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.