Turn the Lights Off

• Learned

 Uh, I learned that I don't use spare time that effectively? I don't know. I haven't really experimented with anything new in After Effects this week. It's just been a lazy week. But I'm alright with that.

• Want to learn

 Hm, I guess I wouldn't mind learning more about the cameras in After Effects.

• Frustrated you

 I hate writing essays. I've been working on my final project for my Participation In Government class and I hate it. That and I've been busier than normal lately since I've started talking to more and more people. It's getting to be a bit much. Why do I do this to myself?

• Made you happy

 I really enjoy talking to the people I talk to, even when it can get a bit much at times. We've been organizing Cards Against Humanity games and it's been a riot! We all enter a big skype call and we crack up whenever we get funny calls (black cards) and responses (white cards). It is even better since we've added a buttload of custom card packs like LoZ cards, FNAF cards, MSG cards, Bioshock cards, etc. So much fun... ;w;

Also, a friend introduced me to a 8tracks and I've been listening to the same playlist for roughly 4 days so far. Thanks. (It's great music though).

• Link of interest

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzJR98fzt6Y

It's a fan made video using some of the characters from Mystery Skulls Animated Ghost.  It's really funny and I love the silly nature of it all. Lewis the ghost only wants his tasty snack and Mystery has what he needs to get it. Check it out! You won't regret it!

BONUS:

In the spirit of introverts, here is an easy guide to dealing with introverts

http://fav.me/d4tfoyo

It's actually been a bit of a help for me personally...

Adventure Trip

In his interview with The RollingStone, Pendleton Ward, the creator of the hit television show Adventure Time, shares his experiences running the show and tells tales of an awkward childhood, awkward adulthood, and his awkward modern life. Being the head of a largely popular television show has taken its tole on the introverted Pendleton Ward. It opens him up to unwanted social interactions and excessive mental and physical fatigue. Some time during the fifth season of the show, Ward resigned from his position to take on a simpler role of writer and storyboard artist. His former position was taking too much out of him and he longed for a simpler life of isolation and pizza. The down side of having created one of the most diverse and unifying cartoons on television is that children, teens, and adults could all watch and appreciate the show and add to the immense burden of a growing fan base. Tom Kenny, voice actor of the show's antagonist, says that he can see a lot of Ward in the character. Slowly loosing their sanity, loosing control of the world around them, and craving social interactions despite lacking social skills. When Pen was younger, he took notes on others and calculated the best ways to interact with each person, including girls. He was sensitive and caring like Finn the Human. He did not like when his siblings swore and he tried raising money for saving the rainforest. He also lived with his visual artist mother who encouraged his creativity. He later went on to CalArts where he finally discovered a place where he belonged. There, his films were recognized by a producer at Frederator and he got a job making shorts for Nickelodeon where he created a short called Adventure Time. Nickelodeon rejected Ward's pitch to turn it into a full-length show, but later Cartoon Network would give him the green light. To deal with living with four roommates and his introvertedness, Penn does some of his work in coffee shops so he can avoid contact with people as he works. During meals, he prefers to draw rather than talk. In the future, he plans on writing an Adventure Time movie, working on a game, and having a fun and relaxing time when he does them.

I never realized just how much of a burden it was to run a show, especially when you're an introvert. It's a shame that the tole has been so great on Pendleton Ward. Being an introvert and running an insanely popular show is extremely taxing. Not for the feint of heart. Did Ward know what he was getting into when he started the show? And when did it start becoming too much? This sounds like a problem that any show could have. It's something we should be wary of, but it shouldn't deter us from doing what we love.

FX Debate

Since the emergence of CGI, some practical special effects fans and artists have protested the use of the new method, claiming that it is not only killing their trade, but also that it does not compare in quality to practical effects. The same is true with some CGI fans and artists. Both sides of the same coin are arguing over which method is better, but effective use of both is key to a great movie. CGI certainly makes things easier when it comes to bringing the script to life. With CGI, cool creatures and special effects can be thrown in to make a great movie, but it has its limitations. The method is only as good as the artist behind it, so that has to be taken into consideration. Also, mimicking the lights in the room can be a challenge, where puppets and practical effects have a physical form and can be lit accordingly. Sadly though, practical effects can also be flawed. While they may look good from one angle, they may not from another. Together, practical effects and CGI can be a powerful combination and can be used to create a spectacular film.

Good to know, I guess. I feel as though I already knew that, but I suppose part of me did assume that CGI was killing practical effects. I learned that practical effects are still used in modern films. I agree that both CGI and practical effects are extremely useful in creating a believable movie. How much of what we see is practical anymore? How widely is it being used and where? Practical effects artists are still in demand and effective films utilize both types of special effects.

The Story Continues

• Learned

I've learned to do quite a few little neat tricks in Adobe After Effects! I haven't quite mastered them yet, but that will come with time.

• Want to learn

 I need to find some new fonts for my Kinetic Type project, so I guess I wouldn't mind figuring that out. I'll have to do that on my own time, though.

• Frustrated you

 Family stuff as usual. I guess I'm also having some issues keeping up with my Participation in Government final project... It's been a bit rough... and the holidays certainly aren't helping.

And it certainly doesn't help that I've been horribly distracted as of late. Ultimately, I know it's my own damn fault, but that doesn't mean I like it any more.

Also, I was told around the beginning of the Fall season that I would be getting a new work laptop and when I asked yesterday, I was told that I wouldn't be. It was a little upsetting, but all I can do is just continue dealing with my current laptop. I can manage until graduation... I think ^^;

• Made you happy

 Close friends. They tolerate me, and that is more than I can possibly ask for.

I've been joining a lot of online art livestreams online. I have met so many amazingly wonderful people and I've had so much fun but I've also lost a whole butt-load of sleep as a result. These people are often 3 hours behind me and when they are livestreaming at 10 pm, it's already 1 am here, but I don't regret coming and watching the artists work. And everyone is so kind and supportive! And I've even met a few people that I never would have guessed I'd ever meet, like two of my favorite Mystery Skulls Animated Ghost voice actors "Chi-Chi" Bowyer (Vivi) and P.W. Gerkman (Lewis). They are both wonderful ladies and words could not describe how I felt when I got to talk to them. Even Helios, one of the "Ghost Masters" came to the livestream! It was amazing! Later into the stream, Gerkman started posting audio clips and the entire chat box started freaking out (with love) and we all kinda started posting our own audio clips in response. It was amazing... Thank you Emily and Kait for introducing me to Tumblr (and subsequently ruining my life lol).

• Link of interest 

 Actually, I have a few links of interest (WARNING: Second link contains illustrated nudity. Click at own risk)

http://surikitsuna.tumblr.com/post/104532303739

http://surikitsuna.tumblr.com/post/104488955979/dianekraus-so-my-hips-tutorial-has-gone-over-4k

http://mysterybensmysteryblog.tumblr.com/post/104134537163/i-know-this-might-be-an-occurring-question-but

• Comments on the link(s) of interest

The first two links are images, the first one being a bit of a comedy bit and the second one being a leg drawing tutorial (Warning: Nudity). I thought it would be nice to share. I've been finding a lot of tutorials on Tumblr and it's really nice because they just kind of show up out of nowhere and they become easy to find. Learn a little something every day!

The last one is another tip from Mystery Ben on Tumblr. It mainly deals with Adobe Flash, but I'm sure it can apply SOMEHOW to Toon Boom Animate Pro 3. Ben is always giving out little tips and tricks for Flash animation. This one deals mainly with audio syncing (and using a metronome-like graphic). I like to keep up with his blog and I hope that one day I will get to try these tips out for myself.

Bright Future of the Animation Industry

Thankfully for many of us in the Digital Media class, the animation industry is still growing at a steady pace (about 7% a year). New jobs are being created and the demand for animators is slowly increasing. Before Dreamwork's Shrek came along, there was no such category for "Best Animated Feature" in the Academy Awards, but with animations slowly becoming more and more prevalent, that slowly changed. With the rise of Disney, Dreamworks, and Pixar, this new media form simply could not be ignored any longer. In theaters, animated films were literally fun for the whole family, young and old. They appealed to children and adults alike and brought in quite a bit of money to the box office. The industry is worth approximately $222 Billion USD and had about 67 thousand multimedia artists employed in 2012 and it is estimated that that number will rise to about 73 thousand in 2022. The median pay for these artists was $61,370 in 2012 and the job growth outlook was about 6%. This is good news to us animators in the Digital Media class because these statistics tell us that jobs are still out there for the taking in the animation field, locally in the United States or abroad. It is a growing media outlet and the demand for artists is high.

This article gave me a bit of hope, but I would still have to go back and re-read the article to fully and completely grasp exactly what those numbers mean to me as an individual. There is still hope for my animation career. Are there any local animation jobs, or are they all the way in California and such? Animation is not a dieing medium. I have a dear friend who has been getting picked on because she wants a career in art but this article proves that not all artists and animators are "starving artists".

Median pay in 2012 was $61,370 a year and the job growth outlook is 6% - See more at: http://blog.animationmentor.com/why-animation-continues-to-thrive-as-an-art-form-and-an-industry/#sthash.qYc4hSMK.dpuf

Median pay in 2012 was $61,370 a year and the job growth outlook is 6% - See more at: http://blog.animationmentor.com/why-animation-continues-to-thrive-as-an-art-form-and-an-industry/#sthash.qYc4hSMK.dpuf

Dynamic Depth

Creating the illusion of depth is an important part of cinematography, despite being one of the last things you learn when in school. It requires skill, creativity, and ingenuity. To create the illusion of depth in a 2D medium, Mathew Rosen shared his top 5 favorite methods of achieving such a feat. He begins with the lighting. Skillful lighting is an important factor in any film and can help to create the illusion of depth. Harsh contrast between the darks and the lights with a fast falloff can make your 2D film pop off of the screen. Next, skillful manipulation of the depth of field should be used. Shallow depth of field is typically the safest bet for new filmmakers, but with experience, deeper depths of field can achieve the same effect. Moving cameras, also called "parallax", serve to add additional kinetic energy to your shots in addition to depth. Still shots seldom add much to the scene and don't give much for the audience to grab onto. Moving cameras give the scene a more dynamic feel and typically create more interest for viewers. Lastly, overlapping subjects on top of one another help to sell the idea of depth. It occurs in the natural world all around us, though it might be difficult to wrap your head around at first.

Useful article. Short and easy to understand tips. I learned of the different techniques to create depth. I actually had not thought that shading would play much of a role, but surprisingly enough, it did. How much is too much? Can these tricks be overdone and how? What would be the result? Overall good cinema tricks that we should all keep in mind for better quality videos.