I thought this lecture linked heavily to my subject in an obvious way as that's what my subject is all about. creating something thats fake or digital and placing it into a real environment.
one of the things i noted down was "Plato's cave". i found the theory interesting even though im not entirley sure what this represents or is meant to reflect.
Phantasmagoria was also something i found fascinating, illusionistic spectacles before cinema. today we're bombarded with all forms of entertainment and digital films which make our imagination come true and maybe even create imaginations for us. not only in films but childrens toys and gadgets help us become entertained and come in all sorts of shapes, lights and sizes. To be in an era before cinema where evrything is only "real" is hard to imagine. but if we are surprised even to this day that someone can disappeaar out of thin air or pull a rabbit out of a hat right in front of us, then it must of had such a bigger impact when cinema and tv were non existent.
Mashiro Mori created a chart which determines what the human mind thinks is uncanny and what is "normal"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mori_Uncanny_Valley.svg
i found it true in what he says in the chart, but an argueing factor were things like how we're all used to watching digital animations and how they are becoming more realistic. will the chart still be the same when CG and robots become more belivable? also we can argue that we are already used to the uncanny as photos in magazines, internet everywhere are digitally altered or enhanced or even done physically through botox and operations. When watching films, i sometimes cant tell when the actors are real or digital!
Tuesday, 26 October 2010
Saturday, 23 October 2010
T2
Some mates came over to my place to help take care of the house whilst my parents were away. Ended up as me starting on the shedload of work i gotta do and them playing ps3...
but they got bored and started going through our dvd/blurays and ended up watching terminator 2. needless to say i got hooked, even thouogh i've seen it like 100 times (not an exageration).
but yeah in my opinion its probably one of the best sequels of all time. the thing that deffinatly stands out for me is the t-1000 and how the transition from a metal blob to a live action actor is so flawless, even to todays standard. how it captures like and its reeflective properties is simply outstanding. not to say that every other aspect isnt such as the soundtrack, story and characters.
the characters really shine for me in this. you can see a clear progession and development in them as you go through the film and expercience what they do. sarch conners character is a real shocker if you think about it. how she went from really girly and innocent from t1 to the crazy, butched-up, in-your-face badass she is in t2!
Anyway even though i didnt get any work done in that 1 1/2 hours it was awesome watching a film which really got me into VFX when i was younger and it also gave me something to blog about....yeah!
but they got bored and started going through our dvd/blurays and ended up watching terminator 2. needless to say i got hooked, even thouogh i've seen it like 100 times (not an exageration).
but yeah in my opinion its probably one of the best sequels of all time. the thing that deffinatly stands out for me is the t-1000 and how the transition from a metal blob to a live action actor is so flawless, even to todays standard. how it captures like and its reeflective properties is simply outstanding. not to say that every other aspect isnt such as the soundtrack, story and characters.
the characters really shine for me in this. you can see a clear progession and development in them as you go through the film and expercience what they do. sarch conners character is a real shocker if you think about it. how she went from really girly and innocent from t1 to the crazy, butched-up, in-your-face badass she is in t2!
Anyway even though i didnt get any work done in that 1 1/2 hours it was awesome watching a film which really got me into VFX when i was younger and it also gave me something to blog about....yeah!
Thursday, 21 October 2010
Culture Lecture
The first lecture that i had and i found it quite interesting.
From what i remember we began to talk about culture and what it is. What i found interesting was the fact that we use the word all the time yet the meaning of it is so diverse and flexible that there may as well be no definition for it.
During the lecture i made a few random notes. things which were fairly pointless like animare = give soul in latin and names like Raymond Williams and Lucretius (99BC-55BC). The thing that stood out for me in the lecture though was the video clip. Not only because videos is a breath of fresh air in lectures but also because of the fact that i found it geniunley entertaining. The clips were by Georges Mieles who directed these in 1902. They were the first to use any sort of special effects and they were astonishing at the time and i think hold a certain element of charm even to this day. It was a bit quirky and funny and it was nice seeing how we got from that to special effects as we know it today. Brilliant stuff, didnt know about him before the lecture.
During the seminar, culture was brought up again and we started to discuss how our profession (animation) had anything to do with culture. I think animation has an effect on the "youth culture". Animations come in a variety of styles and are aimed at certain audiences. For example family guy and south park are obviously aimed at teenagers +. Rude and offensive jokes as well as random clips of events or 80s references is what we sometimes think of when it comes to this show. But they also touch on subjects that are currently big att he time, like us elections and the economic crisis. May it be related to celebrities or current events, family guy always expresses an opinion on the subject and may influence the audience or even educate the audience on what is going on. I admit im not so big on reading the papers and there are some things in family guy or other shows like south park, where i get "updated".
From what i remember we began to talk about culture and what it is. What i found interesting was the fact that we use the word all the time yet the meaning of it is so diverse and flexible that there may as well be no definition for it.
During the lecture i made a few random notes. things which were fairly pointless like animare = give soul in latin and names like Raymond Williams and Lucretius (99BC-55BC). The thing that stood out for me in the lecture though was the video clip. Not only because videos is a breath of fresh air in lectures but also because of the fact that i found it geniunley entertaining. The clips were by Georges Mieles who directed these in 1902. They were the first to use any sort of special effects and they were astonishing at the time and i think hold a certain element of charm even to this day. It was a bit quirky and funny and it was nice seeing how we got from that to special effects as we know it today. Brilliant stuff, didnt know about him before the lecture.
During the seminar, culture was brought up again and we started to discuss how our profession (animation) had anything to do with culture. I think animation has an effect on the "youth culture". Animations come in a variety of styles and are aimed at certain audiences. For example family guy and south park are obviously aimed at teenagers +. Rude and offensive jokes as well as random clips of events or 80s references is what we sometimes think of when it comes to this show. But they also touch on subjects that are currently big att he time, like us elections and the economic crisis. May it be related to celebrities or current events, family guy always expresses an opinion on the subject and may influence the audience or even educate the audience on what is going on. I admit im not so big on reading the papers and there are some things in family guy or other shows like south park, where i get "updated".
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