Other Software > Announce Your Software/Service/Product

I'm practicing how to make films

<< < (6/8) > >>

40hz:
Look at that background.  That's a hand painted background and it's gorgeous.  People are not going to do that anymore.  Because there are so many easier ways to get a background in now with Flash, or photoshop, so there's no point.  It's like 20x more labor.  But that backdrop really does it for me.  Not to mention the tight hand crafted animations.  That music is also full symphonic highly skilled music.  I've heard that the Family Guy big band is like Seth Macfarlane's real baby; he loves that band.  And even that is an easier and more "pop" version of those Carl Stalling numbers.  It's like we've replaced quality with quantity.  Which I'm very happy about since it gives guys like me a chance to participate more easily.  But I love that style, and I'd probably try my best to get it back if I could
-superboyac (September 18, 2012, 09:50 PM)
--- End quote ---

I'll agree with that up to a point. But I think it's still possible to get as good (or even better) a look & feel with modern techniques provided you adopt a hybrid approach and mix the vintage with the modern to capitalize on the unique capabilities of each.

Like here:



As one of the Disney people pointed out, it would have been practically impossible to do that elaborate a design on the magic carpet without using digital techniques. (Can you imagine trying to hand draw a rippling carpet with a complex arabesque pattern at 30 frames per second? That would take years and years.) But going digital on "Rug Man" yielded a surprise benefit in that once they were able to do that, they thought outside the box and asked: why not make the carpet an endearing character in the story rather than just use it as a prop?

Brilliant! That added something valid and unique back to the classic Aladdin tale. (That IMO is true creativity.)

Then there's scenes like this which I think hold up to the best ever produced by Disney in the old days:



Of course what really makes it is the body language and expressions on the characters faces. The animator in charge of Jasmin said he based her entire character on the style, mannerisms, and personality on his own sister. (I'm guessing he came from one of those large 'traditional' families and she was one of those smart and feisty "good girls" we all knew and loved when we were growing up.) So once again, it's story that's critical to making it all work.

Japan's anime masters have "story" down cold. Which is why Japanese cartoons are better than most major movies currently being made.

One of the most brilliant is Grave of the Fireflies. A masterful example of how much can be accomplished with colored ink and a poignant, rock solid story. Here's the summary from IMDB which I edited to remove story spoilers:

Setsuko and Seita are brother and sister living in wartime Japan. After their mother is killed in an air raid they find a temporary home with relatives. Having quarreled with their aunt they leave the city and make their home in an abandoned shelter. While their soldier father's destiny is unknown, the two must depend on each other to somehow keep a roof over their heads and food in their stomachs. When everything is in short supply, their only entertainment is the light of the fireflies.
--- End quote ---

This film primarily examines the horrors of war and the price our political differences extract from our children. It is an absolutely heartbreaking story. There's one minor night scene that's still etched in my head. Seita and Setsuko are sitting on a bench. After talking a bit, Seita suggests to his sister it's time for bed. She nods, leans her head down against his thigh, and immediately falls asleep, hand on her brother while still clutching her precious ragdoll and candy tin. (WARNING: This is not a Disney film. Best skip it if you get upset or depressed too easily.)



There's a couple of full uploads of it on Youtube right now. They'll probably get taken down soon, so check it out while you have the chance.

superboyac:
Yes, I do agree with that.  I would like to learn more about the hybrid methods.  I know Family Guy and South Park have done some really nifty things with hybrid methods.  Was it last year where Family Guy experimented with some really great looking 3D landscapes and tried doing some cinema quality stories?

I really loved those Disney films from the 90s artistically.  I thought they were the best I had ever seen, and still are because after that it went to Pixar, which I like also, but in a different way.  There were a couple of things that blew my mind when I was a teenager from those movies:
--The Aladdin scene with the lion head cave where he gets the lamp.  That scene looked so amazing at the time, my mouth was probably open.
--Any scene with that carpet.  i couldn't stop looking at it, it was so well done.  And I was very disappointed in the sequels when they took away all those great details from the rug.  The flight out of the cave; that i can show you the world scene.
--The wildebeest chase in Lion King.  Wow.  That was a perfect example of leveraging technology and computers while still retaining the traditional look.

Even the later box office dud movies had good animation, the kind I like.  The stories weren't great though.

I keep trying to like the anime stuff.  Here's what I don't like about them: the movements are always choppy or ghostly (make sense?).  They're not smooth.  The individual frames are lovely and I really enjoy the stories.  But the animation has that it's-missing-a-few-frames look to it.  At one point I looked into the differences in the way japanese animators use their software vs. the americans.  One thing I learned is that the japanese rely more on vector software vs. raster for the americans.  And vector is better in that it's more flexible and efficient.  It's easier to do 3d landscapes with vector and other fancy things like that.  The americans seem to rely more on raster workflows.  What I don't understand is why the vector results in ghostly movements and raster does not.  My ideal hybrid workflow would probably be vector all things being equal.

Now, today there is so much hybrid stuff going on, I need to research more on the techniques to see what I like best.  Toon Boom has been slowly incorporating more vector features into their software.  Japan has their own suites like Anime Studio, which are very cool and clever.

So here's my struggle I think.  First, I need to learn more about these techniques.  Second, I think like a japanese animator but my eye prefers american style.  I'd like to see if maybe I can get the japanese techniques to do american style cartoons, does anyone know of any examples?  Oh!  I know one that I really like a lot: the Batman Animated series.  For some reason, I thought that was an awesome way to cartoon.  It was anime-like, but with smooth movements.  The backdrops were Looney Toonesque, but still obviously not done the same way.  Whatever they did there is something I'd be happy with.  And whatever they did in Mask of the Phantasm to up it a notch was also really well done.  I think that's my modern reference.

Renegade:
Second, I think like a japanese animator but my eye prefers american style.  I'd like to see if maybe I can get the japanese techniques to do american style cartoons, does anyone know of any examples? 
-superboyac (September 19, 2012, 10:15 AM)
--- End quote ---

A long time ago a Japanese friend did this for me:



She did a fantastic job of mixing a lot of things in there.

Basically, I think you can get some really cool things happening if you work with your artist closely.

Vision is a hard thing to pin down, and relies upon closely working with people. The alternative is to spend a lot of money for multiple versions. :(

Renegade:
Oh, I should mention that I was looking for the exact opposite of what you've mentioned - i.e. A Japanese style with more western concepts.

superboyac:
Oh, I should mention that I was looking for the exact opposite of what you've mentioned - i.e. A Japanese style with more western concepts.
-Renegade (September 19, 2012, 10:39 AM)
--- End quote ---
That seems to be the more popular preference.  It's the same with the music I like, I seem to prefer the old-fashioned things.  What I worry about is let's say I was doing this for a career...would most people think it's old hat, or would they enjoy it?  Most people seem to think of my preferences as a been-there-done-that thing, but to me it really is a strong preference.  That's why I want to try a few of these things and see if what I like is something others would enjoy, or am I just boring them?  I'll have some musical things up soon and I'll be interested in people's reactions.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page