Ba Hons CG Arts & Animation Group Blog

Post With The Most 24/02/2012

2012-02-24T10:00:00.000Z

There are so many fresh and exciting developments in the CG bloggosphere this week, I am once again struggling to stay ahead of the curve! This, of course, is good news - great news - because it means the motor is running hot and you're all up-and-at-it and the CGAA community is a-buzz with the speculative delights and successive refinements of pre-production. As a result, this maybe the single longest PWTM yet, so get your scroll bar at the ready - you're going to need it! So, in no particular order...

Rich V-C is developing this character who'll be taking centre-stage in his made-in-Maya illustration, progressing quickly from provisional sketches to more resolved turnarounds...

...while Sam is revisiting and revitalising H.G. Wells' much-loved sci-fi classic, The Time Machine.

Elsewhere, Leo's floating land mass - the Isle of Cirrus - is seeking its captain...

... and Shahbir is getting bluesy with a disgruntled bird and soulful Lumbricus rubellus.

Matt Hyland has swapped rollerskates for sky-pirates, with aircraft designs deriving from creatures of the deep...

Jordan is working hard to identify the most apposite phizog for his pianist character for his new animated short, Minor Key...

... and Ruben is putting the finishing touches to Olivier, an ebullient pastry chef, who will be taking his audience on a feel-good romp through a fantasia of Glacé cherries and royal icing.

Simon Watts is exploring shaders in preparation for his vehicle design project, based on the novels of Daniel Suarez.

Jolanta's 'Queen of the Baltic Pixies' is a complex and contradictory creation; regal and childish, friend and foe, she combines bird, insect and diva in her imperious countenance. Be sure to watch JJ's latest animatic featuring professional voice artist, Jenny Dunbar. The first time I heard Jenny's talk track, the hairs on my neck stood all the way up.

CGAA Year 2 are 4 weeks into their Transcription unit, and the range and scope of creative methodologies and sorts of projects excites and satisfies. Molly is seeking to create the lair of the Sea Witch from Hans Christian Anderson's The Little Sea Maid - and has been using a number of creative techniques by which to imagineer the environment, including filming ink swirls in water and then taking the resulting imagery into Photoshop...

Dom is designing Beowulf's nemesis, Grendel, a creature whose appearance is disputed by scholars, which gives Dom free reign to explore a number of exciting approaches to visualising the beast...

Alex P is transcribing her music choice into a synesthesiac animation, working with Kandinsky-inspired interpretative drawings to create an abstract audio-visual 'happening'...

... and Adam is searching for his perfect 'Jack Frost' - by combining shapes extracted from original photography of trees, branches and roots - some of these silhouettes dance and leap off the page - and the best of them crackle with a certain impishness and mischief.

Paul is transcribing a section from his grandfather's wartime memoirs. With its Chagall-like magic realism and Englishness of Raymond Briggs, it's affecting - even at the animatic stage.

Andi's transcription of one little girl's highly imaginative answer to the question 'What do aliens look like?' is progressing with admirable speed and efficiency. Check out the animatic - it has bags of innate charm and I defy you not to be smiling by the end of it.

CGAA Year 1 are a week away from crit day for Unit 4 Storytelling. Years 2 and 3 will no doubt remember the creative challenge of writing your first script for a one minute animated short and then pre-producing it, complete with character sheets, storyboards and cg pre-vis. Year 1 are working their socks off to ready their story ideas for the deadline, and I've included a small selection of their recent output below - to encourage, cajole, enthuse and inspire! (Keep at it, you lot!).

Steve

Meg

Jojo

Sammy

Fred

Tom

Ernesta

Ollie

Ilmi

Alice

Emma

Oh - and a little something extra: Nat, who is 'out of sight, but not out of mind' has been beavering away on a self-initiated self-portrait, the progress of which Nat has been sharing via her blog. Personally, I think some deely boppers and a false moustache would lend additional gravitas to this image... :)

Not content with retro-fitting mushrooms to thrilling effect, CGAA graduate and masters student, Tom Beg is at it again - and this time he's mapping real world objects and transforming their mundane surfaces into screens for the play and shimmer of his projections. I suspect these latest experiments of Tom's are just the tip of an iceberg, so watch this space!

The Last Word.

"Do not confuse motion and progress. A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress." Alfred A. Montapert

The Supplement: Wallace Smith

2012-02-23T17:21:00.000Z

Wallace Smith (1888 - 1937) provided these striking, agonised illustrations for Ben Hecht's Fantazius Mallare: A Mysterious Oath - a work of "vigorous grotesquerie and misanthropy" . First published in 1922 as a limited run, most copies of the book were destroyed by the powers-that-be on grounds of obscenity. Smith's illustrations recall the dazzle of surface and complexity of line of Harry Clarke.

The Supplement: Alastair

2012-02-23T16:47:00.001Z

With all the fascinating character work-up stuff populating the blogs at the moment, I thought I'd showcase the work of 'Alastair' - otherwise known as Baron Hans Henning Voigt. It's quirky, macabre, sinuous and a bit menacing somehow...

"An artist, composer, dancer, mime, poet,singer and translator, Alastair was a fascinating and elusive personality, andperhaps best known as a gifted illustrator of the fin-de-siecle period.

Officially born of German nobility in 1887to the family of Von Voigt, and later mysteriously acquiring the title ofBaron, Hans Henning Voigt was an enigma. He claimed to be a changeling…thespawn of an illegitimate union between a hot headed Bavarian prince and apretty Irish lass…

Although clearly influenced by thesinister, serpentine style of Aubrey Beardsley, with echoes of the deliciouslyunhinged work of Harry Clarke, and a bit of the occult grotesquery of Austin Osman Spare’s art – Alastair’s perversely decadent illustrations are wholly,unmistakably, his own. His strangely attractive beings, with alternatelytortured, anguished or menacing countenances, ornately and elegantly attired,skulked and cavorted amongst all manner of plays, novels and short stories...."

From coilhouse.net

Youtube Partners

2012-02-23T03:54:00.001Z

Hello, I need some help. I want to become a part of "YouTube Partners", but before that I need to get as many followers as possible to get the invitation. Please subscribe, comment and thumbs up my videos.

http://www.youtube.com/user/StayOkToday?feature=mhee

@Alan, Thursday Classes

2012-02-22T22:19:00.001Z

I hope you're feeling better! I just wanted to check if all the classes are on tomorrow?

Frank Duveneck Study by Gregory Manchess

2012-02-22T17:24:00.001Z

This fantastic analysis is done by Gregory Manchess a meber of professional group-shared blog Muddy Colors, and given his permission I'm sharing his post on our group blog too:

This is the first painting I remember that froze me in place. It’s the piece that caused me to paint the way I do. One of Frank Duveneck’s many fabulous studies, a preparation for some of the more rendered pieces made during his career. He was a virtuoso with the brush, only thirty-one when he painted it.

This face dwells in my head whenever I hold the brush, whenever I lay down the paint, guiding my efforts by reminding me to stay loose and keep details to the essential elements and values.

I’m taken by the deep shadows, and how he’s worked back up from there to the lights, the value range remaining quite close. Duveneck mixed his colors quickly and confidently, most likely not creating piles of pigment ahead of time, but rather mixing on the fly.

The drawing is incorporated by shape and value, giving the face the structure it needs by defining the planes. Notice the ear; even the underpainting stands in for shapes, by contrasting the middle values.

The forearm stays alive by rendering the subtle values across the muscle, leading up to the bicep where the lighter paint captures the light, and subtle flesh folds. The rougher flesh of the fingers gets chiseled strokes, the thin planes of skin grabbing light between the index and middle finger.

The laced fingers here establish a phenomenal range of color value that runs from the nearly imperceptible shadow side, to the few bold strokes of flesh near the knuckles. The wrist is a superb example of brighter colors against muddy colors--ahem--allowing the wrist to just barely make it into the light.

For those students studying how to paint volume, look no further than these hands for learning to cut strokes across the form, not along it.

The older man’s head study is gorgeous. Minimalism at it’s very core. Unfinished and yet providing everything we need to know. It is modern art at this point, exposing the essence of painting that others, in later years, would strive to exemplify in wild passages of sensation. What some would wail about for attention, Duveneck captured honestly, in reality.

When you look close enough, this painting embodies decades of advanced levels of abstract art.

Thank you Gregory Manchess for the inspiring review!

Picture Framing

2012-02-22T12:53:00.000Z

Does anybody know of a place to get paintings framed at student budget prices around here?

I thought I'd ask the community incase anybody has been here before.

If so leave a message below please :)

Nat

Useful Script for Maya

2012-02-21T15:48:00.001Z

I found an autosave script which I'm sure will be useful for all of us.

http://www.creativecrash.com/maya/downloads/scripts-plugins/interface-display/c/auto-save?os=mac

(You have to make an account to download it, its free so why not :D)

FAO Years 2 and 3: Staff Illness

2012-02-20T21:18:00.003Z

TUTORIALS CANCELLED DUE TO ILLNESS!

Year 2 & 3:

I'm sorry to say I've been struck by the flu bug and won't able to hold tutorials on Tuesday. The film will also be cancelled. Hopefully things will be back to normal for Thursday and Friday classes.

Apologies -
Alan.

CGAA Miscellany: The Animator Letters Project

2012-02-17T19:07:00.002Z

The Animator Letters Project is a blog dedicated to open letters from figures in the animation industry. Words of advice, wisdom and encouragement from people who have been there, done that and made it. Perhaps it will seem saccharine, but perhaps it will get somebody through a dark night of the soul when the only thing keeping you going is the caffeine.

The Supplement: Dale Chihuly

2012-02-16T23:35:00.000Z

A number of you on CGAA are in the business of mixing your media in continuing quests for innovative art direction from which to derive distinctive cgi. We've got students working with ink, with paint, with marbling, and with free-form expression inspired by music. Sometimes, I detect a sense of inhibition - even nervousness - from students about accessing more expressive, more abstract, more 'arty' methodologies in relation to cg. There is a fear perhaps of 'letting go' and of not being able to predict the outcome of your experiments - a need to control, as opposed to discover. I suspect that sculptor Dale Chihuly knows no such fear - just check out his drawings below, inspirations for his breathtaking glass sculptures. Feast your eyes on their energy and flourish - the sheer explosiveness of colour and line and texture!

There is something wonderfully Willy Wonka about Chihuly's work. His glass-blown rods, pods, and orbs are fantasias on the heaps of brightly-coloured boiled-sweets my grandmother used to keep in a bowl on her sideboard; or are they the flora and fauna of the sea-bed, or rogue vegetation grown from seeds blown here from James Cameron's Pandora? I saw his stuff up close in the palm house at Kew Gardens a few years back - vivid glass tendrils snaking up out of the undergrowth and glowing jewel-like in the sun filtering from above. Outside, more of Chihuly's work floated in the lake like space-hoppers envisioned by Faberge. Chihuly's work is a great example of how richly experimental drawing and mark-making can give rise to extraordinary 3D visions... Be inspired you lot - and be confident!

Maya Script Help

2012-02-16T18:17:00.000Z

I have been trying to add this script to maya but everytime I do it tells me it can't find the placement, so I looked inside the script and it said (where string $path = Place your directory here) I did that but it still says it can't find it.

What can I do >.<

Maya Help

2012-02-16T14:40:00.003Z

Sorry the pictures blurry. I'm trying to paste 3 highlighted joints from a paper clip chain to the graph editor but the error message keeps saying 'nothing to paste from'. I'm following the tutorial point by point so cant figure out where it's going wrong? If anyone can help it'd be appreciated.

Some Basic Animation Reel Advice

2012-02-14T23:45:00.001Z

Go here for some hints and tips for building your reel.

FAO Year 1 and 2: Validation Week

2012-02-14T14:09:00.005Z

As you are all aware this is Validation week for the course. Unfortunately the main event takes place on Thursday (16th) and Friday (17th) which means all classes with myself (Alan), Phil, and Chris will be postponed. However, tutorial blogs will still be updated (see below), Mark's Premier class will still go ahead, and the building will be open.

Year 1: Tutorial Updates

Animation 1: Intro to Animation (Pendulum)
Animation 1: Intro to Animation (Chain)
Animation 1: Intro to Animation (Felix Jnr Rig Installation)
Pre-Viz 1: Intro to Pre-Viz (Car Crash)
Pre-Viz 1: Intro to Pre-Viz (Camera Shake)

Year 2: Tutorial Updates

Modelling 4: Games Modelling (Body Modelling)
Dynamics 1: Particles, Emitters, and Forces (Fireworks 2)
Dynamics 1: Particles, Emitters, and Forces (Barrel)
Dynamics 1: Particles, Emitters, and Forces (Can Disolve)
Animation 3: Animating an Acition (Converting Keys Part 2)

Junior Animator job....

2012-02-13T22:43:00.000Z

Saw this in the local freebie newspaper and thought of you!

Pixel Circus, looking for a talented junior animator
Junior Animator to join our successful team. Experience in one of the following areas is essential: 2D/Flash animation, 3D animation. Experience in following is also beneficial: 3D modelling/ texturing, Character rigging,motion graphics, photoshop,storyboarding.(hahaha - they spelled storyboarding wrong!)

Please apply with full cv and portfolio examples to Mr Damien Cooke at - d.cooke@pixelcircus.co.uk

Closing date 17th Feb.

Link to paper here - www.jobs24.co.uk

Hard Drive Left in Base Room

2012-02-13T15:16:00.001Z

Hey everyone,

Once again I've been a moron and left my hard drive in the base room. It's on the middle computer stations, on the right hand side next to the wall. If you find it could you please drop it off with Phil in the office.

Many Thanks,

Jordan

CGAA Unit 4 Storytelling: Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Rear Window 13/02/2012

2012-02-12T21:13:00.001Z

Summary:

After he begins to peer into the private lives of his neighbours from the confines of his apartment window, a wheelchair bound photographer is convinced that one of them has committed a murder. Presenting the majority of the films intrigue and suspense through the binoculars of L.B “Jeff” Jeffries. Rear Window invites the audience to participate in his voyeuristic meanderings.

Analysis:

“Many critics have argued that Rear Window’s core theme concerns the power of the male gaze. From his unique position, seeing but not seen, Jeff controls the actions of others...Hitchcock and his technicians see and manipulate the actions from a privileged vantage point. Jeff’s apartment becomes in a way, the architectural embodiment of the themes of this film.” (Belton 34:2000)

Belton, J (1995) Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window. United Kingdom:Cambridge University Press

Release:
1954

Director:
Alfred Hitchcock

Screenplay by:
John Michael Hayes

Produced by:
Alfred Hitchcock

Genre/subgenre:
Thriller, Mystery

Country:
United States

Cast:
James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey, Thelma Ritter, Raymond Burr

Selected Director Filmography + Related Films:
The Man Who Knew Too Much, The 39 Steps, The Lady Vanishes, Foreign Correspondent, Suspicion, Saboteur, Shadow of a Doubt, Lifeboat, Spellbound, Notorious, Rope, Stage Fright, Strangers on a Train, I Confess, Dial M for Murder, Rear Window, To Catch a Thief, The Trouble with Harry, The Man Who Knew Too Much, The Wrong Man, Vertigo, North by Northwest, Psycho, The Birds, Marnie, Torn Curtain, Topaz, Frenzy, Family Plot

Post With The Most 12/02/2012

2012-02-12T15:45:00.000Z

And so it begins.

Well, more accurately, it began two weeks ago, with the CGAA Spring semester sloughing - albeit reluctantly - the flab and excess of Christmas and revving up - albeit slowly - for the final push. There's snow on the ground, but it won't be long until the cherry blossom is out on the hill and the temptation to bask cat-like in the sunshine competes with blinns and polygons for your time and attention.

It can be a challenge to find your creative mojo at this time of year, as author Anna Quindlen observes; "February is a suitable month for dying. Everything around is dead, the trees black and frozen so that the appearance of green shoots two months hence seems preposterous, the ground hard and cold, the snow dirty, the winter hateful, hanging on too long." (Quindlen, 1995).

What better time then, for a look back at your recent accomplishments, to derive satisfaction from goals met and battles won and the determination to go one better; and to look forward too, searching out those 'green shoots' that hint at all the new, exciting work already in-the-offing on Ba (Hons) CG Arts & Animation...

Yr 3 Jolanta & Leo - The Wolves Within

Yr 3 Matt Haines - Icarus (book Illustration)

Yr 3 Ethan C - The Pied Piper of Hamelin (Environment)

Yr 3 Shahbir - Game-Play

Yr 3 Matt Hyland - Toys Make War (vehicle design - game)

Yr 3 Elly - The Lost Fleet/Weapons Of The Future (prop design)

Yr 3 Rich V-C & Sam - The Oriental West (environment)

Yr 3 Ruben, Ethan S & Jordan - The Final Chapter

Yr 3 Charlotte - A Knight's Journey

Third year CGAA students are already prepping their Major Projects; it's early days, but here's a glimpse of what's bubbled up already. Jolanta is getting to grips with Laumu Laume Vaiva - Queen of the Baltic Pixies - a character of contradictions, whose unique appearance will derive from dragonflies, chickens and witchy, rake-fingered women...

Atom Pancakes' Ethan Shilling is committing to another animated short - and while story specifics are in-development, I can offer up this early thumbnail of Saint Anthony, patron saint of lost things, and Ethan's intriguing premise:

"Lost items fall out of the sky. They have name tags. He [Saint Anthony] has a huge address book, with everyone's names. He looks them up, and sends them back in a basket, lifted up by a candle powered flying lantern. His way of returning lost items is kind of old fashioned, but then that's his character. However that's not the story... This is the story... The day a kitten falls out of the sky! "

For his major project, Jordan is returning to an idea first originated in CGAA Year 1 in response to Unit 4/Storytelling. Again, pre-production is in its most speculative phase as Jordan seeks to resolve his art direction and fine-tune his narrative.

The trials and tribulations of creative collaboration as exemplified by the Yr 2 Retrofest project are history now - or should be. There can be no better example of the supreme challenge that comes from distinct creative personalities working together to produce a single vision - and not every group was as successful in meeting it. I suspect even those who struggled learned much from the experience. Below are two of my favourite Retrofest trailers - very different beasts technically, but unified by the success of their art style.

Silver Talon Studios - Night Of The Monsters

First Light Studios - Destination Mars

The CGAA Yr 2 Transcription unit marks 'the beginning of the end' - which sounds a bit gloomy, when in fact the opposite is true. Transcription signals the moment when second year students start to think and feel like third years, as they focus more keenly on their own goals and ways of working. For me, Transcription is always an exciting time on the course because it's the moment students come-of-age creatively and set the wheels in motion for their year 3 experience. In this sense, Transcription is our crystal ball, for if offers glimpses of what may come and who our students might one day be. Right now, second year blogs are bustling with ideas, scenarios, experiments and proposals - a small selection of which follows.

Dom - Grendel (character design)

Sam - Wilbur Whateley (character design)

Jono - The Dead Flag Blues (animated short)

Dan - Killing Device (character design)

Andi - Children say... (animated shorted)

Lyn-Dae - Mother's Day (animated short)

Week 15 of Semester 1 saw CGAA Yr 1 submit their first Maya-centric creative project for Unit 3 Environment. It was off with the baby reigns and goodbye to detective desks and dice, as this time it was down to them alone to wrestle Maya into submission. Add to this the conceptual challenge of expressing the 'uncanny' and it was a daunting prospect - but enjoy the showcase of digital sets that resulted. It's another impressive spread of work and further evidence that CG Arts' 'Class of 2011' is one to watch...

Lydia

Steve

Sammy

Tom

Alice

Joey

Nick

Nat

George

Lloyd

Urvashi

Ernesta

Kadeem

Emma

The Final Word...

"If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome." Anne Bradstreet

Quindlen, Anna, One True Thing, 1995, Dell Publishing Company, Inc

CGAA One-A-Day: Space Stallions

2012-02-11T10:50:00.005Z

Space Stallions is a beautifully observed parody of 1980s animation as exemplified by He-Man and She-Ra (and the recent CGAA Character Design project!). It's got everything; the over-wrought script, the paint-by-numbers archetypes, the synth-tastic signature tune, the almost-too-sexy-for-a-kid's-show heroine, and the blatant homoerotic/Village People vibe, with its love of 'real men' with real facial hair! The real success of this animation is the way it left me wanting to watch an actual episode of Space Stallions while munching my way through a bowl of sugary breakfast cereal. Take a look at the original opening credits for He-Man and She-Ra and marvel a-new at their utter campness!

CGAA One-A-Day: Volt

2012-02-10T20:26:00.002Z

Something elegant and abstract from Labmeta - Volt

(Alex - this one's for you!)

Volt from Labmeta on Vimeo.

A Farewell to Adam Adamowicz

2012-02-10T17:47:00.000Z

"An anomaly in the game industry, a veritable one-man conceptual machine...

Fallout 3 was pretty much visually designed from the ground up by one humble man who got little or no recognition, nor sought it." - (Sirio, 2012)

Tribute article: http://www.awesome-robo.com/2012/02/farewell-adam-adamowicz-visual-mind.html

A superb article over at www.awesome-robo.com in tribute to recently passed concept artist Adam Adamowicz. He was a drop of pure talent and source of inspiration. You can find his blog here: http://www.adamart08.blogspot.com

"I think the more you read on the wide variety of subjects, the better equipped you are to create depth and realism, especially for a fantasy setting."

"Drink lots of coffee, turn up the music, and draw enough to fill volumes..."

Feng Zhu Design - New Episode

2012-02-10T10:09:00.001Z

The latest episode from Feng Zhu - this is 'must watch' in terms of your creative methodology, sources of inspiration, design logic and professional practice.

Maya 2012 Render Window Error

2012-02-09T14:48:00.000Z

Hiya guys,

I've been having a problem with 2012 where the render window is missing. It's a know bug with 2012.

If anyone has that problem there is a simple fix.

1. Copy below script into the script editor

$exists=0;
for ($item in `getPanel -scriptType "renderWindowPanel"`) {
if ( $item == "renderView" ) {
print "renderView exists.\n";
$exists=1;
}
}
if ( $exists == 0 ) {
for ($item in `getPanel -scriptType "renderWindowPanel"`) {
//print ( $item + "\n");
if ( $item == "renderWindowPanel1" ) {
//delete it and rename it to something that renderman can use
print "renderWindowPanel1 detected: switching to renderView so renderman can use it...\n";
deleteUI renderWindowPanel1;
$renderPanel = `scriptedPanel -type "renderWindowPanel" -unParent renderView`;
scriptedPanel -e -label `interToUI $renderPanel` $renderPanel;
}
}
}

2. Highlight script and middle mouse drag to your shelf.
3. Click new script button you just created.
4. Re open render view.

FAO CGAA Year 1 - Apology No 2

2012-02-07T21:01:00.001Z

Your hand-in for the Time Machine written assignment has changed - but fear not, it's later - not sooner!

Hand-in date: Friday 20th April

Essay hand-in 10am – 12 Noon

(Faculty Office room 401, Ground floor)

2012-02-07T20:56:00.002Z

As per Phil's request I'm posting to recommend the services of this website : Inspiring Interns and hopefully to reinforce that some of these facilities online can work & help you when you graduate.

I signed up for Inspiring Interns about 6 - 7 months ago, in Summer last year. I did it online and they invited me to their offices to make a video CV and to fill out some forms. I thought nothing more of it, occasionaly receiving an update from them with new internships to look at. Until last week when I was contacted by someone at Inspiring Interns on behalf of another company whom were interested in giving me an Internship. I attended an interview today with that company and am hopefully looking at a Three month internship with expenses paid for me.

Websites like this can help; and take it from someone who knows, the CG industry (and all other industries currently - (the world's fucked)) require you to have a certain amount of experience before they will even entertain the idea of employing you. Gaining the needed experience becomes a bit of a farcical when companies don't want to give you any, or they openly suggest you working in their studios for free, without expenses being paid for you. Stating that you should see it as an investment (Trust me, this has happened to me - laughable that a graduate could afford transport costs to the busiest most expensive city in the country and work at a place for free, whilst still trying to actually live).

Anyway, you should start thinking about this stuff now. It seems that the way to gain experience lies in things like Internships. Just take routes that ensure you're getting a fair deal for your free labour.

FAO CGAA Yr 1 - Apology No 1

2012-02-07T20:53:00.001Z

Just wanted to apologise to all CGAA year one students for the short notice re. the cancellation of your life-drawing class; your models were icebound and couldn't attend.

The Supplement: Rodney Alan Greenblat

2012-02-06T21:18:00.000Z

If like me you spent a childhood like me getting a ‘U rappin COOL’ rating on every song on Parappa the Rapper or strumming along to the tunes of UmJammer Lammy, you should recognise the contemporary American artist, Rodney Alan Greenblat a mile away. Nowadays he produces a lot of funky abstract paintings and craft objects amongst other talents. His Thunder Bunny books have become very successful in Japan where thanks to the games he produced with Masaya Matsuura he’s a household name! You can view it online here: http://www.whimsyload.com/ThunderBunnyNow.html

Thanks to an oversaturation of derivative internet imitators his work may seem blasé but he is most definitely an original, and I think his work is a testament to how a doodle can turn into a great work of art or a loveable cast of characters. His website is absolutely packed with images!: http://www.whimsyload.com/

CGAA Unit 4 Storytelling: Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Psycho 07/02/2012

2012-02-06T19:48:00.000Z

Summary:

On the run with a stolen $40, 000, Marion Crane decides to seek rest at the Bates Motel, only to find the hotel owner, Norman Bates and his elderly mother an all too uncomfortable presence.

Employing a number of narrative devices and unusual editing techniques for a Hollywood film, Psycho is perhaps Hitchcock’s most adored works and one of the most analysed and debated films in the history of American cinema. From it’s film noir inspired cinematography, Gothic horror influenced set design, brutal murder scene, Bernard Herrmann’s screeching violins and shock ending - Psycho defined and set the standard of the Horror film genre, becoming an unforgettable classic.

Analysis:

“Of all the scenes in the film, the one on which he spent the most time – an entire week- was the now famous shower murder. Although it would last less than a minute on screen, the sequence required dozens of shots – of the shower head, of Leigh screaming, of a shadowy killer with a plunging knife, of blood (actually chocolate syrup) swirling into the drain beneath the victim’s bare legs. The camera angles were so carefully chosen and the shots were edited together with such precision and rapidity that the scene seems more violent than it really is.” (Adair 124:2002)

Adiar, G (2002) Alfred Hitchcock: filming our fears. USA: Oxford University Press

Release:

1960

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Screenplay by:

Joseph Stefano

Produced by:

Alfred Hitchcock

Genre/subgenre:

Thriller, Mystery, Horror

Country:

United States

Cast:

Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Martin Balsam, John McIntire, Janet Leigh

Selected Director Filmography:

The Man Who Knew Too Much, The 39 Steps, The Lady Vanishes, Foreign Correspondent, Suspicion, Saboteur, Shadow of a Doubt, Lifeboat, Spellbound, Notorious, Rope, Stage Fright, Strangers on a Train, I Confess, Dial M for Murder, Rear Window, To Catch a Thief, The Trouble with Harry, The Man Who Knew Too Much, The Wrong Man, Vertigo, North by Northwest, Psycho, The Birds, Marnie, Torn Curtain, Topaz, Frenzy, Family Plot

Related Films:

Psycho II, Psycho III, Psycho IV: The Beginning, Peeping Tom, Halloween, Psycho (1998), Battleship Potemkin,

Celtx - Pre-Production Freeware

2012-02-06T15:04:00.000Z

http://celtx.com/

Celtx is free media pre-production software - it handles formatting scripts and the like without needing to set it up yourself, and has a tonne of handy features like an in-built database for all the stuff you need to keep track of. It can also save things as .PDFs, which makes for easy Scribd uploading. It's dead simple and intuitive too, so so no need to worry about learning a completely new piece of software.