Character Design

Here is the picture of The Chief that I have designed for the movie. (It is also available for viewing, in addition to Shannon's picture of him, on our group blog)...

March Goals

For my March goals I will continue reading and posting about the book I'm reading. Also, I will try to meet up with one of the teachers from the engineering department (most likely one of the CAD teachers) to see what kinds of programs they use for making animations.

Random-ish (But still Related) Oscar Clip

     Hey, so on Sunday I was watching the 85th Academy Awards (Oscars) and there was a part in it that I felt like was a bit relevant to my topic so I decided to post about it. I tried to find it on YouTube, but I was unsuccessful. So then I decided to just use my iPad and record the part. Here it is! The sound is pretty soft but there are subtitles that you might be able to read (...or you could just turn the volume up really high...and also, don't worry: it's really short).
     I think it is relevant to my topic because it shows a few of the technological advancements that have been made this year to film making (which includes animations). But even if it isn't entirely an animated film, it can still have animated creatures in it (for example, the apes in "Planet of the Apes," the Na'vi in "Avatar" (not the last airbender but the tall blue creatures with long hair and long tails).
     Oh, and one last thing...I own none of this, I am merely posting it as a part of my research; I am making no profits off of this, unless you count pageviews... and I am in no way, shape, or form, doing this to mar the images of these people...I just have a very low-quality video camera.
     ...and to all the fans of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, I'm sorry I didn't include the clip of him dancing with Harry Potter.

Attention! Label Clarification!

RESEARCH (6):
-A Collection of Data Gathered (3)
—Includes what research and what analysis I have made from A Century of Stop Motion Animations
-Animated Educational Shows (1)
—My brush with PBS kids (Arthur)
-Movie Sound Effects
—Research on the impact of sounds and music on a viewer's feelings when watching a movie/ show

BOOK (2)
—What books I read and/ or use for research

CHECK-IN (1)
—If and when I am required to turn in an individual blog check-in, I will also post it here

CONTACT(1)
—Any attempts I have of trying to contact professionals

CREATING SHAPES: THE BASICS (2)
—A series teaching readers how to create their own PowerPoint animated movies that I will be SLOWLY adding to in addition to my research

GOALS (3)
—Any goals I have regarding my individual pursuit as well as our group project

IN-CLASS TEXTS (3)
—Any thoughts I have on the books we're reading in class (Outliers and Isaac's Storm)

MISSION STATEMENT (1)
—My very first mission statement

NEW TASK (1)
—The School improvement project rubric

POWERPOINT (2)
—Any PowerPoints that I convert into videos will be posted under this label

YEAR-LONG PROJECT UPDATES (2)
—Any changes and/ or improvements to our year-long group project

**FACTS: Where I will be posting the information I learned
**ANALYSIS: Where I will post my personal thoughts on that specific fact
**BLOG UPDATES: Where I will be posting updates regarding the format and labels of my blog

The above three labels with the stars are going to be newly added labels (as of 02/05/13)! Please comment if you have any suggestions for improvements!

New Book: Chapter 1- Sight and Sound

I personally feel that the main point of having sound effects in movies is to help enhance the mood, the setting, and the characters to make the movie seem more and more like a reality for the viewers.
EXAMPLES:
-Scary movies, to give viewers the feeling of being scared or afraid, creepy or dark music is played.
-Thrillers/Horror movies, suspenseful music is played to keep viewers on the edge of their seats.
-Cartoons and kids shows, sometimes small children might not be able to understand a scene or part and that is when the sound effects come into play. Sad music makes them feel for the character and happy music suggests that the character is being playful.
-Advertisements use different types of music to play the feelings of every-day Americans watching TV. They play sad music when they want you to feel bad for puppies, depraved kids in poor countries, and global warming melting icebergs and stranding polar bears.
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In the absence of music, it is harder for directors and actors to fully convey the mood to the audience.
EXAMPLES:
-Disney Movies. The impact of sound effects and soundtracks can be found in Disney movies. If you we're to watch one without turning on the sound (or at least without the music, in other words, just the voices), then you probably wouldn't feel as sad as you do when a character who is loved by all is hurt or killed (death doesn't occur TOO often in Disney films...but then again, there are a few exceptions...that I can't seem to bring to mind right now...but still).

-Other Movies. Even if it is not a Disney film, if you were to watch a movie (hearing only the voices), it would still be an entirely different experience. A man would be clutching the (prone and dead) body of a woman who he loved so dearly that he was willing to risk his whole life to protect her son even though she went off an married his childhood bully and arch nemesis and you might be sitting there, indifferent to it all thinking "...ok. Soooo...she died...that's too bad...*pausing the movie at the credits*...hm, I'm hungry...I wonder what's new in the refrigerator? *goes off to make a sandwich*"...well, maybe not exactly like that, but you probably don't feel as much empathy for the man as you would with music. With music you would probably still be sitting there in fetal position with your knees to your chest and tears streaming down your face while the credits continued rolling down the screen. then you would probably go update your status telling everyone how you were so touched by this movie you just watched. (...Alright...so maybe Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 isn't exactly an exemplary example of a drama, but still...).

New Book: Chapter 1- Sight and Sound

Sound designer Randy Thom (The Incredibles, The Polar Express, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire...etc.) states that film sound can:
***-Suggest a mood
-Set a pace
-Clarify the plot
***-Define a character
-Connect otherwise unconnected ideas, characters, places, images, or moments
-Draw attention to or away from a detail
-Indicate changes in time
-Smooth otherwise abrupt changes between shots or scenes
-Startle or soothe

Sound Design: Sound design has three main elements:
                                                                                     -Music
                                                                                     -Noises
                                                                                     -Voices

In olden days, everything on the soundtrack had to be recorded at the same time. Today, everything (the music, noises, and voices) is recorded separately and then put together after the film has been shot. (The person who combines these sounds is called the "sound mixer"). The noises on the soundtrack are called sound effects and can be simple (the squeak of a door hinge) or complicated (a nuclear bomb blowing up). Most action movies depend greatly on sound effects (Star Wars, Die Hard, The Matrix).

New Book!

So last Sunday I finally checked out another book to help me on my way! It is "Making Movies- Movie Soundtracks and Sound Effects" by Geoffrey M. Horn. Now, while it is only 32 pages, I flipped through it quickly and it seems to have a lot of useful information. I will be formatting my research a bit differently from now on. In order to make sure I have both facts and analysis, I will create separate posts of information with corresponding posts of reflection.

Group Blog Site

Our new group blog site is:
TopHatFalls Productions
we are no longer using our "snazalicious snazzies" site

Creating Shapes: The Basics-Part 1

Alright. So, when making characters, I'd say the classic would be this:

Now, keep in mind that all their body parts and clothing can be interchangeable.

     If you have already figured out that these two characters consist of powerpoint-given shapes, then you've already indirectly learned this first lesson. If not, then please continue reading on:

1. First decide on a character to create. For example...a person from the roman times 
2. Now decide on the types of clothing that they might wear. They might have a rhombus against his clothes like this to create togas of some sort like: