Study Task 5- Social Media Pro Page

Social Medias I use : 

Instagram

I use this for my art and I also have a social account. 

Tumblr

This I mainly use for fanart and other things like that. 

Pintrest

I use this to create boards of references for art and fashion.

Twitter

LAUAN502 Study Task 2, SWOT

Linked In.

I use this for business connections. 

I should make professional accounts on: 

Twitter

Tumblr 

Maybe Patreon

I feel I should maybe consider making a website so that I can update what I am doing with my work. I am fortunate that I know someone who can build websites so I plan on asking for their help.

I also feel like I need to make more professional accounts, a Twitter account would be good. 
I would also like to make a plan where I upload a piece of art to my Instagram at least once a week, maybe even twice as this will help boost my popularity. I need to be more active online and build more of an audience. 

Study Task 4 - Networking

A List of Networking Opportunities

WEBSITES

1. Instagram.
2. Tumblr
3. Patreon
4. Linked In
5. Twitter

Real Life opportunities

1. Manchester Animation Festival.
   
2. Cardiff Animation Festival
3. Internships
4. Meet Ups
5. Seminars- Talk with the speakers.

Study Task 2 - Personal SWOT Analysis

My Page.

Page done by Leah and Emily. 

Study Task - 

Strengths: 

Character Design. - I love character design, and doubt I will ever stop  working on my abilities to draw new characters. But I will keep researching into ways to better my skills, whether that be books or the internet. 

Digital Artwork. - I work mainly digitally, but I would like to learn more about the programs so I will look into tips and tricks online.

Keeping on track -  I do feel I am rather good at handing work in on time. 

Weaknesses - 

Confidence - I am incredibly shy and feel I need to speak to more people to boost my confidence. 

3D - I need to look into the software. 

Traditional Drawing. - I'm to messy and need to practice. 

Study Task 1 - Who am I? The sequel.

Things I've learnt so far : 

1. Generally how to animate, prior to our first year I didn't really have a clue. 

2. The 12 principles of animation. 

3. How to properly create a t-pose page. 

4. How to properly create a character. ~ Shapes and guides etc.

5. Frame rates and how many frames we should be using.

Thing's I want to learn more about:

1. Lip syncing. 

2. Background design. 

3. How to use the recording room system. 

4. Saving work. 

5. Life drawing. 

Strengths? 

1. Character design.

2. 2D animation 

3. Digital art 

4. Drawing cartoons. 

5. Shading digitally. 

Things I need to Improve?

1. My ability to traditionally draw on paper. 

2. Anatomy when it comes to drawing people. Mine is all over the show. 

3. Realistic drawing

4. Time management. 

5. Working with others.

Practitioners that demonstrate my interest in Animation?

1. http://drawings.pernilleoe.dk/ ~ Pernilleoe

2. http://snarkies.tumblr.com/ ~ Miranda Yeo

3. Carlos Grangel

4. Lynne Naylor

5. Kevin Dart

Resources that demonstrate your areas of interest within the creative industries?

1.  http://www.skwigly.co.uk/

2.  https://animationresources.org/illustration/

3. http://www.11secondclub.com/

4. https://characterdesignreferences.com/

5. http://disneybooks.blogspot.co.uk/

Miraculous Ladybug

Miraculous Ladybug.

A French animated TV show, with one of the best CGI animations made I've seen for a television show. The characters are lovably and have strong personality's. The designs are unique and well done, and generally the show is just pleasing to watch.
Following Adrien Agrest a teen model/super hero (chat Noir), and Marinette Dupain Cheng and awkward clumsy girl/super hero (Ladybug). We follow there daily lives and what they get up to in the city of Paris. Usually this involves thwarting Hawkmoths plans to take there miraculous'es, which are the devices that let the transform into super heros.
Another aspect of the story is very romanced based, now stay with me as this may become rather confusing, Adrian/Chat Noir is in love with Ladybug which is Marinette, which he is undenounced to him. Where are ladybug/Marinette is in love with Adrian which she doesn't know is actually Chat Noir. Somehow neither have realised who each other really are, which is very frustrating.

 Here is the trailor of the show, as you can see the animation is smooth and well done. (The show is not a musical, apart from one Christmas special). The characters designs are appealing and are very unique, and are given outfits that represent them, for example Marinette has Chinese inspired flowers on her shirt as she is half Chinese.

Why do cartoon characters wear gloves?

This is something I've asked my self serval times. And its nice to finally have an answer. In Vox 's video they explain exactly as to way a lot of our beloved characters wear these gloves.
This was mainly due to convenience for animators, during the early stages of animations the majority of characters where black and white, making it difficult to see details with characters, so adding gloves made them easier to see. Not only that due to them being so rounded and easier to see they meant less detail had to be drawn when creating them.  

Another reason, which is now not associated with the gloves is that of  minstrel shows. Something that was very relevant for the era. Now this is not associated with the shows at all, and are now just associated with that of cartoons in general.

I found this video to be really interesting as it answered a question I've often wondered about, I recommend giving this a watch as its very informative.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

I'm surprised that I hadn't made a post on this one sooner. Teenage mutant ninja turtles, classic, remade...and remade again. (And again). To narrow it down a little I'm going to discuss three versions of them, 1987, 2003 and 2012. The 2003 version is the one I resonate most with, due to it being the version I grew up with, I distinctively remember my sister shouting to turn the telly off on a Saturday morning as I was watching the turtles to loudly.
The story of the turtles is different from series to series, so to narrow it down, 4 turtles and a man/rat (depending on the version) get mutated by a chemical they call ooz. This turns them into humen-esk creatures that learn how to become ninjas from Splinter their adopted father the rat/human. They live in the sewer and eat a diet that consist of pizza.
The story of the show usually follows them fighting crime, whether that be Shredder or the Purple Dragons. The Purple Dragons are a gang that roam the streets of new York, whereas Shredders clan is a group on ninjas, and depending on the show they have different goals. 
One of my favourite things about this show, is the use of the voice actor Rob Paulson, as he is my favourite voice actor, voicing other characters like Yakko, Pinky, Danny Phantoms father etc... . Aside from that I love the characters personality's as each have very distinctive traits. Michelangelo being the crazy fun one, Raphael being angry and angsty, Leonardo being the leader and Donatello being the smart one.

1987

2012

2003

As you can see they have similarity's with each regeneration of the characters, but there are some noticeable differences. As time has gone by they've become much more goofy characters, compared with the 2003.

Gorillaz

Gorillaz.

Usually I'm not much of a band person, I do listen a lot of music, usually just individual tracks, Its rare for me too have a band that I like the majority of the music they produce. I think a reason for me to like this band so much is due to the animated elements of the band. The band consists of four members each being an animated character.

                                                Russel              Noodle              2-D             Murdoc


The characters have very distinctive looks, having almost monkey like features and other quirks of their own, for example Murdocs green skin or 2-D's lack of eyes...as I said distinctive. The characters have gone through some changes of the years, most notable that of Noodle. This is due to as time has past the characters have aged, which is a nice touch to the design.

The characters all have elaborate back stories and very distinctive personality's. Murdoc is a very forward dirty older man. 2-D is a little ditsy. Russel is protective, especially of Noodle, and Noodle is quite but feisty.

The band have been creating music since 2001, and continue to make music now, recently realising their new album Humanz.

Butter Lover

This, this ones a strange one. The animation its self is extremely well done. Its smooth, the rules of animation have been used well, and the character design is extremely well done. The storyline follows a cashiers getting suspicious of a man that repeatedly comes into the store asking to buy butter. Eventually the casher asks the guy why he wants so much butter, the answer is not what you'd expect it to be. There's good use of colour, and the voice acting is very well done, and is animated well.
The reason I wanted to make a post about this animation was mainly due to how strange the storyline really is, it intrested me, and I want awnser from this animation, that I'm unlikely ever to get. There may be a joke here that I am failing too see and realise, and If someone does know the joke I'd apprecaiate an explanation.

(Warning: use of swearing)

https://youtu.be/yKGeJXk2qWQ

Obituary - A Grave Beginning

This is a pilot episode realised back in July of 2016. The episode revolves around a young girl named June that lives in a grave yard, with ghosts only she can see. She lives alone after her parents die in an accident, making the ghost he only friends.
June decides to go to school, and the episode revolves around her making enemy's and friends. The comedy is surprisingly light, when it comes to the topic at hand.
The style of animation is very aesthetically pleasing. I like the way the movement is done, and the style of each character having some form of differentiating look them.
As there is only one episode there is not much I can say about this, but I do think it was very well done, and I hope that the animation will be continued.

The episode :

https://youtu.be/0l940bPkV1o

Steven Universe

Where to begin. Steven Universe is a beautifully animated tv show. The backgrounds are phenomenal the characters are visually appealing, and diverse and the plot is gripping.
Personally I found that season one is not my favourite as there is a lack of plot to it, which can make it seam boring, but I feel this was a good way to introduce us to each of the characters. The show follows a young boy named Steven, how lives with three aliens or Gems as they are referred to in the show. This due to them each having a gem assigned to them. The main gems of the show being, Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst.
We follow Steven as he learns more about the gems and how his relationship with them and his Mother and Father progress. Steven is a kind hearted, warm, bubbly and innocent child. He goes through highs and lows and learns lessons from his mistakes.
The show deals with some controversial topics, and does them incredibly well, its beautifully done, and touches on very sensitive subjects in a very mature and respectful way.

The Princess and the Frog

This beautiful animated film needs a blog post. Its fun, colourful, musical and a wonderful film for all ages. Following Tiana a young woman from New Orleans, making her way in the world. She works two jobs to save money to own her own restaurant. She dreams of being a chef, and will work until she achieves this goal.

Tiana is not the only protagonist in this film, Naveen Prince of Maldonia has been cut off by his parents, and decides to come to New Orleans to try and wo and marry the rich daughter of a barren. Who happens to be Tiana's best friend.

The both of them end up being turned into frogs after Naveen messes around with the Shadow man. They both end up going on an adventure to find away to return to being humans.
I absolute love this film, I find that its one of the most underrated Disney films, and needs more recognise to how good it actually is.

Coraline

I know in a prior post
I compared a film with a book, and yes i'm going to do it again. This time, I'm doing things a little differently though. I feel both film and book are equally as good as each other, in this case, aside from the book being a tad more scary to a young me. 

Coraline is the story of a young girl, that moves to a new house with her parents. Coraline finds a little door in her new home, which she crawls through and finds another version of her family with buttons for eyes.  The story is rather sinister but is extremely good, and gripping, as someone who has watched this film multiple times and each time I'm enthralled. The animation style is amazing, its done in stop motion, the style is beautiful, and unique for when it was made.

Star Vs The Forces Of Evil

                             Star Vs The Forces Of  Evil

Star vs the forces of evil, is a fun, colourful, crazy cartoon. Following a young princess from another dimension called Mewni. Her parents send her to earth so that she will learn how to properly act and behave in a civilized manner.  Arriving on earth she meets a boy named Marco, who she moves in with and becomes best friends with.

I love the development in this, each episode has star learning something new, and Marco either learning something for himself, or helping Star with her magic. There is a devours amount of characters, each have there own very distinctive design, for

example princes poney head, Hekapoo and Ludo.The show is bright, vibrant, and fun.

Animaniacs

Animaniacs

---

Animaniacs is one of my favourite cartoon shows, rivaling that of my love for gravity falls. The show follows three characters Yakko, Wakko and dot. Yakko being the oldest, Wakko the second oldest, and dot being the youngest.  The characters are absolutely insane and get into so many adventures and wild antics. The show its self is almost like that the warners (Yakko, Wakko and Dot) host a show, that airs cartoons. But the warners them selfs do have some amazing cartoons shows. Each episode has multiple cartoons in it, even the classic show Pinky and the Brain.
 

 Here are some of the character design sheets, showing the basic shapes used to create the design of the animaniacs. 

Rick and Morty

We all know Rick and Morty, if you don't, what are you doing? Rick and Morty cater too an older audience, I do not recommend showing this show to children.

Rick and Morty is a show of a Grandfather and grandson, going on outlandish adventures. Rick a drunk, grump, genius takes Morty across the galaxy for his own gain.

Rick is old selfish and a drunk. Morty is young, afraid and a bumbling idiot, lovably but a little bit stupid at times.




The show has three seasons, season three only coming out at the beginning 2017.  The show is incredibly vibrant, as amazing background design and detail, and the character design is very distinctive. I really love the character design, the way the eyes for example have been done, aren't like any other cartoon I have ever seen.  They don't use shading, adding to the simplicity to the design of the characters.  The design use very simple straight lines, and simple deigns for the clothing.

Scooby Doo

We all know and love the classic Scooby Doo cartoons, and this week i've spent a lot of time being nostalgic and re watching the classic series. Two reasons, I can now really appreciate the bad animation quality, and secondly the amazing story lines. Say what you like, the episodes always had you invested, whether that be solving the mystery or just for the comedic aspect of the show. 

I mean come on people, look at this madness. I want my dog to lift me up from the ground and fly through the air using only bin lids. Who doesn't want that? Jokes aside, you can see what I mean about animation quality and comedy mixed into one, the animation its self adds to the comedic aspect of the actual show in my opinion. 



Take this screen shot for example. 

Or this one below, Shaggy's face says it all. 
I mean seriously now. 















There is even a blog online dedicated to finding animation mistakes in the franchise..heres one of their posts. 
Blog :- 
https://scoobydoomistakes.tumblr.com/

Howls Moving Castel

 

This is my favourite film and my favourite book. As someone who has read the books to howls moving castle, my love for the film is extremely strong. I love that fact that the story is set in wales, as I am welsh, having such an amazing piece of art, that is based in my country really gives me a sense of pride. The fact that the story is based in wales isn't pressed in the film, but the book has a whole scene in which howl goes to wales. 

The difference between the film and the book are quite large, for example in the film there is a war going on and the whole premise of the story revolves around the war, and how howl is being summoned to go fight in this war. Where as the book doesn't actually focus on the war at all, if anything it is motioned in passing. The story follows more on Howls personal life, and how Sophie comes to terms with becoming an older woman. There is even more to do with Sophie's sisters, as they become much more of a part of the story. 

As the film was made by Studio Ghibli you already know that the animation is of phenomenal quality. The backgrounds area incredible as usually with a Ghibli feature, and each character is exceptionally good, and have such an amazing amount of personality. 

But, and I say this with difficultly as I love this film, I prefer the story from the book, over the story from the film. I would love to see a version of the film that follows the story of the book to the letter as that version of the story is amazingly well done. You learn so much more about the characters past and there personality, and you actually find out where the door leads and what howl does in his spare time, over it all being focused on war. Miyazaki finds war extremely interesting, which is why it is added to the film, you may notice a similar pattern in some of the other Ghibli films. 

Moster Mash

I've been doing some research on youtube regarding short films and stumbled across another short that I really like, its called 'I'm a monster'. It follows the life of a monster and his family planning to go on a holiday. 

The thing that drew me towards this animation in the first place, was the style, its got rather sketchy illustrations that I really love, the characters are different and lovable, and the colours used a fun and lighthearted.  The way the characters interact with each other is extremly well done, and I especially like the diversity in shape and size that where used when designing them.

The company that made this short, 'HEADLESS PRODUCTIONS' has worked on a lot of films and has done several other short films (expect more blog posts about them soon). 

Monkey Rag

Recently I stumbled across a really cute little animation. The style is lovely, and the character designs are gorgeous and the backgrounds are beautifully done. In other words I love it. The use of style is so well done in this, having such a bouncy sound track gave this animation so much life. The use of colour is amazingly well done, each complementing each other and the backgrounds.  I love the old fashioned look to this animation, as I am a massive fan of the 1950's this was right up my street. 

They was the animation has been made is really interesting, Joanna Davidovich the creator of the animation, made a behind the scene's.  Where she explains how she went about the animation process. She began by drawing the characters by hand on hundreds of pieces of paper, and then went on to add colour, sound and background digitally. 

 The characters she created for the animation are called Mitzi and Spanky, she designed and created them herself.  Here are some reference sheets for the both of them. 

 

Gravity Falls

This is Grunkle Stan

This show to me is the best thing to grace planet earth. I absolutely love this show. It full of mystery, full of comedy and the characters are all lovably.The show focuses on twins Dipper and Mabel pines, going to stay with their 'Grunkle Stan' who lives in a tiny town called Gravity falls in Oregon America.
The story begins with Dipper finding a journal in the woods, filled with the weird happenings of Gravity Falls. Dipper being an intuitive 12 year old, wants to learn more about the odd town, along side with Mabel, and a few others of the main cast, they go on  adventures to discover who wrote the journals and to discover the weird and supernatural.
The show is heavily based on mystery which I love, I've always been a fan of finding out the secrets and clues in shows. So due to this show having so much mystery it was right up my street. That and its sense of humor is sublime.
Most of the characters are based of real people, or are subtle references to real people. For example Dipper and Mabel are based off Alex Hirsch's (the creator of the shows) memory of what it was like to be a child, and his memory of his sister as a child.  Grunkle Stan is also based off of Hirsch's grandfather. Which is a lovely sentimental touch to the show.

There are so many references in the show, subtle hints to what the episodes are going to entail, and secret hints to upcoming events in the show.  For example this is a scene with Mabel running after someone, during the running senescence the sentence 'Goat and a Pig' are subtly placed in the background. Its cleverly hidden and well thought through which I find amazing.

Another part to the show that really pleases me is that there are a lot of scenes and reference connecting the show Twin Peaks to Gravity Falls. The use of the red room from Twin peaks appears in Gravity Falls as a restaurant. There are similarity in the opening theme and even a club that is similar to that of one in Twin Peaks.