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Merry Christmas everyone.

Bonus Post: Why are people in different countries looking at my blog?

Look at this photo. It shows that I've had more pageviews in Russia than the US. Also: Germany and Brazil. Lolwut?

Probably just something to do with servers, I know, but...still werd. Also, people are looking at my blog through IE? Seriously people! Get with the times. Chrome FTW.

Weekly Comments

• What I learned this week: That I don't like clay. PAPER IT IS! Also, if you walk through 30 degree weather plus wind in a jacket and then go camping the whole weekend, turns out you get sick. Yay life lessons.
• What I want to learn in the future: Anything but rotoscoping. Anything.
• Something that frustrated you this week: ROTOSCOPING. UGHHHJHROHDO. That is all. Also, I'm sick again.
• Something that made you happy: 8 days until the following: My Xbox, Skyrim, both Mass Effects, my 3DS (which by the way, I got to hold, and it is BEAUTIFUL), Portal 2, Mario Kart 7, Ocarina of Time 3D and last but not least (deep breath), Super Mario 3D Land.

A Very Calvin and Hobbes Christmas

Who doesn't like Christmas? Who doesn't like Calvin and Hobbes?! Who doesn't like the snowmen that Calvin used to make?

Trailers Galore

Wow. Okay. So, for my first post this week, I'm going to be going down the list of several new trailers just released in the past few days for movies being released next year.

First up...

Men in Black 3

I have mixed feelings about this. MIB was good, but MIB 2 was mediocre, so I only see this as being either merely good, or a fail. Could go either way.

Battleship

It'll suck. It's Transformers 4: At Sea, and Transformers sucks. That said, it'll make at least $300m at the box office.

G.I. Joe: Attack of the Punctuation Retaliation

This is what we needed. Another G.I. Joe movie, where they kill off the cast of the first one. Hey, all the Fast and Furious series needed was The Rock, so maybe it'll work for G.I. Joe, too (sarcasm, folks). But hey, it features a...not-really-dubstep-but-kinda-dubstep-but-still-not-dubstep remix of Seven Nation Army, and look, there's Bruce Willis in the back of a pick up truck with a gun. So, yeah. Also, ninjas. A lot of ninjas. Possible promise for this one, really.

Rock of Ages (there's a chance this might go down, it was the only link still up, WB's been ripping them all down off YouTube)

Based of the musical of the same name, Rock of Ages is a musical staring a bunch of people with recognizable names about a hair metal band in the 80s. It features songs such as "We Built This City (On Rock and Roll)" and "Don't Stop Believing". I can't stand either of them.

The Three Stooges

I have nothing to say on this. The trailer speaks for me, as does that giant red "dislike" bar on the video.

Last but not least,

ParaNorman

It shoes promise. Certainly more promise than most of these movies.

But hey, even if every movie on this list turns out to be crap, we have The Dark Knight Rises to look forward to, and that's something. And I'm sure The Avengers will be good. And Breaking Dawn Part Two! anything but Breaking Dawn Part Two.

Weekly Comments

• What I learned this week: How to use the clay and what not.
• What I want to learn in the future: Don't I know everything already? XD
• Something that frustrated you this week: Clay. Also, rotoscoping is going slooooooooooooooow. And Community aired its final episode before hiatus last night. They left on a high note, one of the funniest episodes of television I've ever seen. 
• Something that made you happy: Beat Zelda! Also, found some Christmas presents while I was home alone Wednesday (I know, I know) and it included Skyrim and my 3DS. So, yes!

Back to procrastinating rotoscoping.

'John Carter' trailer

What does this have to do with animation? It has a lot of Pixar guys working on it, including Andrew Stanton (you might've seen one or two of his films, such as 'Finding Nemo' or 'WALL-E') directing, and scored by Michael Giacchino (Lost, a bunch of other movies, he's one of my favorite composers).

Edit: Wow, totally didn't put the video in. Oops. Fixed.

Drive: The Animation

I haven't seen Drive yet, though I heard it's good. If you have seen it, perhaps this will make more sense to you than it did to me. Still, it makes me interested in the movie.

Warning: There's violence/blood throughout the one minute clip.

http://vimeo.com/32905466

Weekly Comments

• What I learned this week: Information about the stop-motion project and how to move the video into and out of Final Cut.
• What I want to learn in the future: Meh. It's these two projects til the end of the year. I'm going to focus on them.
• Something that frustrated you this week: My school "made" an announcement about BOCES kids having to wait in the library for an hour to go to BOCES. I didn't hear this announcement. Neither did Haley. Which means either A. I had already left the school, or B. The announcement is non-existant. Or possibly C. The announcement was made while I was changing for gym when it's impossible to hear the morning announcements. Also, they're banning hoodies. Newfane sucks.
• Something that made you happy: Zelda, Community, Parks and Rec, aaaaand the Nerdist podcast. Ya know, the usual.

Mario/Portal crossover

This will be a real game....eventually.

TLoZ: Animated Series

Just watch 30 seconds. You'll find out why Link should never, ever talk in the games.

I'm not sure why I'm posting this. I must have Zelda on the brain. I played 32 hours over the four day weekend. That's literally a third of my weekend (because 24*4 is 96, and 96 divided by 32 is 3....anyway...). My friends told me that's not safe. They're probably right.

Weekly Comments

• What I learned this week: We learned about the rotoscope project.
• What I want to learn in the future: Stop-motion!
• Something that frustrated you this week: Pfff. Okay, well, nothing really in the class, honestly, but outside of class? The uncertain future of Community (see below), David Yates directing a Doctor Who reboot (make it a prequel, for god's sake!), and fights with friends. Yeah. Not fun.
• Something that made you happy: ZELDA. Oh my god, I can't wait. Also, I fixed a sound problem I was having last week :D

I know it's really early to do these, but I'm gone Friday (field trip), so yeah.

Community

I swear, Community (the NBC comedy, now in it's third season) will be the next Arrested Development. If you've seen AD, you know how hard it is to live up to a pedigree like that. And while Community doesn't work the same way AD does, it does connect story lines (for example, a B-Story in the 2010 Halloween episode has effects all the way up to two or three episodes before the end of season 2), instead of starting new each week, and it features a GREAT ensamble cast (it should win an Emmy, but it's too under watched to do such a thing, unfortunately). The show is a critical success, but it suffers in ratings (much like AD did) and is currently not on the midseason schedule (though most rumors are reporting all 22 episodes of this season will be shot and aired). This, unfortunately, means it will most likely be cancelled after this season. But, in a glimmer of hope, the internet went CRAZY, and if you go on NBC's Facebook page, you'll find everything they post, the comments are about Community.

I have a clip, a tag aired during the credits of Community, that was animated. However, unless you have a basic understanding of the characters, this is going to seem really, really weird to you. The show airs Thursdays at 8pm (for the next couple weeks, anyway), but I suggest you find the first two seasons (available on DVD and iTunes) and watch them. It's truly a great show and I'd hate to see it disappear for more reality television and singing competitions.

And THIS is an example from the greatest episode from season one, entitled "Modern Warfare", about a giant paintball game that breaks out on campus. (Obvious spoilers)

Brilliant.

Brave (again!)

One of my first blog posts was the teaser to Brave, the new Pixar movie coming out in June. The official trailer just came out today.

Dialouge chart

Does your animation have mouth movements? If so, this chart may be of help to you.

I know there's no blogs this week (well, I do now), but I thought this might help someone.

Yu Gi Oh The Abridged Series

My love for this show will never end.

Not YuGiOh, I mean. But YuGiOh The Abridged Series.

It's amazing. If you feel like watching it, give it a few episodes. It gets really good around episode 7 or 8.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The Animation (prequel)

This was included on the Blu-Ray copy of Scott Pilgrim I have. It's essentially a short prequel to Scott Pilgrim. It was shown on Adult Swim (but it's not bad or anything).

Weekly Comments

Well, since I'm annoyed with Flash, I guess I'll do these.

• What I learned this week: Um. Time management? That ideas on paper don't always work correctly on a computer?
• What I want to learn in the future: Learning the walk cycle now, so...yeah.
• Something that frustrated you this week: The pen tool. It's not difficult to use, but it is just SO GLITCHY. And I hate it. HATE.
• Something that made you happy: I have friends coming over this weekend, and I got my type project in on time.

I'm recording the sound to my short story today after school. I hope it goes well.

Reader

Yay new Google Reader!

Kiwi!

So sad.

The Star Wars Prequels Reviews

I'm not a fan of the prequel trilogy for Star Wars. So when I stumbled on these reviews almost two years ago, I laughed so hard I woke up my dad sleeping in another room who made me go to bed...anyway.

If you're looking to kill some time this weekend, watch them. The first one is 70 minutes long, the second is 90 minutes long, and the third is 100. They're not animated, but Star Wars is one of the most popular sagas ever created, so it's definitely digital media.

A small viewer discretion. They don't swear profusely, and the worse words are censored, but I wouldn't play it around small children. The reviewer plays the part of a psychopath trying to review movies. It adds to the review a little bit (though it begins to get old in the second and third episodes), but...yeah. It's not too bad though. We're all 16/17.

Weekly Comments

I'm doing these a little early this week. My other two posts will be put up tomorrow.

• What I learned this week: Sound. Finally. But it was a little hard to get through those notes, when you've used Audacity since 7th grade. But oh well. At least I know how now.
• What I want to learn in the future: Nothing that I can think of. But I'm starting to get sick of Flash.
• Something that frustrated you this week: Not too much, actually. The typography project a little, but that's it.
• Something that made you happy: I saw The Lion King at Sheas Tuesday night, with my school's band and chorus, and it was really, really good, and as a percussionist, holy crap were the drummers awesome. Also, I'm almost done with the script for my animated short. I'm just worried it won't come off as funny (the humor is really off-beat, and is based on a conversation I had with my friend Andy on Monday. The working (and probably real) title of it right now is "Story Time with Will and Andy", and I just hope it goes over well.

Friday tomorrow!

Weekly Comments

Yesssss, it's Friday!

• What I learned this week: I reviewed how to create masks in Flash. 
• What I want to learn in the future: Soooooouuuuuuuund...
• Something that frustrated you this week: Substitute on Thursday equaled a boring 2.5 hours of doing nothing. Also, (in the Khan style) APUSH!!!!!!!!!
• Something that made you happy: We shortly regained our big bus, only to lose it again. Now our school is giving the morning BOCES kids the big bus and the afternoon kids the little bus. NEWFANE!!!!!!!!!

Also, good news for all you Reader users out there: It's getting a redesign next week!

Flash help

So, I promised a few weeks ago I'd post some kind of tutorial for Flash. I've got...something like that.

Whenever I need help doing something in Flash, I go to Adobe's help site, where they actually have some pretty good directions for whatever you need to do. For instance, I had forgotten how to add a mask. I would've looked in my binder at the Flash tutorials we did a while ago, but it was being graded. So I found this:

http://help.adobe.com/en_US/flash/cs/using/WS9388626D-B940-43f3-87BB-7C3159F5EDE4.html

I used the instructions there and it helped me out quite a bit.

Anyway, look for my Weekly Comments on Friday.

Crappy CG Animation

I know I normally try to post stuff that is actually well done on this blog, but...this...this is just really bad CG animation. I'd actually think it was really, really good (amazing, even) if it was done by someone in this class (no offense, but we're all amateurs right now, I'm sure someday we'll be capable of this), but this was produced by MTV, and it's Spider-Man. Ohh well. Take a look:

I'm sorry, I just think that's...awful.

Weekly Comments

Here were are again, eh?

• What I learned this week: Uhhhhmmm... This week was mostly a work week, I'm not sure how much I learned. I definitely feel my Flash abilities are stronger.
• What I want to learn in the future: Nothing, really. I'm going to maintain my stance of focusing only on 2D right now. (Edit: This edit's on Saturday (the rest of the post was on Friday afternoon) but I remembered that I really want to learn how to use sound in my animations. I doubt it'll be too hard.)
• Something that frustrated you this week: This Principles project. I'm trying my best to get through it though.
• Something that made you happy: Podcasts: Helping keep my sanity since 2009. Bus rides would be awful without them.

A slow week? A little bit. Next week: My animation logo project. Happy Friday.

Legend of Miyamoto/The Avengers

I feel like this has already posted by someone else. I've definitely seen it, recently too, but I came across it again. So, I'm sorry if someone else posted this. But it's pretty awesome:

Ok, secondly. Not animation, but I had to post this. The Avengers trailer is out. Directed by Joss Whedon (aka, the creator of Buffy, Angel, Firefly (one of my favorite shows and also the show my brown dinosaur t-shirt references, if you've seen that), Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, and Dollhouse), I just have the strangest feeling it's going to be awesome. Take a look:

A Typical Conversation with my Mom

Well, not MY mom. There's a series of cartoons on YouTube that I tend to randomly discover and then forget (I think it has happened about three times now) called "Tales of Mere Existence". It has an odd way of animating in which, the audio is more or less set to just drawings, but the drawings are only 95 percent completed, and are completed as the narrator talks. Here's a sample video from the series called " A Typical Conversation with my Mom". I think we can all relate to this in some way or other.

Have a good Wednesday.

Weekly Comments

• What I learned this week: Um. I missed one of the lessons because I was out sick. It was on animation techniques. The other lesson was on typography.
• What I want to learn in the future: Again, just keeping my focus on flash for now. 3D'll be cool and all, but I need to get my flash projects done first!
• Something that frustrated you this week: SIIIIIICK. *cough* and I've basically lost my voice at this point. Sigh. Hopefully a long weekend full of nothing will allow me to return healthy on Tuesday. Also, it turns out it's my school's fault for the little bus, not the bus garage's. I made sure I didn't pin blame on the school, and of course, it ends up being their fault. Way to go Newfane. You wonder why I don't have spirit for you.
• Something that made you happy: Sleep. Sleep and cough drops. No, wait, sleep, cough drops, and Life Water. And I still have an 85 in AP US History. Which, I'm completely fine with. It's a solid B in an AP class that I'll probably get an extra 3-4 points for anyway.

See you all Tuesday. Hopefully my voice is back to normal.

Side note: RIP Steve Jobs. I was shocked when you resigned back in August, and I was even more shocked when you passed away. You were a great man, as much as you were assertive, you really had to be. I've heard too many touching stories in the past few days in articles and podcasts not to say that you were obviously a kind-hearted but strict man. Apple's keynotes (and Apple in general) will never be the same without you.

Pendleton Ward draws Pokemon, but not in the way you'd think

Pendleton Ward (creator of Adventure Time) drew this short cartoon about Pokemon and...farting... It's funnier than it sounds, I SWEAR.

So I guess that makes the theme of this week people drawing other people's cartoons.

John K draws The Simpsons

I know what you're thinking. Two Simpson posts in two weeks?! But this is different. John K (creator of Ren and Stimpy) stepped in and drew the couch gag for The Simpsons opening this week.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5RflXVhaCQ

Yeah, pretty odd right? Anyway, I promise this will be my last Simpsons related post for a while. Or possibly ever. I don't know.

The actual clip starts at 0:49 seconds.

Weekly Comments

• What I learned this week: Flash, Flash, Flash, Flash, and more Flash.
• What I want to learn in the future: I'm not sure. Right now, for the foreseeable future, all I can think about is Flash. 
• Something that frustrated you this week: Tutorials from hell. And our school is making us ride a mini-bus now. 
• Something that made you happy: Chinese food with friends. And I ALMOST have my tutorials done. I'm on part eight.

I'm gonna go watch Troll 2 with some friends. Have a good weekend everyone.

Skyward Sword boss fight

I can't wait for this game.

(Are video games consider animation? I think so.)

Anyway. Next week I'll probably post a tutorial or two.

The Simpsons opening (or is it?)

It's not just ANY Simpsons opening. It's The Simpsons opening, done in Minecraft style.

Weekly Comments

Two days ago, I got a text from a friend right when I was packing up to leave Boces. What did it say? "169 days".

Make it 167.

I should say though, this class is so much fun. I look forward to it everyday.

• What I learned this week: More Illustrator! Hey, I don't mind. It was pretty easy to use. We also covered the psychology of color.
• What I want to learn in the future: Looking forward to Flash on Friday or Monday!
• Something that frustrated you this week: I finished all of the ads and my math homework on Wednesday, leaving me with nothing to do today.
• Something that made you happy: I'm getting really good grades in this class, and my AP US History class (an 85, which, hey, that's way better than I expected).

The Chosen One

This video is four years old - how have I never seen it?! I'm apparently out of it.

Spoilers

50 animated spoilers in three minutes. Not as funny as some of their other spoiler videos, but it's about animation, soooooooo...

Weekly Comments

Tomorrow is the end of my second week (my ninth day of school, eight for some of you), and so far, it's honestly going pretty well. My schedule (before BOCES) is really, really easy (English, Gym/Study Hall, Band, AP US History, Lunch) and I've got friends in all of them. The bus ride here is really nice (and quiet, as most of Newfane's kids go to Medina) and this is the most fun class I have had in as long as I can remember. And all the people all really cool.

• What I learned this week: Illustrator, mainly; although I'm getting pretty good at using it (I find the pen tool fairly easy)
• What I want to learn in the future: Still can't wait to get into things like Flash and Cheetah, and learn how to use them.
• Something that frustrated you this week: Here? Nothing. It was a smooth week. My home school's bus issues however.... >.<
• Something that made you happy: I feel pretty accomplished in my knowledge of shortcuts in Illustrator. Ms. Licata was right, they speed up everything.

I'm looking forward to next week!

Harry Potter

Just a quick video. How Harry Potter should've ended. I believe it's flash animation (but don't take my word for it).

Pixar

So, when it comes to animated movies, I'm not afraid to admit I'm a pretty big Pixar fan (with the exception of Cars, and especially Cars 2 - I will never see that movie, as to me, it does not exist). I've tried to get into things like the more recent Dreamworks movies, like How to Train Your Dragon (as I've heard really good things about it) but never got around to watching it.

I saw this a couple months ago when it was released online. It's a teaser for Pixar's next movie, and I figured it would be a good first clip to show on this blog. It looks absolutely fantastic, and could possibly be a bit darker (not PG-13 territory, obviously, but just more of an action tale). The film is called Brave, and comes out next June.

Rambling

So I don't have the rubric in front of me, so I'm sorry if our first post(s) were supposed to be from it, but judging by everyone else's I think they were just supposed to be A post. So I'm gonna make another couple random ones (especially since I've always tried to do blogs, but always grew uninterested as I never had an audience).

So the name of my blog? I've always sucked with them, and there's a good chance it'll change. It already did once (from the simple placeholder of "Animation").

I've really been enjoying Boces. The bus ride to and from is pretty enjoyable (quiet, peaceful, etc.) although our school is being pretty stupid when it comes to once we get back to the school (see Haley's blog). And of course, the class is enjoyable too, even if I already know a lot of what we've covered (Mac basics, the difference between byte through terabyte is, actually I knew a lot on that computer sheet).

Speaking of that computer sheet, if there's one thing you'll learn from reading this, it's that I'm a tech nerd. I'm also heavily into pop culture, and try to watch as many critically acclaimed television shows/movies as I can, but technology is my main area of expertise.

I'm a bit of a gamer, too, not a huge one though. I've never gotten into FPS, I'm more into RPGs and adventure games. Also, like Enya, I'm a fan of the Zelda series (in fact, my friend Julian (back in Newfane) and I can't wait for Nov. 20th, when Skyward Sword comes out), and I also still enjoy a good Mario game from time to time. As far as RPGs go, I honestly can't point one out because I haven't been gaming as much. I really don't even have a console from this generation (I really need to get an Xbox). I can say that I want to get one by the end of the year for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (an RPG).

Yeah, I ramble. Anyway, before I end this post (and I probably won't post again til Monday), instead of talking about 9/11, I'm going to share this video with you, now almost 10 years old. It's from The Daily Show, a show most of you have probably seen, and the first show they did after 9/11. It's about 8 minutes long, but it's an incredible video. I found it about two years ago, and looked it up again earlier today.

Have a good weekend everyone.

First

First week, first post.

Half of us were here on my first day, Tuesday, since a lot of schools hadn't started yet. All we did was watch a documentary, Waking Sleeping Beauty, which was interesting enough. Wednesday was our tour of Boces and just talking about the class and Boces in general, and today, we finished up talking about guidelines for the class and have moved on to talking about Gmail, Calendar, Reader, etc., all of which I already have and use.

But I'm really enjoying the class so far. I definitely look forward to it everyday. Anyway. This posts will definitely follow a better rubric after this one. Just trying to find my feet.