, they bicker and everything goes wrong. I also dabbled with the prospect of them creating humanity too, but eventually I decided against this one as the characters just aren't involving enough. Perhaps I will reattempt it at a later date.<br />
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Fortunately, just the other night I was hit by a brainwave while trying to get to sleep (isn't that always the way?). I'd been watching a DVD of Pixar shorts with the Director commentary on which was really interesting. I wrote a list of what I thought each short was trying to say, for example, <i>For the Birds</i> is about bullying and peer pressure, but not condoning it of course! Later I wrote a list of messages that I would like to say, such as self-acceptance and the grass not always being greener on the other side.<br />
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Eventually it hit me: I'm a very sentimental person and nostalgia the loss of treasured possessions means a lot to me, which is why Pixar's <i>Up</i>, really gets to me! Thus, I wrote a story that centered around sentimentality. Without further ado, here is an image illustrating my three favourite ideas (some old, some new) I'll explain them below. Open the image to view it at a larger size if the text isn't readable enough.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6kS9AXkBFdkDAIAihLTazeySla0rPAe1QYliASuCeP40KhdbfVywrckc0iDXGgiCUoteAp80QkNW29FnopQt7fo_u6FFbXiCIJl5WLL6Bxntsy__fV8zh08UFNy6loUptgpzkBTzi8kY/s1600/Final-Film-Ideas-Small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6kS9AXkBFdkDAIAihLTazeySla0rPAe1QYliASuCeP40KhdbfVywrckc0iDXGgiCUoteAp80QkNW29FnopQt7fo_u6FFbXiCIJl5WLL6Bxntsy__fV8zh08UFNy6loUptgpzkBTzi8kY/s400/Final-Film-Ideas-Small.jpg" width="282" /></a></div><br />
1. The first, <i>Princess-in-Waiting</i> is all about a short-tempered Princess who is fed up of waiting for her Prince so she travels on her very own pet dragon to seek Mr. "<i>Charming</i>" for her revenge! She's a modern, arse-kicking girl who much prefers black glasses and leather jackets to her embroidered dress and tiara! It's a bit of a joke short as just when she thinks she gets what she wants (peace and quiet) suddenly there are Prince Charming's <i>everywhere</i>, all desperate for her hand in marriage!<br />
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So this is a fun short, but it's not particularly personal to me and a little too "<i>Shrek-like</i>" for my liking, so it's more of a back-up.<br />
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2. Second is an untitled film where I was thinking about self-acceptance through physically destroying your inner demons. This would take place in a surreal world, perhaps in this girl's mind, where she has trapped herself with her own thoughts and fears. I thought a series of trials would be interesting to see her tackle them in different ways until she at last realises the answer lies in eliminating the negative aspects of her personality, rather than killing the demons her mind has conjured around her.<br />
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Not a lot of development on this one, but might be interesting at some point to do a crazy <i>Alice in Wonderland/Labyrinth</i> style tale.<br />
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3. <i>"Great Oaks From Little Acorns Grow"</i> or "<i>The Girl Who Won't Grow Up</i>". This is my favourite story so far (not to create bias or anything...) as it's personal and has an emotional character arc. It's about a little girl, Amber, who grows up in and around this majestic oak tree, it's got a tree house, a swing and her friends would go there to play. We see snapshots of her life as she grows up, but she remains as childish as when she was young. It's gonna be all about growing up, letting go and moving on, but in an emotional and maybe touching/heartwarming way if done right.<br />
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There's a bit more to this story, which I'll cover in future posts, but for now, I hope you guys like what I've come up with, and if you don't please leave a comment with some constructive crits as any feedback will be appreciated!<br />
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Now I can relax and focus now I actually have some ideas! Many thanks, I'll be posting again soon!<br />
Laters,<br />
Gemma xoxAmberDusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05451834639704173823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064391337675096581.post-56974032511699587442011-08-05T23:04:00.000+01:002011-08-05T23:04:53.496+01:00Summer, Sonisphere and StuffHi all, and surprise, surprise, another massive gap between journals. I'm really gonna have to break out of this seeing as I'll need to keep an up to date blog for my next film!<br />
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So, last time I updated was April, when I was developing a group film at Uni: <a href="http://dimensionality.weebly.com/">Dimensionality</a>. Good news is, we just about finished the film and passed, bad news is, we handed in late and lost a lot of marks for it. Moral of the story? It's better to hand in unfinished work ON TIME than it is to let it get overdue to finish it. <br />
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Unfortunately the film isn't online yet as the effects are still being finished by one of the group members, but here's a compilation video of all the animation I did for it.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="314" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3jtfdmiMtmc" width="500"></iframe><br />
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Here's a matte painting example of the look of each shot... hopefully the finished film will be online soon!<br />
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And here's the stack of paper I went through... 1277 sheets!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDGAA2DIbV5WI8G9TAw7ltRy_yj-ePyh7fcTDU4PBxmwwDQ_edajrCBZzjTtgWSRrPJp2MT1KI_GnGfW2jI-7spGEG66nrSTE-CtZganVSRpnXvLKJjC5kwKpspMIkzx0XgtDYMQrfWG0/s1600/IMG_2929.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDGAA2DIbV5WI8G9TAw7ltRy_yj-ePyh7fcTDU4PBxmwwDQ_edajrCBZzjTtgWSRrPJp2MT1KI_GnGfW2jI-7spGEG66nrSTE-CtZganVSRpnXvLKJjC5kwKpspMIkzx0XgtDYMQrfWG0/s400/IMG_2929.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Fortunately the rest of my work went well, I got a high mark for my essay about Masculinity in <i>The Incredibles</i> (using Susan Jeffords' <i>The Curse of Masculinity</i> 1995 as my source), helped third years in making three films by doing 2D animation and even a voiceover (!) and designed some new business cards below!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia_JWKhbs2TFW2UhH5wsYjoFHSaPEEpDZgfc6uSX5AazrFRqvDYWfTWqe99UeUN2Ly0ootkEFbyf7-P70aQkYMzpejhuue5EWnm3bOJKitDlYy7vwtvbux-iomKAuLRlS9cjcymg8xlxw/s1600/BC-Favourites-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia_JWKhbs2TFW2UhH5wsYjoFHSaPEEpDZgfc6uSX5AazrFRqvDYWfTWqe99UeUN2Ly0ootkEFbyf7-P70aQkYMzpejhuue5EWnm3bOJKitDlYy7vwtvbux-iomKAuLRlS9cjcymg8xlxw/s400/BC-Favourites-small.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
I asked family and friends and members of DeviantArt to vote for their favourite, turned out the giraffes won, so that's what I printed at Moo.com for my cards, although I will probably redesign it again to correspond to my final film next year! <br />
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I also applied for work experience at <a href="http://www.berylproductions.co.uk/">Beryl Productions</a> in Cardiff with Joanna Quinn where I enjoyed three days of animating, drawing matte lines (for colouring the muzzles and tummies of the Charmin bears!) and learning from the talented animators and clean-up artists there! I can't wait to work there again next term!<br />
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Here's a lil' frame from a walk cycle I animated with help from Joanna for a pre-commercial... I don't think I can put it anywhere until it is broadcast though, so enjoy this taster! ;)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoaSfX9c4QlX_kQZrA1WUuz1iZ-DtxFz4VjKYfjLhZKXjKuSZQLOoa_17OBAGrb6gNFhO3Q7zriufelk6_1fgEPsZFbTSNN9ivoB2fDJ6BJjC1ZEaSoC6zZlySZg2S10Gmg2DwgphrGHw/s1600/Sketch-11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoaSfX9c4QlX_kQZrA1WUuz1iZ-DtxFz4VjKYfjLhZKXjKuSZQLOoa_17OBAGrb6gNFhO3Q7zriufelk6_1fgEPsZFbTSNN9ivoB2fDJ6BJjC1ZEaSoC6zZlySZg2S10Gmg2DwgphrGHw/s400/Sketch-11.jpg" width="350" /></a></div><br />
Now my second year is over, I'm spending the summer to gear up for my third year, in which I'll be writing my dissertation (similar themes to my previously mentioned essay) and making a short animated film, solo, with some help from second and third years (with luck).<br />
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No plans for my final film just yet, I've been actively writing stories and getting back into painting, it should just be a case of sitting down and writing a film idea that I want to produce and is personal to me... I've been putting it off for far too long, so this month I'm going to have to write it before my next semester starts in September so I can present it! I'll be posting progress up of course, either on this blog or a new one which I will link to. All I really know so far is that it will be a 2D film, possibly to do with gender roles! (Like my dissertation!)<br />
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And in addition to this, I'm drawing comics with a director/writer I'm working for, doing an animatic about a short duck story for a friend of mine and attempting to do some personal work while I have the "time"! <br />
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Other than that, I've been to the Sonisphere Festival in Knebworth last month, camping with friends which was amazing... it was probably the biggest amount of people I'd ever seen in one place! I saw the Big 4 with Metallica, as well as Sum41, Airbourne, Weezer, Biffy Clyro and Bill Bailey... who were all <b><i>awesome</i></b>. I even got to high-five Rivers Cuomo--whooo! :D<br />
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Here's the four of us at the campsite! (I'm the short one!) :P <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKPGiIsFQucpTTReWGwNaUeutFnJ4Cjs8bl_592vJP5A_EuANqq3-D-GqmdnrQaKQp8InM4y_Mj98zZlcmizmw50ntgZMP6URVyDDrMdjpyCDYS9mjuCruFJTtEaPIdTe-bh7eqGNM_cw/s400/IMG_3215.JPG" width="400" /></div><br />
Apart from that, things have been fairly uneventful, I've been on the South Beach diet for a few weeks now and I've already lost a stone! I don't have much to lose, it's just a case of cutting back after having too many carbs at Uni! :P Will have to eat healthier this year! >.<<br />
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I've got some new artwork that went up on DeviantArt recently... here's the linkage! I submitted it to ImagineFX's 'Rising Stars 2011' competition, so wish me luck! :)<br />
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<object height="345" width="450"><param name="movie" value="http://backend.deviantart.com/embed/view.swf" /><param name="flashvars" value="id=245880268&width=1337" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://backend.deviantart.com/embed/view.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="450" flashvars="id=245880268&width=1337" height="345" allowscriptaccess="always"></embed></object><br />
<a href="http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/245880268/">Guardian Spirit of the Forest</a> by ~<a class="u" href="http://amberdust.deviantart.com/">AmberDust</a> on <a href="http://www.deviantart.com/">deviant</a><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/">ART</a><br />
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And I'm thinking of investing in a new iMac 21.5" for my work and Uni, particularly after my sister got one a few days ago... but still mulling it over... And of course there was the epic Harry Potter conclusion recently, which I've seen twice but that's me just about up to date for now... I'll be making myself update more regularly for the next year to get into the habit of doing so... it's quite therapeutic really! ^.^ <br />
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I hope this update wasn't too overwhelming... I'll be posting something (shorter) again soon though! Ta ta for now! :)<br />
Gemma xoxAmberDusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05451834639704173823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064391337675096581.post-87177653769299169572011-04-20T00:03:00.000+01:002011-04-20T00:03:08.314+01:00So-Called "Break"Hi all! Time for another infrequent update! I'm back home now for the Easter break, along with all of my Uni work of course! I actually hole-punched over 600 sheets of animation paper ten-at-a-time to begin animating my group project, (working title, <i>Dimensionality</i>) during the weeks "off". I've started some tests and will be moving onto completing rough animation later this week.<br />
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The short film is all about the relationship between 2D and 3D and how one is always trying to be the other in modern films, when really they should celebrate their differences! The film is for a brief called Recoding Conventions, so we do actually have to bring something original to the table which we're doing by showing (without dialogue) that 2D and 3D are equals but could actually better themselves by simply learning from each other.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitJK4ySpp5sWBnVYuSj8Sw2H3sVBL8ysuwtZdQmh2tmthN9JC7Hq9ahz2o_FQWO3l7JJ5qbgQ0wkL2POnZMnGWHa3bt6FhuymcfyxApFqXlDKZWcfVCRg4yOz5-zdTiLoQGzP6XhPdTIo/s1600/TWO.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitJK4ySpp5sWBnVYuSj8Sw2H3sVBL8ysuwtZdQmh2tmthN9JC7Hq9ahz2o_FQWO3l7JJ5qbgQ0wkL2POnZMnGWHa3bt6FhuymcfyxApFqXlDKZWcfVCRg4yOz5-zdTiLoQGzP6XhPdTIo/s320/TWO.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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The concept got quite complicated, so we've gone headfirst into production to make sense of it all! I'm working with animator's Ben, Vikki and Rob, all very talented people! Everything's looking great so far, I'll be posting progress when I can.<br />
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In the meantime, you can check out our blog where our script and pre-production is getting updated every day!<br />
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<a href="http://dimensionality.weebly.com/">Dimensionality @ Weebly.com</a><br />
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At the moment, I'm on a juggling act between getting something like 35 shots animated for this project and spending time with family and friends. It doesn't seem to be going too badly, but I'm really going to have to knuckle down with this work as soon as possible! I saw Rio today with some friends which was a very enjoyable film, cliché at times, but fun and bright and colourful and very funny! Jemaine Clement as the bird Nigel was fabulous and he even has a song! <3<br />
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Other news... I met amazing artist and animator Joanna Quinn a couple of weeks ago, and what an extraordinary lecture and meeting it was! She's based in Cardiff and is the creator of a wonderful character called Beryl and the bears on the old Charmin ads! She's an incredible person and with luck I may have some work experience at her studio in the summer, I simply cannot wait! :)<br />
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I finished a short piece of animation for a third year animating some birdies. It may look short and simple, but was actually a beast to put together because of all the layers! D:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="283" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/kSor0FFDzy8" title="YouTube video player" width="450"></iframe><br />
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And I completed a quick commission for a friend's University project where King Arthur returns to a post-apocalyptic London... that was 6-8 hours work.<br />
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<object height="569" width="450"><param name="movie" value="http://backend.deviantart.com/embed/view.swf" /><param name="flashvars" value="id=204603875&width=1337" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://backend.deviantart.com/embed/view.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="450" flashvars="id=204603875&width=1337" height="569" allowscriptaccess="always"></embed></object><br />
<a href="http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/204603875/">King's Awakening</a> by *<a class="u" href="http://amberdust.deviantart.com/">AmberDust</a> on <a href="http://www.deviantart.com/">deviant</a><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/">ART</a><br />
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I'm currently working on a collaboration with my friend <a href="http://www.daiskianimej.deviantart.com/">Jess</a>, drawing a lovely poster of Ariel from <i>The Little Mermaid</i> and <i>Ponyo</i>! Here's some progress...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI2wDZosawCUV7DW9FL5q_kCIY7P4-Txl5Y0dVrFOQ4Wz5UoV2skl5eOCp97QnRxjf9dJrF4uVD8blk-U3XMpGeRU4eXV0-dTxrmRg8Nc3wVhsXimwRYpwr0NzydVJygziZXifC3stTHo/s1600/Ariel-Ponyo-WIP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI2wDZosawCUV7DW9FL5q_kCIY7P4-Txl5Y0dVrFOQ4Wz5UoV2skl5eOCp97QnRxjf9dJrF4uVD8blk-U3XMpGeRU4eXV0-dTxrmRg8Nc3wVhsXimwRYpwr0NzydVJygziZXifC3stTHo/s400/Ariel-Ponyo-WIP.jpg" width="218" /></a></div><br />
It's very nearly done now and I'm hoping to get that online very soon!<br />
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Apart from that, things are busy and things are good! :)<br />
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Also, if you haven't checked out Feeder's new single, 'Side by Side', please watch this powerful and emotional music video of theirs of the recent events and if you like the song, please download it here as all proceeds go to help support the Japanese people during their time of need! http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/side-by-side-single/id427857657<br />
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Ta ta for now! :)<br />
Gem xox<br />
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P.S. So EXCITED for seeing the Winnie The Pooh movie this Friday! :DDDAmberDusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05451834639704173823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064391337675096581.post-80934492441736805252011-04-19T23:20:00.000+01:002011-04-19T23:20:57.068+01:00Megamind and Summer WarsHaving been short of some blog updates, I thought I'd post up some thoughts on two films I've been able to see in the past few days.<br />
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First up, <i>Megamind</i> (2010).<br />
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Since Dreamworks have begun producing original films instead of the usual franchise sequels and spin-offs, the quality of their animations have soared! Following 2009's <i>How to Train Your Dragon</i>, <i>Megamind</i> certainly had a lot to live up to, and while it doesn't have quite the same storytelling sparkle as Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois, it certainly delivers.<br />
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The story doesn't come across very clearly in the trailer or promotional material. It's made out to be a standard good vs evil affair between Megamind and Metroman, but this conflict doesn't take up a big portion of the film and in fact twists and turns in several directions before reaching the final sequences. It's largely a romance genre with superhero films mixed in and even gets into a existential discussion when evil has nothing to fight against.<br />
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A top quality voice cast really shine with the film's quirky and hilarious script. Will Ferrell plays a unique but still comedic role as a blue criminal mastermind with a speaking disorder, and Brad Pitt, Tina Fey and Jonah Hill also perform some great lines without distracting from the characters with their personalities.<br />
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The music is incredibly prominent, but not in a bad way. It swaps from classic rock tracks like "Bad to The Bone" by George Thorogood & The Destroyers, and Guns N' Roses' "Welcome to the Jungle" to light-hearted "Mr. Blue Sky" from ELO and even "Lovin' You" by Minnie Riperton.<br />
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Hans Zimmer and Lorne Balfe compose the film's soundtrack which is of equal quality to the tracks they pick for particular story moments. The main theme is particularly catchy and gears you up for an exciting and entertaining film!<br />
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The cinematography is also stunning, some really great composition and camera angles bring the action to screen brilliantly, though my favourites are the slow camera tracks introducing the city, Roxanne and Metroman walking on water.<br />
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My only issue with the film was a decision to prevent the street-wise Roxanne Ritchie from becoming an intriguing story point and remaining the film's love interest. I feel that would have added interesting character development as well as raise certain gender issues and promote equality, like in <i>Monster's Vs. Aliens</i> in 2009. Instead, they have unfortunately perpetuated the 'damsel in distress' character that is <i>still</i> so common in modern films!<br />
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Anyway, rant over! <i>Megamind</i> is a fantastic flick full of playful humour, great animation and storytelling, definitely check it out if you haven't already! It's also very quotable, my sister's and I often greet each other with "Olo!", or "Minion, you fantastic fish, you!"--my favourite is Megamind's mispronunciation of melancholy into "mel-on-golly"!<br />
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On to the next film, Mamoru Hosoda's <i>Summer Wars</i> (2009).<br />
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This is the next film from the master behind <i>The Girl Who Leapt Through Time</i> (2006), which I somehow haven't been able to see until now! The DVD was only released in the UK last March, which my boyfriend, Alex, picked up and recommended to me, so that probably has something to with it! (Promote the industry folks!)<br />
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<i>Summer Wars</i> is all about the culmination of ancient Japan colliding with modern Japan, in the futuristic concept of a completely virtual world whee you can make your own avatar, play sports, play games, battle and communicate through an instantly translated dialogue system with anyone in the world. This world is called OZ, and everyone is a part of it.<br />
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Without giving too much away, the story starts with an introduction to OZ, which then translates into a modern Japan, where a young girl, Natsuki is searching for a boy (Kenji) to charade as her boyfriend as a summer job for her Grandmother's 90th birthday. Starting as what looks like a family drama of 30+ people it escalates as conflicts arise between characters and a vicious virus attacks the virtual world of OZ, wreaking havoc and flinging the Earth into chaos.<br />
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The film speaks volumes about the dangers of putting too much responsibility on technology, but it also has real family values that stay at the true heart of the story, filling it with charm and making it an emotional journey for you and the characters. Using a cast of over 30 <i>main</i> characters, it brings home these messages from every possible perspective.<br />
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There is pretty much nothing I can fault in this film. It truly speaks for our generation and is a vital watch for any anime fans, Internet users or those with family, basically I think everyone should see it! The animation is beautifully styled and drawn and combines 2D and 3D elements in OZ that brings to life this digital world where nothing actually exists.<br />
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The film's climax is emotional and dramatic, bringing together the disasters of technology with the importance of family. Music, characters, plot points, animation... everything, comes together to deliver this must-see film! I could not recommend it more...<br />
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Some comparisons have been made to Mamoru's <i>Digimon: The Movie</i> back in 2000, which is understandable as it's the same director, but <i>Summer Wars</i> brings something new to the themes raised and combines it with this old-fashioned family descended from a samurai clan. It brings it bang up to date with current technology such as iPhone's and DSi's and the futuristic technology behind OZ, which we are not far off ourselves!<br />
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Mamoru has stated that his next animation will probably be more orthodox and with less main characters... I look forward to what he will make, but a part of me wanders if he will be able to surpass this gem of a film! Go check it out! ^.^AmberDusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05451834639704173823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064391337675096581.post-44789032723025013102011-02-12T18:56:00.000+00:002011-02-12T18:56:26.110+00:00End of Semester and Nutshell ReviewsHello again bloggers, it's that kind of post again where the sheer amount of work has taken my time away from blogging and I have to come up with some sort of apology.... Except this time there was such a swamping of work that I haven't prepared one! :P<br />
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Anyway, stuff for me has been good! My last deadline was on Wednesday so I've been free to draw and play Mass Effect 2 to my hearts desire!<br />
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In the space of a week after a semester's worth of work, I had to submit and present a: 1-2 minute soundscape project using sound and animation to make a statement (see below); a 2000 word essay about the holy grail of CG, the photo-realistic human; 4 cleaned-up character animations doing something specified in our brief using 2D techniques and After Effects/Flash/Photoshop/Illustrator post-production methods (see below); as well as Power Points documenting the entire process.<br />
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An external project I was working on last November really took it out of my work, so I was quite behind on the animation for this, but I think I've made up for it on the explanations/documentation of my 2D animations... We'll see in my feedback tutorials next week!<br />
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<b>Soundscape</b><br />
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<b>Danielle Rescues a Mouse (Trying to open an object that refuses to do so)</b><br />
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<b>Hyacinth and Richard Try to Keep up Appearances</b> (Dialogue between two characters)<br />
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<b>Missing a Bus</b> (A Groom tries to get the bus to his own wedding)<br />
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<b>Lost and Found</b> (A change from one emotion to another)<br />
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In addition to work I've been doing, I've seen a few new films recently, which I'll give some "in a nutshell" reviews on so as not to bore you, but really they deserve more!<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><b>TRON: Legacy</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://worldofweirdthings.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/tron_screenshot_600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="http://worldofweirdthings.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/tron_screenshot_600.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
TRON: Legacy is the 28-year late sequel to the original Tron in 1982, but fortunately the story realises this and places it 20 years after the original film, starring oldies Jeff Bridges and Bruce Boxleitner, and newbies Garrett Hedlund and Olivia Wilde. It's an entertaining adventure with state-of-the-art visual effects and funky light suits that does a great job of bringing a film that hasn't aged particularly well to new audiences. Everything's been updated and the difference between the film's real world and digital world has been highlighted with the use of 3D. All real world events are shown in 2D, but everything in the digital world is in 3D, which really adds another level to this film and shows that the creators really thought about it!<br />
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The soundtrack is completely composed by French DJs, Daft Punk, who craft a intricately beautiful atmosphere to the entire film, but is still able to get into the beats and electronic feel of the world. So top marks for sound... and see if you can spot their cameo!<br />
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My only difficulty is the de-aged Jeff Bridges (Clu) who is is brought to the screen 20 years younger using CGI which hasn't quite shaken off the uncanny valley phenomenon yet. I actually wrote my CG essay on this subject, so that's quite enough about that right now, just go watch this film when it comes out on DVD (preferably with 3D capabilities) and see for yourself! And pump up the volume for those amazing tunes! <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><b>The King's Speech</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCXS-cjiSpd5GGG9MTlczZW-CZ86TA3mbxUFR7jNdG6O_4JXNpJIMEZl5ZsDbV0riqrim_nqCXJVFYIMDhzPuHGvhjr8qMKOMUVdnDM4m5Z5mnK5aBHi-m14rMWMe6xgiLZdIXnGerfxg/s1600/the-kings-speech-movie-photo-02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCXS-cjiSpd5GGG9MTlczZW-CZ86TA3mbxUFR7jNdG6O_4JXNpJIMEZl5ZsDbV0riqrim_nqCXJVFYIMDhzPuHGvhjr8qMKOMUVdnDM4m5Z5mnK5aBHi-m14rMWMe6xgiLZdIXnGerfxg/s400/the-kings-speech-movie-photo-02.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
I went into this film expecting a good film, but instead got a great one. It's no surprise it got so many nominations. It's engaging from start to finish and full of inspirational acting. It's a real feel-good film with honesty, character, humour and a wonderful message. It's based off of the true story of King George VI and was written by David Seidler who had to wait years to write his screenplay after the Queen Mother requested that it not be made before her death as the memories were too painful.<br />
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Colin Firth plays the king with Helena Bonham Carter as his wife and Geoffrey Rush as his Australian speech therapist. The acting, music and script are all superb and it's a truly beautiful film from start to finish. The speech itself was a wonderful moment, but I won't say anymore in case it spoils it! It's definitely worth a watch, if not at the cinema then definitely on DVD later in the year.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><b>Tangled</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFuE-8O1Gu2-Q00ebkgKaJyWLq9uZp6fztn3iEYFkPHO6l2-zhloW2QPa_ah7u2I1aa7oWqaybowQDRYvZaB9Tk7Am8DuOXNubsSBoj5CD329uXIM7F_x_djru-sNUlSJMecKJKFlSc8k/s1600/rapunzel-05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFuE-8O1Gu2-Q00ebkgKaJyWLq9uZp6fztn3iEYFkPHO6l2-zhloW2QPa_ah7u2I1aa7oWqaybowQDRYvZaB9Tk7Am8DuOXNubsSBoj5CD329uXIM7F_x_djru-sNUlSJMecKJKFlSc8k/s400/rapunzel-05.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Ok, so the second Disney movie on this list, but please bare with me! I finally saw this film last weekend after the long wait for UK releases... And. It. Was. <i>Beautiful</i>! I thought I'd seen most of what CGI had to offer, but this film blew me away! Ok, so the story is flimsy and loses a lot of darkness and intrigue from the original fairytale, but the characters are wonderful and Rapunzel is just too darn cute! I was so surprised how full of life the 3D models were, they moved just like 2D Disney classics and this was probably because of Glen Keane's involvement. I read in interviews with him that he literally drew over the 3D animation to get the animators to push poses and get the most life as possible out of the animation.<br />
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But it's not just the characters, it's the environments too! I was a little skeptical that they had pulled off the 'oil painting' look that they were originally going for, but the lushness of the scenery and all that hair (!!!) made me see otherwise. It was also nice to see the classic musical numbers make a comeback and the songs were lovely. It's a shame that Disney are going to think now that audiences want to see 3D movies and not their 2D stuff after The Princess and the Frog didn't make a very good profit last year, but it's mainly the marketing and feel of this film. The story may be weak, but it's <b><i>fun!</i></b> That's what makes this film good from my standpoint, and Rapunzel's little face! I'm obsessed with drawing her right now! <b><i>Sqqquuuuueeeeeeee!!!</i></b> [/fangirl]<br />
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Ahem. I've also started that classic sci-fi, "Firefly". I bought the box set cheaply as I heard it was good and I'd ironically already seen "Serenity". Fortunately it was a long time ago, so I don't remember how they wrapped up the prematurely canceled series. The pilot started poorly in my opinion, but the series has really got into it now and the character interaction is really engaging. I'm loving the unique sense of humour too! I can see Mass Effect got a lot of cues from it. I'm on episode 5 or something now, so more on that when I've finished it!<br />
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I'm nearly done on Mass Effect 2 as well, I've recruited all characters but for Legion and completed their character quests, so all is going well! I'm quite apprehensive for the suicide mission--I don't want to lose the characters! :(<br />
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Well that's all for now, hopefully my next update won't be so far away! I'll have to post my feedback for my animations when I get it next week! :)<br />
Ciao!<br />
Gem xxxAmberDusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05451834639704173823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064391337675096581.post-68144302740302334132010-12-27T00:08:00.001+00:002010-12-27T00:11:12.832+00:00Merry Christmas Bloggers!Hello all, hope you're having a wonderful time over the holidays with friends and family!<br />
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Here in the UK, we're having some pretty cold temperatures, we have frozen frost on top of frost on top of snow and ice! But apart from permanently wearing slippers and woolly jumpers, Christmas has been good! I've had a great time with my family and enjoyed the usual seasonal television. The Doctor Who Christmas special was pretty good--Michael Gambon as the "scrooge" character was perfect and the story was very emotive... But even better was the upcoming Doctor Who teasers! There's going to be a Wild West episode and Matt Smith adopts a stetson! YES PLEASE! <3<br />
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I've got a lot on my plate the next two weeks--what with the pile of DVDs and games to get through! Not to mention my animation work and essay, mind! I'm looking forward to seeing Fantasia, Beauty and the Beast and Inception on Blu-Ray and I've already started my game of Epic Mickey, which is appropriately epic. I have heard some problems with controlling the camera however, and after some gamplay, I can see what they mean! It's quite sluggish and has a tendency to get stuck but it's otherwise very cool! Can't wait to play more!<br />
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I've also been having a jam on Rock Band 3 (unfortunately without the new keyboard attachment!) it's introduced some great new challenges and character customisation. It's odd not to have the tour campaign mode though. Also <i>Bohemian Rhapsody</i> and <i>Power of Love</i> for the win! <3<br />
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As a treat, I drew my sisters and my boyfriend some gift art for their Christmas cards... Alex got a speedpaint of the Elric Brothers from Full Metal Alchemist, Elly got herself and a "cow bunny" (her new obsession!) inspired from a photo on DeviantArt and Emi got a "Downtonified" version of herself, based off of Cora from Downton Abbey. Enjoy the artwork! <br />
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Speaking of Downton Abbey, Emi got me to watch the entire first season on DVD and I absolutely loved it. It's very intense and entertaining and yet so subtle... the slightest gesture or remark has such an impact on their world and it's wonderful seeing the character interaction. The last episode was so gripping--I didn't want it to end! I highly recommend it to any fans of Drama, early 1900's period pieces, and ITV television!<br />
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Anyway, for the next two weeks, I'll be working solidly to get an essay done, create a remixed soundtrack based on famous icons and old black and white films (it's going to be my first piece of music ever, so I have no idea how it will turn out!) for my soundscape animation and I'll be finishing my Hyacinth Bucket lip sync animation as well as two more animation exercises for Uni... and hopefully will be able to do plenty of movie watching and Epic Mickey and Assassin's Creed Brotherhood! :)<br />
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That's all from me, I'll sign off now with a very <b>Merry Christmas</b> to you all! :3<br />
Love Gem xxxAmberDusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05451834639704173823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064391337675096581.post-30350640300901928982010-12-13T21:40:00.000+00:002010-12-13T21:40:04.286+00:00Another Term GoneWell it's been a while bloggers, November was pretty silent for me, mostly because I had a very intense project deadline at the end of the month as well as my Uni coursework. Can't reveal anything of it yet, but I'll post it up when I can! It was a real relief to have finished it on time though, I can tell you! I was up until 3am working on it on the last day and awake again 6 hours later to finish it!<br />
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So that's my excuse for the lack of posts, after that I had to have a major de-stress and play lots of Assassin's Creed Brotherhood and the secret case on the first Phoenix Wright game (which I've now finished :D) and watch lots of movies to unwind!<br />
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Anyway, apart from that, Uni work has been going well. I am a bit behind due to the previously mentioned mystery project, with lots to do for 2D character animation, Soundscape and of course the glorious essay to write that is due at the end of January.<br />
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Here's a couple of things I've finished/working on now...<br />
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<b>Whatchamacallit</b>: a short audio/visual statement I made with Zara and Rob. It's not perfect, and was a bit long/complicated for the brief. I had some problems animating my section (the middle part) so resorted to doing some random animation in Flash... we learned a lot through this and I aim to do things a bit differently next time!<br />
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<b>Danielle Rescues a Mouse [Rough]</b> : my rough animation for a younger Danielle rescuing a mouse from the clutches of a younger Fred. It was originally going to be the final line, but after scanning, I realised there were a lot of messy issues that would need redrawing. The brief was to animate a character opening something that refuses to do so.<br />
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My next animation I'm drawing in pen, and it's a dialogue scene between Hyacinth and Richard Bucket from <i>Keeping Up Appearances</i>, but I've re-modelled them to look more like a visual representation of their personalities and more like my own characters. I chose this because I really wanted to animate some older characters, especially after seeing 90-year-old Sophie's delightful performance from <i>Howl's Moving Castle </i>again. :)<br />
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Here's the original scene, I'm just taking Hyacinth's dialogue from "Richard, did you see this?" to "Why should I wait?"<br />
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Here are my model sheets.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD8vM1EEAqaLWZFv-NLiQlVFr8V9jieb15wAfoJDmGyG9fjs7DZ_raWQSVbe7w51B7v1Ib-b7dQ-dxMzD2M5A_xgR2I2Z5JNtBLn7dkub5EghjD72vL9cfb6c3L0mlHtB43M-bEvVJZRM/s1600/Richard-Bucket-Concept.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD8vM1EEAqaLWZFv-NLiQlVFr8V9jieb15wAfoJDmGyG9fjs7DZ_raWQSVbe7w51B7v1Ib-b7dQ-dxMzD2M5A_xgR2I2Z5JNtBLn7dkub5EghjD72vL9cfb6c3L0mlHtB43M-bEvVJZRM/s400/Richard-Bucket-Concept.jpg" width="290" /></a></div><br />
I've also recently given a 10 minute presentation on the effects of the "uncanny valley": a term used for when human-like androids cross the boundary of familiarity into a creepy and repulsive domain, except I was applying it instead to human CGI (see: Tom Hanks from <i>The Polar Express</i>).<br />
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I doubt you're interested in my Power Point or my notes, but it went well and the only thing I was really called up on was the relevance of "uncanny" to an image, when live action is technically a series of images anyway and at what point is something not "human" anymore? It was pretty terrifying though, everyone looked nervous talking about their subjects (usually the results of addiction/violence, or lack of, from video games) and it was very nerve-wracking! Glad to get it out of the way though and I was pleased to have taught something to the others too!<br />
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Anywhoodle, last weekend half of the household (3 of 6) housemates left here and it's suddenly feeling really sad and empty (although incredibly clean!) and so, so, so, so quiet! :( My first term of my second year at Uni has passed so quickly and it's going to be so sad to say goodbye to it all! :( But I'm rather looking forward to going home now and seeing the family! And I have all of my Christmas shopping sorted so I have 4 weeks to chill and catch up with work! :D<br />
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That's all from me for now, I'm off to play more Assassin's Creed Bortherhood before bed! :D<br />
Love GemAmberDusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05451834639704173823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064391337675096581.post-47760394803152017812010-10-26T22:56:00.000+01:002010-10-26T22:56:28.751+01:00A New House, Birthdays and The Social NetworkHello again bloggers,<br />
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I finally moved down to Newport a few weeks ago and so far I'm loving the new house along with living with my Uni friends. It can get complicated when it comes to cooking and cleaning, but we seem to be managing so far!<br />
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The place is really nice, it's on a brand new estate and really close to the new campus, so it'll be great when we don't have to take the bus to lessons!<br />
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My course is going really well, I'm learning the CGI software, Maya, which is incredibly complicated, but I'm learning quite quickly. I'm specialising in 2D animation for my current semester in which I'll be doing more character performance animation (I should be bringing back Danielle and Fred for at least one exercise!) and a soundscape project, which is about merging sound and image but thinking primarily about the sounds.<br />
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So far I have a "pulling an object that refuses to budge" animation to do and 10 sounds to find and record.<br />
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I also have this short stop-motion exercise that I did with Zara to demonstrate moving inanimate objects with emotion... My object was the "excitable" scissors, her's were the "irritated" gloves and the scene is a murder! :O<br />
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And as the title suggests, there have been a couple of birthdays! My boyfriend Alex had his over the weekend--we went back home to enjoy the celebrations with family, it was a great trip! :) My birthday was just yesterday... 20 years old! Shocking, I know. :P<br />
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I got some great presents, including Mass Effect 2 (YAY!), The Beauty and the Beast art book, The UP art book, the Deathnote anime boxset, Pinocchio and The Fox and the Hound on DVD, Ashes to Ashes boxset (haven't seen it yet but <i><b>loved</b></i> Life on Mars!), Alter Bridge's "AB III", Professor Layton and the Lost Future and Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light! It's been a good year ha ha!<br />
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But getting older has got me thinking... On the train back to Newport I was listening to Metric's "Fantasies" album on the day of my birthday, "Sugar Mountain" comes on (I believe it's a cover of Neil Young??). And I'm sat listening to these lyrics:<br />
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<i>Now you say you're leavin' home<br />
'Cause you want to be alone.<br />
Ain't it funny how you feel<br />
When you're findin' out it's real?<br />
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Oh, to live on Sugar Mountain<br />
With the barkers and the colored balloons,<br />
You can't be twenty on Sugar Mountain<br />
Though you're thinking that<br />
you're leaving there too soon,<br />
You're leaving there too soon.</i><br />
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I just thought at the time how strikingly appropriate it was for that to come on the day that I'm 20... it's sad not to be a teenager anymore and scary to think about growing up and leaving home... but at the same time it's something everyone goes through and at heart, you'll always be a teen really. I think it would be sad to lose that in yourself. It's a great song though, really strikes those chords in you!<br />
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So yeah, I guess I was feeling rather retrospective in that sense, but then I got here and there were balloons and streamers everywhere (they're still up actually) and I was given a beautiful hand drawn portrait of me by my friend Bryony and we all went out for dinner and a film and I got another awesome card drawn by Zara of Alex and I as Scott Pilgrim styled characters and we came back home for birthday cake I felt much better! :3<br />
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Ah well, save those thoughts for another time, huh?<br />
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Speaking of the film I saw, it was The Social Network if you hadn't guessed by the mysterious titling of my blogs.<br />
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So The Social Network... it's basically about the founders of Facebook, how it came about and such, I think it's based on a book that was based on the real story, so the film is probably pretty diluted or exaggerated by this point.<br />
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While it was an entertaining film, I'm not sure what all of the fuss was about. It was full of number and figures, legal battles and people arguing over who did what first... not that there's anything particularly <i>wrong</i> with that, but at times it almost became <i>boring</i>. That doesn't happen to me often in a cinema, and I think the main problem was to do with the characters.<br />
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First off, the main character, (the co-founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg played by Jesse Eisenberg) is an <i>arse</i>. This is established from the very beginning of the film; he's an immature, stuck-up genius who's bitter after a break up with his girlfriend (which was his fault in the first place) with a single friend to his name and constantly looks like this:<br />
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So I gave him a shot, I thought: "Ok, so he's not exactly a positive character, let's see how he develops throughout the film." But that was the problem, he didn't develop, he stayed the same and possibly even became worse. Perhaps this was the intention of the film makers; to make a film with an unlikeable main character or perhaps this was staying true to the original story or people... but how does that make an engaging film with character's people can relate to?<br />
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Zuckerberg was only occasionally funny (such as going to a business meeting in your dressing gown and pyjamas or creating a multi-billion dollar company just to have a business card that reads "I'm CEO, bitch!"), he talked too fast and was usually uninteresting. Nothing against Jesse Eisenberg (I thought he was great in Zombieland) or the original creator of course, my issues are with the actual screenplay.<br />
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From my perspective, the only likable characters were the two women in the film intelligent enough to tell Zuckerberg that he was an arse and his "best friend" Eduardo Saverin (played by future <i>Spiderman</i>, Andrew Garfield) who gets screwed over by him. Saverin was a far more likable character and he wasn't even the protagonist!<br />
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But complaining aside, there were definitely some good things about this movie. For a start, the music. Where can you go wrong with a soundtrack by Trent Reznor? It was atmospheric and intense and it had me thoroughly enjoying the first 30 minutes. The cinematography and casting was also pretty good. The shots were great visually (especially considering it was mostly people talking) and the acting was really good. I was particularly impressed by Justin Timberlake, he was very convincing as the paranoid, broke businessman, Sean Parker.<br />
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Having not read the original book, "The Accidental Billionaires" I don't know what the original intentions of the story were. It could just be one of those stories that sound great at first, but when put into a narrative based film, it just doesn't work. I wouldn't say it's a bad film, and it's certainly worth seeing, but I found it rather over-rated.<br />
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Anyway, enough of my ramblings. It's been a good day today and there's been enough negativity there! I had a really interesting workshop about sound this morning and spent the afternoon chilling and had a great home-made lasagne for dinner! I've also got my Mum and Sisters over this Thursday so really looking forward to that! :)<br />
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I'll be blogging again soon, but for now, ciao!<br />
Love Gemma xxxAmberDusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05451834639704173823noreply@blogger.com0