Iain McCaig is a well-known, award winner artist, character designer, concept artist, illustrator, screenwriter, producer, author and art instructor. His skills in concept work, character design, and storyboarding make him a gem in the motion picture industy. He has worked on major motion pictures, such as the Star Wars trilogy, Terminator II, Hook, Interview With the Vampire, Dracula, and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. He even co-founded Ninth Ray Studios LLC back in 2005. It is a freelance story and design group which has provided pre-production and development for several feature films including Outlander and John Carter of Mars.
http://characterdesignnotes.blogspot.com/2010/11/iain-mccaig.html
I really admire Iain's artwork, which you can admire yourself in his book "Shadowline: The Art of Iain McCaig".
What is even more awesome is that he evens find some time in his super busy lifestyle to keep up with his very own blog, which is linked below:
http://iainmccaig.blogspot.com/
His blog features his artwork, biography, and different links. He even has various "how-to" illustrations, such as how to draw hair, and how to draw an eye (This was actually very useful for me). He also has a post on facial expressions. If you have a few minutes to spare, I highly recommend visiting his blog. I don't know about you, but if I was offered to have a few free drawing lessons from Iain McCaig, I wouldn't hesitate.
-AA
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
Let your colors burst.
A few weeks ago Katy Perry came out with a brand new music video for her hit single "Firework". In the video, Katy inspires hope in a few individuals who are experiencing troubling situations by reminding them that everyone has a fire inside; it just needs to be ignited. The visual effects for in the video were made possible by Reel FX. It so happens that Reel FX, the digital studio that my group was assigned to research in the Intro to ATEC course that I am taking.
The video was shot in different locations of Budapest, Hungary. Radium/Reel FX Visual Effects Supervisor Kevin Althans and Producer Leigh Mergehenn went along to Hungary during the shoot, so they could successfully plan the logistics of the practical effects and the post-production work. According to Kevin Althans, the whole process was collaborative. Their team of 40 staff members in both the Dallas and Santa Monica Studios worked on editing the video for two weeks to create the realistic effects shots. The final look of the fireworks was achieved using custom Houdini plug-ins (written by 3D Effects Artist Anthony Chappina)which generated the dynamic fireworks. Other tools included Houdini, Maya, After Effects, Nuke and Inferno.
The "Firework" video is one of my favorite music videos. Not only are the visual affects incredibly realistic and believable, but the message of "embracing your inner firework" is truly meaningful. The video also brings up issues of bullying. Katy Perry noted that the video has personal significance to her and has dedicated the track and video to the “It Gets Better” campaign, which addresses discrimination and bullying against LGBT youth.
You can see the video and it's entirety here.
-AA
http://presskitchenblog.wordpress.com/2010/11/15/radiumreel-fx-makes-sparks-fly-for-katy-perry/
http://www.radiumreelfx.com/commercial/work/katy-perry-firework
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Million Dollar Idea
So a random thought occurred to me the other day: How do writers come up with original ideas for movies?
Ever since the making of movies, there have been so many different plots used: A giant monster terrorizing a city. A cruise ship full of passengers sinking in the middle of the Atlantic. A psychotic woman kidnapping and keeping a public figure against his will. How do the writing team create a clever and interesting story for a movie without ripping a previous plot line off?
But speaking of original plot lines, Some of my favorite animated movies come from Pixar, a very popular Animation Studio. The reason I love their movies (besides the incredible animation) is because all of their plots are extremely original. Don't forget the fact that all of their movies are family friendly feel-good flicks, which is a guilty pleasure of mine.
So I want to give major props to all the writers at Pixar and all of the other Movie companies. You all have both an extremely hard and important job, but you definately "bring home the bacon" in the end. Kudos.
-AA
Ever since the making of movies, there have been so many different plots used: A giant monster terrorizing a city. A cruise ship full of passengers sinking in the middle of the Atlantic. A psychotic woman kidnapping and keeping a public figure against his will. How do the writing team create a clever and interesting story for a movie without ripping a previous plot line off?
But speaking of original plot lines, Some of my favorite animated movies come from Pixar, a very popular Animation Studio. The reason I love their movies (besides the incredible animation) is because all of their plots are extremely original. Don't forget the fact that all of their movies are family friendly feel-good flicks, which is a guilty pleasure of mine.
So I want to give major props to all the writers at Pixar and all of the other Movie companies. You all have both an extremely hard and important job, but you definately "bring home the bacon" in the end. Kudos.
-AA
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Hands
What is the first thing you notice when you see an animated character?
Probably their facial expressions and posture/stance. Perhaps their clothing and body type. I mean, that's the first thing I look at when a new character appears on screen.
But when I was browsing some blogs, I noticed a lot of posts about the emphasis of characters' hands.
One blog I found, called the Academy of Art Character and Creature Design Notes, has three entire blog posts dedicated to just sketches of many types of hands in many various positions and angles.
Here's one of the pictures.
You can view the rest of the blog posts here, here , and here.
Toby Shelton's blog also has a post on hands. He tells us that expressive hands can have a big impact on the post and gesture of the characters. Hands also tell the characters attitude. If you want to be an artist, sooner or later you're going to have to draw hands. Having hand drawings in portfolios are a good idea, to show that you can illustrate good emotional expression through body movements and stance.
Drawing hands accurately takes practice. I would know, since my hand drawing skills are quite poor.(I am getting better though). But if drawn accurately, hands can show a lot of emotion in characters, which is a key element in animations.
-AA
Probably their facial expressions and posture/stance. Perhaps their clothing and body type. I mean, that's the first thing I look at when a new character appears on screen.
But when I was browsing some blogs, I noticed a lot of posts about the emphasis of characters' hands.
One blog I found, called the Academy of Art Character and Creature Design Notes, has three entire blog posts dedicated to just sketches of many types of hands in many various positions and angles.
Here's one of the pictures.
You can view the rest of the blog posts here, here , and here.
Toby Shelton's blog also has a post on hands. He tells us that expressive hands can have a big impact on the post and gesture of the characters. Hands also tell the characters attitude. If you want to be an artist, sooner or later you're going to have to draw hands. Having hand drawings in portfolios are a good idea, to show that you can illustrate good emotional expression through body movements and stance.
Drawing hands accurately takes practice. I would know, since my hand drawing skills are quite poor.(I am getting better though). But if drawn accurately, hands can show a lot of emotion in characters, which is a key element in animations.
-AA
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Hi there!
***Congratulations! If you are reading this, you have stumbled upon my very first blog post on my very first public blog. Before you start reading on, let me warn you that am brand new to the blogging world, so please excuse my inexperience to entertain readers. But trust me, I will try to make this blog as interesting as possible. Now, where should I start?***
My name is Kory.
I am eighteen years old.
I am currently a freshman enrolled in The University of Texas at Dallas.
My major is ATEC(Arts &Technology).
As of now, I plan to minor in Visual Art.
My favorite color is turquoise.
I love my family and friends.
I love music.
I love movies.
I love art.
So the reason I majored in ATEC was to pursue my dream of someday working at an Animation Studio such as Dreamworks or Pixar. ATEC has many areas of study, such as game design, sound design, and animation. The area of study I decided to pursue is 3D animation. The only thing is, I currently have very little to no experience with how the animation process works, the different animation software, and the overall lifestyle of the professional animation industry. With that being said, here is where the blog comes in.
I consider myself a complete amateur when it comes to art and computers. Sure, I've taken a digital graphics class in high school, so I have a little background experience with Photoshop, Illustrator, and Flash. I also took a couple basic art and drawing classes, but other than that I am a complete beginner in the world of technological art and design.
I know that I am only a freshman in college, and you're probably thinking that the whole point of college is to gain knowledge in your area of study, and that college is the place to start learning how to do everything you didn't know how to do before. I totally understand this. The only thing is that there are many other freshman in ATEC that have much more experience in the artsy stuff(incredible drawings and paintings) and tech-e stuff (knowing adobe software forwards and backwards), so I feel a little disadvantaged.
But instead of being pessimistic about it, I'm going to embrace it. The only direction I can move is forward, right? :)
So here comes the point of this blog. I am going to use this blog as a sort of learning tool. It's going to be a learning tool for me, and a learning tool for all of my lovely readers. Every time I find out some new information on art, animation, Photoshop, etc., I am going to blog about it. It could be either information on an animation company, different art techniques and artists, or some tips and shortcuts on how to do a task in an adobe software. I might even post some of my own art, to see what you guys think. Basically the subject matter can vary on each post (Although my posts will be relevent in the matter of increasing my skills for becoming an animator).
This blog will be an experience. Hopefully a positive experience in which you and I can gain useful knowledge.
It starts now.
-AA
My name is Kory.
I am eighteen years old.
I am currently a freshman enrolled in The University of Texas at Dallas.
My major is ATEC(Arts &Technology).
As of now, I plan to minor in Visual Art.
My favorite color is turquoise.
I love my family and friends.
I love music.
I love movies.
I love art.
So the reason I majored in ATEC was to pursue my dream of someday working at an Animation Studio such as Dreamworks or Pixar. ATEC has many areas of study, such as game design, sound design, and animation. The area of study I decided to pursue is 3D animation. The only thing is, I currently have very little to no experience with how the animation process works, the different animation software, and the overall lifestyle of the professional animation industry. With that being said, here is where the blog comes in.
I consider myself a complete amateur when it comes to art and computers. Sure, I've taken a digital graphics class in high school, so I have a little background experience with Photoshop, Illustrator, and Flash. I also took a couple basic art and drawing classes, but other than that I am a complete beginner in the world of technological art and design.
I know that I am only a freshman in college, and you're probably thinking that the whole point of college is to gain knowledge in your area of study, and that college is the place to start learning how to do everything you didn't know how to do before. I totally understand this. The only thing is that there are many other freshman in ATEC that have much more experience in the artsy stuff(incredible drawings and paintings) and tech-e stuff (knowing adobe software forwards and backwards), so I feel a little disadvantaged.
But instead of being pessimistic about it, I'm going to embrace it. The only direction I can move is forward, right? :)
So here comes the point of this blog. I am going to use this blog as a sort of learning tool. It's going to be a learning tool for me, and a learning tool for all of my lovely readers. Every time I find out some new information on art, animation, Photoshop, etc., I am going to blog about it. It could be either information on an animation company, different art techniques and artists, or some tips and shortcuts on how to do a task in an adobe software. I might even post some of my own art, to see what you guys think. Basically the subject matter can vary on each post (Although my posts will be relevent in the matter of increasing my skills for becoming an animator).
This blog will be an experience. Hopefully a positive experience in which you and I can gain useful knowledge.
It starts now.
-AA
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