Eleven*1

Sushi Express 5D mark II 720p from sushiexpressthemovie on Vimeo.

Rad use of a Canon 5d Mark II! Found this very inspiring and intriguing (regards to research for my filming methods for my short film). Even though it was in French =

Stumbled across this in a 3D World Magazine that I bought today. The style is awesome! And I must say I am a huge fan of the replacement of the actors head with a CGI head - looks absolutely fantastic! The character art featured in the magazine (January 2010 Issue) is quite abstract and a little Tim Burton-esque (a little). 

Check out the Sushi Express Site.

Ten*10

Self Portrait Twenty*10 from Dane Kirkland on Vimeo.

Spent today on my entry for greyscalegorilla's 5 Second Project "Self Portrait".

I wanted to do an abstract piece that describes the way that I think. My thought process is often overwhelming - over-analysing, over-criticising and over-imagining things to the point that it becomes a jumble of disconnected processes and concepts. Thus I am forced to separate myself from the process and begin again, with a resolute determination not to get sidetracked.

Stylistically it was nice to do something abstract for the freedom that it lent to the piece and allowed me to play with a simple, edgy 3D style that I am exploring.

Thoroughly enjoyed the process of creating something so short, and also in such a short time period. I thought I would limit myself to 1 day to see what I could achieve and I must say I'm pretty happy with what I came out with. It also acted as a test as to how my new iMac performs with rendering 720p after effects/maya exports - the answer is beautifully. It rendered the final uncompressed 5 second export (350mb) in under 10 seconds.

Like a dream!

Ten*9

James Cameron was recently interviewed by Charlie Rose, the link to the interview is at the bottom of this entry. It's around 30 minutes long and there is a general discussion about Avatar in regards to what Cameron had hoped to achieve with his project, and the level of the success that it has had. Cameron stated in the interview that he had wanted to pull all the stops out and blow people away with something that they had never seen before in the cinema. This is an awkward task with today's films so saturated with CGI and unnecessary VFX that the task of 'wow-ing' the audience with something new was near impossible.

The majority of the interview is spent discussing reviewers opinions of Avatar and to make a point for the film to force the audience to view humanity the way that nature perceives us; as a foreign intruder (a view which has caused some audiences to feel moral outrage at being portrayed as the 'bad guy'). These discussions combined with his suggestions on how to create a story that  finds a key to the audience's heart; keeping the story simple and relatable through exploring the universals of human experience (common ground) and express them in new ways.


Watch it. or rather listen to it. Definitely worth it.


http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/10866#frame_top

Ten*8

My iMac came today.

It's 27 inch, i7 processor, quad core, 8GB ram.

What more can I say?

Ten*7

A rather spectacular Inglorious Basterds piece of art that I stumbled across today.
Very cool indeed.

Ten*6

 I haven't been on here as regularly as I have been previously, which is a shocker considering I am doing sooo much less (to the point of nothing) than I was before. My introduction to living in the land of Sydney has been a rocky start - applying for jobs left and right; hearing very little back - and sadly the one that I did hear back from was not the opportunity it had sounded like and therefore was a missed 'opportunity'. That's my 'professional' life as it stands - unemployed, little opportunities arising at the current date with hopefully more to begin arising as the year kicks into full swing.

Apart from this the year of 2010 ("Twenty-ten" future haters out there) has been pretty good. Whilst technically I am currently a resident of the lower Blue Mountains, I don't classify myself as such. Mind you I class myself as a guest in this house opposed to a resident, despite what my residential address may read. Staying with Liz's parent's is an interesting and often frustrating exercise that will only be overcome once a job is found *hopefully* by graduation. Graduation is something on my mind because in the immediate future it is one thing I have to look forward to - it's on my birthday, so I cannot help but think about how bigger day/night that will be.


Other things. Made a trip to The Entrance for a few days, a small getaway at the middle of January - it was quite lovely, had never been there before so that was nice. BDO 2010 (Sydney - 2nd Day) was a very good 1st BDO for myself (& Liz). Highlights were Eskimo Joe, Bluejuice, Muse and the Silent Disco. Would definately hit up another BDO, dependant upon the lineup of course.

Lastly, I hung out a good month after the release of James Cameron's Avatar just so I could see it in 3D at IMAX. I tell you what, it was well worth the wait. Spectacular graphics and immaculate incorporation of the stereoscopic feature the film blew me away. Mind you, not to the extent of some people, but I most definately was awestruck by the world of Pandora - and was pleasantly suprised to see that the story held up nicely as well.

Ten*5

Stumbled across this trailer for an animated zombie flick 'A.D.' tonight. The style of the character's is really rad. The elongated bodies and faces is something that has always appealed to me - this particular video makes me recall Rosto A.D's work with their short film Jona/Tomberry which I studied in my first year of uni (2006). It was a wonderful film. A.D. appears very gritty and has a bit of that old film feel to it, which provides it with a strong visual identity. This combined with the character design and in particular the design of the zombies really gives me the impression that it is one to keep an eye out for.

For me personally, if nothing else.