21 February 2023

For the Birds. A Pixar animation short.


Typically Pixar, so beautifully made and very funny.

Pixar Animation Studios (/ˈpɪksɑːr/) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, California, United States. Since 2006, Pixar has been a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, a division of Disney Entertainment, which owned by The Walt Disney Company.

Pixar started in 1979 as part of the Lucasfilm computer division, known as the Graphics Group, before its spin-off as a corporation in 1986, with funding from Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who became its majority shareholder. Disney purchased Pixar in January 2006 at a valuation of $7.4+ billion by converting each share of Pixar stock to 2.3 shares of Disney stock. Pixar is best known for its feature films, technologically powered by RenderMan, the company's own implementation of the industry-standard RenderMan Interface Specification image-rendering API. The studio's mascot is Luxo Jr., a desk lamp from the studio's 1986 short film of the same name.

Pixar has produced 26 feature films, starting with Toy Story (1995), which is the first fully computer-animated feature film; its most recent film was Lightyear (2022). The studio has also produced many short films. As of July 2019, its feature films have earned approximately $14 billion at the worldwide box office, with an average worldwide gross of $680 million per film. Toy Story 3 (2010), Finding Dory (2016), Incredibles 2 (2018), and Toy Story 4 (2019) are all among the 50 highest-grossing films of all time, with Incredibles 2 being the fourth-highest-grossing animated film of all time, with a gross of $1.2 billion; the other three also grossed over $1 billion. Moreover, 15 of Pixar's films are in the 50 highest-grossing animated films of all time.

Pixar has earned 23 Academy Awards, 10 Golden Globe Awards, and 11 Grammy Awards, along with numerous other awards and acknowledgments. Its films are frequently nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, since its inauguration in 2001, with eleven winners being Finding Nemo (2003), The Incredibles (2004), Ratatouille (2007), WALL-E (2008), Up (2009), Toy Story 3 (2010), Brave (2012), Inside Out (2015), Coco (2017), Toy Story 4 (2019), and Soul (2020); the five nominated without winning are Monsters, Inc. (2001), Cars (2006), Incredibles 2 (2018), Onward (2020), and Luca (2021). Up and Toy Story 3 were also nominated for the more competitive and inclusive Academy Award for Best Picture.

On February 10, 2009, Pixar executives John Lasseter, Brad Bird, Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton, and Lee Unkrich were presented with the Golden Lion award for Lifetime Achievement by the Venice Film Festival. The physical award was ceremoniously handed to Lucasfilm's founder, George Lucas.

Pixar. (2023, February 15). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixar

12 February 2023

Gorillaz - Clint Eastwood (Official Video)


Gorillaz are an English virtual band formed in 1998 by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett, from London. The band primarily consists of four fictional members: 2-D (vocals, keyboards), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar), Noodle (guitar, keyboards, vocals), and Russel Hobbs (drums). Their universe is presented in music videos, interviews, comic strips and short cartoons. Gorillaz' music has featured collaborations with a wide range of featured artists, with Albarn as the only permanent musical contributor.

With Gorillaz, Albarn departed from the distinct Britpop of his band Blur, exploring a variety of musical styles including hip hop, electronic music and world music through an "eccentrically postmodern" approach. The band's 2001 debut album Gorillaz, which featured dub, Latin and punk influences, went triple platinum in the UK and double platinum in Europe, with sales driven by the success of the album's lead single "Clint Eastwood". Their second studio album, Demon Days (2005), went six times platinum in the UK and double platinum in the US and spawned the successful lead single "Feel Good Inc."

The band's third album, Plastic Beach (2010), featured environmentalist themes, a synth-pop approach and an expanded roster of featured artists. Their fourth album, The Fall (2010), was recorded on the road during the Escape to Plastic Beach Tour and released on 25 December 2010. During 2015, Remi Kabaka Jr. became a music producer for the band after more than 10 years providing the voice of Russel and was credited as such alongside Albarn and Hewlett in the official 2019 documentary Gorillaz: Reject False Icons. The band's fifth album, Humanz, was released after a seven-year hiatus on 28 April 2017. Their sixth album, The Now Now (2018), featured stripped-down production and a greater musical focus on Albarn. Gorillaz' started a new project in 2020, Song Machine, a music-based web series with episodes that consist of standalone singles and accompanying music videos featuring different guests each episode, resulting in their seventh album, Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez (2020). In 2023, the band will release its eighth studio album, Cracker Island.

Gorillaz has presented itself live in a variety of different ways throughout the band's history, such as hiding the touring band from the audience's view in the early years of the project, projecting animated band members on stage via computer graphics and traditional live touring featuring a fully visible live band. The band have sold over 27 million records worldwide and are cited by Guinness World Records as the world's "Most Successful Virtual Band". They have won a Grammy Award, two MTV Video Music Awards, an NME Award and four MTV Europe Music Awards. They have also been nominated for 11 Brit Awards and won Best British Group at the 2018 Brit Awards.

Gorillaz. (2023, February 15). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorillaz

Traditional Animation Practice: Jumping Letter demonstrating Squash & Stretch.


 Created in Clip Studio Paint

And the timelapse of the creation process:



07 February 2023

The Duck Song

 This is a great example of how popular a simple animation can be. 1.51m views as I post this.



03 February 2023

Yapple Gooklor

 Meet Yapple Gooklor, a character I am creating for animating. Not sure where I am going to go with this character yet. I'll have to have a chat with him and see what he wants to do.



21 January 2023

Featured Post

Eyedeas

 Some ideas with eyes.