Trip to the Movies

I have had a great week of cinema experiences! I saw The Muppets, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance and Chronicle (in that order). If we were going in order of enjoyment I would say The Muppets, Chronicle.....................................and Ghost Rider.

The Muppets is really smart, funny and happy. If you like the characters already and you like Jason Segel and Amy Adams you will have a great time. It’s highly enjoyable with only perhaps the song ‘I’m having a me party’ and to an extent the ending leaving you less than engaged. Don’t forget due to John Lasseter’s Disney Short initiative, you also get the Toy Story short ‘Small Fry’ before the movie even begins. Sadly the projector was broken at the Cineworld O2, so it kept freezing and three quarters of the way through the film they had to stop it for ten minutes to reboot the projector. However we did get complementary ticket vouchers for our troubles.

Ghost Rider wasn’t good, and it was a shame because there were promising things about it. The effects are much better than the first film and some of the camera work and visual style is interesting e.g. having black backgrounds randomly during live action scenes. Nicholas Cage’s crazy acting is good but the rest of the time it’s strange in a bad way.  The story is quite generic and lags quite a few times leaving you bored. You may be thinking ‘but isn’t Idris Elba in that?’ (Who stole his scenes in Thor), but his lines are just as terrible as his French accent.

Chronicle is a low budget sci-fi movie about three teenage boys in Seattle who get superpowers from a hole in a ground at a party. It’s a really good watch and you don’t really miss big budget effects, and it is a good reminder that there are things more important, definitely a recommended watch. Although as an animation and vfx student I shouldn’t be saying that, I mean they must be great as lots of money is spent on them!

Busy Fun Times

It is a busy term with lots of course work and working for the university as well.  We have just had our February open day, which was pretty cold but despite the weather still busy. Taking people on tour of the accommodation luckily meant I got to go inside a few times. I feel a bit jealous of all the prospective students getting excited about coming to university with their degree’s ahead of them, it is a great time and coming out of the other end can be scary.

I was lucky enough to get tickets to Shrek the Musical for my birthday which I have now seen. I was in the centre of the fifth row and I have never had such a good view at a musical, I was very excited. The show is really enjoyable. If you are hoping for it to be exactly like the film and have all the same music you may be disappointed. The songs are written for the show and they make a few interesting additions for the story, as well as those necessary to make it work on stage. However if you are open to having fun, Nigel Harman as Lord Farquad is hilarious. Also, if you are a musical fan you can spot the references to other shows like Wicked and Lion King (this one is hard to miss).

I haven’t been to the cinema recently but do have two impending trips. One to see Chronicle, the director is apparently tipped to reboot the Fantastic Four series on the basis of this film’s success alone. And also The Muppets, which is going to be my Valentine’s Day viewing, I am looking forward to it (I am not evil; my boyfriend wants to see it even more than I do!).

Animation is Awesome

So my last term at university is under-way. I have to make sure I don’t get distracted from work by my birthday. I don’t really have plans though, apart from looking forward to my grandparents visiting and going to see Shrek the Musical.

My flavour of the week is sculpting. By that I mean characters for animation rather than works of art. I was inspired by a show reel I saw in class. The Flynn brothers are twins who went to Glamorgan University and took the animation course together. They have a very impressive stop motion show reel showing elements of the production for their graduation film ‘Opening Night’. It is like a miniature Laika (Coraline and Paranorman) production and just shows you what you can do with talent and hard work (and a double?).  You can see this at www.sculpt-double.co.uk.

I was amused the other day because I have been voting for the NBA All-Stars. If you don’t know what I mean, in Basketball each season they have a game with two teams, made up of the best person that plays each position as voted by the fans. So the fans choose the best two forwards, two guards and centre from the east and west. My amusement was because of an article that said the voting is inaccurate because novices only vote for people they have heard from and girls vote for the players that are smiling, the latter of which I am guilty of.

I like it when DreamWorks release an extra story for fans of their films. I liked Shrek the Halls and Scared Shrekless, this Christmas I got the Kung Fu Panda addition ‘Legends of the Masters’ and one for How to Train your Dragon (HTTYD). The HTTYD one was really good a proper separate story about the Viking Christmas and the dragons having babies, which are adorable, a definite must see if you like the film. The Kung Fu Panda one was not in full blown 3D, and the story was not quite as good as HTTYD but if you like Master Oogway it’s a must. If that makes no sense I am sorry!

New Year

Happy New Year! This is going to be a scary year for me, I am on the very last part of my degree, doing the major work that will secure my classification and I have no idea what will happen after that. I have been stressing out about whether everything will turn out well enough, but realistically although it will be hard work, this should be an enjoyable time. It is possible that making animated films and 3D content may never again be my main occupation (although of course I would like it to be).

I enjoyed a relaxing holiday because all my deadlines were prior to it. Christmas day was quiet and Boxing Day was spent with friends, children and dogs. Yes, the dogs get presents too, but not too expensive as they will mostly just get destroyed. Although saying that, my boyfriend bought one of the dogs a purple toy cow a few years ago and she goes and gets it and shows him it every time she sees him.

I finally got to see Puss in Boots on New Year’s Eve. It’s good, it’s not Shrek, but it’s good. I very much enjoyed it and it stood alone as its own film, it had a good thought through story with some very humorous moments. The effects when the magic beans are planted are spectacular. Zach Galifinakis’ character Humpty Dumpty didn’t seem to be as vocally funny as he was physically.

I got some super Christmas presents. I got three ‘Art of’ books, the most impressive of which was ‘The Art of Finding Nemo’ which has got quite expensive as it went out of print. So I very much look forward to reading that, also Bolt and Shrek Forever After and another animation book ‘Setting the Scene’ about animation layout by Fraser Maclean (a guest lecturer at our university). Now I just have to tidy my room so I can put them all in pride of place.

Who Needs Sleep...

Hello! It's been a hectic last few weeks, coursework deadlines flying everywhere. I finished my 5-week art direction course two weeks ago, I'm glad it's done now so I can concentrate on my coursework, but I miss it because it was very interesting and fun. I built my own model set for "Barton Fink”, and even decorated the teeny tiny bathroom! 

I went out to see Priscilla Queen of the Desert with a couple of friends last Monday. It was very camp and very funny, a really enjoyable night, hopefully I'll be able to see Shrek the Musical in the New Year. Maybe even Matilda the musical as well. I'm a fan of Tim Minchin and he's written the songs for it, so that alone has to be worth the admission price.

I have 4 deadlines all within 3 days of each other so haven't even made it to the cinema for the last month, but as soon as the deadlines are passed I will be making my way to "Puss in Boots" and any others that take my fancy. I have been taking a break from coursework to watch Strictly Come Dancing and The X factor, it was a good dress night the other night on strictly, as I particularly enjoy the outfits. My favourite was Alex but she was sadly voted out at the weekend so I will now be supporting my boyfriend’s favourite – Jason. The X factor final has come and gone, and to be honest I missed the final. Even the Semi final was disappointing, but watched that in a house with my friends and their children, which made it more fun. 

Last Sunday I went out for a meal in "The Cricketers" in Clavering. It's actually owned by Jamie Oliver's parents and the food was amazing. We went there for my boyfriend's mum's birthday. I had butternut squash soup for starter and Mushroom and Truffle Risotto for main course. It was so filling but felt that I had to finish it as it was so nice. I would definitely recommend it!

Christmas is coming sooner than expected; I am so unprepared, the preparations being put back by deadlines! Next week I'll be going to the new Westfield shopping centre in Stratford, to catch up and definitely go into the LEGO store. 

It is my sister’s twenty fifth so we are off out for dinner; at least I can relax and enjoy it as the coursework rush is over, double celebration. Hopefully I will be able to go and see “Puss in Boots” before my next blog as I do love a movie review!

Stage and Screen

With classes plus tours, miniature set building, project changing, project pitching, open days and dinners this has been one crazy packed week. Life is not looking to slow down either with four coursework deadlines in four weeks, not to mention Christmas coming up. The days are just disappearing, but I suppose time flies when you’re having fun.

Katy Perry on fireworks night was excellent. The show was huge and it was great fun to watch. She went on to win the EMA for Best Live Act the following night. I was particularly impressed with how many times she changed costume in ‘Hot and Cold’, it had to have been about ten. The last change being the most impressive as her dress changed as two buckets of glitter were thrown over her. Although if your sensitive about your younger child learning language, then perhaps avoid this show.

I have not been to the cinema since my last blog as I have been really busy. But there are a few films I am particularly looking forward to. The soonest one is Puss in Boots which comes out in December, as a lover of the Shrek series (and Old Spice adverts) this looks to be a really enjoyable film. After that my next pick is Pirates: A Band of Misfits, the next stop-motion offering from Aardman, the trailers make it look really funny and the animation is beautiful as ever. Last of all, anyone who loves CG animation will be dying to see Brave, it a long wait until August but Pixar’s first fairytale is definitely one to get excited about!

Real Steel (...is easier to create in VFX than fur?)

I am still very much enjoying but also constantly trying to keep up with my third year at university. My final year project and most of my modules (and my short course at Central St Martin’s) are all turning out to be things I can really get my teeth into. I am really excited that by the end of the year and our Graduation Show that I will have myself at least one short film and hopefully a whole show reel under my belt. The highlight of next week looks to be an additional session with a senior compositor from the industry coming in to show us his show reel and advise us how to get into London’s post production industry, the second largest in the world.

My recent movie viewing consisted of Real Steel, not immediately my cup of tea, I don’t like fighting. However despite missing the impressive robot boxing matches because I was staring into my lap I found the film pretty enjoyable. My favourite Robot design was Metro from the ‘zoo’. Little boys may be hardly able to conceal their pleasure, and big boys will probably like it too. It has been said that the child actor is not irritating and I would concur. Although in my opinion if you really love your robot you are not going to send it to it’s almost certain death.

I am looking forward to this weekend although my work will start piling up I am going up to Derbyshire for the weekend to see Katy Perry in concert. A suitable activity for fireworks night I think! I may even be able to revisit Twycross zoo, it’s a lovely place but last time I went I didn’t get to see their adorable baby snow leopards. My love for cute furry animals is shameless.