12/10/16 Life drawing class

In class we had the same model from last week, the first image drawn was, as always, a way of limbering myself up, I always use the first image as a way for me to get back into the swing of things so I used 6B pencil and let myself freely draw with no restrictions.

After receiving positive reviews I decided to up my game and give myself a bigger task, I decided i was going to use a flesh toned pastel to draw in the highlights, no lines, only highlights, this went well until i discovered that in my position the highlights weren't prevalent enough to create a full image so i picked up some charcoal and added in shadow to try and get a better representation of what i can see.

The 3rd task was to draw 10 quick images between 30 seconds and 3 minutes long, I decided to use a gel pen to change things up a little and went with a continuous line for most of the images.

Lastly we were told to do our own study of the model, whether that be face, hands, torso or whatever, we were allowed to draw in sketchbooks, this sounded great to me as it was a chance to show my personal style which went down very well with the tutor and the model who complimented my work.

A very proud moment for sure.

10/10/16 Photoshop class

In class we were tasked with taking a thumbnail and turning it into both a value image and a colour image, I had some trouble, mostly with the value so Jordon (the class tutor) helped me with understanding the concept behind it and the best way to bring it out in an image.

I then decided to practice more with value by creating a generic future city that's easy to represent due to the medias outlook on futuristic settings, this was the outcome:

King Kong (1933) Review

King Kong (1933) (See fig.1) was produced by RKO Pictures, it was directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, the film depicts a film crew that heads to a tropical island to film a movie and comes into contact with a giant ape who falls in love with the crews female star, they capture the ape and bring him to new york as a prise.

The film has won the National Film Preservation Board's National Film Registry award (1991), Online Film & Television Association's OFTA Film Hall of Fame (2009) and TV Land Awards's TV Land Award (2008).

(Figure 1) King Kong [Poster]

The film was in production from 1931 -  1933 and cost an estimate of $670,000.
upon release the movie grossed $6,206,460 in the first year making it a box office hit.
Merian C. Cooper (Producer/Director) (See fig.2) would later write the remake of King Kong (1976) but would not see the film finished as he passed away in 1973 from cancer at the age of 79, he was also given thanks in the credits of the second King Kong (2005) remake.

(Figure 2) Merian C. Cooper [Photograph]

Both Cooper and Schoedsack were uncredited as the directors of King Kong (1933)

The film used painted backdrops (see fig.3) as well as real plants to create the illusion of a vast rain forest. Whilst not uncommon for the time to use these methods of illusion it was still considered to be one of the finest examples of the medium.

The backdrops were designed to not only trick the audience into thinking they are really in a jungle but also to help impose a sense of isolation, you are trapped in a world that doesn't care about you, that only wants to kill and eat you, what better way to help emphasize this then to make the world huge and vast, the jungles go on forever, the trees are as tall as buildings and nothing quite looks stable enough to walk on.

The film is credited as being 'the father of "Jurassic Park," the "Alien" movies and countless other stories in which heroes are terrified by skillful special effects.' (Rodger Ebert 2002)

(Figure 3) King Kong special effects [Movie Still]

Bibliography:

Figure 1. King kong poster (1933) Poster [Advertisement] in America 1933
Figure 2. King kong special effects (1933) Movie still [Movie still] in America 1931-1933
Figure 3. Merian C. Cooper (1933) Photograph [Photograph] in America, Date unknown

King Kong - IMDB [Online] available at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024216/?ref_=ttmd_md_nm [Accessed 10/10/2016]Jackson P. (2005) King Kong [Film]

Turner G. (1975) The Making of King Kong: The Story Behind a Film Classic. 

Brooklyn: A. S. Barnes

Roger Ebert (2002) King Kong [review]

10/10/16 3D Modelling class

In today's class we were taught how to make a gif animation using photoshop, this was accomplished by taking several layers of various stages of the image and then creating a "Frame Animation" on the "Timeline Window" which is opened from the windows button on the tool bar.

Here is an animated loop of an example image provided by Simon Holland 

3D Modelling Excercises

It started with making four egg cups, the video explained how to Subdivision and extrude to create the same shape multiple ways, following it's advice I created 4 egg cups using the same methods

After that the task was to create a retro styled alien ray gun, I followed the instructions changing only the colours. I call my creation "RAVEnous" considering I am a sucker for puns, the weapon uses a micro reactor that super heats a special chemical that is stored within the spheres on the side of the weapon to create plasma, the plasma is then electronically charged and fired out of the weapon.

My OGR (Online Greenlight Review)

Here is my OGR, I hope to have fulfilled what is required of me to a satisfactory degree.

OGR October 2016 by Servare on Scribd

I have also been tasked with confirming what i have completed when it comes to my Maya tutorials and film reviews, among other work.

Film reviews:
Cabinet of Dr Caligari is completed.
Metropolis is completed.
King Kong is incomplete.

Maya Tutorials:
None of which are complete, I have taken the day off tomorrow (09/10/16) to complete them.

Digital Painting exercises are complete.

Animation exercises are complete.

Contextual studies exercises are incomplete.

Don Hertzfedlt, Artist Review

Don Hertzfeldt (see fig.1) was born August 1, 1976 and is a two time Academy Award nominated animator, writer, artist and independent filmmaker.
He has created such films as "It's Such a Beautiful Day", "The Meaning of Life", "World of Tomorrow" and "Rejected".

(Figure 1) Don Hertzfeldt [Photograph]

His work consists of stick figures animated traditionally and uses 16 mm or 35 mm–film cameras to photograph his drawings, he also uses classical special effects such as using back-lit pin holes to create moving stars or simple multiple exposures.

Credited as being a prominent influence on absurdism and surrealism in animation post 2000, In 2008, Comedy Central noted his work as having "influenced an entire generation of filmmakers." 

In 2014, Hertzfeldt wrote, animated, and directed a surreal and futuristic two-minute "couch gag" for the 26th season of The Simpsons. (see fig.2)

His dark humor has won over the hearts of millions, because of this he is held with a lot of respect and love by the film and animation community, his work is also shown to university students to inspire them and show the possibilities of animation

(Figure 2) The simpsons couch gag episode 1 season 26 [still]