Still Life Drawing Lesson 1

Today was our first class for Life Drawing and instead of having a model for the lesson, it was just objects. I liked the lesson because our tutor, Vikki, kept reminding us to "get loose" when drawing. Having said that, I got contented way to quickly with my drawing because I had no experience to life drawing before and did not know the expectations.  I started off using charcoal which was not such a smart move to begin with. I was not able to rub off and had to draw over it. Prior to completng my first piece, I realised I had no room for the skull :( I guess I did not make use of the space I had very well.

In my second attempt to draw from the same perspective and with a little bit of guidance from Joey, I managed to come up with the following drawing. I learnt from my first drawing not to start off with charcoal right away so I began with pencil before tracing it over with an 8B and charcoal afterwards. This is so much better compared to the first one because I was able to fit the things I see right before me onto this piece of paper.

Before we ended the lesson, we played the game consequences. We were given 3 minutes to draw and once the time is up, we went over to the drawing on our left to draw on theirs. These were the outcomes after the four rounds.

This is my canvas and the bottom left hand corner was what I started off.

I drew the trees on this one

The extreme right drawing was what I did

I drew the benches at the bottom right 

In summary, I am glad that I finally got the exposure to life drawing and I hope to improve over time with constant practice :)

Cinematic Spaces Online Greenlight Review

Online Greenlight Review by Ayunie Djohar

Cinematic Spaces: Metropole Thumbnails (54 - 69)

Here's my last set of black and white thumbnails before I go on to adding colours to it. I am liking 54, 65 and 67. The common thing between these three thumbnails is the perspective which I particularly favour. 

Cinematic Spaces: Metropole Thumbnails (29 - 53)

Here's my third set of thumbnails. I went to read the book excerpt again and to see if I have missed out on any interesting visual scene that potentially could lead to my key thumbnails. My thumbnails from 29- 32 are abstract ones where I try to combine all the elements of the story on to an image. I like #32 as it reflects when my main character was experiencing and he's tearing because he was lost in this unknown city. The other thumbnail that I see potential in is #50 where the interior of the church is heavily decorated with paintings and statues.

Introduction to Autodesk Maya- Modelling (Geometry Types)

I went back into Maya to finish my cups and I finally got it on how to model using subdivs. Afterwards. I had a go by adding a blinn material and adjusted the transparency settings for the cups. In addition to that, I added lighting to the scene and it turns out pretty fine I am quite satisfied with this outcome. :)

Animation Lesson 2- Morphing

Today in Animation class, our main theme for the lesson was morphing. We started of the lesson by playing the game called consequences. Here are the works produced by Damyn, Rosalyn, Josh and myself.  I find amused and impressed by the works produced. I would never be able to produce the end product all by myself.

We started off with a circle and morphed to the image below.

After we had that up, we morphed it to another character as per below.

Great teamwork and communication amongst my teammates led us to produce this great result.  Enjoy!

Master Studies

This is my first go at Master Studies. The original work is from Samuel John Peploe, a Scottish Post- Impressionist Painter. This piece of art is called  Iona Landscape: Rocks. Observing the colours of his work, I tried my own version of it. I found it a challenge to match the colours because when I thought it was a shade of blue, it was actually a tinge of purple in it. When painting, I find myself using mostly 2 colours from the colour wheel that are complementary to each other.

Perspective Research

One Point Perspective

When an object is drawn with one point perspective in mind, it means the object is drawn from its frontal view. The object’s height and width are parallel to the picture plane. Picture plane refers to the area the object is drawn on. An example of a picture plane is simply a piece of paper The front view that you see has no depth but the sides and either the top or the bottom that is extended into to picture forms an illusion of depth. 

Figure 1: One Point Perspective

Two Point Perspective

In two-point perspective, the object is drawn at an angle. The two corners of the object as as seen from Figure 2, will lead towards the vanishing points. Unlike one point perspective, the height is parallel to the picture plane and the width will converge towards the horizon, which is also known as the eye level. This perspective is only achievable with the presence of two vanishing points at both ends of the horizon.

Figure 2: Two Point Perspective

Three Point Perspective

Similar to a two-point perspective, an object drawn with three-point perspective in mind has an additional vanishing point depending on how the object is viewed. If it viewed from low angle, the additional vanishing point will be at the top. If it is from a high angle, the vanishing point will be at the bottom of the image.

Figure 3: Three Point Perspective

List of Illustrations:

Figure 1 One Point Pespective [Still Image] at http://www.technologystudent.com/images/persp4.gif accessed on 2 October 2013

Figure 2 Two Point Pespective [Still Image] at http://www.technologystudent.com/designpro/twopers1.htm accessed on 2 October 2013

Figure 3 Three Point Pespective [Still Image] at http://www.needlepoint.org/Archives/perspective/three-point.jpg accessed on 2 October 2013

Space Oddities Film Programme - Metropolis (1927)

Figure 1: Movie Poster

Metropolis (1927) directed by Fritz Lang began by depicting an army of workers walking in a synchronised manner against a backdrop of a city that is situated deep beneath the surface of the earth. The workers were dressed alike and what could be seen was synchronised walking and their postures with heads down projected their feeling of sadness and desperation. This is just an example from one of the scenes that depicted the situation that was happening in German at that time. What Lang wanted to put across having these workers were physically and emotionally drained because all they do is follow orders from the higher authorities also known as the thinkers.  This was articulated very well by Roger Ebert when he said “Lang's film is the summit of German Expressionism, with its combination of stylized sets, dramatic camera angles, bold shadows and frankly artificial theatrics.” (Ebert, 2010) in his review on this film.

Joh Fredersen was the mastermind behind the city and controls how it functions by giving commands to the workers who executes it. The film showed that the workers were laboured to work in a monstrous machine and the were just like the machines, functioning as they were told. As quoted by Brigitte Helm who played the role of Maria “ One man’s hymns of praise became the other man’s curse” (Helm, 1927). Conversely, the meaning behind this statement was that the admiration of the human spirit and the  hard work of the workers were not of the same frequency as they did not know what the final outcome would be. Their voice were not heard until the evil Maria came and preach to them telling them that their time has come to stop working for the higher authorities and be independent. The workers along with their wives heeded her advice and turned the city into a chaotic mess not realising the effect of their actions. Their homes and children down under were affected because heavy flood engulfed their city. The whole scene as described by Hall is agreeable when he said “Its scenes bristle with cinematic imagination, with hordes of men and women and astounding stage settings.” (Hall, 1927)

Comparing Metropolis (1927) with Das Cabinet Des Caligari (1920), it could be seen that the use of special effects elevated in a matter of less than a decade. The shots were more realistic and believable in Metropolis but the exaggerated acting remain unchanged. The use of electromagnetic energy current in the scene where Maria’s physical features were transferred to the Machine Man was a great scene. It showed the mad scientist, Rotwang, at work and there was the use of symmetry in that shot making it a balance scene as seen in Figure 2. A few balanced shots were also noticeable when Rotwang is in his lab, executing his experiment.

Figure 2: Still Image

In most shots, the camera was at a fixed position but in one of the scenes, there was a variation in the camera action when Freder’s point of view was used instead. In Figure 3, it is an image to show how it was shot.  Lang added this interesting element because had it been a fixed camera position when Freger was reaching for Maria’s scarf that he found in the room with no knobs, the emotions that the audience felt would be different compared to when it was his point of view. The camera shake that Lang also used in later part of film to show how the characters felt when the building crumbled was another example of him trying various camera action.

Figure 3: Behind the scene

In addition to that, Lang’s vision of the future city was possible with the use of miniatures and the extension of the set. The shot was from a low angle to show the city in a person’s point of view and the tall buildings architectures. There was a straight on view, like a helicopter view of the city. This was only possible with the help of the miniature set built. If it had not been for this miniature, this city would not have existed because it was the futuristic thought that Lang had that was turned into reality. Abrams seems to be right when he said “Lang's film defies rational dissection at every turn, drunk on the possibilities of exploring a new world defined by its creator's loftiest aspirations, petty jealousies, and domineering hubris.” (Abrams, 2010) Likewise in the blockbuster movie Lord of the Rings sequel, the tower of guard which is also known as Minas Tirith was built because Peter Jackson, the director wanted to bring the author, J. R R.Tolkien’s imagination to life.

Figure 4: Miniature construction of the city in Metropolis

Figure 5: Miniature construction of Minas Tirith in Lord of the Rings

This movie is very influential that not only did it infected the cinema world but also the music industry. Popstars like Madonna made a music video portraying herself as the Babylon as can be seen in Figure 3 and Beyonce had a performance dressing like the Machine Man’s character. It can obviously be seen that they got their inspiration directly from the film.

Figure 6: Still image from the movie (left) Still image from music video (right)

Figure 7: Still image from the movie (left) Photograph from Beyonce's performance (right)

In conclusion, the film is a joy to watch because the visual creative ideas of the set and characters from blockbusters like Blade Runner, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars was heavily influenced by this movie. A quote from a film reviewer Lee sums up the movie perfectly by saying “Eighty-three years on, his (silent) vision remains impressive: the sheer scale of the sets, the rampaging cast of thousands, the ground breaking special effects all still dazzle. An eternal masterpiece.” (Lee, 2010) The underlying message that Lang also wanted to convey is completely applicable in today’s context. The connection between the influential people and the people who dedicated and favoured these people are almost in absence but with the help of the main lead who becomes the mediator, were able to resolve the issue. The tagline of it was “The mediator between the head and the hand is the heart.”

List of Illustrations:

Figure 1 Metropolis (1927) [Poster] at http://images.moviepostershop.com/metropolis-movie-poster-1926-1020433586.jpg accessed on 1 October 2013

Figure 2 Metropolis 1927 [Sci-fi] Full Movie [Television Programme Online] B&W Full Movies [1927] 150 minutes at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4rI__TRvcY accessed on 1 October 2013

Figure 3 Behind the scene [Still Image] at http://100ans.cinematheque.fr/100ans20092010/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/106321.jpg accessed on 1 October 2013

Figure 4 Miniature set construction of the city in Metropolis [Still image] at https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ1uXevGZqmE40HPP2DP5k-2iAxZfX8LS1fKXAkzLtwAQVYXR5OG1igPLvx2F6LgC0f6RZf5dvM-XQpXAPsu5JpgZyQ29kSmWEs-lvKrEqnS0SOqUN4oe0jvq7dmyeuGW13ZVOHlOUSDnb/s1600/07_metropolis_miniatures.jpeg on 1 October 2013

Figure 5 Miniature set construction of Minas Tirith [Still image]  at http://www.wetanz.com/assets/Uploads/MinasTirithCitadelMini.jpg on 1 October 2013

Figure 6 Maria [Still image] at http://i0.wp.com/vigilantcitizen.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/metro45.jpg accessed on 1 October 2013

Figure 6 Madonna - Material Girl Official Music Video [Television Programme Online] QueenMadonnaHD (1984) 4 minutes at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNSUOFgj97M [Still image] accessed on 1 October 2013

Figure 7 Machine Man and Beyonce's performance [Still Image] at http://www.thedoggstar.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/beyoncerobot2.jpg accessed on 1 October 2013

List of Bibliography:

Abrams, Simon

2010

Metropolis

http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/metropolis/4809

Accessed on 1 October 2013

Ebert, Robert

2010

Metropolis

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-metropolis-2010-restoration-1927

Accessed on 1 October 2013

Hall, Mordaunt

1927

Metropolis (1927) A Technical Marvel.

http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9A05E2D8143BE13ABC4F53DFB566838C639EDE

Accessed on 1 October 2013

Lee, Marc

2010

Metropolis (1927) Review

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/7994159/Metropolis-1927-review.html#

Accessed on 1 October 2013

Introduction to Autodesk Maya- Modelling

So today in class, we learnt how to model using different tools. First, we tried creating egg cups with a cube, then a curve and lastly using subdiv. I have yet to get the hang of using subdiv but comparing the 2 tools I was able to use, I prefer using the curve as my glass turns out to be of better shape! Especially the base of it.

Aside from that, we were given the task to complete our simple character modelling. I am really satisfied with the outcome and I can't wait to add textures and lighting to this scene!