I Wonder What’s Happening Right Now Over At Hogwarts

#me whenever there is a small inconvenience

"Draw natural" they said

It's finished.

My Jack o lantern drawing

Okay, so, in art class we have been doing charcoal all this time, practising drawing statues.

Like this gorgeous first attempt of drawing with charcoal. Beautiful.

The man and the “I’m judging you” face woman. (The light is there too, I’m too sassy, I couldn’t resist)

The awesome abstract drawing withe the “cube face”. I swear, it’s supposed to be a face there in the right.

“The man who used to not have half of his face” is there too. He seems a little sad, I wonder why.

And, so, the time passed. The teacher said we could draw anything we wanted.

Anything .

I present you MISS PUMPKIN. I’M NOT GIVING UP HALLOWEEN UNTIL IT’S DECEMBER. It’s not finished yet. I started a few days ago, I don’t want to give up, I have to finish it. Oh, and yes, she has not hand.

…

Halloween never diessss yaaaaaayy!!!

#artschool https://www.instagram.com/p/Bu4PfFvH92J/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1rrbkcf5r7osc

Mr. Darcy: Ah, congratulations, Miss Elizabeth. I see you’re on time today.

Elizabeth Bennet: So sorry to disappoint you.

Mr. Darcy: Oh, but I’m not disappointed, far from it. Merely surprised.

Both Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy: [fake laugh]

Jane Bennet: They always argue, why is that?

Mrs. Gardiner: Well it’s a simple chemical reaction, you see, when two people like each other very much-

Jane Bennet: They like each other?

Mrs. Gardiner: Well, I think so.

Jane Bennet: They like each other very much? Well, don’t you think we should tell them?

Mrs. Gardiner: They’d never believe us.

Today’s exam was an alcohol marker one.

(\_/) (='.' ) rabbit

Underwatched Animated Films I Recommend You See at Least Once in Your Life

EDIT: i didn’t expect this post to get so many notes. for the record, these are just my personal recommendations, not a definitive list of best underrated animation. i also did not include anything made by Disney. I know that they made some movies that didn’t get as much attention as their other hits, but lists of underwatched Disney films are pretty common, so I thought I’d make one of films by studios that aren’t household names. 

Angel’s Egg (1985)

This movie is a nearly silent film with painstakingly beautiful frames and environmental details. All I can say is that it is a real piece of art worth watching and can be watched on YouTube here.

Les Triplets de Belleville (The Triplets of Belleville) (2005)

An incredibly quirky, strange and humorous French film, also with almost no dialogue. The colors, creative storytelling, and almost caricature-like designs make the Triplets a must-see. The setting and timeframe is left sort of abstract, but it’s a clear transition from last-century rural France to the hustle and bustle of urban America. Lots of homage is paid to cartoons from the 1920s.

Mindgame (2004)

This movie, quite like the title says, blew my mind. It’s also incredibly strange and out-there, but the awkward imagery gives way to real emotion and huge payoff by the end. The colors and animation are delightful, and always tailored to the situation. It is an amazing intersection of an altered state, a love story, a struggle to get home, an existential trip, and an unlikely group of friends. I almost always cry when I watch this. Seriously, can’t stress this enough. There is absolutely nothing like Mindgame. 

Le Chat du Rabbin (The Rabbi’s Cat) (2011)

Rabbi’s Cat is a French film based on a French comic by the same name. The comic artist also directed the movie. Honestly, the dialogue  in this is unmatched. Both Cat and Rabbi are witty and have the best banter. The setting is one of the most unique and real-feeling I’ve ever seen a film take place in: a Jewish community in Algeria. It’s wonderful and incredibly charming, could not recommend more.

Tekkonkinkreet (2006)

This movie hits me on a number of levels. I have so much love for the two orphans, Black and White. The story quickly becomes raw and almost difficult, as it touches on a lot of the feelings we see in things like Grave of the Fireflies, but in a much more abstract way and on a much grander scale. Also less sad, but there are very sad parts also. I guess the best way to describe this movie is intense. While there are a lot of sweet, domestic moments, none of the gruesome reality is sugercoated for you. 

The visuals are all completely stunning; the art is on another level. Treasure Town is a rich, fantastical environment and the characters flow through it effortlessly, like water. You gotta see this at least once in your life. 

Chico and Rita (2010)

An American/Spanish romance between an aspiring piano player and a young singer. The film opens in Cuba and has a vibrant and unique visual style while exploring a multitude of music styles and cultural backdrops. It’s touching and sweet, but does not erase the hardships of being a black music star in America or living through the Castro regime. 

Wizards (1977)

Ralph Bakshi is notorious for underappreciated gems. Wizards is set in a post-apocalyptic fantasy world where magic is real and man has survived the radiation to evolve into fairies, elves, and dwarves. It’s a classic nature vs industry story with Bakshi’s unique spin. My favorite character is Necron 99, the assassin robot turned pacifist. I’ll warn you though, Bakshi films aren’t everyone’s taste (he’s responsible for Fritz the Cat, which against my better judgement I recommend as well).

Wizards was completed during the dark age of animation, and its fascinating to see how Bakshi gets around these limitations to produce something that grossed more than twice its budget.

Memories (1995)

Memories is a three part anthology based on three different manga short stories, Magnetic Rose, Stink Bomb, and Cannon Fodder. While the entirety of the movie is beautifully animated and worth the watch, the best of these is the first one. It is a mysterious, tragic sci-fi horror short film set in space and worked on by Satoshi Kon (so of course its amazing). 

Upgrade:

The pumpkin lady has a hand and I want to draw an owl.

My Jack o lantern drawing

Okay, so, in art class we have been doing charcoal all this time, practising drawing statues.

Like this gorgeous first attempt of drawing with charcoal. Beautiful.

The man and the “I’m judging you” face woman. (The light is there too, I’m too sassy, I couldn’t resist)

The awesome abstract drawing withe the “cube face”. I swear, it’s supposed to be a face there in the right.

“The man who used to not have half of his face” is there too. He seems a little sad, I wonder why.

And, so, the time passed. The teacher said we could draw anything we wanted.

Anything .

I present you MISS PUMPKIN. I’M NOT GIVING UP HALLOWEEN UNTIL IT’S DECEMBER. It’s not finished yet. I started a few days ago, I don’t want to give up, I have to finish it. Oh, and yes, she has not hand.

…

Halloween never diessss yaaaaaayy!!!

The lip sync tutorial they DON’T give you

I mentioned on twitter that I wanted to do a lip sync tutorial and immediately got some people who were interested so I put one together real quick!

I’m going to use a bit of unfinished lip sync from my taz animated part as reference. They’re just gifs so no sound, but you should still be able to tell that he’s saying “I’d say a solid B… Solid B minus.”

Anyone who’s looked up how to do lip sync has seen phoneme charts. Phonemes are just the shape your mouth makes when you make certain sounds.

When you do lip sync, you want some kind of reference to make sure it’s right

What’s easiest is to say it yourself and pay attention to the shapes your mouth is making. Since you’re going frame by frame, your audio is slow enough that you can make each shape slowly and distinctly and you can get each individual phoneme down in the animation.

Don’t do this.^

An easy way to tell if you’re animating lip sync wrong is if you run out of frames to make each shape. You don’t need them! Making each shape is unnatural. People talk quickly and the mouth doesn’t have the time to get into each shape. They blend together, sometimes to the point where the shape doesn’t change at all!

Not only does the 2nd gif take less frames and energy to make, it’s more relaxed, it looks less distracting, and his lips are much easier to read!

These are reference charts to show the differences more clearly

This is the difference between getting swallowed up in every last detail and paying attention to reality.

What matters more than hitting every syllable is making it look natural and flow with the acting. That’s why anime mouth flaps can work so well. A strong pose through the whole body matters more than one mouth shape.