Wednesday, November 30, 2011

The Lunchbox of Notre Dame


I really liked Disney's adaptation of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," but I can't believe it ever got green-lighted in the first place. The original story is about as appropriate for kids as "The Scarlet Letter*," and even the Disneyfied version was pretty darn dark. You wouldn't know that from the advertising, though. Check out these 1990's ads selling "Hunchback" burger toys and sweets to unsuspecting kids.

The third Burger King commercial (video #3) is the coolest, with Burger King transforming into some kind of crazy Renaissance Faire, complete with a giant Gothic cathedral belltower rising up from the building!

*Disney should totally make an animated musical comedy adaptation of "The Scarlet Letter," though.

Hunchback in 4 Minutes-No Narration


This is my video as it stands now. I'm still lagging behind, because all the drawing sequences are supposed to have audio commentary and right now they don't. The only sound is the music (and a sound effect) at the beginning, and another sound effect at the end (which plays twice...I need to fix that). When I add narration, the movie will be VERY different. It'll make more sense, and hopefully it'll be funnier. I would like people's opinions on the drawings alone, without sound, just so I can see how effectively they communicate a complex story (my guess is not very well).

Monday, November 28, 2011

FEETS DON'T FAIL ME NOW

RUSH RUSH HURRY HURRY HURRY. THE FINAL VIDEO PROJECT IS DUE ON WEDNESDAY OH LAWDY.

Thankfully my video is SUPPOSED to look frantic and rushed. I just need to get my butt in gear and finish the darn thing NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW.

Here's a preview. It includes a title sequence and a "THE END" image, with appropriate music and cheesy sound effects. In between is a a bunch of sped-up silent footage of me illustrating "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" in silly, simple cartoon drawings. Narration will be added later. I plan to speak as quickly and clearly as possible, using simple, casual language. I'm not going to speed up my voice like a chipmunk. That's cheesy and distracting, and it'll be hard to understand.


The narration will probably be among the last things I add, because I want to determine exactly how long the video clips are before I record narration for them. Originally I was working on a script, but it would probably be better if I just improvised the narration, just like I'm improvising the drawings. People like spontaneity. So now the script is just for the purposes of helping me remember the story.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Half-Formed

This is a quick video sample, meant to convey the idea I described in my last journal. It's just a little title sequence, then a short introduction to the character of Quasimodo while I doodle him on camera. Halfway through drawing Quasi, my camera batteries died, so it ends abruptly. I didn't heed the lesson of always keeping your camera charged and ready.

I'm still using a little rinky-dink point-and-shoot digital camera (not a digital video camera). Even though I planned to use voice narration in the final project, I didn't even try to record my voice for this sample because that camera's microphone is really bad. Plus, I wanted to experiment with using subtitles instead of (or in addition to) voiceover narration. I still want to use voiceovers if that's possible, because with voice, you can convey a lot more information a lot more quickly.

For the final video, I hope to recruit my friend as a camerawoman, and have her use her Mom's digital video camera to record better image and sound.

The title sequence builds up the video so much with its dramatic music, that I feel it's anticlimactic once I actually cut to the drawing part. That was sort of intentional, but it's less funny than I had hoped.



Tuesday, November 22, 2011

New Video Direction: Hunchback of Notre Dame in 4 minutes


I have another video idea that's been brewing in my head. It's a takeoff on the "camera recording me draw" idea, but I'm drawing a series of pictures to tell a story. Specifically, The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo. I've been obsessed with that story (all versions) since September. The idea of condensing it into 4 minutes or less is an amusing challenge, since the novel is really long and fairly complex.
The bulk of the footage (as I'm imagining it) would be sped-up footage of me drawing simple cartoon illustrations of important characters and events in the story. Once each drawing is done, the camera would linger a bit on it so you could get a good look before moving onto the next picture. To break things up, these drawings might be juxtaposed with other relevant or comical images, like screenshots (or footage) from various "Hunchback" movies, or photos of Notre Dame itself.
The soundtrack would mainly be my voice, doing a running commentary as I tell the story in a highly simplified, dry, somewhat irreverent way. I'm not going to CHANGE the story, but neither the illustrations nor the narration should convey that I'm taking it very seriously. The original "Hunchback" is such a moody, dark, brooding story that it's way more fun if you DON'T take it seriously. I might add instrumental music from Disney's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (or other sources) for dramatic or comedic effect. The music would either play softly behind my narration, or I'd use it for little musical interludes.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Dear Arthur

It looks like I'm playing on the computer but I'm not. I'm taking notes on what you say by typing them into Textedit. It helps me pay attention and remember what you say.

Friday, November 18, 2011

What to do, what to do...

I didn't submit my video proposal on Wednesday because I've been REALLY stuck for ideas. If my pet rats were still alive, I'd force them to act in my video. Maybe I'd shoot a rat version of "My Dinner with Andre" where Andre incessantly tries to steal food from the other guy's plate. But unfortunately, both rats have passed on. I'd shoot a cat video, but cats are harder to direct than rats and more mundane to watch.

Here's couple of ideas:
-Show the creation of one of my digital illustrations from start to end. I admit there's already a billion of these "tutorial" and "artistic process" type videos out there, but at least it gives me something creative and personal to do. It would also be helpful and interesting (I hope) to people who want to create similar stuff.
These illustrations are usually done in pencil and pen on paper, then scanned in and given colors and digital effects in Photoshop. Everyone has different techniques for doing this sort of thing, and I use a combination of other people's techniques and stuff I figured out on my own. For the traditional part, I would aim a camera at my desk and record the sketching and inking of the picture. This can take quite a while so I would either show it in "phases" or speed up the footage. For the digital part, I would use one of those programs that records what's happening on your computer screen and then edit that footage. I would add a soundtrack later, with music, voice narration, and/or overlaid subtitles.

-Make a video version of an art history paper that I particularly like. (I like writing about art history once I'm actually forced to do so.) There's a few I could use, but I would probably go with a paper a couple of years ago comparing different statues of the biblical hero David. It was a lot of fun to write and got a good response. Obviously I wouldn't recite the paper verbatim. I'd edit it and make it briefer, simpler, and snappier. I'd display quality photos of the pieces I'm discussing so you could see exactly what I was talking about.
The challenge here is to not make the video into a boring Powerpoint, where I just drone on over a slide show of static images. It needs some actual footage of moving things. I could solve that by taking on some art critic "persona" and acting as an on-camera narrator. I could even wear that priest costume I wore on Halloween and become some kind of quirky, gender-bent cross between Guido Sarducci and Sister Wendy Beckett (the real-life art critic). Any other thoughts on how to spice up this idea would be appreciated.
 

Monday, November 14, 2011

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Coming Attractions

I shot, edited, and published my 1-minute video. The actual image quality and camera work is pretty bad, because A) I was using a regular point-and-shoot digital camera that wasn't designed for taking videos, B) I didn't know what I was doing C) I was in a dimly-lit room, and D) I was working alone. But you can see everything clearly enough to get the message. Originally I narrated the clips as I shot them, but the sound quality was really bad and staticy because of my equipment. So I muted the audio, added music, and overlayed text on the final shot. It was a lot easier to edit that way, and the results are much more pleasing and effective.

I also completed my ABC video, but it was marred by technical problems. I shot four clips, and two of them were shot with the wrong orientation so they ended up being rotated 90 degrees clockwise. I used Quicktime Pro in the lab to rotate them the correct way, but then iMovie HD kept squashing and distorting them to make them fit the program's horizontal display. I ended up having to complete the project at home using Windows Movie Maker, since I don't have a Mac. Windows Movie Maker refused to even RECOGNIZE Quicktime (.mov) files or let me do anything with them. So I was stuck using the original .avi files with the wrong orientation.

And that, kids, is why half the clips in my ABC video are rotated 90 degrees clockwise for no apparent reason. If I have time, I'll make a different version using iMovie once I get back in the Mac lab.

Digital Collage, Schmigital Schmollage

I completed my digital college REALLY late and I'm not satisfied with the results. I got cocky because I'm comfortable with Photoshop and have already done a bunch of projects like this. I figured it would be a piece of cake. Since I have a difficult job and take two other classes besides ART 119 (one of which is particularly challenging), I made poor time management decisions in favor of other classes and at the expense of this one. I forgot what a glacial pace I work at, even when I'm comfortable with the medium.

But I delivered what I promised: giant squirrels invading Mt. Hood.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

A Buffet of Excuses

I shot the footage for my ABC video, but I haven't edited and uploaded it yet because half of it was shot with the wrong orientation. I didn't consider that when I was shooting, because I assumed rotating a video clip 90 degrees would be as easy as rotating an image. GOLLY GEE WHIZ, was I wrong. After consulting various internet tutorials and using four different programs on two different computers, I STILL couldn't figure out how to rotate the stupid things. At this point my best bet is to find a lab computer that has QuickTime Pro, since mine only has regular QuickTime. Apparently rotating your video 90 degrees is a fancy-pants special feature that you have to pay for. Don't ask me why some of these lab computers have the froo-froo version and some have the working man's version.

I haven't shot the footage for my one-minute video yet because I really, truly did not have the time or energy yesterday. I routinely go from school to work and back again with only three or four hours of sleep in between. I don't really have a choice. The footage will be shot and edited (God willing) by Wednesday morning. It will probably be something stupid, like my semi-feral cat eating a bowl of cat food. That presents a narrative beginning, middle, and end: cat gets served food, cat eats food, cat leaves. Compelling.

Update: I got onto a computer with Quicktime Pro and rotated the video clips, no problem. Now they're oriented right, but iMovie HD squashes and distorts the clips so that they fit into a landscape format. I didn't want that. I wanted it to display with black bars on the sides. Black bars are the lesser of the two evils. I can't figure out how to get iMovie to NOT distort the videos, even with Arthur's help. Ugh.

Talking Heads- And She Was

 After watching a bunch of stop-motion music videos in class today, I remembered another stop-motion music video that I fell in love with: the music video for "And She Was" by the Talking Heads.

I  saw this video in my History of Animation class with Professor Laura Di Trapani last Spring. She was a member of the animation team that created the video. I love how catchy the song is and how the animation mixes ugly grittiness with lighthearted whimsicality. It reminds me a lot of Terry Gilliams' animation for Monty Python.


There's a version with better picture quality here:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgSVTdAtNYE

For some reason I had trouble embedding the "good" version.

Monday, November 7, 2011

You want videos? You got videos.

So we were supposed to find an online video that we enjoy and find inspiring that's under two minutes. Easiest assignment ever. Although it's a bit frustrating that some videos I particularly liked didn't fit into that time frame.

I'ma go with the viral video "Kittens Inspired by Kittens."


Why? Because it's cute, it's funny, it's spontaneous, it's edited well, and it's ultra low-budget. I used to put words in the mouths of book characters just like this kid. The video LOOKS really easy to make, but in the hands of other people,  it might not be nearly as charming or funny. I like the odd little details, like the restraining chair in the background (for the girl's disabled brother) and the temporary wolf tattoo on her arm.

Another video that juuuust goes over the 2 minute limit is Remi Kart 2. This French guy does a lot of silly public stunts like this and has his friends record him. In this case, he's acting out the video game "Mario Kart" in real life.



For a video I shot (but didn't edit) and a video I "acted" in, see my October 23 blog.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

I feel like...

... repeatedly slamming my hand in a heavy oak door more than I feel like going to class or to work.

Monday, October 31, 2011

No It Won't

The text for my typographic poster is supposed to be "God is everywhere because He likes you," inspired by a line in the Father Guido Sarducci video I posted below. But first, here's the results of a little Illustrator tutorial Avalon had us do.

Obviously it still needs work. But you get the idea.

Lagging Behind







This does not look like the blog, or the work, of a serious and experienced art student. It looks like the blog and work of a lazy, jaded student who doesn't give a damn because she's tired all the time. Maybe I'll pull this digital collage together into something cool by Wednesday.

I took the photo in August, at Mount Hood. The line drawing is from a novelty wallpaper project that I did last year. The plan is to combine the two (plus some textures) into a cool, quirky scene where giant squirrels have invaded Mount Hood.

 Stay tuned.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Father Guido Sarducci on Art School


Sounds good to me.

Edit: This video suddenly seems a lot more appropriate now that I know our next ART 119 project is inspired by the work of Sister Corita Kent.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Want some change? Want to shake a wolf's hand? No?

I participated in two "public interventions" that my friend/classmate Megan had to do for her "Making and Meaning" class. These "interventions" were basically just little public stunts, loosely based on the work of performance artists. All three of her interventions were done on the PSU campus.

In the first, I recorded Megan in the space between Neuberger Hall and Smith Memorial Student Union, trying to GIVE people spare change. Not ask for spare change. Give it to them. No strings attached. People were very suspicious and hardly anyone accepted the change from her!


In the second, Megan recorded me wandering around the Park Blocks in a wolf costume, trying to interact with people. Some were unsettled, some were amused, most were blasé. This is downtown Portland. You see weirder stuff than this on a regular basis.



You can see Megan's 3rd intervention and other work by going to her blog ovah heah: meganart203.blogspot.com

Here Goes Something

I assumed you could upload swf files to youtube, because youtube requires Flash to work. I assumed wrong. You know what they say: A-S-S-U-M-E makes an ass of Uma Thurman.

So I threw my Flash file onto keepandshare.com and now I'ma see if you can download and view it properly.

http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/3217211/hummingnoise-139k

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

The Flash that Wasn't

I completely forgot that our ART 119 instructor is pregnant. Now that she's sent us an e-mail explaining the context, her doctor's sudden order to stay in bed makes a LOT more sense, and is a LOT less alarming. In my defense, I usually only saw her from the back or sitting down, so her pregnancy wasn't apparent to me.

That'll teach ME to talk about my instructors' medical issues on a blog that nobody reads.

I completed my Flash. I'm sure it could still use fine-tuning, especially typography-wise, but today is critique day so what I completed is what you get.

...But guess what? There's an error every single time I try to upload the video here! Ain't life swell?

I'll probably try to upload it somewhere else and link to it later.


Monday, October 10, 2011

Meandering Along

Our instructor for ART 119 (Digital Media & Time Design) is ill and we don't know when she's coming back. That is...alarming. Varinthorn, if you're reading this, I hope you get well soon.

In the meantime our instructor is Avalon Kalin. He's cool. I had him during Fall 2009, my first term at PSU. He taught ART 120 (Computer Graphics/Art & Design). He also advised me when I was working on the Spring 2010 Sophomore Portfolio Review for Graphic Design. Which I did not pass. It must be his fault.

I'm still working on the Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries/Father Ted-inspired Flash project for ART 119. It should be ready by Wednesday. Hopefully it will look like I actually put some work into it, rather than just throwing it together in half an hour.

I chose to use the second quote, the one that starts with "What's your favorite humming noise?"
To see my inspiration for this Flash, watch this Youtube montage of Ben Keaton as Father Austin Purcell in "Father Ted." The quote I used in the Flash begins at 2:18. I didn't quote him verbatim; I cleaned up and simplified the quote a little to take out the stuttering and redundant stuff. Maybe it would be funnier if I left all that stuff in. I DON'T KNOW. Judge for yourself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z88AiJtZpZI

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Father Ted Quotes

"Father Ted" is my favorite TV show of all time. It's a 1990's Irish sitcom about the misadventures of three dysfunctional Catholic priests who live together on a desolate island off the coast of Ireland. There's a large cast of supporting and minor characters, and every last one of them has huge, gaping character flaws. The show lasted three seasons.

Our first Adobe-Flash based project in ART 119 will be a text-based animation inspired by the work of Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries. I plan to use one of two long, rambling "Father Ted" quotes for the project.

In the first quote, Father Dougal McGuire, a childish, eccentric and stupid young priest, is describing rumors he has heard about a horrific "beast" that roams the island:

"They say it's as big as four cats, and it's got a retractable leg so's it can leap up at ya better. And you know what, Ted? It lights up at night. And, uh, it's got four ears; two of them are for listening and the other two are kind of back-up ears. And...its claws are as big as cups, and for some reason it's got a tremendous fear of stamps. And Mrs. Doyle was tellin' me that it's got magnets on its tail, so's if you're made out of metal it can attach itself to you. And instead of a mouth it's got four arses...I bet some of its ears are on the inside of its head. And when he yawns, it sounds like Liam Neeson, eh, chasing a load of hens around inside a barrel. And, uh, he doesn't have any eyebrows at all, except on Saturdays."

In the second quote, Father Austin Purcell, "the most boring priest in the world," is standing in a storage closet and rambling to himself:

"What's your favorite humming noise? Would it be, "Mmmmm." Or would it be, "MmmmMMM." The first one is the sound of a fridge. The second one is the sound of a man humming. You never hear a woman humming. I knew a woman once, but she died soon afterward. Now, I'd have to say my favorite color was gray. No, blue. A soft blue, with a hint of gray. No, ORANGE. Orange. That's it. I had an extension put on the house, and I put it on the extension, so the house is in a circle now."

Hi.

This is my maiden voyage into blogging. This blog was created as a requirement for ART 119 (Digital Media Design) at Portland State University, but it will probably serve as a catch-all blog for all my art classes.