20081101

animashun nashun


Iris, Jeskargh and i bought tickets for a couple of animation screenings at the film festival Animation Nation, just to check stuff out, because it wasn't like these sort of stuff happened often, and because we were in this sort of course. and mebbe because Mr. B was totally throwing AN pamphlets at us. haha.


The Piano Forest / ピアノの森
Director: Masayuki Kojima

a very charming tale of the friendship and bond formed between two boys who couldn't be any more different, and of their story revolving around a mysterious and broken piano standing in the forest.
the animation was simple and clean, and yet it clearly expressed the varied and provoked emotions of each character. the story is simple enough, comparing the livestyles and perspectives of two very different people; one who has been walking in his famous father's footsteps and playing the piano to live up to expectations, and one who simply loves and delights in playing the piano for pleasure.
it left a slightly bittersweet taste. emotions stirred. i knew what it was like to envy someone who simply had it all handed to him, to give opportunities away casually, to want to live up to social norms, to want to throw everything away and do as you like for the love of life.


Genius Party
an anthology of 7 short films by various directors and Studio 4C. i was very much looking forward to this, but after the whole thing, i had to admit i was slightly disappointed. i was eagerly anticipating Tatsuyuki Tanaka, but i didn't see much of his influence.
some of the animations were pretty good in terms of concept and/or design, but some were just mind-boggling and bewildering. a very good case example would be Limit Cycle. filled with psychedelic color, dizzy patterns and various chaos theory charts, it just confused the audience with its abstract graphics and philosophical-sounding droning narration which couldn't convey the message across. at the end, everyone clapped, not because it was astounding, but because it was over.
Happy Machine was pretty good in its concept, but i couldn't say what it was, i could only feel it. i guess that's good in it's own way as well. all in all, i hope Genius Party Beyond will be much better than this. D:


Freedom Project
Director: Shuhei Morita

i wasn't exactly expecting a lot from this, i just decided to give it a shot since it sounded pretty interesting. to my utter surprise, this was the most mind-blowing of the lot. screening 7 OVA episodes back-to-back with an intermission, along with superb character and environmental concepts and designs. watch this if you ever get the chance to.
it's one of the best animation sequences i've ever come across, both in terms of storyline concept and animation design. the OP was Utada's 'This Is Love', a song i'd actually deleted but reclaimed after watching FP. total boom. my only nit to pick would be that the ending seemed kinda weak, and the animation seemed too.. fluid to be natural. but ignoring those, Freedom Project was absolutely wonderful. especially the OP sequence. my soul just went jelly everytime the OP started. sigh..
i can't believe this was a promotional project for Nissin Cup Noodles for their 35th Anniversary in '06. it's too damn good, and the audience definitely loved the strategically placed cup noodles throughout the episodes. i'm going to support Nissin from now on. :B

20081006

of cats and roses

.. otherwise known as the pair of shoes i painted for my friend MiaoIris's birthday with spastic cats and roses which look like sharingans. D8 /phail

























weird speedpaint womanzthingamajig, 1 hour ++ in CS3.

summer break is almost over. it's kinda funny how time seems so agonizingly slow when vacation first starts, but speeds past you like the wind when it's nearing the end. ;__;

20080828

school blah blah blah

now that my end-of-sem project is over and 1.5 months of hols be here, it's time to post some stuff up!



this started out as a speedpaint from the robot panel. then i decided to add moar background to him by getting an unlikely counterpart, a tiny girl. and then i added a scene for the sake of having one. :B



Endless Forest is a mindless flower-aura-inducing game. :B
dayam it looks like the stag's farting.



not the most original idea, i know. D:
i still like it though. wheeeeeeeeeee..



Rabbid Fever!
recent sketch colored even more recently cuz i needed stuff for my portfolio. not much of a concept here, just thinking about Alice and the rabbit and how mebbe the rabbit was the real cause of the madness, luring her into a timeless chaos.. blah.

20080821

going nuts!


for a friend. something hideously wrong with his arms. gahhhhhhhhh.


oh gawttttttttttttttttt. school is killing me. and 3d animashun! gaaaaaaaaaaaah.
spammage coming along after my final sem project..

20080625

CGO '08

yeah our annual CG Overdrive held here in dinky little Singapore. my first time attending this event, but no i didn't fork out 300 bucks like FFG did to attend the talks and seminars. just waltzed in with a couple others to see the exhibits and all.



this is Bryan trying to look engrossed in the pamphlet



le Queen and her evil advisor



the Sheridan booth has a CINTIQ up for grabs! 8D



we sat in for a Sheridan drawing workshop thingamajig. interesting dudes, well that's cuz they're Sheridanists!



GESTURE DRAWING OSHI-



really gotta love this dude.



uhhhh.. ohkaaaay.



random dude who came over to make fun. fun is good.



this is Bryan using my T2 to sneak overshoulder shots of us. GASP JESKA H4X D8



stupid scribbles o mine.



random person A.



moar jeska h4x.



black splotch. we were challenged to not look down at our page while blocking in value. needless to say, mine came out in one value, black.



3dsense Media School. just the word 3d turns me off. D8



NYP booth! they brought in that F1 Racing simulation thing.



RABBID SIGHTING.



the WACOM booth. they were selling IFS artbooks too.



AAU booth. friendly people they were.



UBISOFT booth. they were looking for potential employees i think.


there was this mini-exhibition showcasing various works from artists of Southeast Asia, theme was "Cartoon". the general opinion we had was that some of them.. didn't really deserve that wall space. but that's just us. some shots of the BETTER works there. :B





























all in all, CGO was ok, but it didn't exactly meet my expectations. FFG also said this year's CGO was a disappointment as compared to the previous year's, mebbe they were cutting cost or couldn't get enough sponsors or something. D:
the talks were the only ones worth checking out, although there were good and bad ones too. hmm. we shall see about next year..

oh i managed to meet Clotaire!