I have finished my 1 second animation for week two.
I made a little raccoon read a book about timing and spacing because it fitted with what we were learning that week. I also think raccoons are cute.
I like how the animation turned out, even though the movements are quite jumpy, it was quite hard using Photoshop cs2 to get smooth movements. However, I like how the eyes move in a certain way and I think that overal it looks fine. I would probably add more frames next time to make the movement smoother next time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UkyYpFI8JY

Just written my 100 word essays on Oskar Fischinger and Norman MacLaren.
I like both these animators even thought their abstract style isn't my preferred choice of animation. I am very conventional when it comes to animation and like a story to be told. However, I liked studying these animators because it is obvious how they have influenced a lot of modern day animation, and I think it is interesting to look at how animation can be used in different styles and techniques and can be made so abstract it is almost fine art.

Oskar Fischinger

Oskar fishinger was a German-American animator, born in 1900-1967. He was one of the first experimental animators of his time, doing a lot of his animations synced to classical music. He played with shapes, sizes and timings while animating, not many of his animations had story or narrative just shapes dancing to the songs. He also used oil paintings to do animations taking a new frame with  every brush stroke. This became a very influential style. As well as this he also made small animations to music by painting strait onto camera film, this gave his work a smoother flow.

Norman MacLaren.

Norman Maclaren was a Scottish Canadian animator who was alive 1914 till 1987.
He has won Oscars and Bafta awards for his very successful animations and did most of his work for the National film board of candida. He worked on his own experimental animation at the same time as doing commercial work. He won his Oscar for his short film “neighbours” in 1952, even though this film can be seen to be quite comedic, it is largely based on the war and has a significant meaning. He experimented with on film animation and Pixilation which he became famous for.

Just been working on my 1 second animation for week two. Made a little raccoon, I like it but It's a little rough around the edges. Once I've added colour it'll look better. Now just need to google what colour raccoons are.

Shortened my essay down to 101 words!

Adam Elliot Animates directs and writes his own short and feature length films, a lot of them are based on true stories and family events. He has a very dark style and his films are for adults that touch upon extremely strong depressing subjects while keeping a slight ‘tongue and cheek’ to the films.

Elliot uses dark colours and slow movements to give a muted sad feel. He does this so the animation can be taken seriously. I enjoy the dark humour and powerful realism behind his films. I also like how much detail is shown through the puppets and backgrounds.

Hey, really unsure of what we are meant to be writing in these blogs.



I've finished my 1 second animation for Tuesday (tomorrow). I thought I would focus on freshers because that's a big thing that's happened in my life recently.
I just did a simple flashing lights in a club, with silhouette dancers. I love the colours and the lights, but maybe if I had figured out how to make a strobe light without it looking to messy it could have been better.
I'm happy with the movements of my characters however, I think the shapes could have been better.
It took me ages to create smooth movements and have them all in a cycle.
I hope it's OK. I've not found any sound for it, because every song sounds awful for a second!

Here's the link to it on my YouTube channel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf9Xr_w1n2A&feature=youtu.be



I have also written my 100 word essay on Adam Elliot, 100 words is nothing! So it's kind of turned into 320 but I've written what I wanted to say. I think with more words I would be able to go into more detail and make more points. But I really love his films, so I may save him until the final essay, because the strong social issues he shows in his films could create a good debate.

ADAM ELLIOT

Adam Elliot is an Australian animator who is mostly based in Melbourne.

As well as animating he also directs and writes his own short and feature length films, a lot of his films are based on true stories and family events. He has films named ‘Uncle’, ‘Brother’ and ‘Cousin’, all of them based on his family experiences. However, they are slightly exaggerated but not so the stories are unrealistic. Adam Elliot has a very dark specific style, his films are for adults and touch upon extremely strong depressing subjects while keeping a slight funny ‘tongue and cheek’ edge to the films.
Most animation is used for children or humorous films but Elliot uses dark colors, tones and slow movements to give a muted sad feel. He does this so the animation can be taken seriously and the strong points can be put across.

In his animations he touches upon, mental illness, death, suicide and other bad things. I think the slow style in which he animates works really well with the themes and characters of the films, and even though some people might find them disturbing and miserable to watch. I enjoy the dark humor and powerful realism behind his films.

From this picture you can see the black and whites Elliot has used to create a depressing scene; the litter and the crooked lamp post also portray the sadness in the film. Adam Elliot’s films look good with slow scenes because so much detail is shown through the puppets and backgrounds. Through the exaggerated features on ‘Max’ you can see the dark misery of his life.

However, later on in the film when ‘Mary’ has given him the pompom, there is color. This contrast in colors shows how ‘Mary’ is a splash of color and happiness on his life while everything else is dull and sad. These subtle ideas and emotions Elliot portrays shows his great ability to direct and animate.

I hope I'm putting the right things in this blog! 

Think I've finally got this Blogger thing sussed!

Just read the first 3 chapters of the Animation survival guide! I love it, the history behind animation is so interesting! Especially how the Egyptians carved different poses onto pillars so it created movement to chariot riders! Amazing that forms of animation have been around that long.

So just read those chapters, and now I'm practicing my masking skills on some Disney films!

Hey!
New to Blogger and I'm so confused! I think I've set it up all ok though.
I'm sure I'll figure it out soon.