Extra Credit/Interview Workshop

We looked at a candidate for a character animator named Jonathon Doe. We are playing the part of the search committee.

Jonathon Doe #1:
He doesn't seem enthused or optimistic. He checked his phone, which is a NO NO. He talks about how he wants the job because it is close to where he lives. He also talks about his failures and emphasises it. His first question was, what does the job pay? He talks about the benefits for himself and not the benefits he contributes. He didn't stick his hand out for a handshake.

Jonathon Doe #2: He knocks it out of the park. He does all the things he should do and he is authentic. Tells about how he fixed a problem, giving a strength instead of a weakness. Major Improvement.

I learned the basics of an interview and now I will set up a mock interview to enhance my communication skills.

Demo Reel Crit/Presentation

Along with movie clips, I will be presenting some images of past works..


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O26AvQ8Hr74

This is the first demo reel I previewed. Although the content of the work is outstanding, I found issues with the demo itself. First of all, I believe the title and description of the works need to be presented. Maybe even the programs used to create these works. Also I believe the music could by synced a little better. Maybe the same song in segments across the demo.

http://reels.creativecow.net/film/thomas-horne-reel-2009

Unlike the other demo reel, this has a continuous song throughout and works quite well. What also works is the position outlined at the bottom. I'm sure most of the works were made in a group so it is smart to state the position taken place while making said work. I do think there could be another way of displaying the position without taking up so much screen space.I do believe that this demo reel needs a closing title. At the beginning, the artists name is not displayed long enough for the viewer to read it. I do not believe the titles of each piece are necessary in this one.


https://vimeo.com/groups/stopmotion/videos/63397502

I believe this is a very poor example of a demo reel. No titles. No audio. Nothing to explain anything. This would be a good example of what not to do while making this demo reel.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-IiUl7D1y0

This is a good example of a powerful reel. The content is amazing and the way the reel is organized works. It really made me want to explore the artists works, which I believe is the goal. I felt like the beginning and end titles could have been done more professionally. The font and the display is just bland. It needs more excitement. The second reel I posted would be a good example of an exciting title, except the artists name should be displayed longer. The song works, except it could be less repetitive.

Assets

Because I was sick for a week and a half, I'm running a little behind. I created all the assets that are images but I need to record audio this weekend. I also need to set my scenes in after effects. Painting all the images has taken up more time then I thought it would. I am confident that I can catch up with my fellow students. I need to do some trouble shooting with having a live video mouth that is lip synced to my audio. I need to stop making excuses but my other studio class is the reason I lack work in this course. I have all the characters besides one in after effects. I will post images soon so you can see the aesthetic.

Midterm/Final Project Concept

FINAL PROJECT CONCEPT:

                                Script:J.C. The Emcee

Elevator line: Jesus Christ is coming back for a new impression to his fans!
Explanation of theme: The big picture is to create humor out of the messages Jesus delivers.
Tone and execution: The aesthetics will be analog with digital animating.
Objective: The goal is to make the viewer take the Biblical stories less seriously.
Audience: My target audience is college students.

Introduction Interview:
I= Interviewer   J.C.= Jesus Christ
WS
(We see Jesus sitting in a chair next to a sign that says “Jesus Christ Comeback Tour”. The interviewer is not visible)

I- So Jesus, or would you rather me call you J.C.
J.C.- Call me J.C.

I-So J.C., I’ve been dying to ask you..whats your father like?
J.C.- He cool. Sometimes he bitches at me.He be like “blah blah blah follow the ten commandments.”

I-We all wanna know..what do you think about homosexuality?
J.C.- Some of my friends are gay, No homo. There could be worse sins to die for I guess. Beyond contrary belief, The bible says nothing about homosexuality. Some think I’m a cross dresser because of my hair and the attire I choose. I’m just against haters.

I- We are all concerned about your values, can you give us three short values that you live by?
J.C.- Shoot hope not dope. Rules are for fools,(under his breath) except the ten commandments. If your gay, just pray.Quit hatin unless it’s satan.

Middle Music Video:
CU
( We start with a close up of moses)
Moses-Let’s get this party started!
ELS
( A view of moses from behind infront of the Red Sea. He slams his cane against the ground and the sea starts to split. The arc rides on the waves and floats to the center. A crowd of nuns comes behind moses screaming approaching the arc.The beat starts as Jesus arises from the stage. The crowd goes wild.)

(Jesus Raps..)

(We see Jesus’s full body shot on the stage)
WS
 I’m the lords emcee
They call me J.C.
Cat’s act like they do, but they don’t know me
My man moses spread the red sea just so you can see me.
ECU
(A shot of moses bobbing his head)
I’m the bloody savior with the mindless behavior
I’m here to deliver a new flavor.
And God, I’m delicious.

I’m humble and vicious.
I put taxes on your fishes.
INSERTS
(A shot of a Christian fish with dollar signs inside and then back to the stage)
Heaven passes for all my bitches.
HORIZONTAL ANGLE
EST
(Throws heaven passes into the crowd)
Go to hell, if you think I’m fictitious.
I’m going to make it rain.
(Rain starts to pour)
Before it hit’s the ground, it’ll be champagne.
Only the beatles got as much fame..
I knew at the last supper
That Judas was a dirty fucker.
Don’t betray me with a kiss.
We’ll be watching on Christmas.
Don’t make me add you to santa’s hit list
2S
(Shot of santa and Jesus in a room with guns)
Spinning heads like exorcist.
CU
(Shot of a fan’s head spinning)
So don’t make me pissed.

If you make me mad,
You’ll get to meet my dad.
Got a flow no one can purchase.
One line in a thousand churches.
East side West side, who do you do it for?
I do it for the lord.
My Schedules kinda hectic.
At ten a clock I get resurrected.
WS
(Shot of Jesus Rapping on the cross)
On the cross fully erected.
(Erection appears)
I’ll never get limp, cause I’m the worlds biggest pimp.
(Back to the stage)
I don’t know if you heard.
But God is the word.
EST
(throws bible at fans)

End Message:
WS

Interviewer- If you had some last messages to your fans, what would they be?

J.C. I’ll be back, so remain faithful. Oh and the stories about me are not factual, they are just metaphors that will guide one to live a better life.

Thought Process:

For my midterm, I would like to expand the Jesus rap video. I want to create a narration or background story for the character. I would like to give a more music video vibe. The goal that I would like to reach is to add more humor to this piece. I have created a process of using hand painted content and bringing it into after effects to animate it. I enjoy making an analog element in my pieces. One of the elements that I enjoy is the mask of the mouth so I will continue to use this element. Like most rap videos, there will be bitches with booty, which will probably be nuns. I came up with this idea over the summer and I came up with a couple story boards, but I haven't chose which one. First I want the video to start off with an interview with Jesus where he explains the hardships of being the savior, probably with Donald King to joke about his age. He will describe Judas like the beef between Tupac and Biggie Smalls. I then want a shot of moses on the boat to introduce Jesus with a rap.Something like "here comes our savior with mindless behavior".After the interview and introduction, Jesus will awake on his couch in his cave. In his hand, there will be a forty that appears clear. In the rap, he will talk about the transformation of water to wine and the forty will become wine. He will explain that it's his last day of being in the cave and his first day on tour. He leaves the cage to find two good looking nuns to fit under his arms. His stage will be the broken down ship. He approaches with groupies surrounding the stage. During his rap, Jesus will explain the hardships endured and there will be shots elaborating the rap. His hardships include; arguments between Jesus and his father, Judas stabbing Jesus in the back, and the devils trickery. This piece will be packed with biblical references. The overall message Jesus will convey is that you don't mess with the son of god. I may even want a conversation between god and Jesus through the clouds like Lion King. Jesus will leave the stage in a poof of smoke or be picked up by his fans for crucifixion. I will post a story board soon.

A sample of what kind of humor I'm looking for:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7iVsdRbhnc


Like Washington in this video, I want Jesus to do outstanding, impossible things. When brainstorming I thought he could do some of these things: contact with aliens, has super powers, time travels, and all sorts of whimsical things. Like a rapper, I want Jesus to be egotistical and brag about EVERYTHING. I like to picture Jesus rapping on the cross.

A line I was thinking of:
"The definition of religious.
I put taxes on yo fishes.
Serve it up for you bitches."

Started Fresh FLIP BOOK STYLE

Revision of flipbook: In critique my fellow colleges and proffesor told me I should make the book bigger with thicker paper. I made it larger for hand size and I added cardstock for my recipe.The cardstock was about 5 dollars. The class also told me I should get a cover. It was pretty cheap, but I went to FedEx Office and got them to bind it for like six bucks. I kept running into a repeating problem, printer running out of ink. I went to that Office and used there printer. For those looking to print 100 color pages it'll run you about 50 bucks.If YOU are looking to make a flipbook like mine,  it'll cost you around 60 dollars. So WALA my flipbook is made.
(picture coming soon)


The book that I proposed that I would do will no longer be the project I present. The people behind the book never got back to me with a storyboard so I had to start from scratch. I first made a scope thing that would show an animation of a skateboarder doing a trick. With hours wasted, I decided that it would not work. I think I made the mistake of putting the skateboarders too close together. We all learn from mistakes and I think it resolved itself. I really wanted my work to be analog so I once again started from scratch on an easy action that I could make into a flip book. Analog: I drew some of the frames of a bomb launching from earth that will destroy earth. Digital: I then colored and added tweens with the help of Toon Boom.  Analog: I printed off tiny images of the short film I made and hand cut it out then punched a hole through the center of each image. I really like how the flip book turned out. This is a copy of the video I used for the flip book.

http://vimeo.com/60721329

Puppet Tool, Effects, DAD

 Recently I have received an opportunity to make an ad for a fantasy Novel entitled  “Aoife and Demon”. Since I would like to get paid for doing school work I have decided to combine this Digital Analog Digital project with the ad. I have decided that I want to rotoscope. I plan to take a video into the analog world by printing out each frame of the video and adding paper effects. At first I wanted to do a stop motion piece that comes into the analog form but then I realized that my client needs the digital form of this project. I am supposed to receive the storyboard this weekend so I’m not sure what the content will be yet. Judging from the title, there is a demon and a main character involved. I hope to create a demon paper cut out and create a chase scene between a human and a demon.  Judging by the cover, I will depict a very dark woodsy scene that contains shadowy figures lurking through the night.

After Effects Fiasco: For my effect presentation I decided to teach the class how to make fire.It's a pretty easy effect that is pretty useful.It uses two effects: fractal noise and colorama. Colorama has a preset for fire so it makes it pretty simple. Fractal Noise can also be used for the explosive look. When animating, to make it look like fire, you have to turn the subcomplexity and evolution in the y axis in order to make the fire move upward. This should be a fairly short presentation that I give.

TUTORIAL:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBQAMVv3a_8


I felt like I needed to use a character that can morph shapes for the puppet tool demonstration. I used an alien man who has really flexible body parts. When I saw this puppet tool being used I automatically thought of a Michael Jordan and his amazing dunk pose.  I decided to do something farely simple in order to accomplish the techniques used. My favorite part in this piece is the ball traveling through the alien.I probably won't touch this piece again because I made it to simply learn the techniques of the puppet tool.

https://vimeo.com/59614813



 I plan to bring many materials to mess around with for the effects presentation.

February 7th/11th

For the seventh time I have edited "The Resurrection". Jill told Hitler to get out of my short because no one can make fun of Hitler or 9/11.Bye bye Hitler. The one element I really enjoyed about the Hitler skit was the videoed mouth so I've decided to give Jesus one. In critique it was said that I needed more closeups for a music video feel, so that's what I did.I'm still working on an introduction and a closure to add to this. I hope that this week I have done enough to finally say "done" with "The resurrection".

http://vimeo.com/59433747



For the sixth time I have edited "The Resurrection" and this time I have added Hitler. Hitler is now god.I hope people get a laugh out of my piece. I think it's impressive that I learned how to video mask and create fire before it was taught in this class. One thing that I've always tried to do with my art is to make the familiar unfamiliar. I bet you weren't expecting a depiction of Hitler as god or Jesus as a rapper with a golden chain. I am very satisfied with the results. I think the skills I will use the most are the mouth masks over still images and the classic cut out characters. I feel like my future work in this class will reach expectations because I have learned these skills. I'm not trying to make a statement about Hitler or Jesus, I just wanted to make the serious subjects funny.

http://vimeo.com/59141758

In this piece, I have played with masking. There is no concept, it's all experimental. I learned how to make a 3d effect with my text at the beginning. After that, I learned how to make a transparent video over the background filmed. Then I made many masks, including a video mask inside a TV. I used mask interpulation in order to show a number of birds changing forms to other birds. I don't expect the audience to gain anything from this piece because it was just a learning experience. This could be a depiction of my insomnia. I think the skill I will use the most is the ghost videos I created.

http://vimeo.com/59140128