Here is the new advert for Blades Animation. I am going to produce a making of blog to accompany how the video was made. Though for now I am going to post the video please let me know what you think.
Richard :)
Monday 24 March 2014
300 2
I recently watched the second 300 movie Rise of an Empire. I cant say I have been looking forward to seeing this particularly but there isn't much on at the moment.
Before the showing they previewed a couple of extended scenes to which one audience member ran out of the screening with his hands over his ears to avoid any spoilers (it wasn't me). Captian America 2 looks amazing I'm really excited for this. The first film was good up until he became Captain America then they didnt really seem to know what to do with him and it went a bit rubbish. But this looks great cant wait!
So 300 its okay not great but not bad either. Its set before during and after the first film and follows the larger events of the Persians invasion. Its a bit odd in that one of its messages is that the first film is dumb by regurly referencing the events of the first film and telling you the characters and events are dumb. This is odd because this isnt a particularly clever film and doesnt seem to have a whole lot to say either.
The reason this is elevated to okay rather than bad is Eva Green who is amazing she is by far the best aspect of 300. Her performance is incredible she absolutely blows every other actor off the screen with her portrayal of the villainous Artemisia. It is worth watch 300 just to see Eva Green. The other characters are just buff men holding swords hitting one another. There is very little to the other characters in this they really are only in the film for the fighting. Which is the main reason I imagine people go to see this. From that aspect this is good, the action is entertaining although the CG blood is very poor and definitely takes you out of the experience of enjoying the film.
I really liked that the film was mostly set at Sea as there doesn't seem to be many naval war films around so that was a memorable aspect of the film. The other memorable moment of the film is Themistocles (Sullivan Stapelton the main hero) secret weapon towards the end, this made me laugh as its pretty stupid!
As I've written this I'm going to upgrade my opinion if this film to a very positive okay, still not good. I wouldn't buy the DVD but if it was on Netflix I would add it to my watch list although I'm not sure how quickly it would get watched!
Before the showing they previewed a couple of extended scenes to which one audience member ran out of the screening with his hands over his ears to avoid any spoilers (it wasn't me). Captian America 2 looks amazing I'm really excited for this. The first film was good up until he became Captain America then they didnt really seem to know what to do with him and it went a bit rubbish. But this looks great cant wait!
So 300 its okay not great but not bad either. Its set before during and after the first film and follows the larger events of the Persians invasion. Its a bit odd in that one of its messages is that the first film is dumb by regurly referencing the events of the first film and telling you the characters and events are dumb. This is odd because this isnt a particularly clever film and doesnt seem to have a whole lot to say either.
The reason this is elevated to okay rather than bad is Eva Green who is amazing she is by far the best aspect of 300. Her performance is incredible she absolutely blows every other actor off the screen with her portrayal of the villainous Artemisia. It is worth watch 300 just to see Eva Green. The other characters are just buff men holding swords hitting one another. There is very little to the other characters in this they really are only in the film for the fighting. Which is the main reason I imagine people go to see this. From that aspect this is good, the action is entertaining although the CG blood is very poor and definitely takes you out of the experience of enjoying the film.
I really liked that the film was mostly set at Sea as there doesn't seem to be many naval war films around so that was a memorable aspect of the film. The other memorable moment of the film is Themistocles (Sullivan Stapelton the main hero) secret weapon towards the end, this made me laugh as its pretty stupid!
As I've written this I'm going to upgrade my opinion if this film to a very positive okay, still not good. I wouldn't buy the DVD but if it was on Netflix I would add it to my watch list although I'm not sure how quickly it would get watched!
Wednesday 5 March 2014
What I'm doing!
Hi so first a couple of quick recommendations go and watch both the Lego movie and Dallas Buyers club, I watched them last week and they are both great. If you can only see one then watch the Lego movie, a great piece of animation!
This week has been fairly productive I am finally nearly finished with the new advert for my website the only element to complete is the voice over recording. It currently has a scratch track of me reading the script. A process I totally hated even though I was the only person in the studio I still felt very self conscious about recording my voice. Once the voice over has been added I will do a final cut of the advert hopefully shaving about 10 seconds. Then it will be uploaded to the website. The advert is likely to be online March 21st. On the same day the website is due to have a minor facelift. Mostly just an updating of the banner and a few of the other photos in use.
I have additionally began working on a second video for the website that will help explain the price of animation. Its not uncommon for me to be asked how much for some animation like its a packet of crisps. I've regularly been asked how much for some animation a bit like toy story but a couple of minutes long. Unfortunately it is not that easy to give an answer to that. For those wondering things to consider when pricing up an animation I work out how long it will take me to complete, this is affected by how complicated the animation is, materials, how long the finished product will be, style, do I need additional people ie actors, musicians etc. Lots to consider so the more specific someone is when asking the more accurate the quote will be, Its actually better to say how big your budget is then I can work out a project that will fall within it.
Part of the process of making a piece of animation is scripting, story boarding and sound. Although these have different titles they are all part of the same process. When coming up with an idea I work through a sketch book making notes and thumb nails, from here I'll make a list of things that will happen then go between scripting and story boarding. Normally story boarding before scripting but the process goes back and fourth between these parts. When writing the script I might think of a better idea and will then update the story board, so lots changes at this stage. I story board on post-it notes and then lay them all out on the wall to begin to get an idea of how it will look. At this stage its really easy to change parts around by rearranging the pictures.
Once I am happy with these parts I record a scratch track of the script. This is me standing with my microphone recording all the voices. As noted earlier this isn't my most favourite part but its essential. During this stage the script is likely to change again. I record every part as written though whats written doesnt always sound as good when spoken so lots of changes will occur at this stage. When recording I can see the script and the story board so have a good idea of what Im doing.
Once recorded I scan the story board and import all the sound into final cut to edit together an animatic. This is the story board and sound cut together to allow me to see the timings and get a better idea of how the finished short will look with out having to animate. It is the best opportunity to look at it and decide if it is any good and wether or not it is even worth making.
Yesterday I finished the animatic and felt reasonably happy with it, then when watching it again this morning changed my mind. Today has seen me reworking the whole thing, its been completely re story boarded, the sound that I recored previously is fine though I've trimmed chunks off. The problem was visually it was just flat and slow. Below is the completed storyboard. I plan on animating it in the last couple of weeks of March, aiming to get it online by the middle of April.
Finally below is a photo said i'd add ages ago of a set and puppet I've made although forgot about. The puppet is complete to how I'd like him though there still some work to do on the set. I'm still a long way off animating this as its not a priority project its just a bit of fun on the side.
Okay thats enough!
Rich
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