tOOns

               Cartoons have always been something I was interested in and cared about.  Every morning and every evening I would always try to find something to watch on cartoon network, or something on nickelodeon.

                

                Very early on my relationship with each cartoon was different; I started to develop certain styles that I liked, although at the time I didn’t realize it. I could see that I liked any smoothed out drawings like todays “Family Guy” and most like that, although others were very interesting like “Hey Arnold and Real Monsters”.  Every day I tried to watch these shows, and also tried to recreate and make my own drawings as a kid, when I was inspired by them or just felt like drawing.

                

               Although one day my brother decided to show me and great anime called, “Dragon Ball Z” this was phenomenal change in what I like at the time, following each episode closely on cartoon network. The action and the art was amazing, not to mention the repetitive plot line that I loved. This was a huge chunk of my younger years watching TV, and drawing at the time. That’s all my friends and I tried to do, was talk about “Dragon Ball Z” and draw each character the best we could.

                

                As I was growing up, most of my qualities in cartoons did not change, only the shows that I watched. I could tell over time that I developed a good memory for the shows, with the weird ability of remembering almost every character’s name from the shows I liked most. Even today I still watch cartoons, any day that I see an old show or a replay of a series. I will sit and watch and enjoy my childhood.

                

                Overall the evolution of my relationship with cartoons hasn’t changed very much; I still love the same styles they used and the crazy humor of “Family Guy”. For this reason it has set me on a path to create something that I’m interested in, with my own style associated with the cartoon. I think it will be a lot of fun to take the time I have now and create something that I think is funny or meaningful. Cartoons have been a very important and special part of my life. I’m inspired by the time and effort that the creator’s take to make the shows for children and adults alike.  Seeing how they create each frame and find ways to do it faster is a big advantage, all the software that they use to help them create even better productions. Hopefully one day I will be on the same level or even something better so I can put my ideas down to paper and some great network to show off all my work and my crazy mind. 

ca-ca-ca-ca-cartoons

   So, this week in class we were assigned to make a flip book. Yes this sounds easy enough, draw some figures changing their movement ever so slightly over time. It sounds easy enough, but when you get down and dirty and about fifty frames in, it’s not so easy anymore. This is where you learn patience is a virtue.

Over the span of my life, a whopping 21 years. I’ve always loved to draw etc.. but I’ve never really tried to make a flip book, it has always sounded easy enough but when I actually started to sit down and draw each individual card out, I realized, although I was only working with stick figures. 100 notecards can take an awful long time.

My initial idea was to draw a stick figure dancing with a ball bouncing beside him, in the end he catches the ball. But wait a minute the ball is a bomb, he blows up blood everywhere, surprise at the end. In the end I stuck with this idea because I thought it was rather funny and sorta kinda fit my sense of humor.

When I actually sat down to do the drawing, I decided I wanted to devise a way to quickly and accurately, draw these to conserve as much time as possible, so with a clear drawer and I lamp later, I engineered my own light desk. So I could correctly draw each figure moving them ever so slightly in the next frame, creating that illusion when they are flipped by, that it’s actually moving.

So in the end it was pretty good, I liked the big explosion of blood at the end, anybody I showed it too laughed and wanted to see it again, so I would call that an success.

Now here’s the fun part, I have to take each card and scan them into my computer, and then open it in after effects to create a lovely around four second clip, with about 5 hours of work. That is a very nice ratio. Thankfully Simon Tarr our professor did show the class how to create such a clip in after effects, so I anticipate this shouldn’t be a problem, when I hit the grind once more.

Overall I’m really enjoying doing the work for my animation class, I admit it can be very tedious, and time consuming, but thankfully this is the work that I enjoy doing so I can’t really complain, because one day I know I will get paid for this kind of stuff. And it’s true the demands of a real job in this industry will be much more extensive that any kind of work were doing right now in class. Thankfully Simon tries to keep us busy every week with work, making it simple for us to get into the routine of punching out, in this case an animation every week, word.

Dear Spring Version of Self:

Dear Me,

                Overtime I realize that it has been tough, your life keeps trying to move forward. Still your mind seems to be stuck in the past, although it’s ok to go over things that have happened.  Now this is what you need to do, take advantage of the time you have. Look at how much you have accomplished thus far in your life. You’re not a rookie by any means, there hasn’t been a problem or a situation you couldn’t solve so far. That’s why you’re a junior in college that has so many opportunities to advance in this life. Take this time to sit back and think of what you have to do next to get to your goal. I admit it, no one is perfect, but you can be one of the best if you just believe in yourself and keep striving forward.  I know you have a ton of work to do with two 300 level classes and Simon’s animation fun. With big projects that need to be submitted to a film festival or they won’t be considered completed. Yes, I know it’s a lot on the table. Although with everything you have completed so far, don’t you see how much you have progressed, take a minute to look at your work. Just sit back and be proud of what you’ve done. You said it yourself perseverance is key, don’t ever give up, letting stress rule your life. Take one thing at a time and get to work! You’re growing up and it’s getting to the point where you will no longer be in class, but in the real world, and let’s face reality. It’s tough and ruthless out there, but you know how to handle yourself. There has been very many conversations about your attitude and what you should do to take advantage of the time you have so keep working hard. Nevertheless this semester is almost completed and one more chapter of your college career is over and you will be one step closer to your overall goal. Getting that B.A, then you will be able to put on some big boy pants and walk with your head held high. Know what you have accomplished so far. It’s nice to think and relax for a change, but there is still much more work that needs to be done, before you can take those steps as an adult. Don’t worry you can still have a lot of fun, but remember what mom always says, you need to be responsible. And with that said there are still a few things on the table you need to do, so get to work and well, be responsible! You’re doing great Max don’t fret now, you have a whole life ahead of you with bigger dreams and goals that would impress anybody. I know you will find a peace in what you have done and truly be happy in the end, but we all know. Nothing is easy in this life, so keep it up!