Assessment #1

This is an update/submission post for the MPI104 assessment. So far things have been going well, it has been somewhat challenging to adapt to blogger after maintaining a few separate tumblr blogs. The simultaneous use has been somewhat difficult to keep up with, but both present interesting takes on blogging.

Blogger

So far I have committed 10 posts to my blog, these range from what's been going on in class to those about me ranting about how uni can be stressful. My favourite posts are probably:

• Handed in our walk cycle + other things going on
• Things that are totally interesting
• Too much to do, Not enough time

For the alteration of the aesthetics of my blog, I have decided to go for a dark yet sleek look. I did have a twitter feed in the side bar but it often extended the margin when loaded in shit ball pathetic browsers (*cough* IE). So that was removed. I have placed a feed of my photographs from twitter just under the header to allow a quick glance at what I have been seeing from day to day. I've messed with the header font as well, although I think it may be a fraction unreadable and in time may alter it to a serif, just to increase readability. I've used a bunch of different tags to separate my posts, making it easier to differentiate and focus on specific topics. Tags most often used are mpi 104, mpi with others being to individual posts that I am sure will grow as time goes on.

My blogger can be found here.

Delicious

My delicious profile features an abundance of nerdy links. They are mostly pages that I enjoy visiting but often forget about. My favourite links are:

• Ted (Ideas Worth Spreading)
• Lifehacker AU
• ColourLover

Delicious will come in real handy when travelling about and I need to get to something I can't remember.

Flickr.

My Flickr can be found here. I have uploaded 14 items in the past few weeks and a few favourites are; uni lift room, waiting for vis, and bandit.

Summing up

So far I have enjoyed MPI, it's been hard coming straight off of our VFX workshop into the class and staying focussed. But it is enjoyable and offering up a chance to look in to sites I have overlooked in the past.

Handed in our walkcycles today (and other goings on)

We handed our final walk cycles in today. Mostly things went well, there were some really obvious things I missed that given more time (or you know if I hadn't of missed a week being sick). But hey, that doesn't matter. We can have a killer time regardless. I did my best.

Other than that - the first two episodes of Game of Thrones season 2 have been released and they are amazing. Although the first episode was somewhat slow I understand that was to introduce the extensive new additions to the cast and that really is necessary to understand what is going on. The second episode outlines what is going on in the extended regions, and explores many of the characters current ambitions and reasoning behind their endeavours.

The other day I got ask what my favourite 'animation' or 'animated feature' was. I just starred absent mindedly off to the distance. But now I think about it, there is probably really only two clear examples of what I consider to be amazing.

Firstly there is Destino a beautiful collaboration between two artists that wholly created their own niches in their specific fields. Disney and Dali did an amazing job with initiating some form of animation that wasn't purely geared toward making Disney money. It wasn't intended as a feature, but as an art form. That said, it wasn't completed for nearly 60 years. It blends both 3D and traditional animation techniques is something that is truly unique and I think if contemporary Disney realised this... their pieces could return to the timeless nature of their original pieces. I love it, everything about it is perfect. That said about disney films, they are still wonderful. I still really enjoy watching things like Hercules and Tarzan just because they both incorporate an interesting (despite being adaptations) narrative and it still mixes a bit of mischief and creativity.

The other that I really love is only a recently created piece is this advert for 'Good Books' and it is quite simply fantastic. It can be seen below.


That's all for this afternoon I suppose.

I had forgotten to make this post! Week 4= Delicious!

Delicious is a unique web tool that allows you to host your most used (or hard to remember). However with the introduction of googles browser sync, will it remain relevant?

My delicious account is here.

So I finished my walk cycle as much as possible this evening. Which is lucky, seeing it is due tomorrow.

So yeah, there is that. Note to self, never get deathly ill a week before the assessments are due again.

Things that are totally interesting.

First and foremost; Game Of Thrones season 2 premiers tomorrow. Balls to the walls I am excited. The only problem being is that I have read the books and know what happens, but things are about to launch into bizarre. I am excited because this is probably one of the greatest adaptations of any written material, period. I think it is a good example of what is possible in terms of creating the same experience in a different medium. I think more books should be adapted as a series rather than features. Mainly because novels or series rely so heavily on character development that 1 or 2 hours is really not enough to fully explore potentional.

I'm currently watching Louis Theroux's doco on exotic pet ownership in the United states. It is insane. Who wants to keep a lion or tiger as a pet? Despite an argument of nurture v. nature, its batshit to own or think that you have control over something that could (potentially) grow to 5 times your weight and ultimately much stronger than you. These animals while beautiful and exotic are still animals. They still have their place and positions in a natural habitat and I still think zoo's have a misappropriated sense of human gratification and greed. I don't know.

I am tired and sick.