Terrible Fate - Behind the Scenes

     So it seems that I've had some of my beliefs about my previous post wrong. EmberLab did in fact  have shooting locations. All of their environments are shot and not animated. However, in the final composition they are animated. In fact, they masked the fairies (the fairies were balls of light with attached sticks that were taken out, or "masked", during production) and used a chrome ball to recreate the environment and lighting. The models were so realistic that I assumed that everything else was CG as well. There's more details and information included in the video below.

You've Met with a Terrible Fate, Haven't You?

     Nintendo is a company known for its gaming consoles and engaging games. Among Mario and Pokemon, the Legend of Zelda is one of their popular series, and EmberLab decided to dedicate a short film to Majora's Mask. It centers around Skull Kid and how he obtained the mask in the game. All of the environments look so realistic that I was surprised when I saw that they were not real. They effectively captured the mood of each scene that they portrayed, and I was left speechless by that ending. I think that they did a fantastic job with the character models and the animation. Below is the video.

There's a Man in the Woods

     Jacob Streilein's film There's a Man in the Woods centers around a teacher and how one child manage to change everything. Throughout the story, the mood changes and matches the emotions of the teacher. I saw this once in 2014, so I was really glad that I discovered it again. The poetic feel of this film adds on to the accumulating tension, and I really like that Streilein went this route. The only flaw that I noticed that stood out the most to me was that Streilein should have picked another voice actor with a deeper voice to suit the teacher better. However, I understand that this is a student film, so it makes sense that the teacher would have a younger-sounding voice as everyone working on these films would be around their early to mid 20s. Despite this flaw, this film still is exceptional in story-telling and I like how he executed the animations to show as much emotion as possible. Below is the film.

The Present

     Since it's Christmas, what better time to post about gifts than now? In The Present, Jacob Frey presents a boy coming to terms with a surprise. To avoid spoiling the end, the only things that I will say is that it warms my heart that the "gift" helped him with his own life. I feel that the gift's animation and the boy's attitude towards it helped stir some emotion. Below is the film.

The Wishgranter

     Making wishes aren't always as simple as they seem, as shown in The Wishgranter by Echo Wu, Kal Athannassov, and John McDonald. In a small town, there is a magical fountain that is managed by a small creature that has been shown to grant wishes when a coin is thrown. This concept of wish granting is a fresh twist on that fountain myth, and it is interesting to see how it occurs. The animation quality is professional as it has a style that looks like it could be a full-length movie. Below is the film.

Pretty Ugly

     Step aside, Ugly Duckling, Ugly Unicorn's in charge now! In this film made by Abbey Paccia, a girl discovers the true meaning of beauty and to not take things for granted. I appreciate how the work did not go the traditional route that most works follow under The Ugly Duckling. The art style and the animation's bouncy quality looks like it could be its own cartoon for children. I find it sweet that the unicorn tried to console her at the end. Below is the video.

Out of Sight

     A blind girl creates a world to see for herself in this cute film. I adore the creativity the three students from the National Taiwan University of Arts placed into this film as the little girl searched for her dog. To me, this resembles Hayao Miyazaki's works like Spirited Away. I find it charming that the girl knew what certain things were based on her other senses and that she replaced unfamiliar objects with her own imagination. Despite its cutesy charm, it does make me feel bad for the girl as this strongly suggests that she had recently lost her sight. Below is the video.

Wolfsong

     Toniko Pantoja comes back to this blog once again with Wolfsong. This was heart-wrenching to me when I first saw it. I cannot put into words how devastating it was as it would spoil parts of the film. It centers around a young hunter who soon realizes the motivations behind a sudden "theft". The color choices add to the grim nature of the battle that occurs and establish the tense atmosphere. As always, Pantoja's involved animation helped successfully delivered an emotional response from the audience.

Kagemono: The Shadow Folk

     In Sabrina Cotugno's short film, a small fox named Beopup searches for food and instead finds an unlikely surprise. The smooth animations add on to Beopup's cute design and the watercolor-like environments are easy on the eyes. As a result, this film is charming and easy on the eyes. The animations are smooth and the cuteness (disregarding certain scenes) overall complements the film. Below is the film.

Crayon Dragon

     The genius behind Tiny Nomad, Toniko Pantoja also animated this "drawn-to-life" film. In it, a lady embraces an unexpected surprise which changes how she is. When she was pulled into the other world, it felt like a place of whimsy and wonder. The dragon faintly reminds me of Ord from Dragon Tales, which helps give it more of a magical feeling for me. Pantoja's fluid animation helped reel me into the world and connect with the characters. Below is the film.

Nocturne

     In early civilizations, many myths arose as explanations for natural occurrences like rain. Kari Casady developed this film as a fun myth for the coming of the night. From the moment the animation begins, the colors and the environments bring the viewer into the film. The night stag automatically asserts its magnificence and significance with its design. Everything is beautifully carried out, especially the backgrounds. Below is the film for those interested.

Acorn

    In life, there are varying types of people that we may become or encounter. Some will be okay, some will be better. However, extreme opposites exist where there are the unmotivated and the persistent. In this thesis film, Madeline Sharafian demonstrates just that with her little acorn friend.

     Like any other acorn, it fell to the ground when its time came. Others joined it in its departure from the tree. The little acorn, however, soon decided to do something that was unprecedented. I viewed this bold move as a representation of someone breaking free from the cookie-cutter lifestyle and pushing towards their dreams. Unlike the other acorns, this one did not accept its fate and strove for a better planting spot. The colors   while subtle   changes throughout the story and gives each scene a certain mood. What really stood out for me was the acorn's unique expressions. They gave it character and showed its frustration. I admire how Sharafian took a minuscule part of life and made it have such a large impact on the audience. Below is the film for those who are interested.

Overcomer

     Following your dreams is always possible. However, it seems hard to do that when all you're surrounded with is just negative thoughts. In Hannah Spangler's film, a girl struggles through her day with depression and anxiety. The animation really made an impact on the mood of the film, as well as the colors. As we saw the dwindling progression of this girl's self-esteem, it brought more and more feelings of sympathy. While this was a personal project, this could also help others as well. For those who feel as if they are never good enough, for those who feel that they will be forgotten, for those who feel there is no one there for them, this film is for you. I am no professional, but as cliché and naive as this sounds, things do eventually get better. As long as you are trying to work towards a better you, you are working towards a better future. Depression is a serious issue, and many do suffer from these thoughts, even if they do not show it on the outside. Below is the film.

Animation Memes

     In the animation community, especially in YouTube, memes do not simply apply to popular pictures or phrases like Pepe the Frog or a certain WWE wrestler. They also apply to short animations, usually with repeated frames, to a certain song. Usually one person starts it off, and if enough people like it, many others will start doing their own versions. There is really no rule for an animation meme, anyone of any amount of animation experience can do it. Many animators on YouTube upload their versions as they usually take less time than regular animations. Below are some examples of animation memes that some animators have done on YouTube.

Mom Vs Mom

     On Cartoon Network, there is a show called "The Amazing World of Gumball" which follows a duo of anthropomorphic kids as they go through life's daily mishaps. In a certain episode, their mother fights another mother in classic anime style, accompanied with some Japanese animation as well. For this fight, the animating crew hired some guest animators from Studio 4°C, who are also responsible for the 2D animation in the games Catherine and Asura's Wrath, and many other movies and game cutscenes. It is drastically different from the show's main animation style, and it is a show that likes to delve in the combination of 2D and 3D animation. The fight is characteristic of cliche anime: the sparkles, the eyes, the attacks. However, that does not mean the fight was badly animated. In anime style, the scene was what the animating team was looking for, and it still retained the show's humor. It may seem slow/lazy to some, but that is how Japanese animation is. To see the fight, click on the video shown below.

Healing

     It's hard to accept the death of a loved companion, especially if you're a little girl. In this film, a young girl tries to deal with her dog's death. Through her dreams, she comes to face with it. It's a beautiful piece as it shows an important message. One should move on, but they should still keep their loved one on their memories so they live on in them. The animation was clean and was nice for the tone of the film. I appreciate how the animator changed the character's dog into a peacock-like creature and added onto the whimsical style of her dreams. Overall, it was a sweet animation that showed a little girl accomplishing closure with her loved companion in her memories. Below is the video for those who are interested in watching it.

Animator of the Month: LAIKA

     Stop-motion animation has been around since the beginning of animation history. In fact, it was one of the first types of animation used. For this month, I will talk about not one animator, but an entire studio. LAIKA was the brains behind Coraline, ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls and even Kubo and the Two Strings.

     LAIKA was founded in 2005 as an addition to maintain the whimsical techniques of stop-motion animation. In their films, they combine the efforts brought forth by computer-generated imagery (CGI) and their own stop-motion. Some characters shown in their movies was carefully sculpted with 3D printers with excessive detail. However, the majority of their characters were sculpted with their own hands. Their eyes for such intricate designs know no limit except their budgets. While animators worldwide have praised their films for being revolutionary, the Oscar awards have not yet recognized their significance in the animation field, though they have finally given them an award for their technical work. For Kubo and the Two Strings, they constructed a marionette skeleton with a 22-foot arm-span that was large enough to grab a hold of regular-sized characters.

     In stop-motion, a single frame can make all the difference and could change the entire mood as 23 other frames go by in a second. Since they started releasing films, I have been their fan and I will continue to be one and watch as they revolutionize the stop-motion animation industry.

For those who are more interested about their work, here is a behind-the-scenes for its latest movie, Kubo and the Two Strings.

Forget Me Not

     Having friends and spending time with them is always fun, especially when they're the type of friends that you can rely on and trust with everything. In this short film, a bunny and dog become the best of friends and feel as if their friendship will never end. Unfortunately a new character appears in their lives and changes that belief. The simplistic designs and color palettes make every scene easy on the eyes and allow the film to stand out. I adore the bunny design and it really makes you sympathize with it. Every scene seemed to capture the mood perfectly, even without that much animation. It is difficult to be in the bunny's shoes as losing a cherished friend is never a simple thing to get over. You feel as if you will never be able to confide in anyone again since you've been left for someone else. It will prove to be hard, but there will always be someone out there that will genuinely care for you. People come and go, but true friends will stay by your side.

Easy

     Here's another collaboration between Porter Robinson and another animation studio, The Line. In "Easy", a girl with her face on every electronic billboard in the city is sick of living there. As a result, she escaped the city and attacked it with an electromagnetic pulse. The color palettes were well-designed. I loved the animation style of this music video as it felt like fit with the music as well. At the end, the scenes with the trees really tied into this idea where she was finally satisfied and at peace with her own life. While this is entirely subjective, it seemed that an escape from her past life was all that she needed to be happy. Below is the video.

Shelter

     Porter Robinson is a musician whose work is heavily inspired by Japanese culture. He has gained a mass following and caught the eyes of a certain animation studio. Japanese studio, A-1 Pictures, loved his music and asked to partner with him. They came together to create an anime music video for his song, "Shelter".

     In this video, we see the lonely life of a 17-year-old named Rin. She spends her life creating worlds from simple drawings on a tablet, and realizes her true fate one eventful day. You can tell no detail was overlooked when they worked on this 6-minute animation. Every background and scene seemed to be carefully done. The colors wonderfully unite together and put no strain on the eyes. While awkward at times, the animation remained mostly fluid. When this was uploaded, it became a massive hit, though there was some controversy over whether this was considered "anime" or not. Below is the behind-the-scenes and the actual video. 

Veteran's Day and The Nature of War

     Veteran's Day is something worth for every soldier sent into war. While today is to honor their efforts in war, we should honor their efforts in peace as well. 

     Justin Cliburn was deployed in Baghdad in 2005 as a humvee gunner who was able to connect with two Iraqi children, Ahmed and Ali, despite the language barrier. StoryCorps allowed Cliburn's story to be told through a short animation. At this time of his life, Cliburn had not established any deep relationships with anyone. However, that soon changed when Ali and Ahmed came into his life. They bonded and soon became best friends. Things went fine until one fateful day Ahmed and his mother were killed by a suicide bomber at a gas station. When he returned home, Cliburn had recurring nightmares about Iraq and the two boys. Fortunately though with proper treatment and his wife, he was able to overcome these fears. These veterans not only go into the fields to help fight for the freedom of our country and others, but they create lasting relationships that remain with them when they come back. Below is the animation and a link to an article Justin Cliburn wrote going more into detail.

https://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/the-trauma-of-lost-love/

This Actually Happens A Lot

     Don't you just hate it when you try to talk to someone and you just float away before you can even finish the conversation? That's how this guy felt in Tom Law's "This Actually Happens A Lot". 

     In this film, an unnamed girl approached him at a party and attempted to engage in conversation with him. He floats around and makes a complete fool of himself with his inability to control it. His floating ability symbolizes social anxiety, as he feels disconnected from society and everything else. With this inability to relate, he floats farther and farther away as he fails to connect to anyone there until the girl attempts to reach out to him. While the composition could have been presented better in some places, the overall film was great. The animation felt smooth, but somehow suitable for the mood it set along with the colors. Below is the film, for anyone interested in watching it.

Rendezvous with The Rendezvous

     Fiona, a lonely girl in a lonely world, has no one to turn to until one fateful night she meets a lovely stranger named Lamonte in her dreams. Night after night, she looks forward to sleeping as she spends her time with him on surreal, enchanting dates. Her attitude in the real world changes as she goes more often into her dreams. The art is consistently gorgeous and delivers the mood effectively. I love how Maksn, the creator, utilized the color red to make certain things stand out in her animatic, such as Fiona's ribbon and lipstick. Her composition for some scenes such as the dream dates and the end were incredible and it gave life to her drawings. Below is the animatic for those interested.

Tiny Nomad, a MouseyTale

     First there was The Rescuers with adventurous mice, then there was The Tale of Despereaux, and now you have Tiny Nomad. Toniko Pantoja's six-minute film is nothing short of a Disney story. It immediately immerses you into the world of this tiny, courageous mouse. You get to see his character develop throughout the story and how his mother was such an influential part of it. The beautiful colors and breathtaking backgrounds make you feel as if you're part of this mouse's life, being there with him for every second of the film. Below is the film for those interested.

Missing Halloween

     Today is Halloween! And for this day, what better way for this blog to celebrate than to discuss an animation about Halloween?

     In Mike Inel's cutesy world, "Missing Halloween", a boy establishes an unlikely friendship that soon escalates and leads to a shocking discovery. The animation was overall amazing, and the color scheme helps set the mood early. I admire the animator's choice of art style. While it contrasts the mood of the story at the beginning, it delivers an effective punch at the end. Below is the animation for those who are interested in watching it.

Animator of the Month: Hayao Miyazaki

For October's Animator of the Month, it is none other than the man, the legend, Hayao Miyazaki!

Born in Tokyo on January 5, 1941, Miyazaki started his career as an animator in 1963 by working for  the Toei Douga studio. He did not go unrecognized for his work as a prolific animator who could propose a festival of ideas. After Toei Douga, he went onwards to work at the A Pro studio (1971) and Nippon Animation (1973). He directed "Future Boy Conan" in 1978 and then directed "The Castle of Cagliostro" in 1979. With the success brought from the next film he released, "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind" (1984), Studio Ghibli was founded.

At Studio Ghibli, Miyazaki contributed to many award-winning films such as Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away. He has inspired many animators like myself in his works that are filled to the brim with creativity. 

Paperman

     Through letters, notes, art, and poems, paper has always been used as a form of media to express love. However, in "Paperman", it seems that it has another way to express it. Following the life of a middle-class citizen in 1940s Manhattan named George, he tries to get the attention of a girl named Meg who he met on an elevated train platform. The short film was directed by John Kars, a former Disney animator. While it may seem reminiscent of Disney's 2D films with its smooth animation, it was made entirely with CGI. Despite this, the animation team had a software that enabled them to help give it that 2D feel. It's the first Disney short film to receive an Academy Award since "It's Tough to Be a Bird" in 1969.

     Below is the film:

Paperman and 2D Animation

     "Paperman", the short film that was shown before "Wreck It Ralph" in theaters, took the Internet by storm. People were fascinated by its charm and revolutionary techniques with the combination of 2D and 3D animation. Many were surprised to find out the film was actually 3D despite giving the illusion of being 2D. With special software, the people behind it were able to apply strokes and paint to the CGI models ("final line advection"). By applying them onto the keyframes of the animations, which are the frames that present the basic movements, they were able to add a 2D feel to the work.

     For a better look on how they did it, the video explaining it further in-depth is below:

The Blue & the Beyond

     Charlie, who is the co-lead of this film, loves to delve deep into his imagination. His blue book brings out the best of him and he wouldn't have it any other way. Sadly, he is the only one like this in his world until he found someone just like him. In this film, The Blue & the Beyond, standing out is frowned upon. This society makes everyone think the same and see the world the same with the same red book. This film is successful at giving the message that being yourself and never forgetting who are you, albeit indirect. Through determination, being your own individual is better than being an addition to the crowd. Youri Dekker's approach and style was a creative take on this type of conflict, and the characters were charming enough to stand out on their own.

     Below is the video:

Control Bear

     Imagination is always something that has been cherished by both the young and old. With it brings out the creativity in us and ideas that can solve problems too difficult to manage. In this surreal short film, Control Bear, a girl's imagination takes her on a journey to another world. The style is similar to that of Studio Ghibli's since one of the former animators (Yojiro Arai) part of it worked on this animation. From my view, the video seems to be giving the message that "anything can happen if you make your dreams into a reality". The art was charming, and you could really feel that sense of wonder from the child upon watching the film. 

     Below is the video for those who are interested:

Red

     There have been many different versions of the classic story of "Little Red Riding Hood". From "Hoodwinked" to this short film simply titled "Red", fairy tales have been altered. This version features a little boy dressed as a wolf and the classic girl in a red hood. She is terrified of him at first, but their relationship takes a turn when she judges something else by its appearance. The animation is adorable and sketchy, which seems to match the mood the film aims for. Below is the video for those who are interested!

Alright, Alight

     Brought by Jason Keyser and others from Brigham Young University Center, Alight centers on two beings, one made of fire with the other being of water. Upon meeting, they immediately become curious of each other, quickly coming to the realization that they cannot touch each other. As shown, interaction between the two results in steam and confusion. While it may seem just a simple tragic tale, it is actually much deeper than that. This short film demonstrates the destruction of the elements as a result of humans. The moving building represents human activities and it crushing the water character, Aquanna, demonstrates the action of human activities misusing the water that we already have. While some others might have different opinions on the message, that is mine for this film. For being done in Flash, the animation is smooth and very clean. I loved how they added effects to the characters as it highlighted their designs. The special effects were well made as well, and I recommend for anyone giving it a watch (shown below).

Inbetweening: A Basic Explanation

     Animation has various techniques and things to discuss. For this post, I will give a simple explanation on inbetweening. With this technique, one takes their key frames, which are the main frames of the action, and add more frames in between. The more frames added, the better the animation. However, this is not always true as it all depends on the motion, its complexity, and the number of frames it needs. For instance, someone about to break down and on the verge of tears would require more frames to animate than a simple handshake between two parties. Below is a video demonstrating the use of inbetweens.

"Loving Vincent": Bringing Van Gogh to Life

     Recently, a documentary called "Loving Vincent" has came to the public's attention. While it may not seem like much, these frames were animated traditionally...with paint. Over 5,000 people from all over the world applied for a position to work on this film, and only 100 were accepted. They went through rigorous training to emulate Van Gogh's signature painting style as they went through every frame. Everything needed to be precise from the colors to the proportions of everything so the animation could be fluid. Over 1,345 paintings were discarded after 6 years of creative development. 62,450 frames in oil paints were painted over the course of the project as well. I am impressed by the amount of effort went into this film. The artists faced heavy criticism with "doing unnecessary work that could be done on the computer", but I admire how the team continued onward as they wanted to dedicate this to Van Gogh. The website is http://lovingvincent.com/ and below are two videos which go into further detail about this documentary if you want to know more about it.

I've Been Ghosting Along...

     A ghost in the world, a ghost with no home, this cat from another plane of existence walks around its owner's home after its death in this animatic. Throughout the video, the cat walks around and observes the owner's life after its death. It seems the owner struggles with the cat's death. However, after a while, they cope and manage with it by getting a dog. Out of jealousy, the cat causes mischief, though it decides to deal with the reality of the situation shortly after and move on from this world. I find the story to be moving. The art perfectly sets the mood and the colors go well with each other. It is impressive how the creator made these backgrounds on index cards and added the characters digitally as it shows how much work and love went into this. Below is the video for those who wish to see it.

The Guardian Series

     Created by NeroGeist on YouTube, this animated series features wandering individuals that encounter a special power. It is still in production, plot and animation wise, but there is still already much out to show. It is admirable to notice the difference in quality between videos as they become more recent with NeroGeist. One can tell he works diligently as he does all the animation by himself. In the first video, "The Guardian", an orphan walks around a forest only to be met by a mysterious spirit. He is then taken to a floating island to help the other spirits and becomes their Guardian. At the same time, in "The Explorer", this individual gains a power and witnesses his transformation. One more character is added to the mix as the Guardian rescues a drowning girl and gives her powers. 

     I respect this animator's passion for animating and fleshing out this series. He has to deal with college among other things, but is still able to continue onward. I'm actually looking forward to where he goes with this as it seems that there is so much potential and so many things to be explored. The music is astounding and it fits so well with the animation. Below are a few other videos from his series that he has posted so far.

Reversal of the Heart

     A wonderfully done animation thesis film, "Reversal of the Heart" keeps your attention throughout the whole thing. It took the animator, Carolyn Chrisman, two complete years with the help of her fellow animators to finish this masterpiece. This work features a dragon and a princess, whose fate was cursed due to her knight's gift for her. For revenge of killing her young for the gem in the necklace, the dragon turns his beloved into a dragon as well. The princess then struggles throughout the film to revert back to her human form.

     I admire the hard work everyone put in this film. Upon the first time watching it, I felt as if I was watching something straight from Disney. The art style is memorable as well as the scenes. I felt sympathy for the princess as she tried to overcome her struggles. I was glad to see the creator approach the conflict and how she managed to do something completely different with the villain rather than killing them off. One can tell Chrisman was dedicated to her film and that it paid off generously.

Hey, Mr. Sunday!

     "fake!fake!" by "A Crow is White" is a spunky video featuring an equally as spunky protagonist. The story seems to be abstract, but you can tell she is trying to overcome something. Her inner demons, a secret? Or maybe she just wants to be loved and accepted by all. It could be anything as the story is up to the viewer's imagination. The animation is bright, eye-catching, and just entertaining to watch. The character designs are remarkable and leaves a lasting impression on you as well. I would recommend this to everyone as the animation is so fluid and full of detail, it should be watched by everyone.

Below this post is the video itself. Turn on subtitles for the English lyrics!

Do You Ever Feel Like a Plastic Bag?

     It took 22 different animators to finish. Each one had to animate it to a man on his last legs trying to sing to Katy Perry. Why, it's none other than JonTron's "Firework" animated cover! 

     Even if you are not a fan of JonTron or do not know who he is, you have to admit there was a lot of love put into each part from the animators. For those who are unaware, JonTron is a guy who reviews videos games and movies on YouTube with a comedic spin. The idea for this video was created from one of his earlier game reviews, "Dinocity", where he did a small cover of this song at the end of that video and his fanbase called out for the full version. As a result, he stated that if he reached his goal for a charity livestream for "Teach for America" that he did a while ago, he would sing it. And sing it he did. With the help of an animator, Mike Bedsole, they were able to reach out to other fellow artists to make their own animations for the video.

Animator of the Month: Vivziepop

Image Source: Vivienne Medrano's icon from her Tumblr

It's time for the next Animator of the Month, and for this month of September is Vivziepop, or Vivienne Medrano!

A major in traditional animation from School of Visual Arts in NYC, Medrano works as a freelance animator. She is mainly known for her animated music video "Die Young" and her thesis film "Timber", which has monsters coming together to dance despite their differences. Zoophobia is a comic that she has been working on which features characters from her "Die Young" video. It takes place in a world that is completely different from our own with creatures having the ability to talk just like humans. 

Medrano's thesis film: "Timber"

Her illustrations and animations have a distinct style that is memorable and makes her stand out. They are always brought to life with her choice of colors and dynamic expressions. There's never a moment when looking at her works that makes you feel dull or bored.

Animatic vs. Storyboard

The previous post I made referred to a popular video that was made in the form of an animatic. For this one, I would like to show the differences between an animatic and an actual storyboard. For reference, I will use these two videos from a cartoon called Steven Universe, one a storyboard and the other an animatic:

The storyboard is more rough, as it simply shows the concept for the scenes. On the other hand, the animatic has cleaner lines and a lot more action happening, as it is supposed to be animated. The first video can be as rough as it needs to be to show the main poses for its sketches. It works for simple scenes that do not really portray any heavy movement, and animatics are better suited for action-packed scenes. However, that does not mean that animatics should only be used for scenes with that kind of content. They can be used for any scene to get the feel and timing of certain elements as they are played out. In the end, both prove to be useful and both are used for animated and live-action works across the world.

It's Like Magic!

On June 5th, 2015, a magical animatic was uploaded to YouTube. The video involves a necromancer named Leopold who is able to control otherworldly beings with music and Luca, a demon assigned to look after Leopold. In the video, Leopold summons an orchestra of spirits which in turn bring a ghost in the form of a demon. For those wondering about the term "animatic", it is an animated storyboard which is produced before the final piece for a sense of pacing. It can be used for any sort of film, but it is typically for animated ones.

I love this animatic as it has such a nice flow with the story and song. Every beat is considered important and one can tell a lot of effort was put into it. This was originally going to be fully animated with a crowdfunded campaign, but due to legal issues with the band's manager, the artist, yuramec, was unable to obtain permission to do so. It could be possible that since Mystery Skulls was already associated with another series of animation, Magic was not able to be cleaned up and finished. Regardless, the animatic is still enjoyable to watch and it brings me joy to find out that yuramec will bring back these endearing characters in a webcomic called "The Necropera" in the future.

Animator of the Month: Temmie Chang

Image Source: Temmie Chang's icon from her Twitter

Every month, I will talk about a certain animator, and for August, I will talk about Temmie Chang! 

She is a freelance illustrator and animator who recently graduated from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York and majored in 2D Animation. Some may know her for her incredible thesis film, Potion Shop, which features an adorable cat witch and a baby dragon. Others may recognize her for her cameo in the extremely successful game Undertale as the lovable catdog species, Temmie. 

Chang's thesis film: "Potion Shop"

She is one of my many inspirations as her animations take my breath away. She has done work for Studio Yotta, a team of talented freelancing animators/artists, for a multitude of projects. Along with her cameo in Undertale, she did pixel art for the prologue, most overworld sprites, and drew concept art for the game's manual as she was the main artistic assistant. Her varied works are always a wonder to view from her pixel art to her paintings.

Catdog species, Temmie, as featured in Undertale 

Pilot

Hello! This is going to be a blog focused on animation, covering everything from animated short films to animation techniques. I'm planning to become a professional animator among other things in the future, so I hope this blog will help others as it will help me! If my schedule permits, I might post some of my own animations every so often as well. If any of you want me to cover a certain topic or film, feel free to let me know in the comments!
-Oister