Archive for the tag 'Animation'

Review: Wall-E

Penguin July 1st, 2008

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Rating: 4/4 stars

Wall-E is a delight. It’s about a little trash compactor robot that goes on a romantic journey. One of the best things about the film is the lack of dialogue. There will be long segments where all you hear our sounds. It’s just a great example of visual storytelling.

If you stay for the credits, you’ll be treated to a mini art history lesson epilogue followed by 8-bit renderings of the two main characters: Wall-E and Eve.

Go see it.

-Penguin

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Draw the Venture Brothers

Ninja June 24th, 2008

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Go Team Venture! One of my favorite shows on the Adult Swim lineup is The Venture Brothers. Each Sunday nite, I can be found cracking up on the couch while watching Doctor Venture and his family battle arch-villains.

On his blog, Jersey-based storyboard and design supervisor Stephen DeStefano gives a great tutorial series on how to draw the main characters. Learn how to draw the nerdy, teen heroes Hank and Dean, scragly Dr. Venture, and macho Brock. Thanks, Stephen!


+ Learn how to draw Hank and Dean


+ Learn how to draw Doctor Venture


+ Learn how to draw Brock Samson

Ah, if only he added a Dr. Killinger or Monarch tutorial, too!

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Video: Letterflow

Review: Egon & Donci

Penguin June 4th, 2008

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Rating: 1.5/4 stars

Egon & Donci is a free for download CG animated movie. It’s about a an amateur astronomer, Egon and his pet cat, who discover a “map” to Earth.

The animation is pretty good. There are some nice shots and good use of the medium. The scenes in space are beautiful, full of color and atmosphere. Unfortunately, that’s really all that’s good about it.

There are so many times where the film feels like a really long tech demo. The camera flies around a little too much. The plot is mainly just a vehicle to show off the environments and animation. It takes too long to start and by the time any tension or drama comes in, you’re kind of bored.

To download it for free, you have to sit through a short ad before the link is served.

One thing I really have to give to the filmmakers is their willingness to put almost everything online for download. I haven’t had a chance to go through it, but they made all the sound effects they used in the film online. There are also texture maps and cloud sequences.

-Penguin

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Short: The Water Shrew

Penguin June 2nd, 2008

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Faithful reader Chris sent me The Water Shrew, a CG animated short with some really cool action sequences.

The CG is really good. At first, I actually thought it was real. It became more noticeable once you see the animals moving.

Thanks, Chris!

-Penguin

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MUTO: An Ambiguous Animation Painted On Public Walls

Ninja May 22nd, 2008

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Blu’s wall painting creeps and morphs in Buenos Aires and Baden.

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Homer Simpson Drawn with CSS

Penguin May 4th, 2008

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CSS Homer, animated

The site is a little slow right now because of slashdot. It’s not complicated, but it’s pretty cool to see Homer drawn using letters and CSS.

-Penguin

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Video: Mandelbrot Set

Penguin May 4th, 2008

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Cute, but dorky, music video about fractals. Music by John Coultan, the guy who did “Still Alive”, the end song for Portal.

-Penguin

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Short: Jungle Jail

Penguin May 2nd, 2008

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Some really nice animation and clever editing. The story is enough to draw you in, but act 2 drags a bit.

-Penguin

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Short: Snow-bo

Penguin April 23rd, 2008

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The style reminds me of a cleaner version of animation from the 60s. My first thought was Fallout, a PC game that had a similar style.

The beginning of the 3rd act is really cute, but ends with a slight twist that I don’t quite understand.

-Penguin

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