Week 15: Every Fish is a Genius

Apr 23—Week 15: 
1.) Films aren’t finished, they are slowly abandoned. 2.) Films are not made, they are discovered. What did you have to leave behind this semester? What did you find instead?

This semester I definitely had to leave behind my scars film. Starting too late and not fully grasping the mechanics of After Effects position keyframes I ended up looking like a goof and the film royally sucked. I'll take something from that, but I really caught my stride around the loading screen. Many billionaires of the world (Steve Jobs would agree) that at the age of 22 you should be sharpening your strong points rather than strengthening your weaknesses, at any age over puberty you need to be the best at one or two things and "good enough" at every other thing. A big lie that we're told by our parents is that we can become anything, this really is untrue and we need to set ourselves up for success rather than strive to be something impossible, for example the first man on Mars (even if you were the most qualified, there are biological constraints and the fact that Mars probably won't be visited in our lifetimes due to fiscal and political reasons). A point guard in the NBA is another example of something NOT to strive for. That's why I've already set my sights on being a copywriter. There are a lot of things that I'm good at, only one or two at which I'm great, I want to focus on those two.

As we're now working on the final film I'm both nervous and excited, I'm making strides but it's an extremely slow and tedious process. I'm doing my best to manage time well to complete the work, or at least "abandon" it in a good place.

Signing Off.
Thanks.

Here are four of the art pieces I'm using to build my final film.

Mess with the bull, get the horns.

Apr 16—Week 14: 

We’re almost at the end. What do you have left to do? How is that working for you?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIP7wdW7EQg

I'm holding my breath. As stated in the previous blog post, I'm dying. My ex-girlfriend wants me to move in with her in three weeks, when my ok-paying job and connections are here. We've dating long-distance for three years, fuck that. For reference watch How I Met Your Mother's Season 1 episode on the subject, girls love them: All talk, no sex, guys hate them for the same reason. And I, being the smooth-talker jerk-off that I am, cannot stop hitting on girls to make up the lost time of having a non-real girlfriend, it really is quite a suicide mission/collision course, I know. BUT WHEN WE MOVE IN TOGETHER EVERYTHING WILL BE DIFFERENT. lolol #I'mFucked

School's fine. It's not hard, I am hardly trying and I'm not afraid of flunking. I have great professors who can see that I have worked hard, am knowledgeable and skilled enough to deserve a degree from the University of South Carolina. I'm just appalled at my whole extra year spent here and after my flunk out semester sophomore year also have nightmares and panic attacks about that too.

This is why I hate Journalism. In the future, Journalism is blogging; and all blogging is nothing but narcissistic, self-indulging rants, going and on and on and attempting to fill a whole only a therapist (or extremely talented prostitute, see: Julia Roberts|Pretty Woman) can fill.

These are the battles of the transition into the real world. I watched Office Space for the first time this month (I know, it's a sin I waited this long; I'm sorry.) and almost cried about how true that shit is. I hate my job, my ex hates her job, my dad and her dad hate their jobs, and now I'm eager and fighting to get hired by a soulless suicide machine.

CAPITALISM, YAY. I would also like to thank poor self esteem for the attention seeking perpetuism and materialism that has sucked the life out of so many humans before myself. BUT IF I HAVE ALL THE NICE THINGS I WILL FINALLY BE HAPPY, RIGHT?
Signing the hell off.   

Senior Year! Quit now, kid.

Apr 9—Week 13: 

Oh look. It’s a wormhole. It seems that you can talk directly to the Jan 10, 2012 version of yourself. Probably a good idea to give some notes about what that person could have done differently on to make your work easier right now.

Run! Run like hell man. And apply everywhere to work because it's late and no one wants to hire creatives (kill myself).
I'm stressed out so much that I can't even think about school, my "girlfriend" in Minneapolis will only talk to me about how many places I applied today and I keep hearing no's and "we'll keep you in mind!". It's so frustrating and for people who aren't awesome at rejection, such as every artist or creative, it is really draining. I don't wish I did anything different but I constantly have this gnawing, sickening feeling that I'm forgetting something and I don't know what it is. I'm having fucking nightmares and waking up with the aforementioned forgotten thing being something important, dead relatives (my grandparents both passed recently, so I guess I'd encourage me to love my grandmother harder before her passing, but I got a 2001 Honda out of it, fucking great right?) I'm in a weird mood and not interested in entertaining your blog. I know what it's like to be an artist, to live the creator's lifestyle, I've been here for years. Moving too slowly then way too fast, hardly holding on one second and bored breathless the next moment. This is the neurotic, destructive existence I'm trying to escape, trying NOT to become a perpetual starving artist. I want to be a turtlenecked douchebag in the Porschia who "sold out", I can sleep soundly being that gentleman. I just can't handle the cigarettes and coffee diet anymore, I'm burned out and just now reaching the job market. I didn't fucking party in school, I'm not some white sorority girl whose parents sheltered from living. I've been working out here and I'm tired of never getting paid or recognized and constantly being punished for missing classes that I already know the answers to questions they think I've never heard before (Oooooh, you got me! [not]).

Sorry for the attitude.

Welcome to the pressure and hell that I'm experiencing as a senior.
Signing Off.

Week 12- Follow Your Nose

Apr 2—Week 12: 

If you haven’t already, you should identify three or four film festivals that would be candidates for to submit you film. What are they? Why did you choose them? What questions or reservations do you have?

After looking over many film festivals (and seeing all the ones presented in class) I am very slow to submit to many, especially the ones that have heavy entrance fees. I've been around the block once or twice and know good and well that all media is business and wouldn't be released if someone wasn't making money off of it. In may ways film festivals are paid Ad space for a director, and can be extremely political (it never hurts to be a good schmoozer, and it seems to have much in common with job hunting, you're a paper in a stack of 100 papers and you have to make your paper stand out.)

I would definitely be interested in submitting to film festivals, and though more my area of expertise is away from Animation I would be willing to see what I could do with these films we've made or an offshoot thereof.
I would be much more intrigued and interested in pushing something I've shot with a crew, the crew keeps you honest and with a couple good directors and (Please, God, can I have my Producers back? I can't live without them.)
I guess you could say I've been spoiled, but I've surrounded myself with a good media team and proven that that's how ideas come to life. I'm mainly referencing this, spec it if you haven't seen it yet. Budget under $200.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSSBSw8zQ7g

Thanks.

Mission Opossumible- Week 11

Mar 26—Week 11: 

How did Film 2 go over? How do you feel it was received? How do you feel about it? What would you do differently? What will you change about what you are doing with your next film?

Film two was AWESOME. I loved the idea I impromptu-ed and actually almost enjoyed the process. My creative style is best productive when I "master-mind" the idea and have a director and a couple PA's to work with, but that will come down the line, until then I (most importantly) learned a TON about stop motion and would say that I would be much better equipped to re-make the film.
If I took another pass at the film I would build a kind of device to make the matches "stand" on their own, magnets crossed my mind, but that would require set building and more pre-planning that I, sad to say, didn't quite get to do. I also thought that the floss would work fine and be nearly invisible, no such luck. Strangely enough I didn't even realized it looked like a match "suicide" film until you mentioned it, thanks for that.
In doing it again I would make it longer and change shots more, being the first stop-motion that I've done and knowing the methods of not changing the F-stop or shutter speed I found myself reluctant (maybe even AFRAID) of the camera, it was suddenly a machine I was unsure if I could control. But I made it work for me and my past experiences in shooting full-auto paid off.

Luckily I didn't get caught in the destructive, chop-off-my-own-ear, "Artist Mode", planning, planning, planning stressing out and finishing nothing, at least I finished, unlike this Opossum.

Thanks for the help, Simon.
Signing Off,
Chieftain

Pimping Ain't Easy (Neither is Stop-Freaking-Motion)

Mar 19—Week 10:

I hate it, I'm one acme dynamite box away from blowing my brains out and I'm sick of the process. I didn't sign up for this (Ok, maybe I did, but I'm at the end of my crazy rope right now). Stop motion sucks. I've made excuses for myself, citing myself as a "writer" or one who isn't intrigued by animations or one who is too "mature" and advanced to subject my creative genius to this menial, physically laboring dedication to a child's medium, the last is my favorite, that's a good one. The bottom line is, my will is being tested. I know this isn't one of those last-second things, I'm dreading the whole assignment, trying to devise a plan to make it appear like a rabbit out of a hat, but it isn't working like that yet.

The "big idea" sells the story. The story is the big idea, it's the most important part and the part I'm never satisfied with. What is the punch line?

My stop motion has been a challenge I've almost enjoyed, but the true fire hasn't heated up and we'll see what happens in the final production stages (I'm expecting a landslide of a victory, common for my overconfidence). I am constantly tempted to change the story and am dying for creative validation, also excusing my lack of direction at the thought of "'My type' works better with a creative partner".
True or not I'm riding rogue on this trail and am gonna have to reach for the six shooters pretty soon.

Happy trails, see you at High Noon.

Signing Off.

Week Nein Nein Nein

Mar 12—Week 9: 

What are some things that are helping your learning in this class so far? What are some things that might be hindering you?

I've really learned a lot from the class aspect of this course, where if I have a problem with codecs or conversion or animation speed or some assorted issue I can facebook chat someone and find a solution very quickly. I'm also a huge believer in youtube, so if I search very specifically the "Marmalade D11 Converting Error" there are 500 other cowboys out there in the Wild Digital West who can tell me how they fixed their issue.

Another really helpful aspect of the course has been the in class viewing sessions, while hearing all the other student's ideas or watching their film clips (storyboards included) I can take inspiration and see news way to use the same tools I'm using to really completely change the way I make things.

Animation is a long inward struggle, just like when I started with Reason and Photoshop. When you try to make things in those programs you often find a problem and hit a roadblock, thus forcing you to work your way around it, that's how I believe you master these things. Reading manuals can only get you so far.

Happy St. Pats, ya filthy animals.

Also, if you didn't see this, you're missing it:
http://vimeo.com/38611963 

Signing Off.
ChieftainLife

Film One - There's Friction Before Perfection

Feb 27—Week 8: 

How did Film 1 go over? How do you feel it was received? How do you feel about it? What would you do differently? What will you change about what you are doing with your next film?

It sucked, I ran out of time and it ended up looking like hell. Which was a lesson in and of itself. Like you've said in class before, sometimes it just "happens" in a night, but the whole concept behind the film was weak, there was a frail attempt at a setup and no punchline to finish the job. It ended feeling listless and unexecuted.

The animation, also looking like hell, was moved from Illustrator into After Effects, I still don't understand why you can't add and manipulate audio in AE, the reasoning behind that makes no sense to me. If I added music to the film it could have better acted as a distraction from the on-screen badness, but the true issue is the badness itself.

In the future (Looking back in retrosepct) I wouldn't use after effects again, a lot of the projects I saw I know took less time than I put into mine and looked fine (not life-changing, but fine).

I like ToonBoom, but can't pirate [I can say that here, right? Or will I be strung up and assassinated by the SOPA-ssassins? Just being transparent.] a good copy that doesn't crash every five minutes or is the true, full version. I have messed with a demo but I refuse to put my name on any media with a bloody watermark on it, that just won't do, so until then there are labs, whatever, but I digress.

Looking back I would develop the story and the characters better, the process I used was also time consuming and backwards, I've learned more tricks and picked up on better ways of building the graphics and I'm believing those will pay off.

The next one's going to be out of this world. I know that's a stupid saying, but I don't believe in swearing on a blog, it's bad internet karma.

Signing Off.
ChieftainLife

We Talkin' About Practice?

Feb 20—Week 7: 

What is your daily practice like?

Most of the practice I get is based around projects. For me the things in life that I have mastered (or become best at) have never been learned through a traditional practice method. 

For example my drumming (trust me, I'm not bad; see drumming here: http://youtu.be/70wcUYR3uRI

When I was just learning drums we tried 3 different times to do the traditional "practice/teacher" thing, I'm not the type and I never have been, but over time, through my own methods and, as I said in the other blog topic, through working through problems and road blocks one at a time, you build up a repertoire of not-so-bad skills that can be strung together to make some pretty good stuff.
I do wish that I stuck to my apps more, like TED radio for example, I would be a genius if I listened for an hour a day, but I tend to listen for three days, then get bored or distracted or whatever and the use trails off. I would like to be more disciplined in terms of those.


Signing Off.
ChieftainLife

I Mustache You A Question

Feb 13—Week 6: 

On Tuesday you’ll see (or you saw, depending on when you’re reading this) several of my most recent films. While not completely animated, there were lots of effects elements in them, which makes them fair game for us to talk about here. With a few days distance from the screening, what thoughts or questions do you have about them? You questions can be structural, technical, business-based, logistical, philosophical, or anything else. I’ll try to respond as best I can.

I was wondering how your film making has changed over the years, mainly from a technological stand point, and where you think our focus should shift as young aspiring media developers. For example, would you have focused more on starting doing digital non-linear editing or stuck to film longer?

How do you create your stories? How do you work on a small budget and motivate others to work (work hard, work well, make deadlines) with little to no pay? These are all issues I've been dealing with while creating film and other media (photo shoots, web site designs, graphic design, video shoots, music production) lately.

In an era where you can do everything yourself, what should you NOT do? (They say a life of success is made by choosing the "nots" rather than the obvious actions).

Just something to chew on.

Thank you.

Signing Off.
ChieftainLife

Doing This

Feb 6--Week 5

I've had 4 different majors in 5 years.  I started out as a journalist.  Hated it.  Then I was an advertising major.  Didn't work out.  I ventured to history. Old.  Finally, I've landed in Media Arts.  It's treated me well.

It satisfies my need for creative ideas and technology.  I like knowing how things come to be.  I like seeing things that have come to be.  Media arts, and this class, are a fusion of both.

So in the famous words of my girlfriend (during arguments): "Why not?"

Wookies

January 30 --Week 4

Open-ended is the best.  Some people get discouraged.  Some get overwhelmed . And some suffer from every stress symptom of "creators block",  and develop a disease they googled on WebMD (it was Mom's lasagna from last night, made worse by a case of hypochondria).

I don't suffer from empty-brain syndrome.  If anything, I'm a victim of too-full-brain syndrome.  But that means my creative process is a pull v. a push.

My ideation process doesn't really ever stop.  That means when it comes to picking a subject matter for an animation, it's pretty easy.  What's not easy is the next step; focusing and making my ideas real.  I'm inspired by things I like: Nike Lowdunks, Wookies, and augmented reality.  But my original idea for characters who are Nike-Lowdunks-wearing Wookies who live in a space of augmented reality falls flat when it gets to the draft stage.

I'd say the process has been working 50% of the time.  The other 50% I end up with Wookie memes I made on PS in my mad dash.  They don't seem as funny the next day.

Monster's Sink Storyboard

Thank you.
-Austin

Penciled Past

January 23-- Week 3

My relationship with cartoons as a young one.

I started at a young age obsessed with Fievel Goes West, a Spielberg produced film chronicling a story of my two favorite things, cowboys and Jewish mice. Really though, as a cowboy freak and a child smack in the middle of the Fievel trilogy's demographic, I've seen the film over 100 times, maybe 200; even to this day I doubt I've seen any piece of media more than I've seen that one. I sometimes believe that I based a lot of my developmental social feelings and skills off of those animated situations, I still remember the characters, their mannerisms, and the punchlines, the slapstick humor and overarching theme basing an integral part of being human on a longing for home and love.

I used to read batman and Sonic the Hedgehog comic books (Really, what WAS a Sega Genesis if it wasn't a Cartoon play-along machine?), but have long dismissed cartoons in most forms. The content has stayed stale and dormant (Not including the outrageously good "Spirited Aways" and a "Princess Mononoke" or two), and I really hate to say this for fear of pissing off the nerd peanut gallery that is Media Arts, but I hate cartoons, they're below my psychological stimulation level.

Family Guy is shamefully teenage, Adult Swim is for drug abusing high schoolers and I couldn't be less interested in a comic book.

Around here we all are, if nothing else unifies us, art snobs, right?

Flipping Out

January 16-- Week 2

Currently in the middle of a process of flipbooking and converting from analog to digital, one quickly learns that we're dealing with taming different animals here.
I'm still not crazy about After Effects, everything so cumbersome in the way that you have to upload frame per frame, I'm sure someone has created a better, more streamlined process by now, but I haven't found it yet. The part that bothers me the most is the strobing, I hate the way that it "bounces" within the frame and creates movement and makes it choppy rather than silky smooth.
I also need to study more films per frame, as my animation tends to slow and dash in certain spots, making movement start in seeming slo-mo and end in race car mode.
I have somewhat enjoyed the process, but as I am not a hand artist this was more difficult and frustrating to me.   I also was unhappy with how I didn't have enough time (or patience or both) to dedicate to adding color to the animation.

Story over everything.

Characters over story.

Develop.

Future Austin: You Da Boss, Never Forget.

Yo, Chieftain. I know you're stressing hard right now, but this is all  a loss of positive perception, with the realignment of your energy you can remember the truth, that you were born different, better, stronger, bigger. You were born DA BOSS.

It's going to be a long semester, and though it may be tempting to freak out right about now, remember who you are, and that you have the potential to shine. Remember that you can't dig yourself out of every hole, work ahead, prepare yourself for success and harvest the results humbly. Push for bigger, leave the state. Don't stay in Greenville, don't do the easy, push out and go to Portland or Chicago. Dig in, do something that scares you, do what you know you were made to you. Biology didn't create you as the safe type, stay true to that. Use the fire in your veins and the spark in your mind that makes you different. They can't do what you do, play your game, not theirs.

Continue writing, let the music fade, write for Ad. Copy-writing isn't the most sexy profession, but you're building, remember that. Remember how far you can reach, but again, you have to build to reach your creative pinnacle. Push towards your ten thousand hours, focus on the things your great at, forget the things you're good at, or are "fun". Have fun in your spare time, work fulfills.

"Change the changeable, accept the unchangeable and reject the unacceptable."

Stay Hungry, Bulls*** the Bulls***ers.