Ghosts.

Banana Breath

So the new King Kong ride at Universal Studios has started taking people through. It's nice that they rebuilt what was such a pillar of the Studio's attactions. Hopefully it's just as good, not that I ever went to the old ride I think the charm of the animatronics will be missed. On the note of the 3D - I'm not a fan of 3D, but if 3D cinema headed in the direction of a fully immersive experience then perhaps I could get on board? That's a rant for another day... Check out the making of videos below; I do like the idea of keeping the 'banana breath' and blowing air at the audience when a tail blows past etc.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Eleven*8

 SKY recently announced that they would not be accepting any 2D to 3D conversions for any content submitted to the broadcasting channel. In the first released press statement they have specified that no more than 10% of the content may be 2D;

"To enable the 3D programme to retain the highest quality throughout, a minimum of 90% must be native 3D footage," Sky states. "Where non-HD footage is utilised, it should sit within the editorial context of the programme. The 2D originated footage must be HD, be of segments not exceeding one minute, converted in a suitable manner to fit the 3D content and be of shots where there is minimal benefit from a true dual camera 3D acquisition." 

 Does this mean that the recent Alice in Wonderland adaptation by Tim Burton will never screen on SKY due to the fact that they film was filmed in 2D and post-processed for 3D? Who knows. I made the choice not to see Alice in Wonderland in 3D due to this fact - yes I am interested to see the difference between Alice 3D and Avatar 3D; one film being filmed specifically for 3D and the other processed after the thought. But for me I want to experience a film in the cinema the way that I feel it was meant to be viewed, with Avatar it was 3D at IMAX, Alice is 2D. Not being shot with stereoscopic camera's I feel that there may have been too much relying on the fact that they could figure out how it would look in 3D later on. Admittedly this is difficult to judge without having seen it in 3D, but the only parts of the film that I felt would benefit from 3D would have been those in the forest's of Wonderland.

I am hoping that 3D does not become a gimmick, which at the moment it is feeling like it is rapidly falling into this category. I can respect those filmmaker's who after seeing the success of Avatar decide that they do indeed want their film presented in 3D and make the effort to reshoot some of the film so that it will be as authentic 3D as is possible in the timeline (Clash of the Titans).

But to film in 2D with the intention of presenting in 3D from the beginning, but not wanting to handle the large camera's feels like a pretty weak excuse.

For the full article from SKY follow this link. Or for more details on their 3DTV look here.

Eleven*6

DKirkland Showreel March 2010 from Dane Kirkland on Vimeo.

Updated showreel with some new projects and work from the past couple of months. Still no luck what so ever regarding the job hunt, barely hearing back from the places that I have applied for. I have called some to try and get that extra little bit of notice, but that doesn't seem to work at all. It's rapidly wearing my resolve down; it would be nice to hear back - even if it was just to say that they didn't think I was suited to the role but thanks for your application!

Yes I understand that if I went down there in person that might increase my chances, but at the same time if a studio can't take the time to email you back what's stopping them from just throwing out your dvd and reel the instant the door closes behind you? I'm not saying that would happen, I guess I am just bitter at the moment. The job hunt wears you down, so I guess when it comes time when you finally get a job there will be alot of joy to be had.

Eleven*3

The Lady and The Reaper - one of the short animated Oscar nominee's.

Very cool story about dealing with death - the creator was inspired by the passing away of his own grandmother and what an outlet this animation must have been for his emotions.

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*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*3

Another discovery via my internet wanderings;

The Third & The Seventh from Alex Roman on Vimeo.

Compositing Breakdown (T&S) from Alex Roman on Vimeo.

Ten*0

I wanted to do something special for my 100th bog post but can't think of anything... How sad is that?

I have been working on some showreel/portfolio stuff of late - creating new different content which is both a learning experience and will make it into my new reel which is currently very much a work in progress. I have a new song, rough list of content and am *trying to think of an appropriate logo animation. So this is a creative post I suppose.

Here's my first Mudbox model that I have been working on;

I'm quite pleased with the outcome, especially for my first attempt at Mudbox. I had played around with the tools previously but I actually sat down for a day and a bit and really hammered something out.

Colour/Texture concept;

Aiming for a very painted outlook. Very much inspired by the Star Wars Clone Wars series.

Turntable;

Pirate Mudbox Model Turntable from Dane Kirkland on Vimeo.

Will do a properly rendered turntable once texturing is complete. =)

Also a very very VERY basic tentacle test;



Will also be creating a boat and obviously a tentacle monster (Kraken) as well as a few other things. Will be posting these up at some future point.

My name is Guybrush Threepwood and I'm a mighty pirate!

By chance I actually looked at the junk mail box of my hotmail account randomly yesterday in a desperate attempt to delay finishing the assessment that was due today I discovered a random email from LucasArts which I procrastinating heavily enough to open. After clicking ‘yes I really do want to open this potentially harmful mail’ and the following ‘yes I do want to display the images in this email’ I was pleasantly welcomed by the site of the Monkey Island logo.



After a brief moment of tingling anticipation of what this could mean I pulled myself together enough to click on the link and was welcomed by a magnificently GLORIOUS website detailing not only the soon to be released Special Edition of The Secret of Monkey Island but A WHOLE NEW SERIES!!!

Wooooooo!



I have harboured a long long looooooonnnnnnggggg love for the Monkey Island series and thoroughly enjoy all game, with the possible excepetion of the 4th which I just don’t approve of the 3D animation and interface in the game. The new episodic series ‘Tale of Monkey Island’ is 3D which I was a little disappointed about, but soon got over it when I saw that it was a vast improvement on Escape From Monkey Island and the fact that Dominic Armato was returning to voice Guybrush Threepwood.

Not only will he be providing his voice talents to the new games he is also recording all the dialogue from the original game which will be included in the re-imagined Special Ed – which has been built incredibly faithfully on top of the original game for WIDESCREEN!!!



So as you may be able to tell, I am damned excited. So now I await July 7th for the first episode of Tales of Monkey Island: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal.

=)