Paperman/Wreck-It Ralph

On Monday I went to see the new Disney movie Wreck-It Ralph as well as the short that plays before the feature Paperman. Both were very good in my opinion and definitely a breath of fresh air.

Paperman was all hyped up as being a hybrid of 3D animation and traditional 2D, which it was. While watching it I could tell that it was not the traditional 2D that you might see from animators working with cel sheets or creating in Toon Boom. There was something a little more off and that was probably because its started in 3D and then uses software to add the outlines. I watched a video on it and the software looks very cool with some of the neat things it provided. The breakdown on that magic was here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsoiEpuvTeQ&feature=related
Overall though it was a normal love story kind of thing that would make people go "aww." I was more a fan of the noir style and the technology that made it come all together.

Wreck-It Ralph was very captivating, I was eager to see the movie from the first trailer. One reason was probably because I have been playing video games since I was 5 and seeing some familiar faces made it kind of exciting. Overall I'd have to say everything was beautifully executed. John C. Reilly has started becoming one of my favorite actors and not because of the humor stuff he does. The story seemed very original to me, but knowing my luck in week I will find out it was based off of a book or some other story. The conflicts in the story were good, but at times there were two different conflicts going on so I would forget about one of them while getting caught up in what I'd call the main conflict. However, I will say they did meet up in the end to get resolved together as well.
One thing that did bother me a little was the overall message I was supposed to walk away from after seeing the movie. I thought because Ralph was labeled as a bad guy and tried to show he wasn't just a bad guy was where it was going. However it then took a turn where it was bad that he wanted to try and be the good guy for once. I think some more time digesting it and thinking will allow me to understand a little better.

In the end it is a must see for any video game enthusiasts and anyone who loves a good movie.

pose 9/3

So it has been a long time since I have posted anything and that is probably because I am in the middle of getting ready to move. Just been cleaning the new place and getting it ready while also trying to pack some things up and also work so it is always fun.
Now down to business. This week is another pose and based off of volleyball. Summer is closing so I thought it would be nice to still have some summer sports. I do like the anticipation as its getting close to the ball and he is winding back getting ready to smack it! His body is also showing a flow of direction to where the action id about to happen which is also really nice. Overall I think this was a nice pose to get back into the swing of things.

Idiots and Angels

Watched Bill Plympton's Idiots and Angels a couple of nights ago because it was on Netflix. I have always enjoyed Plympton's style with morphing and transformations. I first saw some of his work in my History of Animation class while at BGSU. We watched his video How to Kiss and I thought that was all pretty funny. I also liked the Guard Dog and the extreme exaggeration of the dogs fear for his owners safety.
Idiots and Angels was a lot different than the other videos I had watched. It was definitely on a more serious note on the evils of other people using a persons gift for their own selfish needs. The colors were also a lot more toned down and neutralized but I think that plays into the tone of the movie. There was still quite a bit of humor that made me kind of chuckle and there was still plenty of morphing animations and deformations that I thought were awesome. Another thing I really liked about this film was the different camera angels for shots and angles. There was one shot where they were showing a bullet going through one of the characters. It was not fancy CSI shots but I still really enjoyed them.
One thing I thought the movie lacked though was its speed to get to the main point. There were a couple of moments during the movie where I was beginning to lose interest. Especially when the wings were still very small.
Overall I thinks it was a Bill Plympton original for those who like his style and his sense of humor.

Pose 8/12

Tried a different rig this time to switch things up. I like the diversity from this rig but I will say I did not care for the skin not showing up except with rendering with mental ray. I haven't had much experience playing around with mental ray all I knew was that it could do some cool stuff when put together properly. Which I'm not sure if I did or did not do.
This pose was brought to you by Aaron Rodgers the QB for the Green Bay Packers. I pulled it from another ESPN magazine which is getting ready for football season since it is just around the corner.

Pose 8/7

Another pose from the ESPN magazine. Some baseball going on for this one. Unfortunately for this one I could not figure out how to position the other arm because I could not find it in the picture so I tried at the best of my abilities to position it and equal out the balance.

pose 7/31

I think I like this pose of the ones I have done so far, probably because of the curve and arch of the body. I also really like the back arm and how it is positioned. Everything in the pose seems to push forward which is definitely the purpose since he is taking off.

pose 7/23

This weeks pose was based off of a boxer from the ESPN magazine. The rig was a little limited because in the picture the boxer was flexing which I can't achieve that look.