Adaptation B: Interim Crit

Adaptation B: Interim Crit

Adaptation B: Monster Truck Bodywork & Rocket Engine

Adaptation B: Monster Truck Chassis and Wheels

Adaptation B: All Racers

Film Review: When The Wind Blows (1986)

When the Wind Blows is a 1986 British animated drama film directed by Jimmy Murakami based on Raymond Briggs' graphic novel by the same name. Raymond Briggs is an English illustrator, cartoonist, graphic novelist and author who has achieved popular success among adults and children, especially with his most famous work, The Snowman, which was also worked on by Murakami. When the Wind Blows is a mix of drawn animation and stop-motion animation, with the two main characters being based on Briggs' own parents.

When The Wind Blows follows an old married couple living in the country named James and Hilda Bloggs. After hearing on the radio that the threat of nuclear war with the Russians is increasing at a fast rate, James goes about preparing his home for a nuclear attack. Finally it is announced that a missile has been launched, giving James only three days to finish his house protection using a government pamphlet which he religiously follows.

After viewing When The Wind Blows I experienced mixed feelings about the film. The use of hybrid animation definitely gives the film a unique quality and shows the amount of effort that went into creating the animation. Furthermore I thought the portrayal of the two main characters was spot-on; many times throughout the film I was reminded of my grandparents whether it be following rules exactly as they were given, or making sure the house is clean and tidy just in case someone comes over, even if there's been a nuclear strike. This making you feel closer to the characters and able to relate to them. However, the overall outcome of the film was a much more glum affair. To me, watching an hour and a half film about an elderly couple, that reminds you of your grandparents, slowly deteriorate through nuclear radiation is not my kind of entertainment. You keep watching, expecting the mood to pick up but it never does and just continues into more misery making the film very hard to watch.

Adaptation B: Disney Split Float

Adaptation B: Apple Hover Speeder

Adaptation B: News International Juggernaut & Moped

Adaptation B: McDonalds Clown Car

Adaptation B: Coca-Cola & Pepsi Monster Trucks

Film Review: Belleville Rendezvous (2003)

The Triplets of Belleville, also known as Belleville Rendezvous in the UK, is a 2003 animated comedy film written and directed by Sylvain Chomet. Chomet is a French comic writer, animator and film director, although he has directed many other animation shorts, Belleville Rendezvous was his first feature-length film. Belleville Rendezvous is mainly considered a French film but was also co-produced in the United Kingdom, Belgium, and Canada. After large success the film was nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song for "Belleville Rendez-vous".

The film follows a French cyclist training for the Tour de France until he is kidnapped by the French Mafia in the actual competition. It is then up to his grandmother, Madame Souza and her beloved dog Bruno to find and rescue the kidnapped cyclist. On her journey she is accompanied and helped by the Belleville sisters, an aged song-and-dance team from the days of Fred Astaire. The film is predominately silent with no main dialogue, relying solely on the animation of the film.

The factor that immediately stands out in this film is the animation technique used. The whole film is created using a very strong caricature style including stick thin cyclists with tree trunk legs and obese dogs whose legs shouldn't physically be able to support the weight it is carrying. This technique offers a very fresh and stand out piece of animation, moving away from more popular animation where everything is in the correct proportions. Although missing a main dialogue, the film is very easy to follow and easily recognizable as French, including the Tour de France, frogs for dinner and huge noses. 

Acting Class - 04/03/2015

Our first acting class focused mainly on still poses and scenes. One task was to sculpt a partner into a particular character or pose in order that the rest of the group would be able to guess the pose through the use of the body language. Another task was create a 3 frame story again using static poses. These exercises will help with understanding the shapes and languages the body creates when animating and creating still images.

Adaptation B: Vehicle Development

Coca Cola Monster Truck with Mentos rocket engine 

               Apple Hover Jet Ski with App propeller       McDonalds Clown car with chicken sludge                                                                                                                     engine

                             News International Surveillance Juggernaut with moped army

Adaptation B: Brainstorms

After my tutorial it was suggested that it would be a good idea to brainstorm some ideas about what type of car/vehicle each brand or corporation would represent.

- When looking at some of the words/terms written for News International (left) I see a military themed vehicle. Some of these words are Tank, Invasion, Spying, Territory. My favorite idea for News International would be a large military juggernaut to represent the scale of the corporation and then an army of journalists on small annoying buzzing scooters that are dispatched from the juggernaut.

- I pushed my original idea of a Formula 1 car for Coke/Pepsi (right) aside and started fresh. Ideas that jumped out at me from this brainstorm are Monster Truck, Power, Patriotic, Redneck. After some more research into Coke and Pepsi, I found that Coke owns Monster Energy drink and Pepsi owns Mountain Dew. These two other drinks are often related as sponsors of Monster Trucks and Nascar. Fans of these vehicle sports are stereo typically rednecks with rotten teeth caused by extreme consumption of these sugar drinks.

- I found with my first designs for McDonalds (left) that I was headed in a very straight forward fast food burger car and so this brainstorm would help me to steer in another direction. Ideas that I feel that are strong are Ideal Family, Plastic, 1940's, Saloon car. These ideas create a retro perfect family car in which I would include the McDonald's golden arches and other brand related features.

- Apple (right) is the brand that I am struggling most with in terms of ideas and so this brainstorm helped clarify which direction to go in. Ideas that stand out are Hover, Energy Saving, Driverless, Hipsters. The stereotypical fan of Apple products are often hipsters who are very passionate about saving the planet. This creates a very green and planet friendly car as well as being futuristic. Apple products are often small in size but large in terms of capabilities because of the millions of apps that seem like they can do literally anything. This thought could possible link to a Tardis-like feature of the Apple Vehicle.

Adaptation B: Further Development Drawings

Coke/Pepsi

                                                                         Apple

Mcdonalds