Inspiration

Fantastic Mr. Fox

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Fantastic Mr. Fox/ dir. Wes Anderson/ 2009

For most of 2009, I would head out to movie theaters usually before noontime and watch animated films in a near empty theater, maybe one or two more adults, and possibly a family. I felt content too, the less the better. By myself, I could analyze the animation, the story, the acting, the characters, etc. and after, while the credits roll, I have a moment or two to process what was just presented to me. However, this all changed after watching Fantastic Mr. Fox. Instead of being an early morning loner, I decided to see this movie on a Wednesday night with my friend, Jessica, and wow what a difference. Before the movie, I had someone to dialogue with about expectations for the movie, and at the end, we were able to chat about our thoughts after. Now obviously I have watched movies with other people before (I ain’t that un-social), but it was quite a long time since I saw an animated feature with someone else (the last time being here), so you can imagine how unique this experience felt to me.

Now how does this relate to Fantastic Mr. Fox? (I bet you were wondering…) After a whole year of watching animated features, they all just kind of blended together. What I got from Fantastic Mr. Fox was something different than most animated features that are released. Yeah, there were some animated features this year that were really good, and some not so good, but none were as unique or as fantastic (Oh and a pun!) as Fantastic Mr. Fox… Continue reading →

Ponyo

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崖の上のポニョ Gake no Ue no Ponyo (English: Ponyo)/ dir. Hayao Miyazaki/ 2008 Japan/ 2009 US

It takes real skill to fill the screen with emotion and high drama without having an actual antagonist. It also takes real skill to transport the audience into a world based on real-life, but at the same time have so much magic and awe-inspiring moments that seem so natural that you can’t help but be transfixed to the screen. This is Ponyo, Miyazaki’s latest film loosely based on Hans Christian Anderson’s The Little Mermaid about a young goldfish that longs to be a little girl. Unlike other quality animated movies this year, that attempt to cater to the younger audience AND at the same time add in some flair here and there for the adults in the audience, Miyazaki does NONE of that. He knows his target audience is going to be 10 years and younger, but he does something equally impressive. Instead of trying to preen some adult themes into this film, he does the almost inconceivable task of transporting the whole audience back into their childhood.

And for me it worked… Continue reading →

I Ain’t Done With You Just Yet….

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With the new year comes a new look, some new goals, more artwork, new blog posts, and a new… well, many things to look forward to in 2010.

HOWEVER, don’t go anywhere 2009. I ain’t done with you just yet…

Most places have (stupidly) already done a 2009 year in review waay back in early December. Not me! I’m going to chew on 2009 for a bit before I make my final decisions. Yes, I’ll have a best animated movies of 2009 post, but I gotta finish writing about them (This is what happens when I take 3 months off). Anyway, I hope to have a “best of” by the end of the month. But until then, you all can look forward to seeing a write-up of all these 2009 animated movies:

Now I have already seen all these movies, save for one. I still need to see Princess and the Frog to complete my 2009 animated feature list.

Don’t worry I will watch it though, anyone want to come with me? Let me know…

I’ve got lots of writing to do ^_^!!!

And The End…

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It’s amazing really…  It has been 3 months since I last posted. In that time, I started a new “part-time” job, and tried to “focus” on school. Didn’t really work out out on both accounts. New job feels almost like a full time job, and haven’t been really able to focus on school. Yeah, things got rough and I’ve stumbled these past few weeks, so much so that I’m going to retake this last class. Anyway, witness my class 3 reel:

On the surface it may seem alright, but now that I pick it apart I see all kinds of things wrong, and I see why I need to keep learning…

Along the way, I’ve lost sight of many of my inspirations. It’s no coincidence that once I stopped writing, many of those inspirations that kept me going vanished into thin air. But luckily there are things like this that bring me back:

And then there’s _______. Okay, so I promised that I wouldn’t do sappy-ass cryptic posts, so I’ll just say this. I think I can officially close the chapter on HER…

As always, as one chapter ends, the next one begins. Yeah, it’s been a rough past few weeks. BUT that’s why they call it a struggle…

Art of the Cartoon is in for a revamp… and I’m up for the challenge.

2010 I attempt the impossible…

ISANG BAGSAK…

Isang Bagsak! Barely made it, but still made it!

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Just started Fall Term today, and while I still had a blast Summer Term, that last animation assignment almost did me in. There’s a reason why I discontinued the Ron Antonio Dance Project posts, and that reason was because my animation plain sucked! Now why did it suck? It was a combination of things, I got busy with work and training for the Portland Marathon, and my priorities just got all screwed up. And honestly, I didn’t put as much time and effort into that animation as I should have. Suffice to say that that was one of the main reasons I have decided to leave my job and focus on school. That’s right, as of October 16. I will no longer be working at the Wing Luke Asian Museum (well at least full-time, I’ll probably still have to train the new person). Anyway, take a look at my progress reel from last class… looking back its not that impressive, and it shows that I have to step it up.

But still, I made it. We may not finish the way we like, but sometimes all that matters is that we finish. I’ve learned that lesson in the ND movement, in marathons, and now in animation. It’s a good lesson, but I want to do more than just finish…

Isang Bagsak!

From Concept to Completion: The Cherry & Daps Wedding Painting

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Happy One Year Anniversary to Cherry and Daps! For their wedding gift last year, I decided to do a painting inspired by the happy couple (actually its a thing I do for most wedding presents). Here is the finished product:

IMG_0523

Not only to celebrate the one year anniversary of this happy couple, but also to give readers an insight into how I take an art piece from concept to finished product, I present the first, in hopefully many, From Concept to Completion segments. Hit the Jump to find out how I went from concept to completion… Continue reading →

The Ron Antonio Dance Project Part II: Blocking…

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Here’s part II of the Ron Antonio Dance Project. You can either scroll or head here for Part I. Anyways, my final animation assignment this quarter is going alright, after careful planning I now attempt to block out my animation, Keep in mind, these are only the key poses and a couple of breakdowns, so its not going to be smooth. Check it out:

Anyway, I had to change a couple of things. Some of the poses had to be polished, and I needed a better beginning and ending, here’s my next attempt:

Stay Tuned for Part III: My initial pass into adding the inbetweens and smoothing everything out…

The Ron Antonio Dance Project Part 1: Planning…

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What’s good! I know I haven’t been blogging as much as usual. Between work, training for marathons, and school, it’s tough to regularly write something. Don’t worry though, I have something extra good this time. I thought I would give everyone a glimpse into my world as an animation student. For my final animation project this summer term, I have decided to tackle the fun, but difficult task of animating a unique dance that a kasama of mine has. What you’re about to see is video reference I shot one night out in the middle of the street…

Yes, that’s the Ron Antonio Dance, feel free to take another look really quick. Done? Hit the jump to see my planning for this tough but oh so hilarious animation…

Continue reading →

Bootleg Classics: The Iron Giant

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10 years ago, one of the finest animated movies ever to grace the bigscreen debuted in theaters. The Iron Giant was the breakout movie that put Brad Bird’s (The Incredibles, Ratatouille)  name out there among the elite animation directors. Even though it underperformed in theaters  and was  a box office failure because many felt Warner Bros. didn’t properly market the film, The Iron Giant was praised by critics and is still seen as one of the better examples of storytelling in animation. See the original trailer here:

(Hit the jump to read more about this Bootleg Classic) Continue reading →