Screen Arts - Week 7
25/03/2019
In Embryo, the music indicates something psychedelic, which is possibly part of the film's tone and theme. Half of the animation doesn't look like 3D computer animation.
無の雰囲気. (2012, December 15). Embryo (1988), yoichiro kawaguchi.
[Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDZ6mNYX_-4
無の雰囲気. (2012, December 15). Embryo (1988), yoichiro kawaguchi.
[Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDZ6mNYX_-4
I believe the traditional animation in the trailer of Dragon's Lair still holds up the test of time.
SkullyTheHypnoSkull. (2015, December 31). Dragon's lair (arcade game trailer) 1983.
[Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yr4XFcd8Rk
SkullyTheHypnoSkull. (2015, December 31). Dragon's lair (arcade game trailer) 1983.
[Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yr4XFcd8Rk
Commodore 64 was one of the first affordable home computers.
An 1980's Disney adaption of Where The Wild Things Are was meant to combine to traditional 2D animation (characters) and 3D animation (sets and backgrounds). It was pitched to Disney by John Lasseter, but was turned down because of how Tron (1982) was a commercial failure.
The animation test looks amazing and I wished history was different and it was greenlit by Disney. However, the computer animation looks outdated and hasn't aged well, but the traditional animation has managed to age fairly well and no one has really tried to combine 2D and 3D animation like that since.
Kurtori. (2006, October 12). Where the wild things are - early disney cg animation test. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvIDRoO8KnM
Kurtori. (2006, October 12). Where the wild things are - early disney cg animation test. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvIDRoO8KnM
I believe Luxo Jr (1986), and Adventures of Andre and Wally B (1984) have managed to age well.
Smith, A. R. (1984). The adventures of andre & wally b. [Motion picture]. United States: Lucasfilm Ltd.
Kiba. (2016, March 6). The adventures of andre and wally b (1984) [Video file]. Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/157891698
IMDb (n.d.). Andre and wally b. (1984) - full cast & crew - imdb. Retrieved March 26, 2019, from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086855/fullcredits?ref_=ttco_ql_1
Lasseter, J. (1986). Luxo jr. [Motion picture]. United States: Pixar.
IMDb (n.d.). Luxo jr. (1986) - full cast & crew - imdb. Retrieved March 26, 2019, from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091455/fullcredits?ref_=ttrel_ql_1
Blog task - Brief overview of 1980's computer milestones
Kerr, P. (1999). Ray harryhausen: working with dinosaurs [Documentary]. United Kingdom: Channel Four Television.
Stop Motion Works. (2013, May 18). Before cgi animation, there was ray harryhausen. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DgdJyOBN9Q
IMDb (n.d.). Ray harryhausen: working with dinosaurs (1999) - IMDb. Retrieved March 31, 2019, from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0313515/
Stop Motion Works. (2013, May 18). Before cgi animation, there was ray harryhausen. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DgdJyOBN9Q
IMDb (n.d.). Ray harryhausen: working with dinosaurs (1999) - IMDb. Retrieved March 31, 2019, from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0313515/
- Interesting to know the metal exoskeleton in The Terminator (1984) was achieved through stop-motion animation.
- When he was a kid, Harryhausen saw the wall from King Kong (1933).
- His father worked at RKO and shown him how stop-motion animation works.
- He did some test footage of stop-motion animated dinosaurs in 1938.
- Harryhausen did an apprenticeship in stop-motion animation during WWII, which included Army films and fairy tales.
- He had the opportunity to work with his idol, Willis O. Brien, for Mighty Joe Young (1949).
- Harryhausen had work in B movie science fiction movies throughout the 1950's.
- 'Late night fodder' and 'low budget' were terms to describe science fiction and horror genres before Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey and George Lucas' Star Wars (1977).
- There was much more creative freedom and control when working on B movies.
- Harryhausen got tired from B movies, in which he had destroyed a lot of American landmarks onscreen and he wanted to make movies based from mythology.
- James Cameron described the time-consuming part of animation as one of the grulest moments of life.
- Stop-motion animation had a process that was very independent, self-directed, lonely, and needs a large amount of concentration.
- With a skeleton, Harryhausen would move it 1 millimeter for every frame.
- It's believed that no one went for Harryhausen films for the actors.
- In films with stop-motion animation, it's believed that the animator is really the auteur, not the director. A type of pure auteur.
- Harryhausen designed and edited the Medusa sequence in Clash of the Titans (1981) himself and considers it the best he has ever done.
- Clash of the Titans (1981) was seen as Jason of the Argonauts, but with better acting. However, it was Harryhausen's final film.
- The generation of filmmakers that Harryhausen influenced virtually made stop-motion animation obsolete through digital visual effects and animation. However, techniques that were used in stop-motion animation is still used today in visual effects and computer animation.
- There's nothing really exciting or magical about computer animation and visual effects compared to stop-motion animation.
- It's believed that a big-budget Harryhausen film would be a box office flop nowadays.
VICE. (2015, December 22). My life in monsters: meet the animator behind star wars and jurassic park. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTGQ_K0DBPo
- John Tippet took LSD during Return of the Jedi (1983).
- He started out making the alien masks for the cantina scene in A New Hope, stop-motion animation in Empire, and design Jabba the Hutt and the Rancor in Return of the Jedi.
- Tippet saved up money to purchase a single-frame 8mm film camera and used it to experiment with stop-motion animation.
- He read about Harryhausen in Famous Monsters magazines and met Harryhausen as a teenager in 1968.
- Star Wars (1977) was the first Hollywood feature film that Tippet worked on.
- Hologram chess game in Star Wars (1977) was achieved through stop-motion animation.
- You apply realism in stop-motion animation by considering the physics of what you are animating.
- The rancor was aimed to look like a potato and a bear combined, and was originally meant to be a man-sized like King Kong.
- George Lucas rejected a lot of the original designs of Jabba the Hutt by Tippet.
- He animated dinosaurs for a short film, hoping that it would be used for schools and education, but it was considered too scary for children. However, it did lead him to work on Jurassic Park.
- I believe Tippet's animated short film about dinosaurs was so effective that it made me conflicted whether it was live action or stop-motion animation.
- Computer animation and visual effects making stop-motion animation obsolete made Tippet depressed and affected his mental well-being for a while.
- The computer animators in Jurassic Park were technicians, not storytellers or filmmakers.
- His work on Jurassic Park earned him an Oscar for Best Visual Effects.
- He suffered from anxiety and depression.
- Mad God is a short film with stop-motion animation he has been making and had a crowdfunding campaign to finance it. He reckons it will be 40 minutes long.
Three short films / parts of Mad God have already been released
Next week - We will be talking to Traci about our proposal idea.
We might be going on a day to Dunedin in the future. There are quite a few art galleries in Dunedin
26/03/2019
Films with Ray Harryhausen animationIMDb (n.d.). Ray harryhausen - imdb. Retrieved March 26, 2019, from https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0366063/
- Tulips Shall Grow (1942)
- Sky Princess (1942)
- How to Bridge a Gorge (1942)
- Guadalcanal (1943)
- The Storybook Review (1946)
- The Story of 'Little Red Riding Hood' (1949)
- Mighty Joe Young (1949)
- The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953)
- It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955)
- Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956)
- The Animal World (1956)
- 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957)
- The Strange World of Planet X (1958)
- The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958)
- The 3 Worlds of Gulliver (1960)
- Mysterious Island (1961)
- Jason and the Argonauts (1963)
- First Men in the Moon (1964)
- One Million Years B.C. (1966)
- The Valley Gwangi (1969)
- The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973)
- Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977)
- Purana Purush (1978)
- Clash of the Titans (1981)
- The Story of 'The Tortoise & the Hare' (2002)
I thought for certain Harryhausen worked on Geogre Pal's films, The War of the Worlds (1953) and The Time Machine (1960), but apparently not
IMDb (n.d.). The war of the worlds (1953) - full cast & crew - imdb. Retrieved March 26, 2019, from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046534/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm
IMDb (n.d.). The time machine (1960) - full cast & crew - imdb. Retrieved March 26, 2019, from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054387/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm
Films with Phil Tippett animation
IMDb (n.d.). The war of the worlds (1953) - full cast & crew - imdb. Retrieved March 26, 2019, from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046534/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm
IMDb (n.d.). The time machine (1960) - full cast & crew - imdb. Retrieved March 26, 2019, from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054387/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm
Films with Phil Tippett animation
IMDb (n.d.). Phil tippett - imdb. Retrieved March 26, 2019, from https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0864138/
- Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
- Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
- Howard the Duck (1986)
- House II: The Second Story (1987)
- Robocop (1987)
- Robocop 2 (1990)
- Robocop 3 (1993)
- Coneheads (1993)
- Mad God: Part One (2014)
28/03/2019
Ishikawa, M., Iyadomi, K., Matsumoto, K., Mizuo, Y., & Oshii, M. (1995). Ghost in the shell [Motion picture]. Japan: Madman Entertainment.
Some aspects of the film like the tone and theme of artificial intelligence reminds me of The Matrix, which sense since anime partially influenced The Matrix
It's an example of an animated film that combines traditional animation and computer animation.
It gives a dated view of the future with the cyborgs having VHS quality vision. If it was made today, the cyborgs would likely have 4K quality vision.
It's a film that makes the story and characters more engaging than any other aspect in the film. However, it can take a while to understand the exposition and the story went fast.
Themes - artificial intelligence, humanity
Puppetmaster's perspective on AI superiority over humanity is similar to that of the agents in The Matrix.
Exposition / terminology in the film
Ghost - human consciousness / mind
Shell - cyborg body
Without anime, this film's genre is science fiction and action
In 1980, Commodore's VIC-20 is the first computer to sell more than one million units, and Seagate invented a hard drive for microcomputers called ST506 and it held 5MB of data. In 1981, Sony created a 3 and half inch floppy disk for computers, in which was used for Hewlett-Packett computers the following year, and IBM introduces the first PC and MS-DOS system in partnership with Microsoft. In 1982, the Commodore 64 is released to the world and goes onto to be the greatest selling single computer of all time, the DEC VAX computer is used by Lucasfilm to depict a computer generated rebirth of a barren planet for Star Trek: Wrath of Khan
I would had thought Windows 95 was the greatest selling single computer of all time, but apparently not.
In 1983, Apple releases the first PC with graphical interface (Lisa), the CD-ROM is developed by Sony and Phillips, In 1984, Apple releases the Macintosh. In 1985, PageMaker was introduced and could allow you to produce professional documents on a computer with text and graphics.
In 1986, Compaq released a personal computer with faster processing (Deskpro 386). In 1987, The hard disk dirve (HDD) is introduced to the world by Compaq and Conner Peripherals. In 1988, Tiny Toy becomes the first short film with animation generated by a computer to win an Oscar, a sound card is developed for IBM PCs called SoundBlaster and becomes the best-selling expansion for IBM PCs, and computer programming language is developed for thew academic world called Mathematica.
In 1989, it's the first time a master chess player is beaten by a computer, Adobe Photoshop becomes available to visual effects artists and animators, and Apple releases a portable computer called Macintosh Portable.
Computer History Museum (n.d.). 1980 | Timeline of computer history | computer history museum. Retrieved March 31, 2019, from https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/1980/
Computer History Museum (n.d.). 1981 | Timeline of computer history | computer history museum. Retrieved March 31, 2019, from https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/1981/
Computer History Museum (n.d.). 1982 | Timeline of computer history | computer history museum. Retrieved March 31, 2019, from https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/1982/
Computer History Museum (n.d.). 1983 | Timeline of computer history | computer history museum. Retrieved March 31, 2019, from https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/1983/
Computer History Museum (n.d.). 1984 | Timeline of computer history | computer history museum. Retrieved March 31, 2019, from https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/1984/
Computer History Museum (n.d.). 1985 | Timeline of computer history | computer history museum. Retrieved March 31, 2019, from https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/1985/
Computer History Museum (n.d.). 1986 | Timeline of computer history | computer history museum. Retrieved March 31, 2019, from https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/1986/
Computer History Museum (n.d.). 1987 | Timeline of computer history | computer history museum. Retrieved March 31, 2019, from https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/1987/
Computer History Museum (n.d.). 1988 | Timeline of computer history | computer history museum. Retrieved March 31, 2019, from https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/1988/
Computer History Museum (n.d.). 1989 | Timeline of computer history | computer history museum. Retrieved March 31, 2019, from https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/1989/
The GoMotion technique was developed during the making of Empire Strikes Back, which allowed stop-motion animation to apply motion blur and motion in film frames.
The difference between GoMotion and traditional stop-motion animation is purely technical; traditional stop-motion looked still in each frame, whereas the live-action parts of the parts look like it was moving. GoMotion allows the stop-motion animation to look as clean as live-action footage on the footage and look like it's part of the live-action footage as well.
Zhang, M. (2011, October 25). Go motion: a motion blur technique invented for star wars’ at-at walkers [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://petapixel.com/2011/10/25/go-motion-a-motion-blur-technique-invented-for-star-wars-at-at-walkers/
What caused Phil Tippett to move away from stop-motion / Go-motion techniques and into CGI?
The computer visual effects in Jurassic Park made Stop-motion animation and the GoMotion technique obsolete, which likely caused Phil Tippet to move into computer generated imagery (CGI).
Dynamation was a stop-motion animation and visual effects techniques that utilised split screen and rear screen projection to give the illusion that on-screen actors could interact with stop-motion animated creations. Harryhausen's processes on this technique started by animating the background image for the rear screen projection and then had the live-action part filmed with the camera in a locked position and the rear screen projection in the background.
Dynamation was a result of years of Harryhausen's experimentation with split screen and he was tried of using painted backgrounds for stop-motion animation.
http://www.unmuseum.org/dyna.htm
The Museum of Unnatural Mystery (1999). The unmusem - ray harryhausen's dyamation. Retrieved March 31, 2019, from http://www.unmuseum.org/dyna.htm
Untitled. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.unmuseum.org/dyna.htm
https://silverscenesblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/ray-harryhausen-and-creation-of.html
The Metzinger Sisters. (2013, June 22). Ray harryhausen and the creation of dynamation - silver scenes - a blog for classic film lovers [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://silverscenesblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/ray-harryhausen-and-creation-of.html
I prefer Harryhausen over Tippett because he is a more an auteur compared to Tippett and he made a bigger influence on the film industry than Tippett
I watched Jason and Argonauts and felt that it made a great, engaging story, along with Harryhausen's iconic animation in work. What I thought was unique and great about this film was that they made the set design of Argo a part of the story (Hera). What I didn't about this film was that I felt it only told a small portion of the story. It doesn't tell you about Jason's journey home or reclaiming his throne.
Schneer, C. H., & Chaffey, D. (1963). Jason and the argonauts. [Motion picture]. United States: Columbia Pictures.
IMDb (n.d.). Jason and the argonauts (1963) - full cast & crew - imdb. Retrieved March 31, 2019, from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057197/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm
IMDb (n.d.). Jason and the argonauts (1963) - company credits - imdb. Retrieved March 31, 2019, from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057197/companycredits?ref_=ttfc_ql_4
Leonard ulman. (2016, April 6). Movie Jason and the argonauts. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x425mv0
31/03/2019
Overview of 1980's computersIn 1980, Commodore's VIC-20 is the first computer to sell more than one million units, and Seagate invented a hard drive for microcomputers called ST506 and it held 5MB of data. In 1981, Sony created a 3 and half inch floppy disk for computers, in which was used for Hewlett-Packett computers the following year, and IBM introduces the first PC and MS-DOS system in partnership with Microsoft. In 1982, the Commodore 64 is released to the world and goes onto to be the greatest selling single computer of all time, the DEC VAX computer is used by Lucasfilm to depict a computer generated rebirth of a barren planet for Star Trek: Wrath of Khan
I would had thought Windows 95 was the greatest selling single computer of all time, but apparently not.
In 1983, Apple releases the first PC with graphical interface (Lisa), the CD-ROM is developed by Sony and Phillips, In 1984, Apple releases the Macintosh. In 1985, PageMaker was introduced and could allow you to produce professional documents on a computer with text and graphics.
In 1986, Compaq released a personal computer with faster processing (Deskpro 386). In 1987, The hard disk dirve (HDD) is introduced to the world by Compaq and Conner Peripherals. In 1988, Tiny Toy becomes the first short film with animation generated by a computer to win an Oscar, a sound card is developed for IBM PCs called SoundBlaster and becomes the best-selling expansion for IBM PCs, and computer programming language is developed for thew academic world called Mathematica.
In 1989, it's the first time a master chess player is beaten by a computer, Adobe Photoshop becomes available to visual effects artists and animators, and Apple releases a portable computer called Macintosh Portable.
Computer History Museum (n.d.). 1980 | Timeline of computer history | computer history museum. Retrieved March 31, 2019, from https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/1980/
Computer History Museum (n.d.). 1981 | Timeline of computer history | computer history museum. Retrieved March 31, 2019, from https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/1981/
Computer History Museum (n.d.). 1982 | Timeline of computer history | computer history museum. Retrieved March 31, 2019, from https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/1982/
Computer History Museum (n.d.). 1983 | Timeline of computer history | computer history museum. Retrieved March 31, 2019, from https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/1983/
Computer History Museum (n.d.). 1984 | Timeline of computer history | computer history museum. Retrieved March 31, 2019, from https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/1984/
Computer History Museum (n.d.). 1985 | Timeline of computer history | computer history museum. Retrieved March 31, 2019, from https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/1985/
Computer History Museum (n.d.). 1986 | Timeline of computer history | computer history museum. Retrieved March 31, 2019, from https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/1986/
Computer History Museum (n.d.). 1987 | Timeline of computer history | computer history museum. Retrieved March 31, 2019, from https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/1987/
Computer History Museum (n.d.). 1988 | Timeline of computer history | computer history museum. Retrieved March 31, 2019, from https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/1988/
Computer History Museum (n.d.). 1989 | Timeline of computer history | computer history museum. Retrieved March 31, 2019, from https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/1989/
The GoMotion technique was developed during the making of Empire Strikes Back, which allowed stop-motion animation to apply motion blur and motion in film frames.
The difference between GoMotion and traditional stop-motion animation is purely technical; traditional stop-motion looked still in each frame, whereas the live-action parts of the parts look like it was moving. GoMotion allows the stop-motion animation to look as clean as live-action footage on the footage and look like it's part of the live-action footage as well.
Zhang, M. (2011, October 25). Go motion: a motion blur technique invented for star wars’ at-at walkers [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://petapixel.com/2011/10/25/go-motion-a-motion-blur-technique-invented-for-star-wars-at-at-walkers/
What caused Phil Tippett to move away from stop-motion / Go-motion techniques and into CGI?
The computer visual effects in Jurassic Park made Stop-motion animation and the GoMotion technique obsolete, which likely caused Phil Tippet to move into computer generated imagery (CGI).
Dynamation was a stop-motion animation and visual effects techniques that utilised split screen and rear screen projection to give the illusion that on-screen actors could interact with stop-motion animated creations. Harryhausen's processes on this technique started by animating the background image for the rear screen projection and then had the live-action part filmed with the camera in a locked position and the rear screen projection in the background.
Dynamation was a result of years of Harryhausen's experimentation with split screen and he was tried of using painted backgrounds for stop-motion animation.
http://www.unmuseum.org/dyna.htm
The Museum of Unnatural Mystery (1999). The unmusem - ray harryhausen's dyamation. Retrieved March 31, 2019, from http://www.unmuseum.org/dyna.htm
Untitled. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.unmuseum.org/dyna.htm
https://silverscenesblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/ray-harryhausen-and-creation-of.html
The Metzinger Sisters. (2013, June 22). Ray harryhausen and the creation of dynamation - silver scenes - a blog for classic film lovers [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://silverscenesblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/ray-harryhausen-and-creation-of.html
I prefer Harryhausen over Tippett because he is a more an auteur compared to Tippett and he made a bigger influence on the film industry than Tippett
I watched Jason and Argonauts and felt that it made a great, engaging story, along with Harryhausen's iconic animation in work. What I thought was unique and great about this film was that they made the set design of Argo a part of the story (Hera). What I didn't about this film was that I felt it only told a small portion of the story. It doesn't tell you about Jason's journey home or reclaiming his throne.
Schneer, C. H., & Chaffey, D. (1963). Jason and the argonauts. [Motion picture]. United States: Columbia Pictures.
IMDb (n.d.). Jason and the argonauts (1963) - full cast & crew - imdb. Retrieved March 31, 2019, from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057197/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm
IMDb (n.d.). Jason and the argonauts (1963) - company credits - imdb. Retrieved March 31, 2019, from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057197/companycredits?ref_=ttfc_ql_4
Leonard ulman. (2016, April 6). Movie Jason and the argonauts. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x425mv0
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