Computer Animation Arts

"How MacGuffins Can Ruin Movies" by Just Write MacGuffins are ubiquitous in Hollywood blockbusters, and are often the root cause of overly simplistic storytelling. In this episode, I take a look at the pitfalls of using this narrative device, as well as 5 ways to make this trope more interesting, unique and effective.

"The Adventures of Indiana Jones" by Patrick Schoenmaker "Famous archaeologist Dr. Indiana Jones is on a quest of a lifetime, but this time he is fully animated in this passion project by life long fan and artist Patrick Schoenmaker. Over the course of 5 years, he has crafted the opening sequence of what would be the tv series to make all other tv shows redundant: "The Adventures of Indiana Jones"!" As mentioned above this film was hand-crafted by Patrick Schoemaker over the course of 5 years (amazing!). Below is a selection of pre-production and production work, including clay scutlptures. You can take a look at more of Patrick's work on his website and blog - http://www.patrickschoenmaker.com/2016/09/

Minoru Takeyama in a name that many of you will probable have no knowledge of, yet his influence has imparted itself on Tokyo's cultural skyline.His use of strong geometric volumes combined with playful bold graphical treatments form the backdrop for the Shibuya and Shinjuku districts of Tokyo.  Educated in Japan and the USA, he worked with, among others, Harrison & Abramovitz, Arne Jacobsen, H. Larsen, Sert, and Utzon. He established his reputation with certain buildings incorporating aspects of popular culture in his designs, becoming a member of ArchiteXt in 1971, and developing an interest in architecture as a system of signs and language. His most highly acclaimed buildings were the populist Ichiban-kan and Niban-kan, Tokyo (1969–70), the ‘Renaissance’ Cultural and Commercial Complex, Kyoto (1983–6), and Tokyo International Port Terminal Building  (1989–91).

" "The Life and Death of 3D" by The Royal Ocean Film Society The Royal Ocean Film Society explores the history of trying to make the movie going experience 3D (Stereography) and the latest attempt and decline.

"No More Questions!" by StoryCorps Kay Wang was a strong-willed grandmother who was reluctantly taken to a StoryCorps booth by her son and granddaughter. Though Kay resisted, she still had stories to tell—from disobeying her mother and rebuffing suitors while growing up in China to late-life adventures as a detective for Bloomingdale's department store. Kay passed away just weeks after that interview, and her son and granddaughter returned to StoryCorps to remember her gentler side, which she kept to herself.

To keep all your jolly little fingers in the designing pie I thought I would come up with a series of challenges to keep you in a creative head-space. The first series of these will be a creature design challenge where you will be asked to splice three critters together to create a new hybrid. The first years and I did this at the beginning of lock-down and they seemed to enjoy the process, so I thought I would resurrect the idea to kick of these challenges. Jess Crosby, Mountain Goat/ Hamster/ Monkey Kim Davis, Panda/Armadillo/ Flamingo Jasmine Masters, Bear/ Elephant/Common Loon I will start the process by choosing 3 animals then it is up to you peeps, in the comments section post a choice of animals for the next weeks challenge and I will randomly select 3 to mash together, you can choose more than one. So Your animals for this week are: Lionfish Mexican Red Kneed Tarantula Malayan Tapir Good Luck and have fun with it, y...

BA (HONS) COMPUTER ANIMATION ARTS: GRADUATE FILMS 2020 ___________________________________________________________________________________ Georgia Betteridge - "For Infinity" ‘For Infinity’ uses my childhood and experience of becoming an adult to create a relatable film for an audience. Asking the question, do we truly ever grow up? Contact: georgiabetteridge2016@gmail.com ___________________________________________________________________________________ Emily Friswell - "Twins" "This animation explores the differences between myself and my twin brother - Adam, depicting the contrasts between us when we were growing up and how I was able to become more independent as we got older. My inspiration was to give people an insight into life as a twin, especially twins that are dissimilar and have very different personalities. I hope you can relate to my film if you were always known as 'the quiet one'. If not, I hope it gives you a better understand...

"How Does Animation Work?" by Tyler Pacana Tyler describes his film as "An overview of how animation is made with traditional, 2D-rigged, stop-motion, and CG techniques." However, I don't think this does it justice. Tyler elegantly and effortlessly explains over a hundred years of changing animation processes using fun and creative visual techniques. He uses whats unique about animation to explain animation - A very clever trick.

Yes this is even more left field than usual. With the lockdown having a significant impact on museums, many have had to provide some form of online taster. Often the quirky ones are quite interesting in a "falling down the rabbit hole" way. In this case quite literally. Underneath London there is a network of tunnels that were used to transport mail around the capital thus avoiding the congested streets. What I found interesting is how they have integrated digital media into the tour, with the stations becoming infomatic cinemas, another thing that I noticed is how some of those infomatics have a Wes Anderson vibe to them, in particular the journey of the letters. Follow the link below for a 10 minute video highlighting the tour: Postal museum: Rail Mail If you want some Wes Anderson reference then follow the links below: Wes Anderson 1 Wes Anderson 2 And if you like tunnels and/or abandoned places check out the following (some great reference imagery i...

"Animator vs Cartoonist - Draw Off!" Join the gang of Animators and Cartoonists as they go head-to-head in a series of 'draw off'' challenges and as they attempt to draw cartoon characters from memory. Including, drawing the same characte, different characters, or creating mash-ups, often using their own styles. "Animator Vs. Cartoonist Draw Marvel Characters From Memory - Draw Off!" "Animator Vs. Cartoonist Draw More Famous Cartoons - Draw Off" "Animator Vs. Cartoonist Try Character Mashups - Draw Off" "Animator Vs. Cartoonist  - Draw Off Playlist"

"America" by The Moving Company In 1950 Tel Aviv, a mother and her son receive a telegram with an invitation for a phone call from America. The prospects of the call spark hope for a better life in the mother's heart while her son is busy in his own fantasy world inspired from his life in Israel.

Here is another suggestion for your perusal: The BBC arts menu on iPlayer is a great resource for documentaries from across the history of the BBC, occasionally they pull up some classics from the archives. However, "Art of the Image" is incredibly current and places the imagery and power of image making front and centre. It is a four part series, the fourth episode is particularly relevant to those of us working in a computer based world. The BBC summarises it as: Episode 1 Documentary series in which art historian James Fox explores how the power of images has transformed the modern world. James starts at the beginning of the 20th century, when an explosion of scientific and technological advances created radical new ways of looking at the world.  From the impact of aerial photography on modern art to our ability to peer inside the body and freeze time itself, the first episode is a dizzying journey of visual invention, which makes fascinating...