Extra Credit Adventure Number Three--John Canemaker Presentation

Last Friday, the SHM club hosted John Canemaker at the Hammer Theater. This was hands-down one of the most inspiring presentations I've attended. The central focus of Canemaker's presentation was on the making of Walt Disney's second animated feature, Pinocchio, as well as spending time talking about some of the key players of that film and their backgrounds. As a student who specifically wants to focus on character animation, this was an incredible opportunity to not only witness some truly beautiful pencil tests from legendary animators such as Milt Kahl and Bill Tytla, but also to gain wonderful insight from Canemaker himself, who had personally sought after tremendous amounts of knowledge and so generously passed it along to us. It has already impacted the way I go about animating. A deeply influential way to end the semester, that's for sure!

Extra Credit Adventure Number Two--Imagineering Magic!

In mid-April the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco's Presidio hosted an event focusing on Disney's theme park Imagineers. Marty Sklar himself was there along with other Imagineers to talk about the past way of doing things, the present challenges, as well as the fascinating possibilities of the future (mobile phone incorporation for rides? VR technology? Who knows!)

Speaking of the future, here's proof of my digital ticket! Or at least an email proving that I did get one. Technology is still full of all kinds of quirks, by shoot, things have certainly become more convenient since I've been alive!

And here's Megs and me with the man himself--Walt Disney!

I'm incredibly grateful that the museum puts on such wonderfully informative presentations--and that it isn't too far away, too! There's some fascinating stuff relating to Pinocchio that's coming up soon. I'm going to try and make it to a couple of them if I can!

Extra Credit Adventure Number One--Cinequest!

Towards the beginning of March, I attended Cinequest's animated short screening. It was my first time attending Cinequest--it was fantastic! The variety of animated films shown, as well as the creativity behind each piece was truly inspiring. There were some fantastically unique and powerful shorts that were both entertaining and enlightening to watch.

My absolute favorite of the lineup was "My Heart Attack," by Sheldon Cohen. Cohen narrates his own experience of having a heart attack in a gently comedic way that wonderfully incorporates a humble tongue-in-cheek sense of humor. Yet it touches on some incredibly deep, very real human emotions and fears. It was an amazing testament to the fact that an animation does not need to look over-the-top gorgeous to not only be successful in its storytelling, but also in striking an emotional chord with the audience.

So being a dirt-poor college student, I was coincidentally blessed by some mishap on the ticket sales side of the event and they let me in without having to buy one! Unfortunately that means I don't have a ticket to show. A couple of the filmmakers for one of the shorts was there and they were actually handing out business cards for their film, "Carlo". They came all the way from Italy for this film festival! It was fascinating to talk with them; they had only made live-action shorts till just recently, and "Carlo" was their first animated one.

I also have this sweet picture of Megan Jacobi and myself. I was there, I promise!

Clearly, we had a great time. I'm already looking forward to next year!

Creating Stereoscopic 3D Images

It's the revolving bookcase in the library--wow!

Practically summer!

A snacks-and-tissues kind of movie night.

Bonus Points: Lighting a Scene in Maya

I wanted to try modeling 50s-style lettering for this assignment. It was tricky shaping the letters, but it was a fun challenge!

I'm taking a modeling class this semester, but I actually learned a crazy amount of cool stuff for this assignment from a classmate. The sharing of knowledge is a beautiful thing!

One-point Lighting

Two-point Lighting

Three-point Lighting

In Lieu of the Third Term Paper

My first two paper scores were both above 80; I will not be writing a third term paper.

Outline for the Third Term Paper

Introduction:

A: Special effects for explosions of organic matter

B: Both Raiders of the Lost Ark ‘s “exploding head” and Galaxy Quest’s inside-out pig lizard use similar yet different techniques to achieve a common effect

Body:
1.      Raiders of the Lost Ark: the exploding head

a.       Practical special effect coupled with video speed alteration

b.      The head: a model composed with layers of various materials to imitate human flesh and bone

c.       The explosion appears to be slowed down; this could be because the model itself was built in another scale, or to appear eerily ethereal (or, possibly, both)

d.      Video composite overlay of other special effects such as fire, lightening, and ghostly beings 
2.      Galaxy Quest: exploding pig lizard

a.       Another practical effect

b.      It appears that various sections of the model have different functions pre-explosion

c.       The explosion of the model itself is seemingly conducted by using high-pressure steam to launch bits of pig-flesh all over

d.      Solely practical effects—no digital effects seem to have been used 
3.      Comparison between the two scenes

a.       Both scenes use real-life, layered, exploding models to create the special effect

b.      The choice of materials and presentation utilized in Raiders of the Lost Ark do not stand as well over time, yet it is still enough to instill a cheesy creepy feeling in the audience

c.       On the other hand, Galaxy Quest’s exploding pig-lizard, thanks to its nicely-presented is decently convincing and thoroughly disgusting; It still holds up pretty well today

Conclusion:

1.      Despite having little to no computer assistance in creating special effects, films were still able to hold their own and create absolutely unforgettable scenes with what they were able to gather based on their budget