Weekly Blog (November 16-22)

Lately, I have been trying to pay attention to the composition and editing of advertisements. This is not a commercial, but it is impressive-- The author draws from an incredible number of sources yet maintains fluidity and leaves the dignity of the story's tempo intact.

Weekly Blog (November 16-22) and Sketch

This advertisement has been all over the internet. Youtubers continue to parody it (in a good way), substituting their favorite characters for the dancers. It has crossed the language barrier and become popular to internet-users across the world. What makes it so effective? Why this commercial? Personally, I believe it has to do with the music. As we saw in our animation assignment, music enriches a video immensely. The smooth flow from dancer to dancer is also intriguing to watch.  Basically: great transitions and catchy music.


Speaking of music, here is a random sketch of mine depicting an animal-instrument creation. (Kangaroo and string instrument?)

Weekly Blog (November 16-22)

Now that we are starting to apply our skills toward the creation of a marketable product, I thought it would be helpful to investigate the business aspect of the field. This site  lists 10 tips for effective advertising campaign. These stood out to me:

• target audience (pre-teens to young adults in our case)
• highlight your competitive advantages (reconfigurable design, allows user creativity)
• don't try to be everything to everyone (Sounds simple, but avid designers are likely to have this problem. You want your product to have the widest appeal and the largest audience. Instead, the product ends up being too vague and lacking identity. We luckily had a specific idea to begin with and did not have to grapple with this issue)
• test your ads (Reactions to test screenings of commercials and media advertisements was something we considered incorporating into our final presentation)
• monitor you ads (Not just your ads but your image.  The anonymity of the internet allows consumers to freely express their opinions and praise or condemn your company, as well as alter your media to fit their impression of you. Being aware of the world's perception of your company tells you how effective your products and advertisements are.)

Animation Assignment

I was heavily influenced by Piet Mondrian. For me, his bold colors and partitioned planes are reminiscent of information and technology:

However, I am hesitant to categorize my animation as abstractly informational. The cube relies on this theme, but the sphere takes a freer, more spiritual approach. The climax occurs when these two different aspects meet and become one, which (for me) is a key aspect in both spiritual and informational expression. The music (which I created in Garage Band) uses a synthesizer instrument and string instruments. I tried combining technological and semi-traditional sounds to invoke both information and spirituality respectively, though based on the audience it can fit into either category.


This animation is roughly 600 frames. I animated the box using 200 and sphere using 400. Originally, I had hoped for the animated objects to be moving simultaneously, but it was much simpler to approach them separately and edit the result with iMovie.

2 Weekly Blogs (November 9 - 15) and Sketch

Sketch:

This sketch was born of a random scribble, which explains the random concept. I believe it is a zebra-snake-butterfly cross that delivers mail and wears a strange hat.

Item One:
I found this website on three point lighting pretty helpful in explaining how certain dimensions and attributes affect a light (and thus the subject).

Item Two:
These links are to short Pixar animations. The first one tells a little more about Dug the dog, from Up!, and the second one, titled Partly Cloudy, was the short preceeding Up!. Both of these are remarkable for their range of emotion, anmiation quality, and storytelling.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StIA3MsrUGk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Am1yiTUy-pc

Lighting Assignment

Weekly Blog (November 2-8) and Sketch

Although not as flashy as some of the other animations I've seen, this one is impressive in its storytelling and characterization. It builds a lifetime in two minutes.




My sketch for the week- a creature cross: