Flip Book | 10.10.17

This project was definitely an interesting one. As a digital arts major with a goal to be an animator someday, the difficulty and time commitment for this project was expected. When I heard we had to do 200 frames, I was a little nervous and knew I needed to start as soon as I could.

At first I had no idea what I wanted to do for this project, it took me quite awhile to come up with an idea in the first place. As I started with the mini golfer and realized how many pages I had done and how many more I still had to go, I felt as though I was "going insane", which became the inspiration for the rest of the animation.

The metamorphosis of the golf ball was the point in the animating where I was really "going insane" and so was my character. He sees this golf ball start to morph into so many different things and he realizes that he is insane. 

This project was a lot of fun, but also very time consuming making it a little stressful also. Again, as an aspiring animator, I looked forward to this project. I think the biggest challenge with this was definitely keeping the volumes consistent between all of the frames, especially since I am currently in a 3-D animation class where you don't really have to worry about the volumes. Overall, this was a pretty fun project and it was definitely good animation practice for me.

Stage Door Broadway | 10.3.17

My favorite Broadway show from the excerpts on Angel de Quinta's blog is no doubt Grease. Being a classic movie that I grew up watching and have always loved, I really enjoyed this performance. The song that was sung in the excerpt is probably my favorite song from the whole movie/show. The costumes are amazing and I love the storyline. I would love to see this performed on the stage someday. 

My next favorite show was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. This being a favorite childhood movie, I was excited to click on the trailer for this show. The technology used in this performance was very evident just from the two minute video alone. There were projections, levitations, and props that were done incredibly. This is a show that I would go and see for sure.  

Lastly, I really liked the show The Color Purple. All of the songs that were on there were so upbeat and had a really good sound to them. I personally love Jennifer Hudson, so hearing her sing is always great for me. In her and the cast's performance of "Push Da Button" everyone was really into it (as they should be) and Jennifer Hudson's singing was amazing. 

Opera Assignment | 9.26.17

For my opera written before 1920, I chose to watch La Traviata. Not knowing what to expect from an opera having never watched one before, I really actually enjoyed this.

Madama Butterfly Animation | 9.19.17

Madama Butterfly was quite an interesting thing to watch for a few different reasons. It was definitely a unique way to interpret the opera. However, being my first time seeing this opera and in this format, I really actually enjoyed it. 

Getting past the intensity of the beginning, afterwards it was very moving. I really liked all of the symbolism and the ways the artist showed different parts of the story. For example, when the umbilical cord connecting the mother and the child was ripped apart by the sailor when he comes back, it was heartbreaking to watch. The sailor is basically ripping the two apart for good. Another scene that was really moving, and not really in a good way, was the moment the sailor first pulled up in his car. When looking in the car, one can see that there are many different children in the back of the car and of many different races as well. One can infer that this is not the first time the sailor has done this. What's really strange about this is the woman he has with him. She does not seem to have a care in the world about what he is doing and is just going along with everything. This whole moment from him pulling up to then continuing to take her child is all very sad to watch.

Another thing I enjoyed about this adaptation of Madama Butterly was the animation as a whole. Being an aspiring animator, it was hard not to appreciate it. Stop motion animation is one of the hardest things to do in my opinion, it's definitely not my top in my career, but it was executed so well in this video. It was all very fluid and looked very nice throughout the entire film. Also, the characters themselves gave off different vibes throughout the entire animation. You could tell that the girl was pale and had crazy hair, and it was almost like you could tell that she was to be considered "under" him. The sailor was well put together and obviously in his uniform, but he himself was very uniform as well.

Overall, I really enjoyed watching this rendition of Madama Butterfly. At first I was a bit skeptical, but after viewing it in class and on my own, I came to appreciate it. The symbolism and the animation itself were definitely my favorite parts of the film though.

Raul Cuero Interview | 9.12.17

This interview with scientist and inventor Raul Cuero was very enlightening to a different perspective of creativity than people may first think of. Normally when you hear the word "creativity", you think of art, but not so much in this case.

Cuero had a difficult time growing up and so he had to be creative in the way he handled different situations. He said creativity is how we "perceive nature". I agreed in his statement about how children nowadays are at a creative disadvantage because they're so focused on electronics and are not going outside and doing things outside. Children's communication skills are weaker because they are using technology. Face to face communication is lacking in many people these days and I think Cuero addressed this correctly. 

I also really liked how Cuero talked about "learning by doing". He said we need to stop using deductive learning as much and start using inductive learning. You aren't going to learn as much from just reading things that are already "known" from a textbook, but by doing things yourself and learning new things. I agree in the fact that he said we need to stop "quick fixing" things, things take time, and we need to give it that time.

I'm going to use advice from this interview in my day to day life, especially in my academic life. I'm going to be creative and try different ways in learning. Also with my jobs and social life, finding different ways to handle certain situations than I might usually. 

Object Mesh | 9.12.17

Mice

I made this object combination of a mouse and a mouse. I thought it was a good play on words so it could be a good mesh as well. Looking at the body of the mouse (the animal) it kind of has the shape of a computer mouse, so that's exactly what I did. The tail of the mouse can also be seen as the cord from a computer mouse. The ears could be seen as the left and right buttons. I designed this in Adobe Illustrator using mainly the pen tool. Illustrator is one of my favorite programs and as a Digital Arts major I wanted to design it digitally. 

First Class | 8.31.17

This class is a requirement for my major, however, I am excited for it. While after the first class, I felt a little intimidated, I think it will be pretty fun and really engaging. I really feel like this class is going to challenge me in my area and other areas, which is always good. Instead of it being a normal lecture class, I like how we're doing projects that are more unique, even though they put me out of my comfort zone. 

My major is Digital Arts and my minor is Graphic Design. I am a junior, so I am just now starting to really get into all of my specific major/minor classes! My favorite part of it is animation and that's the area I really hope to get into more for my career. I have two on campus jobs, I am a student mentor for a Pathways to Honors class and a graphic designer for Live Well UT. I'm apart of about 4 campus organizations: Live Well UT being one, Alpha Chi Omega, Success Scholars Program, and the Honors Program. I have a very busy schedule, but I like keeping it that way!

I expect this class to be really challenging after the first class, but I am excited and think it will be fun. I am really excited for the Broadway and Animation portions of the class. I've been to a few shows, so it'll be great to learn about them in a new way. As I said before, animation is the area I really want to focus on with my major so learning more and more about it in all different kinds of aspects will be good for me. I expect this class to help me and teach me new things about art and things that I never really thought about before.