Egg!

Watching the aliens movie and doing a review on it was like reliving my childhood all over again. I remember being so afraid of it that I will have nightmares that the aliens are here and I'll have to run away from them under tunnels and bridges just to survive. But there's still something intriguing about the aliens that keep me interested in the movie.

Then watching Lady Gaga in her egg- or 'vessel' as she calls it (I really still think it's an egg!) during the Grammys, makes me think some more about aliens. Maybe she's a fan of the Queen Alien too. I should talk to her and ask her about her views on the fx of the Aliens movie and who should have won- Ripley or Queen mama alien. I was voting for Ripley, of course, but wow I think the team did a superb job on the aliens in the show and made things really believable for me. That dedication and hard work just to create a movie is inspiring. Nowadays we take things for granted and do things the short cut way (in post production and all) rather than take time to make the shoot a good one first. Back to my chat with Lady Gaga.

I think she would then reply with a shrug and say both were a bad romance. Rah rah ah ah ah.

Then we'll both go for tea and scoff at people who thought she was in an egg. Dee dum dum.

'I was perfect'

Black Swan's visual effects. (who knew there were so many computer work to be done in film like this?)
It makes me want to go back for a second watch to point out all the effects that I missed because I was so into the whole psycho horror plot that I was just as shocked when Nina pulled out her feather.

I know, I will squirm in pain if I ever watch 127 hours. My armmmm...

Being an overly-empathetic movie goer aside, my favorite part of the movie is the cliche feather growing part where she dances into the black swan at the end. I liked how it slowly comes out and suddenly voila, you have nice black feathery wings!

Was it just a dream?

As I was watching inception, I kept thinking : 'Cool beans, the CGI work is gr8 man, it looks so real.'

Then I watched the Making of video and I swallowed my words. Of course the effects looked real because most of them ARE real. Blowing stuff up, zero gravity hallway etc...

One of the best mind-effing movie ever! Haha I liked it a lot.
How can this not win!!!!

If Inception doesn't win an Oscar I'm gonna send someone* into Limbo!

*I don't know who yet but probably the person next to me so don't try to stop me because I feel strongly that Inception deserves an award!

I loved the first Pirates movie and fell in love with Jack Sparrow too.

What a drunk character who stumbles through life almost as if he has no care in the world.

But then I saw the 2nd movie with Davy Jones and I was like wow.

I spy Zbrush in the video! Haha sorry it gives me cheap thrill to know that we actually learn the same softwares as these Hollywood people so it makes me feel like I could do that one day too.
However that is such a bleak dream because we have a long way to go before we even reach that standard.... Man.

'where we're going, we don't need roads'

Thank God for parents who bring me to movies to watch any old action pack show (dad) and romantic comedies (mom) since young. Growing up with movies and television has certainly helped fuel my interest in this industry.

I remember watching back to the future and it was cooolios.

I recently went back to watch it again and used my newfound knowledge in fx to scrutinize the show. Cool compositing and flash!

Anastasia

I grew up watching different cartoons all the time and so it is sort of Disney's fault that I've harbored the illusion of a fairytale ending with a prince coming to save me from the evil villian because I am a princess who will get the throne yada yada yada.

Read: If I don't get married, I'm suing Disney.

So aside from blaming Disney for my not so happy fairytale endings, I'd always enjoy the singing aspect of the show too because those princesses could sure bust a rhyme!

The one that I loved the most was this animation film called 'Anastasia'. Back then, all princess cartoons were from Disney (ignorant me) and so I was pretty scandalized to find out that Anastasia was not a Disney princess but some other company that I'd never heard about. Fox animation studio, was it?

Anyway imagine the drama when I went to Disneyland sometime back and I was searching for my favorite Anastasia and no one knew who she was!

I tried to find youtube vids of the songs but it was all of people singing their version of it -.-

But look what I found.....

HAHAHA I rest my case.

She has to be recognised somewhere somehow for her amazing story and voice!*

Hence this blog entry dedicated to her!

Even though some parts of the film was pretty dark and intense for a kid (the demons sleepwalking part- spooky) but I liked the animation style and now watching back I see some matte paintings and all.

*okay so the film Anastasia is not that underground after all, it won 2 academy awards for music and several other awards too, yay!

too kool for skool

As technology is getting more advanced and so is photoshop with the latest update of version 5 and all the softwares constantly upgrding, it's no wonder the things we see are getting more advanced too. Take for example, tv commercials.

Last time it would be simple transitions and shots of the product and tadah!

But check out some of the cool advertisements I've found that do really cool effects!

Cool yes! Nowadays watching tv isn't just about the movies or dramas but about looking out for cool advertisements too. Love it when people try to get cr8tive instead of staying in the square.

I love music videos.
I think it's a great way to incorporate the latest visual effects that you picked up and work it in with the 3:14 mins with the artist and make an interesting video that represents the meaning of the song or the interpretation that the singer wants.
Some work off well, some just look like they are trying to hard.
But at least they tried.
Now we know what works or in their case, what doesn't work.

Here's a video that has typography element in it:



Here's one that has an interesting concept but uhm, looks a little too fake?

I like that they tried to do it more cinematically though..
Most R&B songs just put in busty women walking or dancing around and call it a day.

back to history

List of cartoons I've loved | Influenced me how?
Tom & Jerry new ways to escape a hungry cat
Bugs bunny like chewing on a carrot saying what's up doc?
Mickey Mouse mickey and minnie eating corn like typewriters! ding!
Betty Boop was there a bull dog?
Pokemon gotta catch 'em all! Pika pika.

So there. The cartoons that have shaped me into who I am now, would they have been proud?

Lately people have been debating that cartoons teach kids the wrong value by showing violent or sexual things but honestly I was totally ignorant of what went on and just laughed at all the gags and grew up pretty normal anyway.

Yeah at least I think I'm not so weird.... Hm.

But these were the cartoons that made me appreciate practical jokes and carrots and rabbits and pokemon and talk all funny like Ash Kutcher, the english-dubbed version.

Yeah I'm not so weird.

Wonderful World of PSD

I Have PSD from Hyperakt on Vimeo.

Adobe Photoshop Cook from Lait Noir on Vimeo.

This week we shall pay homage to Photoshop and how it has changed our daily lives by watching the 2 stop-motion videos on Photoshop.

Stop motion has been a huge trend recently and everyone has been trying to get into it with many interesting concepts that seemed 'silly' using the normal digital way.

But I'm a fan of stop-motion and the innovative ways people can use it for so enjoy the 2 videos!