Cookies & Productiveness
So since my mind crash on Monday when I was totally useless, and irate after discovering that I had not only accidentally deleted my script for my senior project, but my old presentations and the documentation from the previous project before I had changed it, it turned out Tuesday and onwards has been the opposite for the most part. I've finally
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You should pick up this book if you're interested in knowing a bit more about traditional animation. One of the best things I've ever bought. And I'm the same. I'm an old Disney classic girl (Beauty & the Beast/The Little Mermaid are my faves) but Tangled was really amazing. Sadly, I only saw it once despite wanting to see it over and over bc it had that replay value. It really surprised me. Totally different feel and reaction compared to when I saw The Princess and the Frog. I loved it!
I thought for a 3D project that Disney did alone without Pixar, it was great. Everything it should have been. I feel like the things that were missing in Disney's attempt to prove that they were still into 2D despite most of their 2D staff having been already fired (smart move Disney) The Princess and the Frog, it was made up for in Tangled. I also sort of wonder if How to Train your Dragon and Dreamwork's sudden upward shot into fame is what made Disney sit back and re-evaluate how to go about story and reach to their audience, see where they fell short in the Princess and the Frog and they came hitting back hard with Tangled. Let's hope Disney can keep up that streak though.
And I'm not an animation major although I dabble in it as hobby. So I'm faaar from expert, believe me haha. But seriously, all it takes is an interest and a good eye. I guarantee that after you've learned to animate something as "simple" as a bouncing ball which is what they always start off with first when teaching, you'll have a real appreciation for that sort of stuff. Phew.
Cool! Hope your dad finds it useful!
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Beauty & the Beast <33 That was my favorite. Tangled was pretty stunning, especially in 3D. That scene where they're in the boat and the lanterns float over them is amasing in 3D. Talk about eye candy!
I remeber being so upset when Disney was all "Oh Hai gaiz~ Guess what? Were not doing hand-drawn animated movies ever again!" Princess and the Frog, was an important step for Disney because its purpose was to regain the trust of their old fans who had Disney nostalgia. I have to say it worked in my case; it was the first Disney (non-pixar) movie I saw in a long time. In essence, it followed the old Disney formula, just with updated visuals. It was really moving though, to remember all those movies I loved so much as a child. But I must admit it really did feel like something was missing; it was good, there was just something that wasn't there to make it absolutely prefect. But in the case of Tangled, they used the new computer animation to try and evoke those same feelings, and, surprisingly, it worked. The visuals were not only stunning but the story was really well done. The characters were amiable and the romance believable thereby making it work. I'm really big on the story so it was great in my eyes. But do you remember the credits? The sort of unfinished concept art drawing were really interesting to me. I'd almost like to see a movie done in that style, as silly as that sounds.
What you must know about me is that I am ridiculously fascinated by history and the way people work in general. Social relationships, cultural traditions, everything that has happened to them in the past; I love it all. It's what makes me such a history nerd. Things like fashion, literature, animation, and music are all influenced by the period in which they are created and reflects the people of that time. But on a superficial scale, it's pretty and I like pretty things.
Lately I've been noticing that anime has been doing some pretty spectacular things with animation, both stylistically and in movement, like Mononoke and the Tatami Galaxy. Those two are a major leap from traditional anime style. Or in one of newer animes, Gosick, has an opening which looks like a moving Alphonse Mucha portrait. But for movement Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou had this one very impressive episode, where it not only makes this one evil spirit make really creepy movement a, but the facial movements in that episode was really really nice. You could see exactly what emotions the main character was experiencing. It was so heartbreaking. Although the character design doesn't make you go wow or anything (which is understandable given that the source material looked like it had been drawn with an ink brush) the sheer fluidity of movement in that episode was fantastic. Also I love almost everything done by Shaft or anything that airs during the noitaminA block.
I think I talk too much... OTL
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Not only that but although the story was there, they hadn't quite fleshed it out 100% like they had Tangled or older movies. I think Disney tried too hard to prove they can still use pencil and also, that they were okay with non-16 year old Caucasian princesses and princes that weren't perfectly kind and happen to be rich AND a hero. And this whole, we're not racist thing, LOOK, it's an interracial couple! And I'm fine with that. Had Rapunzel and Flynn been different races, I wouldn't have cared. It was that in the Princess and the Frog, I feel like they should have sat down, and fleshed it old school, taken their time, made sure that even if they were experimenting with ethnicity, it should not change the fact that the audience has to fall in love with these characters and relate. And instead, I feel like they rushed, hashed it up and had way too many goals for one film, forgetting the basics, and it's only big step in Disney history was it's ethnic change.
Buuut, enough about that. Tangled was really great. I hope to get it when it comes out on DVD. And the lantern part was awesome. I also felt like they were some obvious references to other movies in their like the boat on the water was like OMG the little mermaid and then the scene in the end with the tear I was like Holy crap, Beauty and the Beast. Haha, I liked those subtle references.
And anime has been kicking it up lately. Especially now that American cartoons are mixing with them. Now Japan is making Marvel anime or taking American shows like Supernatural and making it an anime. American cartoons (or at least some) are putting some more eastern flair and culture into their cartoons. I really loved Heroman by Bones. It was predictable because it's Stan Lee and I found it hilarious that the enemies looked like overgrown roaches, but I adored the style and animation of it. Also, animation might not be the right word. Most Disney films as well as anime, it's all rotoscoped. Anything closely resembling real human beings, it's traced, or at least I think all the main keys and main in betweens are. Some ppl are under this impression that there are these Godly animators that can animate these realistic human bodies and the truth is, there is no such thing. If it's cartoony like a mascot character, like Kon from Bleach, frogs from Naruto, the robot from Heroman, etc, it's probably animated from scratch. All else, traced. It's no wonder anime can release new episodes every week. I know when I found out, it was like big shock to me too, but then it all made much more sense haha.
Anyway, I rambled too. It's okay. Talking is always fun. ttylz :3
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Princess and the Frog did seem like it had something to prove. I think that Disney was really riding on the fact that it was supposed to show a more ethnic-friendly Disney. But there was a lot of people who subscribed to it. You wouldn't believe how many people were so happy about the fact that she was black and they praised it as Disney first non-Caucasian princess. ... So Jasmine doesn't count as a princess even though they refer to her as Princess throughout the whole film and it's set in India. :I I am not amused. They weren't totally "HEY LOOK RACIAL MINORITIES! LOOK AT THEM LOOK! LOOK AT HOW PROGRESSIVE WE ARE!" really riding on a gimmick, and that gimmick just happened to be racial minorities. /And in a lot of cases, the gimmick worked because now they have a new accepted princess to make money off a merchandise for.
Tangled was great. :) The references. <33
Heroman is such eye candy. I would totally watch more of it if the story wasn't crap. Stan Lee! :/ I don't usually associate rotoscoping with terrible animation (unless it's a really half-assed Hanna-Barbera cartoon), because I think productions that don't resort to it are just that much more special. Hand-drawn animation is hard and I'm a forging person in cases like these. I've even seen rotoscoped animation where the characters were obviously super-imposed (and sometimes just included in the place of hand-drawn animation) from actual live action footage but that footage was smoothed and the colours saturated in order to blend to create an artistic effect. I didn't think it would be so hard to animate such simplified cartoon characters. If that's true than something like Panty and Stocking which has very cutsey, very Powerpuff Girls-esque characters, would be a nightmare to animate.
I'm so happy you don't mind my rambling. :)
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