Famous Animators

     Tim Burton

         Tim Burton is an American film director, film producer, writer and artist. He is famous for dark, movies such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and for blockbusters such as Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Batman, Batman Returns, Planet of the Apes, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Alice in Wonderland. This is his most recent film.

         He Is very active in the field of stop motion animation. He has used different techniques in his films such as puppets for the main characters in ‘The Nightmare before Christmas’ to create realism and were structured hundreds of face models with different expressions. All of his films consist of stop motion animation. I like his style which Is dark gothic animation of puppets. I like the way he takes an object and creates a deathly  scene. He creates spidery, gaunt,  dark images which appear deathly and are created using dark colours.

                   Nick Park

         Nick Park is an English filmmaker of stop motion animation and is best known as the creator of Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep. Nick Park works with the Aardman team and he has directed the following films for Aardman; The Wrong Trousers, Creature Comforts, A Close Shave, Chicken Run, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit. All the characters are made from moulded plasticine modelling clay on metal armatures, and filmed with stop motion clay animation.

          Nick Park and the Aardman team also produce commercials and music videos such as the video for Peter Gabriel’s ‘Sledgehammer’ which uses many different animation techniques including pixilation. This involves Gabriel holding poses while each frame was shot and moving between exposures, effectively becoming a human puppet. He is known for the use of clay mation as his films include puppets that are made out of clay. His films arent dark and gothic compared to films animated by Tim Burton. Nick Park's work is more bright, friendly and gives a happy atmosphere and is more aimed at children.

                  Willis Harold O'Brien

         Willis Harold O'Brien was an Irish American pioneering motion picture special effects artist who perfected and specialized in stop-motion animation. He animated his early creations by covering wooden armatures with clay. He further perfected this technique by using ball and socket armatures covered with foam, foam latex, animal hair and fur in the following films; Birth of a Flivver, Morpheus Mike, The Dinosaur and the Missing Link: A Prehistoric Tragedy, R.F.D. 10,000 B.C.: A Mannikin Comedy, The Ghost of Slumber Mountain, The Lost World, King Kong, The Son of Kong. Nippy’s Nightmare was the first film to combine live actors with stop motion characters.

Hanna-Barbera

      Joseph Roland Barbera was an influential American animator, director, producer, storyboard artist, and cartoon artist. He was in a partnership with William Hanna and they formed Hanna-Barbara. They are responsible for numerous cartoons and animations.  They produced The Ruff & Reddy Show about the  friendship between a dog and a cat. Hanna-Barbera soon established themselves with two successful television series: The Huckleberry Hound Show and The Yogi Bear Show. They then produced The Flintstones. A parody of The Honeymooners, the new show followed a typical Stone Age family with home appliances, talking animals, and celebrity guests.

       By the late 1960s, Hanna-Barbera Productions was the most successful television animation studio in the business. The Hanna-Barbera studio produced over 3000 animated half-hour television shows. Among the more than 100 cartoon series they produced were The Quick Draw McGraw Show, Top Cat, Jonny Quest, The Magilla Gorilla Show, The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show, Scooby-Doo, Super Friends, and The Smurfs. The company also produced animated specials based on Alice in Wonderland, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Cyrano de Bergerac, as well as the feature-length films Charlotte's Web and Heidi's Song

          The animation technique known as limited animation was developed by Hanna Barbera. This  allowed television animation to be more cost-effective, but often sacrificed artistic quality. Hanna–Barbera had first experimented with these techniques in the early days of Tom and Jerry. To reduce the cost of each episode, shows often focused more on character dialogue than detailed animation. The number of drawings for a seven-minute cartoon decreased from 14,000 to nearly 2,000, and the company implemented innovative techniques such as rapid background changes to improve viewing. The theme of the work produced was often comical cartoons aimed at children. In Tom & Jerry, hardly any dialogue was used but the story was still clear to the viewers.

Examples Of Designers And Their Work

I have researched and given examples of work of 5 different designers, saying what i like about their work. I have also researched 3 other topics - Leaders, Scientists, and Gods. They are all exceptional in their own field.  All the designers i have chosen are exceptional in their field because they are all succesfull and famous worldwide. All the Leaders i have used as examples are exceptional because they have been elected by the majority of people. They earn the respect of the public and are powerful. The Gods/Goddesses are made famous throughout history and were worshiped by millions of people. Stories have been circulated worldwide and they all represent a force of nature. The examples of scientists i have given have all made discoveries and created theories that have effected the way we live.

Sculpture Park

On Thursday 29th September i went to the Yorkshire sculpture park to look at all the different sculptures by different artists to give me ideas for the Tapton Grove project. I looked at work created by Jaume Plensa and noticed that he has focused on the human body and has focused on these themes: love, memory, language and despair. I have noticed that some of his works have been created out of metal letters. I quite like this idea for my own project because I like the idea of creating a sculpture out of words because i think it looks effective  compared to a few others created by other artists that were a bit too simplistic.  I particularlry like the two heads which looks like its been created using metal wire in a 3D dimensional effect giving  a transparent effect. I also looked at 'The Heart Of Trees' sculptures which were made out of bronze and tree. Again poetry has been used which i think makes the whole image more interesting. I went round the diffferent rooms looking at what work he had created and noticed In one of the rooms there are three sculptures which are made out of polyester sat in different positions, covering ears, mouth and ears. It is as if he is trying to show suffer and pain.

I also looked at work by Sophie Ryder. Where as Jaume Plensa has focused on the human body, Ryder's  work includes human, animal and mythological figures combined together. She has focused on the Lady-Hare which is a head of  a Hare and the body parts are focused on her own body as well as the Minotaur which is the head of a bull on the body of a man. Like Jaume Plensa she is trying to show emotions in her work because she uses animal imagery to explore emotion and to communicate feelings and to show that you can see emotion whether you are human or an animal. I quite like her work and  I like the way she has combined different species together to form a sculpture. The pictures below are images of her work which look like they have been created out of stone.

 

I also looked at work by Dennis Oppenheim who is a land artist and was part of an important exhibition 'Earthworks'. He is different to both Jaume Plensa and sophie Ryder because he creates  land art works such as trees, flowers and hedges made from steel. The works i looked at were 'Fixture Trees' which are trees made from steel. Household objects are used  in each sculpture.  One of the trees has bathroom and kitchen objects such as toilets and sinks. On others he has used bins, sheds,  chairs and other objects. I found Dennis Oppenheim's work quite unusual, different, clever and something i wouldnt have expected to come across. His works dont seem to show any emotions or feelings compared to the other two artists work.

 

University Visits

Manchester Metropolitan University

We went round a show at Manchester Metropolitan University looking at different work produced by the students in different Design fields such as Illustration,  3D design, Photography, Architecture, animation, textiles and fashion Design. I thought the layout and structure of this show in each design field was very professional and the displays of work were appropriate and presented at a professional standard.

 I really enjoyed looking at the different work produced, which also helped and gave me ideas. By looking at students work made me also realise how much work you have to put in to each course. I found most of the work interesting especially in 3D Design, Illustration and Architecture. I am definitely going to consider 3D Design, looking at all the displays made me realise that this might be the course for me. There were loads of displays of different projects displayed around the room. One of the benefits of going to this art show is finding out about 3D design because otherwise I wouldn’t be considering this course if I hadn’t seen any of the work produced.

 Another course I particularly like is Illustration. I think all the work was produced at a very high standard. I looked through a Portfolio of different designs and images produced, such as characters and detailed shapes, such as circles and hearts. As soon as you enter the room, there are displays of different work around the room and in the centre.  This is another course I am going to consider because I am interested in the kind of work involved in this course. After looking at the displays I am now wondering if this course would be too difficult for me, even though I am interested and would love to do it.  

I looked at fashion design.  I thought the dresses that were on show were created with imagination and ‘alternative’ ideas. They were original, eye opening and were more like works of art rather than something I would wear.  I really enjoyed looking at all the different styles.  The work put in will have been time consuming.

We looked at Architecture and even though im not considering doing this course, I thought the quality of the work and the skills used to create each piece of work was at a high standard. By looking at the work, I think to do this course you have to be good at drawing.

I didn’t have time to look at inspiration but I think everyone will have started somewhere whether its looking at other peoples work for ideas then using them to influence your own work or even an artist style.   

Hannah Lovett is an artist /designer/maker whose work was also exhibited at the art show. There was one piece that I particularly like which is called ‘Rebirth’. I quite like the use of materials used forming an object and i think its quite effective. Lovett quoted “The work explores the ’inheritance’ of material and idea. It is about a series of happenings in an objects’ life conveying a story through birth of new form.” I found these images of the work I saw at the art show while I was browsing Hannah Lovett’s website. 

Sheffield Hallam University

We went to the art show at Sheffield Hallam University. We looked at Graphic Design, Interior Design, Product Design and Games Design. The show has definitely influenced the courses I am going to consider applying for.

One of the courses I looked at was Interior Design. Even though I am not considering doing this course, I still enjoyed looking at the work others have produced in this field. Interior Design doesn’t seem interesting to me but when I arrived the pieces of work that have been produced really caught my attention. I think that the amount of effort shown in the projects has really opened my eyes to the difficulty of this course.  All the projects were displayed around the edge of the room and models of buildings were displayed towards the centre.

The images below are pictures of a particular project that drew my attention. I especially like the amount of colours used.

I went to look at the work produced in Graphic Design which is one of the courses I am interested in applying for. The displays started on the outside walls and continue towards the centre of the room. There were also displays of port folios showing research for each project in the centre of the room.   One of the projects that drew my attention was by Emma King. This project was type.  She created letters using images of flowers which I found really interesting. The black one is easy to read and understand but the one created using various colours isn’t as effective. Another project that I liked was by Caitlin Totten. She has created images of a burger, apple and a drink using different textures to form an image which makes the food look effective. Lauren Billingham’s work was my favourite because I am working on a similar theme on my course which is designing packaging for a natural product. She has created a skin care range using natural products and natural images.

I looked at Product Design. The displays of work were situated around the room with some displays in the middle of the room. This is a course that I hadn’t considered and wasn’t interested in until I saw the work produced. I am now considering applying for this course because the work that I viewed was appealing and has influenced my decision. The first project I looked at was by Jessica Treslove. The theme of her work is challenging users to appreciate perception of ordinary items using different materials. She designed a clock made out of concrete. She has done a lot of research for this project which includes research on designers which will have influenced her work. My favourite was a project by Rick Hewitt. This project was inspired by a trip to Burundi in Africa. This focussed meeting the needs of locations in the developing world. He designed a pedal powered washing machine mounted on a tricycle. I think this design was very unusual and using pedal power instead of electricity to work a washing machine was clever.

These images below is the work created by Jessica Treslove. The right image is a picture of the clock she created out of concrete.

 

These images below are pictures of the work created by Rick Hewitt. The image below underneath the image of the 'Step by step guide' is the ‘SpinCycle’ washing machine.

Chesterfield College

I went round the art show at my college looking at all the different work produced by students. The difference between this show and the previous shows is that this is a foundation course in Art & Design. If I decide not to go to university then this would be a good option for me.  The displays were located all round the room. All the display boards were placed at an angle to display each students work.

The first collection of works that I looked at was animation/illustration by Christopher Hogan. His work focussed on music. I like the detail shown in these works, focussed on the playing of instruments. I like the colours used in these graphics because I like the contrast between the neutral colours and the red and blue tones.

My favourite display was the work of Megan Lolly. She has used type to create images. Each image spells out a different word e.g. the letters spelling ‘Fish’ create the fish shape in one of the images. This display is interesting and she has used a lot of imagination to create these graphics. These graphics look like simple graphics until you look closely, and then you can notice how clever and effective they are.  You can see how the words create each graphic and the detail in each image. The Apple Graphic is my favourite. She has taken the theme of ‘Apple’ and created a graphic using  an Apple shape outline with a New York ‘Big Apple’ image inside it. She has then distorted the New York image to create the letters.  Megan’s work influenced me because I find her work very talented, imaginative and creative.

These images below are pictures of the work created by Megan Lolly.

                                                                                                                            

All three shows have definitely influenced my ideas and have made me realise which courses I would probably enjoy more than others. It has helped me think about which courses to consider applying for.  It also broadened my understanding in each field and made me realise that there are so many other courses in the design field that I would enjoy such as 3D design. To compete with the other students, I would research other graphic designers for ideas and inspiration. I would use the skill and experience I have gained through my college course as a starting point and develop this to a standard capable of achieving a degree qualification. The courses differ in length from one to three years. Visiting the three different venues, made me aware of the choice and variety of courses available to me. If I decide not to go to university, I have an option to do the foundation course at Chesterfield College.

On black paper I have created the outline of the body using white charcoal. Before using the charcoal, I sketched the outline using a pencil.

Here I have used blue and black ink. I started off using the blue to create the outline, then moved onto using the black to make the images look more 3D like the one on the right.

On brown paper I have used black and white charcoal to create this image. I started off using the black to create the outline and then used the white to create more definition.

Illustration Friday - 'Lesson'

This weeks Illustration Friday is 'Lesson'. I created it using Adobe Fireworks software. I decided to create a classroom scene where the teacher is carrying out a lesson.

Doctor Who - Title sequence

Different shades of blue have been used to create the logo and letters in the centre of the page as well as the background. I think it's modern and eye catching.