Final Words

My favorite film this semester was definitely West Bank Story. It was so fun to see my childhood memories recreated. Something that I loved about this class was how it made us think. As a thinker and processor, I found it very refreshing to have new ideas. Well, until next time! Merry Christmas!

See Y'all Soon!

Hey Guys!

So, this is probably going to be my last blog. I just wanted to say thank you to you all for being such great classmates, and people to learn with. Thanks for making my first semester of college better then I could have ever hoped. I want to give an especially special thanks to the friends who kept up with me outside of the classroom. Y'all were such a blessing, and didn't even know it. Thanks for being awesome! See you Tuesday!

~Katy

Gaming: Character Design

Something that I have always loved about watching my brother play video games was the character art. I loved the belts and buckles that Sora had all the way to the kinds of swords Cloud yielded. Needless to say, I hated when characters were poorly done. Detail work is important to a good character. If you are working with 16 bits, then that's fine that Mario is pixelated; one can still see his mustache, blue overalls, and red shirt and cap. It is very important for character designers to take special advantage of the level of detail that their game can handle.

Steins;Gate

Recently, I watched the anime Steins;Gate, and I have a few things to say about it. First of all, the drawing style was very interesting in that it was not entirely traditional for an anime series. It took a little bit of getting used to, but in the end, if it was going to be an off style, I wish it had been more the style of Death Note. Next point is that the concept of time travel that they imagine is absolutely unique and fantastic, and the plot is so very intriguing that if you are not careful, you will end up watching half of the series in a day or two (don't ask how I would know). Finally, it is one of the best animes out there. The second half, in particular, is so mind boggling, that you do not really know what is happening until it's all over. Since I personally LOVE "think pieces", this was absolutely fantastic. If you liked live action films such as Inception or Looper, you probably would like this show a lot.

Micro Art

So, this is kind of way off subject of animation, but for a few minutes, I would like to advert y'all's attention to something that I love, and that I am fascinated with: micro sculptures.

What I love about micro sculpting (or carving in some cases) is that it makes you see something that you know should not be. For instance, a pencil is a pencil, not a saw or a key. In the same way, we do not expect a piece of metal less then an inch high to be a pair of lizards.

I love the fantasy of these sculptures. They make me look at the impossible and instead of thinking how impossible it is, I can try to figure out, instead how to achieve what I am seeing.

Another micro art that is going around right now is micro photography. The photo below is 100% real. This photographer named Andrey Pavlov uses a special super micro lens, and uses ants as models. He has a whole bunch of pictures up, and his name is a link.

I have always loved fairy tales, and this micro art makes anything possible.

Hairy Potter

A Hairy Potter (just because we all have thought it).

Harry Potter is a mainstream film that I know that Leeper does not like very much (if at all). However, after seeing it for the first time ever, I am not sure I entirely agree that it is a totally poor piece of footage.

Saturday, I watched the third movie, and I actually liked it. Sure, the third movie is supposedly the best, and I have never seen any other movies. From what I saw, the film was, as a whole, well produced and thought out. I wasn't super fond of all of the CGI that they used, but I did think that the movie would not be the same without it.

I did like the creative mind of the character designer, though (I believe he was also the director?). While the movie was dark, it was not too dark to the point that a child would be horrified if they watched it. I loved the takes on the various creatures.

Wether or not you like Harry Potter is entirely up to you. I do not think that I will be watching all of the other movies, but I did enjoy the one that I watched.

DM 101

Throughout this course, I have learned a lot about media. I have decided that I love small independent studios, documentaries aren't too bad, and that just because something is different that what I was used to, did not automatically mean that I should not show it any interest.

One of the things that I loved about Professor Leeper's teaching style is that he made us think for ourselves, and he would suggest foreign themes so that we could expand our minds. Basically, I just want to say thank you to Prof Leeper for making me take new aspects into consideration for my future work.

3.14159265

Just recently when we watched the Tree of Life, I thought that there could not be another film that incorporated such beautiful imagery in the piece. After this afternoon, I have decided that I had made a mistake.

The Life of Pi may not be quite as openly abstract as The Tree of Life, however, I would like to say that it was almost (if not) as beautiful as The Tree of Life. In contrast to The Tree of Life however, The Life of Pi used CGI in addition to the life shots. The use of camera angles was otherworldly in several scenes. Several times throughout the film, you would see an object floating in the sky, or the water, or kissing the horizon of the two, but you could not distinguish air from water, and it was all beautiful.

One of the things that I really liked was the way it made you think. You could not very well leave that theatre without asking which account was real, and which was not. This film questions reality, and it was interesting to see the world differently.

West Bank Story

I grew up on musicals, so when I saw that we were watching a parody of musicals in general, my heart beat fast with glee.

One of the things that I loved about this short was the way that it lovingly made fun of so many things. I personally do not think anyone who fit into the categories trolled upon would be offended. I know that I loved it all. The entire time I was just waiting to see what would happen next. Basically, I LOVED it. My favorite aspect was the musical/romantic puns. For instance when the Romeo type character went to his Juliet's window, he said a long spiel about the reality of what musicals do (sing a romantic song loudly and disturb the neighbors). The whole thing was just happiness in general.

Boggle

In a society of consumerism, often times we Americans seek entertainment (only) when we go to theaters. That being said, when we come across a movie like The Tree of Life, we do not really know how to respond. With it's exotic scenes of volcanos, planets, microscopic images, and more, this film was fantastically different then what I was accustomed to seeing.

The reason that I and just now blogging on this film is not because I have pointlessly been holding it off, but rather because I have been thinking about what I saw, and trying to figure out what to say about it. I have come to the conclusion that I do not really have much to say in addition to this film. It was a brilliant movie, though. Everyone that I have talked to about it has stated that they are STILL thinking about it even though it's been a while. It takes a truly well developed presentation to captivate the audience, though it may be small, for a sustaining period of time.

The main nugget that I got from this piece of art is that I need to learn how to interest the audience. Maybe the overall theme should not be as complicated as this one, but in my future works, I need to figure out how to make people think, and how to make the taste of my work linger for a while even after it's over.

The Cartoonist

The other day when I was hanging out with a fantastic DMA friend here on campus and geeking out over comic books and their art, said friend introduced me to a man by the name of Skottie Young.

Something that I love about Mr. Young's art was the whimsical feel that they have. If you took Tim Burton, Dr. Seuss, and threw in a hint of manga, you would end up with a style similar to that of Skottie Young.

Since character design is kind of what I want to do with my life, I had so much fun looking at his designs and trying to learn from them. I've done some based off of his style, but none of them are as great, obviously. You should love his work, too, because it makes you think differently about what you thought you already knew.

Stardust

He looks at her, and she back at him. Ahhh... They were star crossed lovers.... No, literally... She was a star.

Stardust is a movie about a star who fell from the heavens in the form of a woman. Through twist and turns, love rings true. Yay. The comedy all throughout is an interesting sort, though, seeing as there are seven brothers all fighting to win lordship over the land once their father dies. So, they all try to kill each other. They have a bad habit of lingering, though. Even once they're dead, their spirits are left to watch the adventures of their remaining brothers with no ability to change what is happening.

If you like love stories that kind of poke fun at the classic fairytale, then this is the film for you!

Princess Mononoke

Tonight before I cracked down on my homework, I decided to watch Princess Mononoke, because it was spoken very highly of by a friend who's theatrical taste I greatly admire and respect. Going into this film, I honestly had no idea what to expect. All I knew was that it was like a Disney/Anime hybrid style, and that it was extremely beloved in Japan.

After watching it, I was reminded why I am so excited to be an animation major. I did not agree with everything in the film, however, I definitely appreciate how Hayao Miyazaki envisioned this story, and played it out. Even though it was kind of violent for an animation film, all of the violence worked with the story rather then just being in there to be in there.

I would definitely recommend this film to people to watch. If you need to take a break while studying, you should definitely watch this; you won't regret it.

What Was Scary? What Is Scary?

Trolls 2

Very recently, I had the "opportunity" to watch Trolls 2 with some friends. Since I had just seen Cabin in the Woods  a few weeks before, it was easier to say which was scarier (even though Cabin in the Woods is a "spoof" horror film).

Take a look to the right, which is scarier? Which is newer?

If you answered Cabin in the Woods for either question, you are correct!

Cabin in the Woods

I must confess, the whole time I was watching Trolls 2, I was laughing pretty hysterically. However, when it first came out, it was, even if just barely, considered scary. It's fascinating to see how much horror has changed over the years. Honestly, I do not think it is a good thing either. We are becoming SO numb to violence and gore that it is not abnormal for a six year old to see an R rated film. Basically I think that we need to be more aware of what we are filling our heads with. It has been proven that violence in movies has helped lead to serial killers, shootings, and other cruel acts. Now, I am not saying "get rid of all violence!"; my favorite movie is Gladiator, and think that tasteful violence is good (keyword being "tasteful"). I would just like to petition that we choose wisely what we feed our brains and memories, because once an image is in your head, once you see something, it will never fully go away.

Circular Reasoning

Play, Pause, Restart

Last Wednesday in Signs and Wonders, we watched a film called "Poetry". To be honest, I had absolutely no idea what to expect.

One of the things I found different but EXTREMELY enjoyable was the way that the movie made full circle. Rather then being like most American movies of which travel in a "straight line"of events and end in a new place, this Korean film ended looking over the river, and had the little girl (who committed suicide at the beginning by jumping off of the bridge) looking back from atop the bridge.

Although it was not the happiest movie in the world, I do not think it could of ended more perfectly. It ended where it began, and for me, caused my mind to rethink the story. This is something that I miss in American film. I love the aspect "past event" b-roll with "current event" dialogue, and I felt it added a lot to the film. I do not want to say too much, because anyone reading this should see the movie. It was DEFINITELY worth the two hours of subtitles (and the technical difficulties) we experienced.

The Tusken Raider

The Tuscan Rader

She sits in full silence until something funny is said,
Heads slowly turn with eyes that kill stone dead,
All of a sudden her heart starts to ache,
I am the one they say is a fake.

They whisper in the shadows away from her side,
The words don't stay chained but instead they glide,
People gather in shadows up against the wall,
I am the one they say has a walrus mating call.

Words fly and they snicker, "how funny am I!",
They jeer "but away from her ear" they sigh,
Behind her back but their words break loose,
I am the one that is called the goose.

A next step is taken,
A tear is not faken,
In her mind they hate her,
I am the one who they call "Tusken Raider".

A Reminder to You

Hey guys,

I know this is a poem, and it may not mean much to you (shoot, I don't even know if anyone even reads my blogs), but this is a painfully real poem to me about some of the things people say behind my back about my laugh. I just want to take this opportunity to remind y'all that words cut EXTREMELY deep. If you are going to talk about someone, don't say hurtful things especially not behind their back where they can not defend themselves and their dignity... You never know how much they looked up to you, and after you hurt them deeply, you will loose all of their respect, and chances are you will not be able to regain even their trust to the point it was before you hurt them. Gossip is no fun for anyone, and if you care even in the slightest, you will stop... Take it from someone who knows how hurtful it is.

Thanks for reading, and please take action. =j

-The girl who fakes her laugh for attention

~The one who you never should take to a zoo (it would be inappropriate)

-That girl who laughs like a goose honks

~The one who we make fun of with Tusken Raider impersonations

-The girl fighting against gossip with a smile (even when it hurts)

Love and Stuff

Once upon a time...

There was a boy who loved a girl. 

When he first saw her, he realized that she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He loved to draw, and so did she. Thus, they drew together every day until they had become very close friends. 

And he loved her.

The only problem was that he knew that they could not be together. Between them stood a barrier that neither of them could overcome. Obstacles, however, would not prevent him from being with the one of whom owned his heart.

Because he loved her.

One day, he had had enough. He decided that he would be with her, and he almost succeeded. The barrier was too strong. Just as it had been punctured, it reformed itself destroying all that the boy had: his drawing hand. Time went by, and he came back to her even after all the pain, and the girl wanted to draw with him, but he could not. 

He gave up everything because he loved her.

The following day, he came to see her again, and she had a present for him. In surprise, he looked up from his present, and she asked him to draw with her. In the package was her left arm to replace the left arm he'd lost. 

She did it for him because she loved him in return.

Main Blog Idea Thingy

Now, I know that that doesn't really happen in real life. If you cut off an arm without a physician, you just die from blood loss; you can not give it to someone else, and expect it to function properly. However, the imagery of love is fantastic. 

Lately in class, we've been talking about getting bad ideas out first (we discussed this when we learnt about Pixar, and how the animators went about creating concepts), so this blog might be a bad idea, but I just feel like it should be out there.

To me, this short independent animation is representative of what true unconditional love looks like: a willingness to give your all for something you love, and returning to the said love even when you have nothing left to give, and at the same time, being willing to sacrifice what you have so that restoration can happen in others.

Some people may say that such love does not exist, but that is where I disagree. Although this is a love that seems intangible, it is real. When Jesus came to die on the cross, He did it because God loves us. God was trying to break the barrier between us formed by sin and reinforced by our own darkness. Where the story above and the story of Christ differ, is that He succeeded after giving His all: His life. He rose again. Where do we come in? If we are Christians, we know that He will always love us, but we should offer to Him ourselves so that we can help Him complete the good work that He started. For some, this might be devoting life to missions and dying a martyr, for others it might just be a hand to use to draw. 

As artists we should use our abilities, that were given to us by Him, for Him. That does not mean go out and make Fireproof 2, but even little things like crediting your talent to Whom it truly belongs. The glory is not our own, anyway.


True love hurts, but that does not mean it is not worth it. 

The end.

Transformation

I stumbled across this film, and I found it incredibly beautiful. 

I do not wish to over analyze it, though; if I did that, you would have no need to think about it for yourself. However, I would like to take this opportunity to point out some things of which reminded me of what we studied a little while ago when we were looking at the Gospel as Fairy Tale.

There is something overwhelmingly fantastic about the impossible. The way that a creature can absorb other creatures to itself, the way that creature can change its form, the way with absolutely no sound, a message can be heard, and the way that lives can be changed one act of kindness at a time.

Some aspects of this film are extremely fascinating to me. First of all, the relationship between parent and child. At first, the adult lion-badger creature was irritated by it's cub because the cub was keeping it from napping and living by it's own schedule. 

As the cub and the Butterfly Dragon become better friends, eventually, the Butterfly Dragon invites the cub to become a part of it's being. The cub makes a mask which, when worn, transforms the lion-badger into the Butterfly Dragon. 

From that point on, the cub's life is never the same, and it is seemingly better, and the relationship between the cub and it's parent are transformed as well.

What a beautiful story of the Gospel this is. I know how I feel about this film, and how I believe it relates, and most of you probably do not care about my opinion, so, I won't elaborate. However, I would love to hear your responses to this film. 

Blessings,

Katy

The Lapse of Dimensions

The Lapse of Dimensions

A dance, a dance, 

What a charming little trance,

She moves with a prance,

She was smiling at first glance,

What a charming little dance.

She smiles and laughs,

Then we start to see the graphs,

Oh why do we see where she's been?

Is she even a human?

We hear the music or lack there of,

And think she isn't an angel from above,

So give that demon a shove,

But what if that girl was actually a dove?

She will bend and she will sway,

How long will her face stay that way?

A hundred still frames,

And her innocent horror forever remains.

Who is this girl? You should take a guess,

The girl who's hurt will press,

Through her smile our insides aggress,

This girl once had a name, perhaps it was Jess,

We simply know her as the Girl in the Red Dress.

Other Thoughts

Hey Guys! So, I wasn't sure if I could do a poem for my reflective essay, quiz, thingy or not, so I'm going to write a brief thought here in addition to my poem.

The Girl in the Red Dress fascinated from the first moment that I saw it. It communicated to me something that I see all the time, and is very close to my heart. At the beginning of the short film, the little girl looks so happy. She was dancing and laughing. However, as you watched and learned more about her more inner being, it appears to the viewer that she has something wrong with her because of the overlapping still frames. At the end, the child innocently rubs her eye because she was sleepy, but in slow motion with overlapping going on, she seemed so terribly sad.

A lot of people are that girl. I am that girl. So many people smile on the outside when they're dying on the inside. Those people are often the happiest people you will ever know, and as such, others never ask them "what's wrong?" or "how are you today?" in a way that tells them that they care. 

The "happy" ones are left to council their friends, and help them with their troubles, but never have an outlet for themselves. 

I am by no means saying this so that you feel bad for those people, but so that you simply are aware of those people. They may seem like they're dancing through life, but they might have been wiping tears instead; just be sure you care enough to smile with them, but don't be to ignorant to notice their wet sleeves.

The Song of Ostriches

For those of you who don't know, this past Sunday at Signs and Wonders, we watched a film called "The Song of Sparrows". 

The film was about a virtuous man named Karim trying to be a good father, but was slowly loosing his connection with his family obliviously. After an ostrich escaped the ostrich farm he worked at, and he was blamed for the loss, Karim left the ostriches behind to find work elsewhere. For a while, he worked as a motorcycle taxi service, but one day, while he was rummaging through the pile of junk that he had collected, it all collapsed on him leaving him bed ridden for months. During that time, he experienced a revolution. He began to realize that he was neglecting his wife and daughter because he was consumed with the pointless items. Day by day, his family and friends cleared all of his excess away. The film ends where it began; at the ostrich farm.

I personally really liked this film for its humorous take on some aspects life, but also because of the truth it speaks about life.

One of the truths I found most touching was that of the "ridiculous dream". The loving father actively attacked the dream of his son because becoming a millionaire by breeding and selling fish was, in Karim's mind, a waste of his son's thoughts and time. In the end, his son actually cleared out the murky cistern and filled it with water. The cistern was so perfect, that sparrows began nesting in it's peace and solitude. 

Karim's son's dream could become a reality.

When I was little, I knew I wanted to be an artist. I wrote and illustrated my first (and last) children's book trilogy when I was about six. Drawing was just always my passion. 

As I got older, a new dream began to rear it's head: I wanted to be a musician. The only problem with that was that my voice just wasn't very impressive, I hadn't been playing piano very long, and at that point, I hadn't even considered teaching myself guitar. Thus, people never really let me sing, I was never comfortable in front of people when I played piano, and I never played guitar for people (even after I'd learned a few songs). 

People told me to stick to what I was good at. To not do something that wasn't in my area of ability. To leave the solos to the girl with a strong voice. To be in the background only. I've always been stubborn, however, and, in the privacy of my room, I grew my voice, the calluses on my fingers, and studied my sheet music even though it would never really amount to anything according to some.

After years of holding to the dream, I'm still by no means a Mozart, but I am a semi-lead singer in the worship ensemble here at Huntington University, I've composed a couple songs accompanied by guitar, a few songs for piano, a dubstep single, and a few short techno demos. 

My dream could become a reality, but for now, I'll just stick to art. =j

(If you want to hear my music mentioned, click this. There's a download link in the song's description if you like it.)