Whoops, it's that irresponsible child again!

The idea that time management is imperative to continuing is constantly being hammered into my head, and yet, for no reason, I can’t listen. It always seems everything’s happening at once, but in reality, it’s that I’m making up excuses for myself and usually can’t focus unless under extreme circumstance. I’m expecting a 0 for this week’s blog assignments, as I neglected the time frame, so I’m still writing this as an excuse to feel better about it. I’ve learned that I should likely search for help on this topic, but also that I can crank out a flipbook in 20 hours. (Was it okay?) I hope to learn from my mistakes in the near future, but also to kick the habit of procrastinating and eating when I’m bored. I never fail to frustrate myself, and today I found myself staring blankly at a wall for a whole hour in seething anger, and earlier I spent 5 hours on a sketch that could’ve taken half an hour had I not been watching the Game Grumps play BOTW. I suppose Zomorodi was right that social media is constantly waging a war for our attentive eyes. The sweet lull of sleep brings me happiness, but also the fact that my birthday party this year will be my own to plan is quite the kicker. I’m also getting new piercings in the tail end of October, so that’s something I’m looking forward to! The weekly link of interest is of the creator of hit detective-murder-mystery game “Danganronpa” on how to create charming characters.

The Intricacies of Pixar's Cannibalistic Crew

Pixar’s “Wall-E” instantly became a children’s classic after its release in 2008, with its quirky protagonist, a recycling robot of whom the movie title is given. The intricacies of this film- from the plot’s heavy-handedness on the effects of materialism, to the economic and environmental destruction of the earth- gives us an idea of how hopeless life becomes if we don’t pay attentive mind to our actions. 10 years later, we as students are tasked with pulling apart the movie, not for educational value in terms of historical context and effect, but instead as a hearty swing into the properties of animation. Here we will evaluate 6 of the 12 present principles outlined.

I found the staging of this film to be amazing at pointing out different moods and emotions, as well as dealing with how the audience may or may not react to these situations.

Such is shown in the opening scene, as we pan across a barren wasteland we are quick to discover is Earth. Wall-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-class) is the last of his robo-kind on Earth, and due to this, he’s developed a sensible loneliness. The beginning scenes portray the desolation left due to human carelessness, and yet when we enter Wall-E’s home, he’s portrayed as beyond optimistic, playing 1950’s era films, nearly a century in the past, seeing what Earth was like back then. Before he was needed. When he meets EVE, they fiddle with a lighter, and the flame from it represents the emerging relationship between them. The staging and composition of this movie is beyond professional, as it accurately and effortlessly portrays emotions simply through utilizing the psychological effects of color and spacing.

The property of Follow-through and Overlapping animation is imperative to creating organic motion, and this movie nails it with small and big details throughout its runtime. When Wall-E wakes up, it’s clear that he’s tired due to how his arms dangle on the ground, following his body as the main motion. When EVE locks up after scanning the plant, she is dragged by the string of lights Wall-E has, and EVE is following through as she’s hovering, being pulled along.

Exaggeration is extremely important to any film or animation, as, without it, it’s left bland and emotionless. This exaggeration is conveyed through the characters designs, with EVE being more simple yet expressionate, and Wall-E having big, puppylike eyes, making him seem more trustworthy. This ties into appeal as well, but that’s for another paragraph. The quick-draw emotion showed by EVE when whipping out her gun at the slightest sound also lets us know she isn’t keen to annoyance and acts on impulse. The exaggeration of the Axiom passengers’ obesity also shows how the underlying tones of materialism and simplicity of this movie play into its core message.

Solid drawing is crucial in the way it aids in making your animations look organic. The way things move in this film makes it easier for the viewer to believe and enjoy the content being presented. The plantlife sways when moved, the Captain moving around in interest, Wall-E’s head tilts and EVE’s worry and frantics, asymmetrical human postures, EVE’s gun, and the fire extinguisher in space are all good examples of solid drawing.

Events and dialogue are timed well enough here to give the viewer just enough sense of danger, sadness, reconciliation or empathy to relate to the scene at hand. Some examples include the first dust storm, when Wall-E enters his humble abode seconds before impact, leaving us with a climax of worry and anticipation, and when the passengers of the Axiom slowly realized their current situation and surroundings and planned accordingly with their actions. The captain’s rebellion against Auto and his line of “I wanna live!” convey strong will and passion, leading the viewers to side with the captain.

Arcs also help in avoiding rigidity while animating, and they’re employed constantly throughout the movie. Some examples include the Captain jumping on Auto during the short yet successful rebellion, EVE’s movements, and the cleaner’s freedom from the lines in order to clean the foreign contaminant.

All in all, The principles of animation are the building blocks to a concise finished product, and the strike of appeal they bring helps give it a nice shine and some character. Use these in harmony with color, shape and line, and you’ll have a masterpiece in no time.

If you’ve heard of Film Theory, here’s a video done by Matthew Patrick on the morality of the food quality on the Axiom.

Ari's Weekly Ramblings!!

I’ll use this part of the assignment as an excuse to vocalize my feelings! I’m unsure if that was your goal, Ms. Licata, but here it goes anyway! This week in O/N BOCES Animation, we studied the 12 principles of animation, color harmony, design principles, and analyzed a Pixar movie under the scope of the 12 PoA. Although drowsy through and through, I thoroughly enjoyed the majority of this week! My favorite was breaking down the intricacies of Pixar’s Wall-E and picking apart the creative elements of the process. The creative team was really attentive to color schemes, shapes, emotions, and visual cues during the production. I found myself adoring how organically E.V.E moved, despite her being a mechanical AI somehow capable of questionable emotion. In the future of this class, I hope to learn how to incorporate my visual style efficiently into 2D animation. I humbly believe the flipbook assignment will prove helpful in this, but I know there are definitely bigger mountains to climb and more bountiful creative valleys to explore. The single thing that frustrated me during the course of the week was my attentiveness to details on timing. I procrastinate a LOT, and I seem to do my best work when sliding riiiiight under the deadline, but, then again, when have I ever done anything before the day of the due date? This caught up to me when it came to the Color Harmony assignment. I had forgotten to pack the design principles files into my USB drive (let’s call her Wanda,) and therefore my head hit the pillow and the next thing you know I’m late for school and also severely unprepared. I don’t get anxious about these things, as they don’t usually slap me in the face for neglecting them. Things come and pass, and if I’m late on something, it's not a big deal; it’s just something I need to work on. I was excited to show off my skills with the 2D Character assignment, and I’m glad I was able to put my heart into it, albeit again very last-minute. I wasn’t late with it, though!

Down below, there's a link to a wonderful person's lessons on what to avoid to not totally tank your art drive. Thanks, Robin Clonts, for your wacky personality and your lovely attitude.
 6 Ways to Kill Your Art Drive

Zomorodi Response

In the technological uprise of the 21st century, we often find ourselves floundering around to simply occupy ourselves. Just now, I checked my phone, and I'm beginning to think it's an act of impulse. We've been coerced into connecting flashing dots to new events and messages. That, along with the tingling need of our minds to just do something simpler is always beckoning.

Our journalist friend and mother, Manoush Zomorodi, dives deep into the problem that recreational technology brings, and explains the psychological connections it has to boredom, our creativity, and productivity. She hosts a podcast in which she hit a wall whilst brainstorming ideas for the next session. She wanted to bring in new viewers and explore interesting topics, but her mind was shooting blanks. The emptiness presented itself so prominently that Zomorodi began digging up her mental past and traveling back to the last time she had an original, creative idea.

She became a mother around the time that the legendary iPhone came into the market, and so instead of exploring the endless creative possibilities of the piece of technology, she was preoccupied tending to her child. The third month in, she found herself feeling rejuvenated and prepared, and so she finally got her hands on the tech. It ended up, to nobody’s surprise, being nothing more than a distraction. When she wasn’t caring for her kid, she was mindlessly scrolling through media. She states that the companies that host the media are constantly at odds, pining for your attention. The goal of Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat are indeed to act as an escape for some people, but it ends up as an enigmatic mess of time-wasting. Just today, I sat down to work on art and schoolwork and pulled up youtube for background noise. 4 hours later, I caught myself binge-watching Shameless on Netflix with nothing but a single sketch done. The mind river that big media corporations create often suck you in and keep you in the flow for way longer than you intend.

Zomorodi began a project entitled “Bored and Brilliant," an effort to combat these compulsive acts. The task was simple enough- distance yourself from your phones. The project seemed to be a wild success, with tons of stories of those freed from their ball-and-chain scrolling lifestyle and how sprouts of boredom birthed creativity in their hearts, but the data showed on average that only 6 minutes of time was captured from the technology. The scientists reassured her that to be able to make this much progress in a week was a daunting but spectacular task. The conclusion she came up with is that creativity is locked behind boredom and the new-age technology is only hindering us when it comes to advancing as individual thinkers.

As someone who seemingly needs distractions, I wish I could say I didn’t need to rely on technology. I’d like to build a platform on social media in order to ensure a future for myself through making connections online, but I see through the veil of my mind sometimes that I’m doing too much (or too little) too fast. I see that I could only honestly benefit from a challenge presented similarly as Zomorodi’s.

The reflections we can make from this TED talk is that we need to be more conscientious of how we utilize our time. In this world, we’ve got a lot to learn from one another. Hopefully, we can use technology in harmony with our good intentions and thoughts to bring about a better society.

post post post maybe 1?

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly, all experience hath shewn that mankind is more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies, and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts:
John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

New York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

Maryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton