on writing and performing
Just some thoughts that came to mind after watching Doryuu dancing at a company talent night, blurted out over five tweets. It captures some thoughts on the nature of creation and performing. I figured I'd share it here too:
I see choreography as beling like writing music or script. The performer takes what is written and through their performance and passion gives it life. And a gifted & practiced performer can give it such a life that the spectator can feel that life/energy/passion beyond the mechanics. It's like that with art too. Tracing is practice, but cannot translate the emotion of the original. Model sheets tell an artist how to draw a character, but it's the artist that brings it to life. I never got past the mechanics of animation. I have the art talent, not the drive to learn and master the tools and techniques of art and mechanics of animation. It's a tough world out there, no such thing as a free lunch.
I had this thought on tracing.
I've done rebuilds of a couple Shawn Keller suits:
Blooper v2 - since the original was a partial and the fur was impossible to find. I un-furred the head to try to reproduce the shapes with my foam carving
Blooper v3 - v2 was showing some wear, and we didn't have fur to match. I redid the head, not un-furring either v1 or v2 and eyeballing the shapes-minus-fur, JD Puppy did a body with the matching new, darker blue. "Midnight Blooper" we called him.
Camper v2 - I'd refurbished the original Camper to fit Croc and I, and we're bigger than Shawn. I reused the arm/leg fur to help size things up and give him a bigger tail. This guy was showing wear and we found some similar shade of burnt orange at a Denver fabric store (thanks Gilmore!). I had approximated the foam shape based on the furred v1 head but didn't take into account the added bulk of the fur. I also couldn't reproduce the wide scooping ears properly.
Crygus with Camper v2, Blooper v2, Camper v1, Blooper v3
I'd recently worn both Camper v1 and v2 and felt disappointed in the condition of v1 and the lacking practicality of v2. Looking back, there's almost none of myself in them, I was too busy trying to exactly reproduce the foxes, they felt as if I'd traced the originals. I want to revisit these two someday, since they're getting old.
Hopefully I'll get back to that life-changing experience at FC. Been too distracted by real life!
I see choreography as beling like writing music or script. The performer takes what is written and through their performance and passion gives it life. And a gifted & practiced performer can give it such a life that the spectator can feel that life/energy/passion beyond the mechanics. It's like that with art too. Tracing is practice, but cannot translate the emotion of the original. Model sheets tell an artist how to draw a character, but it's the artist that brings it to life. I never got past the mechanics of animation. I have the art talent, not the drive to learn and master the tools and techniques of art and mechanics of animation. It's a tough world out there, no such thing as a free lunch.
I had this thought on tracing.
I've done rebuilds of a couple Shawn Keller suits:
Blooper v2 - since the original was a partial and the fur was impossible to find. I un-furred the head to try to reproduce the shapes with my foam carving
Blooper v3 - v2 was showing some wear, and we didn't have fur to match. I redid the head, not un-furring either v1 or v2 and eyeballing the shapes-minus-fur, JD Puppy did a body with the matching new, darker blue. "Midnight Blooper" we called him.
Camper v2 - I'd refurbished the original Camper to fit Croc and I, and we're bigger than Shawn. I reused the arm/leg fur to help size things up and give him a bigger tail. This guy was showing wear and we found some similar shade of burnt orange at a Denver fabric store (thanks Gilmore!). I had approximated the foam shape based on the furred v1 head but didn't take into account the added bulk of the fur. I also couldn't reproduce the wide scooping ears properly.
Crygus with Camper v2, Blooper v2, Camper v1, Blooper v3
I'd recently worn both Camper v1 and v2 and felt disappointed in the condition of v1 and the lacking practicality of v2. Looking back, there's almost none of myself in them, I was too busy trying to exactly reproduce the foxes, they felt as if I'd traced the originals. I want to revisit these two someday, since they're getting old.
Hopefully I'll get back to that life-changing experience at FC. Been too distracted by real life!