Weekly Comments

What I learned this week: I learned I'm pretty horrible at pixilation.
What I want to learn in the future: How to not be completely awkward at everything.
Something that frustrated me: My pixilation sucks, in my opinion.
Something that made me happy: This is going to sound horribly pathetic, but not much has made me happy this week. It's been a rough one. I guess I'm glad it's over.

I don't feel well. Here's Tina Fey reviving her role as Sarah Palin.

8 Steps to Filming in the Winter

Three things I didn't know:
1. An emergency blanket can be great as a barrier between gear and the ground.
2. Underexpose your image when shooting outside.
3. Plastic bags will help keep your gear dry.

Two opinions:
1. Shooting in the snow absolutely sucks. It's so cold.
2. A lot of my video poem is set outside. So that should be interesting.

One question:
1. Where can you get high quality clear plastic bags for equipment?

Oz

Three things I didn't know:

1. A visual effects company contributed over 1,100 shots to Oz.

2. Even though it's a Disney film, Sony did the visual effects.

3. Designers from Alice in Wonderland worked on this film.

Two opinions:

1. This film looks a lot like Alice, so I can't say I'm surprised.

2. I'm not at all interested in this film. Maybe on DVD?

One question:

1. Is the sequel going to be a remake of the original Wizard of Oz?  (short answer: probably)

Weekly Comments

What I learned this week: Stress is the worst. The. Worst.
What I want to learn in the future: I've actually just started learning time management. I made a list this week, and am going to try to follow it. I'm counting this as the future, because I don't know if it'll work.
Something that frustrated me: I've been sick. I hate hate hate hate being sick.
Something that made me happy: I watched Spy Kids 3D with friends over the weekend at a party. That film? Biggest pile of crap. Also hilarious. There is absolutely no logic, and it is amazing.

Hey. Hey you. Yeah, you. Know what I'm doing right now?

I'm breaking the fourth wall.

This should be mostly appropriate. Watched it a couple days ago and I don't remember anything too bad.

Pixar's Senior Scientist

(Side note: The Verge is one of my favorite websites. I love these guys. Been with them literally since the day it launched. Seriously.)

Three things I didn't know:

1. Pixar has a senior scientist. Who knew?

2. Hair, cloth, fluids, and gaseous phenomena like clouds, smoke, and fire all have their own physics at Pixar.

3. Blender can do almost all the things Pixar's computers can do.

Two opinions:

1. I wish I was better at math. This stuff is just crazy. I haven't seen Brave, but the hair alone is amazing. We've gone so far from Toy Story to Brave.

2. Blender is kinda crazy. Wish I knew how to use it.

One question:

1. Why am I so bad at math?! :(

Blogging With Video

Three things I did not know:
1. It would take 72 hours to watch all the video uploaded to YouTube every minute. (Is this a copout? lulz)
2. Talking to a camera can be difficult, since the camera can't give you a response back.
3. Imagining you're talking to a imaginary person can help you overcome point number two.

Two opinions:
1. Most YouTube vlogs suck. Fo' real.
2. I've never really been able to stick with vlogs. The closest I've come is Jeremy Jahn's YouTube channel, where he reviews movies and sometimes talks about his opinion on certain (movie/TV show related) news.

One question:
1. Why do people think other people care about their thoughts? Unless you're really funny or have an interesting view on life, we don't. Sorry.

Weekly Comments

What I learned this week: How to pick up a high A on a sound board without getting a shrill noise from the microphone.
What I want to learn in the future: More time management. I'm pretty bad at it.
Something that frustrated me: I'm getting sick, as I always do after musical.
Something that made me happy: Musical was great. Seriously.

So since the musical was this week, I haven't been able to find many videos that went viral. So instead, here's one of my favorite songs from our musical, Oklahoma. It's not my top song (that's probably Kansas City), but it's in my top three.

Indian Visual Effects Artist

Three things I didn't know:
1. Two of the biggest VFX companies have declared bankruptcy in the past six months.
2. A lot of their work is being outsourced to countries like India.
3. Sometimes Indian VFX artists have to work for months without pay.

Two opinions:
1. These work conditions are disgusting.
2. The guy who wrote this seems cool. I'm glad he was able to take a route that made him happy in life, even if he made less working freelance.

One question:
1. Why do people put up with this?

Visual Effects

Three things I didn't know:
1. Hollywood had yet another record breaking year last year. Makes sense - The Avengers alone was huge.
2. Subsidies are ruining the VFX industry.
3. Cheaper labor in foreign countries is also harming the industry as a whole.

Two opinions:
1. I watched the Oscars. Cutting off someone who is essentially losing their jobs? Kind of a crappy thing to do to someone. Especially when they had musical numbers from Chicago and Dream Girls in there for no good reason.
2. Ang Lee is a jerk for not mentioning the FX people who worked on the film in his speech. From what I've heard, the effects in that film are the majority of the reason to see it.

One question:
1. Why do the Oscars give so much time to things that don't deserve it.

Weekly Comments

What I learned this week: Time management. Rather, how horrible I am at time management.
What I want to learn in the future: How to wake up at 4 in the morning for Tuesday. That's gonna be rough.
Something that frustrated me: I'm way behind on our next project. Gonna have to pull a miracle on this one.
Something that made me happy: BAGELS! Also, our freaking play is done! I'm so, so excited for this thing to happen.

So, this is a week or two old at this point, but it's still awesome. The Verge, one of my favorite blogs, got an exclusive hands-on with Google Glass, which I want pretty much more than anything. The video is super well put together. Check it out.

Filmmaking Tips from Disney

Three things I didn't know:
1. You should never throw away bad work.
2. Look for asymmetry - symmetry is boring.
3. Don't replicate your idols.

Two opinions:
1. I think the tip "don't replicate your idols" may be the most important in that article.
2. Disney is starting to grow on me as a company. The Avengers was great, and the upcoming films in that series are all directed by awesome people who have worked on awesome things. Plus, Star Wars.

One question:
1. What does the article mean by "explore all your possibilities in thumbnails"?

Motion Capture

Three things I did not know:
1. Andy Serkis will be involved in creating a new film studio called The Imaginarium.
2. That studio will also teach people the art of motion capture.
3. That studio is working on a new Animal Farm movie. I love that book.

Two opinions:
1. Motion capture definitely helps CGI look more believable.
2. That said, give me real effects over CGI any day of the week.

One question:
1. Why is Serkis the only notable motion capture name? Because when I think MC, I tend to think of Andy Serkis.