Article Review Semester 2

What The Article is About

     Disney's new movie Moana is a hit and grew immensely in popularity. However, it required much more math and physics then you would think for an animated movie. In this article, written by Stuart Wolpart, called "Mathematicians bring Disney's 'Moana' to life", goes into depth about how that works. The author argues that there's more that goes into animation than just making something; it's making something that looks real. The author uses credible sources such as quotes from physicists working on Moana's animating team. They also use statistics to back up their claim as well.

Claims and Author's Meaning

     The article's strength is that he goes very in depth as to how and why math and physics is needed so desperately  in animation. A weakness may be that the only sources used are interviews, not as many other forms of evidence are used. The author's conclusions are broad, and more informational than opinionated. Animation requires more logical skill than creative skill, and often times it requires just as much of both.

     What the author is saying is very significant, it brings animation into a new light and shows us how difficult and how much critical thinking is involved to make such a realistic production. The author's arguments support his claim a lot. The evidence is well-rounded and informal, it is so convincing to the reader that I have no reason not to believe it. This article means a lot to me as an animator because it pushes me to think more outside of the box and involve more critical thought into my work.

     I don't understand a lot of the physics references in the article, but I believe that it's because I'm a sophomore in high school. This article provides a lot of insight to animation overall, and definitely gives credit where credit is due to animators everywhere. Animation is a long and difficult task and this article shows that very clearly, especially to people who don't know much about animation.


Wolpart, Stuart. "Mathemations bring ocean to life for Disney's 'Moana'". Phys. 4 Jan 2017. Web.

Article can be read here

Professional Blog Semester 2 Animation Review

Summary

     This animation was made by a CalArts students who won an award in Indiana and other video festivals. It shows many smooth animation skills and the story is just as well-developed. The animation is about a little boy who plays music and shows off his animals for a penny. However, there are two other animal shows tat seem to better than his. He wins over the crowd in the end and gets a lot of pennies for his animals' food.

The Process/Comparisons 

     This animation is a 2d animation that looks like After Effects was used quite frequently. I saw layers shift like how you would make the backgrounds shift in After Effects. Also I saw the use of frame-by-frame animation in the lip-syncing.
     The use of layers and smooth frames is something I would love to be able to put into my own animations. Lip-syncing as well. One thing I have already learned is how to shift the background layers to look lie they're moving in After Effects.

Conclusion/Analysis

     The creator did best at making the animation smooth and clean as well as the story. The short looks like something you'd see on a kid's cartoon channel and it's already fantastic. I think that there are some frames where it's a little bit rough, but I can't hold it against them since they did that all by themselves. Overall, this animation is well written and transferred phenomenally onto the screen. I aspire to be as talented as they are and their animation is well worth the award.

 Sjursen-Lien, Kiernan. "The Magnificent Menagerie of Melvin McMelanie". Vimeo.com. Web. 11 May 2017.

Video can be watched here

The Plausible Impossible

In animation, we watched a video by Disney about the Plausible Impossible. The Plausible Impossible is an animation technique that because of certain context, impossible things seem plausible. These are five plausible impossibles I found throughout the video.

     The video I chose to feature for this post was a short that Disney made about Donald Duck when his cousin comes to visit his house. In this scene, Donald's cousin, Gus, knocks on the door to his home and the ring vibrates Donald's head like a gong. Normally, this would be impossible, but with the sound affects, this seems possible, as sometimes sounds do produce enough waves to vibrate.

In this scene, Gus drinks all of the soup in the bowl shown above within a few seconds. We know this is impossible because no one can eat anything that fast, especially since he was eating it with a spoon. However, since the spoon was moving extremely fast, this action seems possible.

In this scene, Gus decides to make a sandwich with all of the bread and ham. However, he makes the sandwich shown above by shuffling the bread and ham together like cards. That would be impossible in real life because both ingredients are too floppy to do so. But in this scenario it is possible because the sound effects and the way the bread and ham move make it seem like its able to be shuffled like cards.

In this scene, Gus is knitting spaghetti into a sock with needles before slurping it up by the string. This would be impossible since spaghetti is slippery and in no way would stick together like that. Since he does it so quickly and the way he crochets it together like you would with tread, it seems completely possible. 

In this last scene, Donald gets his head stuck in the mailbox after running into it. This would be impossible because no one can fit their head through a mailbox and be okay. But because of squash and stretch like principles, it is possible. And he was going at a high enough velocity to fit and remain unharmed.

Marks/Symbols Blog

Summary

Marks include symbols in them. They are both types of logos just one can be a part of another. Marks can include lettering and symbols. Symbols however, only include pictures. Both types of logos can be trademarked and sold for copyrighted use. Things such as the handicapped symbol, to the Nike can be classified as marks. 

Symbols vs. Logos

Logos represent a brand, and symbols are usually a small picture that represents something else. While symbols can be used as logos, it's not very effective since they're so simple and common. To have a good logo, people need to see it and know exactly what your company is and with some symbols, that's not possible. When symbols are used to make a good logo, it's called a mark. Marks usually have text as well that's easily readable and can fit well to represent a company if used right.

Key Facts

Symbols take a lot of time and thought into them to make them good enough to be a mark or logo. The simplicity can be a good thing, or a bad thing. Lines and/or arrows should always move up to make a positive impact on the audience. Symbols should not be boxed in but should be transparent so it appeals more to the eye.

Conclusion

My favorite thing I learned about marks and symbols is that they can all be related to each other. In conclusion, the way graphic design can all connect together is interesting and makes graphic designing easier to learn about. 

Typography Study 2017

For this Graphic Design project I chose four quotes that represented me. Two of them are serious and the other two are fun ones I did because I feel like they represent my personality.

 I chose this quote because the person who said it means a lot to me and it has a bit of deeper meaning. This quote felt fancy to me so I felt the need to give it a fancy look. Also to put diversity into my project I would need to put cursive in one of the art boards and this quote is the best one.

 This quote stood out to me because it's something I've always told myself since I was a kid and it was thought to me from a young age by many good influences in my life. I wanted to make this quote like a book cover of a modern day novel because I think this type of quote is geared more towards the younger generations like my age group.

I chose this quote because I represents me. It's an odd quote and I'm an odd person so it works. I made it black over the white with  a text the font because it looks like headline and if it was supposed to be taken seriously, it would have a serious message.

I like this quote because I feel it works well with this project but I also love the person who said it. I chose the design for it because I wanted to switch it up from the normal centered text but also make it nice and have suitable graphics. 

These are my quotes I did in color based on four color schemes required. Each of them are labelled with their correct schemes. I mainly put my color schemes in a lighter, more pastel color so that they look better with the contrasting colors. I really liked ho my color schemes turned out and I think they are the best out of my entire project.

Constructivism Poster

Creating the Poster

A lot of the planning I did for this project was just Google image searching, if I'm to be completely honest. The topic of my poster was to make a Constructivism style poster to present an art exhibit at the Nelson Atkins art museum. For my research, I took what I already knew about Constructivism on a previous project and applied it to my poster, the use of bold lines and bright colors is common in Constructivism pieces. Also, the movement originated in Russia, so I used a Russian font for it. For my sketches, I was inspired by pieces I found on Google and eventually decided on this design shown. I chose it because the birdie represents the Nelson and is very recognizable. I also felt the birdie had a good color scheme for my project. In illustrator, I used the pen tool and the pathfinder tool. It was a really simple poster to make.  

Poster Designing

The Character and Functions of Posters

     The function of a poster is very subjective. There is many types of posters to create that have very different messages. What you make your poster about is all up to you. Posters help with our understanding of societal issues as well as political ones. Good posters often have symbols, or hidden meanings, or at least meanings that cause critical thinking. Posters also bring light to a new way of seeing the world that you might not have seen before. Overall, posters are a modern and innovative way to get your point across to your viewers, whoever they may be.

 The Laws Of Poster Designing

     Posters should be visually attracting, it's important to have them stand out, to make your viewers want to read them. When someone sees your poster, you have to make it emotionally appealing as well. You want your viewer to look at the poster and think about it for a while, not just see it and move on. However, there are a few universal concepts of poster designing that are essential to know. 

General Demands

The poster should have as minimum graphics as possible and a maximum effect. (18)

It should stay in the memory and be effective at long distance communication. 

It also must have artistic interest and have at least one message.

Lettering

The lettering of a poster should be done elegantly and quickly, using as less text as you can.

Shapes

Must be modern and appealing to the viewer, forceful and yet smooth.

Colour

Should suggest the implication of an economical, political, or social movement. It also should relate to the message and convey it well.

Three Key Points

Three key points I learned from this article is the idea that posters are used for messages, the modern touch they must hold, and the importance of using clear and concise, yet lasting messages and graphics.

My Favorite Parts

I definitely think the emphasis on the messages of posters will have a lasting effect on how I use my graphics in the future. It will be important because I think it will improve my overall understanding of graphic designing and how I will use it to my advantage.

     

    In conclusion. the article I read on designing posters was informational and important to every graphic designer. I will definitely use the ideas in this article in my projects.