The Millenial Rebuttal

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(I saw a nice video shared around the interwebs so I thought I'd like to share its message.) Millenials are of people born in the late 1900s who are growing up during the 2000's

      The Me Me Me generation. "Millinennials are lazy, entitled narcissists who still live with their parents." "They'll save us all" They say we are the selfie generation, and that we are lazy with no work ethics. Apathetic and willfully ignorant. They say we are too attached to our technology. Yet we see this technology doing remarking things the past generations couldn't dream of. Apperently we're all easily distracted by the next best thing.

We're consumed by our shallow social lives, yet we share great ideas faster than ever before by shooting links through facebook and twitter.

      They say we put no value on human connection and always taking pictures of our food.

     We can't put down our phones. (Even though the media gets a good heads up to big stories to cover thanks to cell phone coverage) 

      They say we think the world revolves around us and we're disconnected from our loved ones. They say we're never content and don't agree with everything the older generation say. 

My favorite reaction from  people are:

      Some are quick to shoot down communicating and living on the internet. "Go outside and do something!" we hear. "Go talk to someone face to face. have a real conversation. You can't fall in love over the internet. make a real connection." When I hear this my mind immediately goes back in time and wonders, ..what would they say that someone in the 1600's who fell in love over correspondence and love letters. Sending love notes back and forth over and over for years with out meeting! Would they say THAT isn't real love? That their bond is less than someone who actually has a face to face conversation like today?

      I think people are just afraid of change. Plato said that writing would make people dumber. If people learned to write that they will less incline to remember things. Why remember knowledge when you can write it down for later. Maybe he just didn't understand how great writing would be for us down the line..

      So for who ever gets put down for listening to "trash" and hovering over their phone all day, don't worry about it. It is proven time and time again that when people don't understand something, they attack it and or fear it. Say to them, "Get over it. You left us with a shit world, so we will do what we want with it." :)

We understand you care..

We care too..

Lol

Animation 101: REACTIONS

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Reactions should be communicated with CLARITY

      Anticipation is the one of the most important animation principles that plays a main

role in bringing life to a character. In general we use the term to express a waiting of the next move. I would like to bring to attention a less talked about term: the 'reaction'. This might not be a technical foundation of animation but it is essential to an entertaining performance. In the 'reaction' of a character is where the personality of a character can show. A well rounded animator must not only learn how to prepare the audience for an action, but also to relieve them with a reaction.  

      Your animated characters reaction to an action that follows an anticipation will let your audience know how to react. You can notice characters in cartoons using extreme anticipation to engage into a powerful action, such as a sudden run, or hitting with an axe, or playing golf. And then contrast the action with a subdued reaction usually drawing laughter from the crowd. Droopy was one such character whos personality was a superb contrast to over exaggerated actions. Exaggeration is a common factor incorporated in anticipation and reaction. The same can be said with underplaying an anticipation and reaction. Being aware of your characters reaction is essential to creating believable performances in animation which is appealing and enchanting to the viewers eye. 

"Danny we already know this!"

Great, then I go move on to my point. CLEAR REACTIONS! A piece of work lives and dies with the viewer. One will notice pieces of art live longer when they are clear. While the viewer quickly grows uninterested with the messier unclear ones. Clear reactions can resonate with your viewer and leave a lasting impression. A good example of clear poses that relate to the viewers are memes. They are universal and easily recognizable no matter how specific the emotion being depicted is. Take a look at a small collection I have gathered here from the internet. You might recognize some of them.

 

 

 

      These are some awesome expressions that have been shared around the internet hundreds of thousands of times. if you are ever in need of a specific expression look no further! Memes are here to save the day! I mean it, I often reference memes if I'm ever in a bind or need inspiration. 

(quick tip: never go look for help from something generally accepted from the art world, Look for things that resonate with thousands of people on the internet. There will be something about it that makes it connect better. Its up to you to figure out what that x-factor is and use it to your advantage!)

Below I found some memes that can maybe be considered anticipation to something the character might say. They are clear and sometimes exaggerated! (such as the table flip ...which I'm afraid I'm guilty of doing here and there) 

   

   

 

This post is a grossly simplified overview of reactions, but I hope it plants a seed so that you can start to see this concept in a new light. I hope you all enjoyed it and I look forward to doing more posts. Continue to draw, continue to learn!

Disney Characters in Real Life

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     I came across these images a while ago and I have tried to search for the artist with out success. (EDIT: found him! Harry Mcnally ) I thought these are too interesting to not share so here you go! When you look at them just don't think, "That's nice.." but try to figure out why you like the photos (if you even do like them)

      Is it that the B&W make the colors pop, is it the contrast of flat characters in 3D backgrounds, is it that their expressions are so well drawn that we accept them in a realistic setting.. all of the above? Or is this artist a Photoshop hack that was just looking for quick attention? What ever your opinion or thought, its all right. I'm just asking you to have one :)