Australian Creative Magazine

As an animation student it’s important for me to be aware of what’s going on in the industry not just in film but in commercials as well. Australian Creative magazine is a great way to keep in touch with the industry. Each month it has a listing of the region’s best production companies and top commercial directors, covering industry trends. The issues include case studies of recent commercials from Australia and New Zealand.

Tip of the Week

If you’re stuck in a rut, it can feel as though mastering your Wii was your last big accomplishment, so here are some suggestions to get you off the video games and back in the designing mood.

Choose your soundtrack and slap on your headphones. Queue up some trash metal, rock, hippie rap, or operatic arias. Whatever floats your boat, so long as it gets your Wacom pen flying or your Photoshop fingers flying.

Let your friends inspire you. Take a gander at your one of your Web 2.0 networks and see what your pals from around the world are up to. While you’re at it, rate their work and don’t be afraid to lavish them with praiseon their blogs, in an e-mail or the forums. Speaking of forums, we’ve got a bounty of helpful members standing by to help you.

There’s some killer designs in, my favourite, iStockPhoto’s Designer Spotlight too. We’re a planet full of top talent who continually contribute their award-winning creations to the web, so poke around and see if that sparks your plugs.

Lastly, get out and take it all in. We’re not built to sit in front of monitors for hours on end so get up and move around, and jump start your ideas. Go for a walk and get inspiration from the kids in the street or that guy down the hall in your office with that grey cardigan. Whatever it takes.

Storyboards, Inc.

Browsing the web today I stumbled across this really interesting website, www.storyboardsinc.com. For over 30 years, Storyboards, Inc. has been representing the best storyboard artists in the industry. Their commercial, advertising, and film artists bring a modern, dynamic, and cinematic energy to every project. With the talent and diversity of more than 60 of the industry’s top illustrators, they nail every frame’s angle, look, and vibe. Lastly, a careful screening process and extensive knowledge of the business allowing them to confidently meet all of your storyboarding needs. With Storyboards, Inc. in your corner your advertising, commercial, and film boards will capture the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but a perfect visual representation of your ideas.

Tim Burgard is one of the artists featured on Storyboards, Inc. and after doing a little further searching on the site along with a bit of googling I began to find storyboarding more and more interesting. I mean I’ve had to make my own storyboards before, for all my animations in fact, but I’ve always hated it. Tim Burgard has a list a mile long of amazing films that he has worked on. For example:

• The Incredible Hulk…Louis Leterrier
• Evan Almighty…Tom Shadyac
• X-Men: The Last Stand…Brett Ratner
• Fun with Dick and Jane…Dean Parisot
• Bewitched…Robert Stadd
• Son Of The Mask… Larry Guterman
• Me Again… Dean Parisot
• Cursed… Wes Craven
• The Day After Tomorrow… Roland Emmerich
• Domestic Disturbance… Harold Becker

The list goes on and on. You can even view some of his storyboards on his website, www.timburgardart.com, or at www.storyboardsinc.com.

Here is an example:

I think that one of the reasons I first stopped to look at storyboards is that one of my friend’s dream is to become a storyboard artist. I made a website for her about a month ago. Check it out, I’d love feed back on her work and on your thoughts on the website

www.rhimcg.com

Cheers.

Stop motion

At the moment I am working on a small stop motion piece for uni. Stop motion (or frame-by-frame) animation is a general term for an animation technique which makes static objects appear to move. The object is moved by very small amounts between individually photographed frames, producing the effect of motion when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence. Clay figures are often used in stop motion animations, known as claymation, for their ease of repositioning. Software such as Stop Motion Pro, istopmotion and monkeyjam have made the technique popular among young filmakers. These programs are easy to use and create a realistic effect.

There are heaps of examples of stop-motion examples on YouTube but I found this one to be pretty cool.

I have taken over three hundred pictures of my friend doing everyday activities and will be using a Shake and Final Cut Pro to piece it together a little narrative.

Pixilation (from pixilated) is a stop motion technique where live actors are used as a frame-by-frame subject in an animated film, by repeatedly posing while one or more frame is taken and changing pose slightly before the next frame or frames. The actor becomes a kind of living stop motion puppet. This technique is often used as a way to blend live actors with animated ones in a film, such as in The Secret Adventures Of Tom Thumb by the Bolex Brothers, which used the technique to compelling and eerie effect.

Here are a couple of examples of the original photos:

These pictures were intentionally taken at a very low resolution. I will be manipulating the images in Photoshop before I start animating. The final outcome should be quite different.