Tuesday 27 July 2010
Inspiration
Back again. So recently I followed a user on Twitter that tweets quotes that are by people who meant them to be inspirational and the majority of them are. Some are not so. But one in particular stood out to me and really made me think a day or two ago.
"You are what you think about all day long." - Dr. Robert Schuller
Then it occured to me. I've always had my heart set on working in the games industry and it was probably in agreat part due to my uncle's career. He has always worked in the video games industry and is now the president of Rockstar Leeds. I have been there for work experience over the years and really enjoyed the small amount of time I had there; the people are great and the place they work has such an atmosphere with people workin together and all getting along. I aimed my work in the direction of the arts and always used computers, always getting good grades in my other subjects but for most of my school time doing much better at art and design. Although my uncle found his way into the indusrty fairly easy, making some lucky breaks without any of the necessary qualifications you have to attain nowadays, I was always told and figured out for myself that I needed to work hard to get to the place he was at. Money, accomplished in the field and he had everything that I wanted to have to. It never really occured to me that there was another path I wanted to go down and as I was such a big fan of computer games I focused on this. I took Animation (which I am currently studying) as I was told that the broad set of skills they would teach me would translate into many fields (they haven't taught us these skills yet...). But this is one thing I am really glad of. If I had taken Games Design I would have limited myself to a career that I have recently had doubts about. I would never say never to working in the Games industry as there are some incredible artists and animators working in that field and their advice and that experience would be invaluable, and I would love doing this for a few years. But since I have drifted more and more away from games and more towards my love of Television and film, TV in particular, I have realised Games are not the way I want to go in life. This quote really resonated with me, made me think.
If "You are what you think about all day long." then I am film, television, animation.
I am films. The writing; scripts, ideas and even the philosophies and depths behing the ideas in these series. Even more so the visual effects, the CG modelling, texturing, integration of the whole process and above all the opportunity to work on a long running project that allows for a new piece of work each few weeks to work on. This is where I really want to work and from now on I have decided to put everything into finding out about this career choice and doing everything I can to make myself employable in this industry. Films and television are my biggest hobby and I have a never-ending list of shows I am watching, analysing and wanting to work on.
I've decided to get organised and it's working! I'm making strides in learning French, finally understanding it much better and alhough slowly, my 3D modelling work is coming along too. But a real downside to this week is that my boss (oh how I hate her sometimes..) has given my so many shifts that I have barely any time to do all this work. I don't like working there but hey, I have to start saving for next semester so I can live now my rent's going up.. It'll be worth is one day! I'm sure of it :) But for now, I'm going to relax and draw a picture of Jessica from True Blood, should look awesome.
Night all
"You are what you think about all day long." - Dr. Robert Schuller
Then it occured to me. I've always had my heart set on working in the games industry and it was probably in agreat part due to my uncle's career. He has always worked in the video games industry and is now the president of Rockstar Leeds. I have been there for work experience over the years and really enjoyed the small amount of time I had there; the people are great and the place they work has such an atmosphere with people workin together and all getting along. I aimed my work in the direction of the arts and always used computers, always getting good grades in my other subjects but for most of my school time doing much better at art and design. Although my uncle found his way into the indusrty fairly easy, making some lucky breaks without any of the necessary qualifications you have to attain nowadays, I was always told and figured out for myself that I needed to work hard to get to the place he was at. Money, accomplished in the field and he had everything that I wanted to have to. It never really occured to me that there was another path I wanted to go down and as I was such a big fan of computer games I focused on this. I took Animation (which I am currently studying) as I was told that the broad set of skills they would teach me would translate into many fields (they haven't taught us these skills yet...). But this is one thing I am really glad of. If I had taken Games Design I would have limited myself to a career that I have recently had doubts about. I would never say never to working in the Games industry as there are some incredible artists and animators working in that field and their advice and that experience would be invaluable, and I would love doing this for a few years. But since I have drifted more and more away from games and more towards my love of Television and film, TV in particular, I have realised Games are not the way I want to go in life. This quote really resonated with me, made me think.
If "You are what you think about all day long." then I am film, television, animation.
I am films. The writing; scripts, ideas and even the philosophies and depths behing the ideas in these series. Even more so the visual effects, the CG modelling, texturing, integration of the whole process and above all the opportunity to work on a long running project that allows for a new piece of work each few weeks to work on. This is where I really want to work and from now on I have decided to put everything into finding out about this career choice and doing everything I can to make myself employable in this industry. Films and television are my biggest hobby and I have a never-ending list of shows I am watching, analysing and wanting to work on.
I've decided to get organised and it's working! I'm making strides in learning French, finally understanding it much better and alhough slowly, my 3D modelling work is coming along too. But a real downside to this week is that my boss (oh how I hate her sometimes..) has given my so many shifts that I have barely any time to do all this work. I don't like working there but hey, I have to start saving for next semester so I can live now my rent's going up.. It'll be worth is one day! I'm sure of it :) But for now, I'm going to relax and draw a picture of Jessica from True Blood, should look awesome.
Night all
Thursday 22 July 2010
Welcome... to Warehouse 13
So I ordered Warehouse 13 on DVD from The Hut and after waiting for three or four weeks and sending a few emails on the lateness of its delivery, I finally gave up, cancelled my order and paid a few pounds more to get it from a shop in town today. At had really worked my hopes up for this series after finding out its links with Eureka and from the first two episodes, especially the pilot I can say I'm pleased with the writers. They've done an awesome job on the show.
Warehouse 13 is a show that follows two main characters; United States Secret Service agents Myka Bering and Peter Lattimer who, in the pilot episode are approached by a woman in their respective homes and told to go to South Dakota and wait there as they are being reassigned to the government's secret Warehouse 13 facility.
Upon arriving at the place they were ordered to, they realise it is in the middle of nowhere and is a huge, none-descript warehouse with one door and they quickly meet up with the man currently working at the facility, the eccentric Dr. Arthur "Artie" Nielsen. He beings to explain the the function of the warehouse to them and immediately Myka has a dislike of the situation. She attempts to get transferred back and is told that she will be there indefinitely. This is confirmed after an incident with a ferret which will make more sense if you watch it yourselves.
It is explained that this warehouse was the idea of some of the greatest minds in history and that every item that possesses an ability or energy that cannot be explained must be found and contained at this facility. Everything from Houdini's wallet to a magic kettle and many, many more artifacts are kept here.
The thing that I found most striking about the plot of this show is the explanation of these seemingly magical devices. Rather than leaving the origins of these items up to, simply that; magic, it is explained that humans are always capable of learning more. And many, many things in this world cannot be explained by our current knowledge. Of course, as our minds progress, more and more things can be removed from the Warehouse as we discover they are not a threat to us. But until that day comes, we must be protected from these mysterious forces.
There is an immediate feeling in the show that there is something we haven't been told as with every good drama and this just makes it all the more watchable.
There are many reasons you should give this show a chance, everything from the likeability of the characters for all their unique strengths and flaws to the endless possibilites of the artifacts within the Warehouse. Not forgetting their perfect and brilliant implementation of history into their storylines, drawing on interesting historical figures and ideas. This is a smart show, much like Eureka and I really think SyFy are onto a winner with this one. It combines all the elements for a good supernatural investigative drama and I can't wait to carry on watching. In fact that's what I'll do right now. Anyone who reads this, trust me, you should watch it and kudos to SyFy and the writers of their awesome shows.
G'night all.
Warehouse 13 is a show that follows two main characters; United States Secret Service agents Myka Bering and Peter Lattimer who, in the pilot episode are approached by a woman in their respective homes and told to go to South Dakota and wait there as they are being reassigned to the government's secret Warehouse 13 facility.
Upon arriving at the place they were ordered to, they realise it is in the middle of nowhere and is a huge, none-descript warehouse with one door and they quickly meet up with the man currently working at the facility, the eccentric Dr. Arthur "Artie" Nielsen. He beings to explain the the function of the warehouse to them and immediately Myka has a dislike of the situation. She attempts to get transferred back and is told that she will be there indefinitely. This is confirmed after an incident with a ferret which will make more sense if you watch it yourselves.
It is explained that this warehouse was the idea of some of the greatest minds in history and that every item that possesses an ability or energy that cannot be explained must be found and contained at this facility. Everything from Houdini's wallet to a magic kettle and many, many more artifacts are kept here.
The thing that I found most striking about the plot of this show is the explanation of these seemingly magical devices. Rather than leaving the origins of these items up to, simply that; magic, it is explained that humans are always capable of learning more. And many, many things in this world cannot be explained by our current knowledge. Of course, as our minds progress, more and more things can be removed from the Warehouse as we discover they are not a threat to us. But until that day comes, we must be protected from these mysterious forces.
There is an immediate feeling in the show that there is something we haven't been told as with every good drama and this just makes it all the more watchable.
There are many reasons you should give this show a chance, everything from the likeability of the characters for all their unique strengths and flaws to the endless possibilites of the artifacts within the Warehouse. Not forgetting their perfect and brilliant implementation of history into their storylines, drawing on interesting historical figures and ideas. This is a smart show, much like Eureka and I really think SyFy are onto a winner with this one. It combines all the elements for a good supernatural investigative drama and I can't wait to carry on watching. In fact that's what I'll do right now. Anyone who reads this, trust me, you should watch it and kudos to SyFy and the writers of their awesome shows.
G'night all.
Tuesday 20 July 2010
Eureka!
Hey, I'm back after a day of doing various things, including 3DS Max modelling and French exercises. But the thing that I want to talk about it Eureka (A Town Called Eureka in the UK). This is a show that, way back in around 2006 when it was first aired on the SciFi channel (now SyFy) I watched a few episodes of and although I thought it was good, I never really had the chance to watch it. A year or two ago I bought the first season on DVD and only just got around to watching it properly a few months back. It's brilliant. I immediately went about finding the rest of the DVDs online and after a I found a great deal, I bought season 1 and the first half of season two and honestly, the show has gone from strength to strength.
If you haven't watched this series, it revolves around Sheriff Jack Carter who finds himself working in a small town called Eureka (never would have guessed right..). He moves there with his teenage daughter, who has been causing endless troubles for him and his ex-wife. Little do they know that this town isn't as it first seems. It is quickly revealed that this town was created in the early 20th Century when the government realised that the scientists who had been making the biggest developments in history needed somewhere to thrive and make their discoveries in an environment that would nurture these minds.
The first season looks at Jack and both his struggle to comprehend the goings on in this top-secret world, stopping potentially town-destroying experiments and his day to day struggles in trying to deal with his daughter, Zoe, who also has a journey in the first season to realising that, in this environment she can be much more than she ever thought she could. This continues through the next season as she learns more from her genius teachers, classmates and finds out she might too be a potential Einstein.
There are other characters that play an important part in establishing the feel to this show and to the atmosphere of a town of geniuses:
The brilliant Allison Blake is a great example of this; an agent for the Department of Defense, medical doctor and government liason between Eureka and the Pentagon is key in helping Jack settle down in Eureka and opens up a possible romantic relationship there. Her story with her autistic child and her high-powered and high-stressed job really gives a sense of reality to a very different story and helps ground this sci-fi series in reality which I think is one of the reasons this show has real staying power.
Henry Deacon provides an elder-like character that Jack can look up to who will always have the right answer to both advanced scientific questions that Jack has and also the emotional problems brought up in later series. Storylines involving love and loss in season two will really get people thinking and his attempts at getting over this loss, although pretty unrealistic provide a look at what people would do if they had access to knowledge and the ethical drawbacks of this. A strong-willed character played by a great actor.
Nathan Stark is initially the angtagonist in this show and as the ex-husband of Allison, presents an immediate problem for Jack to deal with. This changes over the seasons as each character develops and truths come to light. His name seems to be an homage to Tony Stark aka Iron Man and his character really reflects upon this character, with a little bit of an unethical streak to him in the beginning. Develops as a character really well and by the end he will be a favourite.
There are many other characters that I won't bore you with mentioning now such as the geeky scientist Douglas Fargo and the tough yet sometimes (rarely) sensitive Deputy Jo Lupo but I won't bore you with descriptions, you should really check it out for yourself.
When I first watched this show I was wary of the seemingly typical set-up of each epsiode that many shows can make the mistake of over-using. Was every episode going to be: Some crazy mishap with a Quantum something-or-other occurs, Jack is set out to find out what happened, It's some scientist from the research facility in the town, Global Dynamics and his experiments at home, Jack thinks of a smart yet dumb at the same time idea to fix it, town saved.
It really isn't like this at all. Yes, the first series uses this formula to help introduce new characters, new scientific ideas and new plotlines that will run through the whole series but as soon as the characters are established it becomes much more than this. The sci-fi element of this series is something that's reall refreshing. Instead of aliens and far-off galaxies, it is much more grounded in reality and uses real scientific theories and rather than blowing them out of proportions, just asks the question "what if?". What if we could really travel between the 3rd and 5th dimensions, what if we could manipulate the molecules in our bodies and wal through walls? It takes these ideas and explains them well, using them as brilliant plot devices that can be both fun and deadly in the same episode.
The development of the series really takes off as it gets into its second and third series, introducing some really interesting storylines that explore some themes in ways that I don't think any other show would be capable of. You will, I guarantee you, watch episode after episode to see what happens next, while the nice conclusions of each episode will leave you feeling fulfilled enough to leave the dvds if you really have to.
It isn't the best series out there, simply because at the moment there are some really great ones. But it is definitely worth watching, it has intelligent and witty dialogue, characters that ae easy to identify with, stunning visual effects and a storyline that is just getting better and better and although I have always thought it was great, in season 3 it really seems to be hitting its stride. I would go into more detail but I really want to get back to watching it.
Anyway, I really urge anyone reading to check it out, I may not give it justice in my review but I can't put in much better than this. It's one of a kind and has the perfect formula for a tv show; Strong, intetesting characters, well-written storylines and great actors. With that splash of Sci-Fi that's missing from todays tv.
G'night all.
If you haven't watched this series, it revolves around Sheriff Jack Carter who finds himself working in a small town called Eureka (never would have guessed right..). He moves there with his teenage daughter, who has been causing endless troubles for him and his ex-wife. Little do they know that this town isn't as it first seems. It is quickly revealed that this town was created in the early 20th Century when the government realised that the scientists who had been making the biggest developments in history needed somewhere to thrive and make their discoveries in an environment that would nurture these minds.
The first season looks at Jack and both his struggle to comprehend the goings on in this top-secret world, stopping potentially town-destroying experiments and his day to day struggles in trying to deal with his daughter, Zoe, who also has a journey in the first season to realising that, in this environment she can be much more than she ever thought she could. This continues through the next season as she learns more from her genius teachers, classmates and finds out she might too be a potential Einstein.
There are other characters that play an important part in establishing the feel to this show and to the atmosphere of a town of geniuses:
The brilliant Allison Blake is a great example of this; an agent for the Department of Defense, medical doctor and government liason between Eureka and the Pentagon is key in helping Jack settle down in Eureka and opens up a possible romantic relationship there. Her story with her autistic child and her high-powered and high-stressed job really gives a sense of reality to a very different story and helps ground this sci-fi series in reality which I think is one of the reasons this show has real staying power.
Henry Deacon provides an elder-like character that Jack can look up to who will always have the right answer to both advanced scientific questions that Jack has and also the emotional problems brought up in later series. Storylines involving love and loss in season two will really get people thinking and his attempts at getting over this loss, although pretty unrealistic provide a look at what people would do if they had access to knowledge and the ethical drawbacks of this. A strong-willed character played by a great actor.
Nathan Stark is initially the angtagonist in this show and as the ex-husband of Allison, presents an immediate problem for Jack to deal with. This changes over the seasons as each character develops and truths come to light. His name seems to be an homage to Tony Stark aka Iron Man and his character really reflects upon this character, with a little bit of an unethical streak to him in the beginning. Develops as a character really well and by the end he will be a favourite.
There are many other characters that I won't bore you with mentioning now such as the geeky scientist Douglas Fargo and the tough yet sometimes (rarely) sensitive Deputy Jo Lupo but I won't bore you with descriptions, you should really check it out for yourself.
When I first watched this show I was wary of the seemingly typical set-up of each epsiode that many shows can make the mistake of over-using. Was every episode going to be: Some crazy mishap with a Quantum something-or-other occurs, Jack is set out to find out what happened, It's some scientist from the research facility in the town, Global Dynamics and his experiments at home, Jack thinks of a smart yet dumb at the same time idea to fix it, town saved.
It really isn't like this at all. Yes, the first series uses this formula to help introduce new characters, new scientific ideas and new plotlines that will run through the whole series but as soon as the characters are established it becomes much more than this. The sci-fi element of this series is something that's reall refreshing. Instead of aliens and far-off galaxies, it is much more grounded in reality and uses real scientific theories and rather than blowing them out of proportions, just asks the question "what if?". What if we could really travel between the 3rd and 5th dimensions, what if we could manipulate the molecules in our bodies and wal through walls? It takes these ideas and explains them well, using them as brilliant plot devices that can be both fun and deadly in the same episode.
The development of the series really takes off as it gets into its second and third series, introducing some really interesting storylines that explore some themes in ways that I don't think any other show would be capable of. You will, I guarantee you, watch episode after episode to see what happens next, while the nice conclusions of each episode will leave you feeling fulfilled enough to leave the dvds if you really have to.
It isn't the best series out there, simply because at the moment there are some really great ones. But it is definitely worth watching, it has intelligent and witty dialogue, characters that ae easy to identify with, stunning visual effects and a storyline that is just getting better and better and although I have always thought it was great, in season 3 it really seems to be hitting its stride. I would go into more detail but I really want to get back to watching it.
Anyway, I really urge anyone reading to check it out, I may not give it justice in my review but I can't put in much better than this. It's one of a kind and has the perfect formula for a tv show; Strong, intetesting characters, well-written storylines and great actors. With that splash of Sci-Fi that's missing from todays tv.
G'night all.
Monday 19 July 2010
Drawings...
Couldn't help but update a bit more before I sign out.
I recently got inspiration from an artist from DeviantArt. I know, there are loads of great artists on there but what really struck me about her was that she was around my age (maybe a couple of years older) and some of her work that was dated around 2006/07 really resembled my own. They were good but they lacked that painstaking attention to detail that she now has in her drawings. But now when I look at her recent pieces, I think, 'hey, I could actually be that good in a few years'. It will take a lot of practice, but luckily it's practice at something I love. I haven't drawn any realistic pieces for a long time due to my experiments with style and trying to move away from what I am good at and develop other skills. I realise now that that's probably the wrong thing to do so I attempted to draw a picture of Olivia Wilde, the stunning actress who plays Thirteen on Fox's House MD, one (of many) of the favourite american dramas I watch. I used a reference for it and after spending a lot of time building up some nice contrast in the picture, this is what I came up with:
Pretty good if I do say so myself. This set me on a mission to get better and after nice comments from people when I uploaded the picture to the web, I decided to draw another great character from an even better show. Sarah Michelle Gellar (if you didn't know, which you should if you're reading this, Buffy the Vampire Slayer). This one took a couple of days to finish, well evenings after I had finished work and it looked even better than the other picture. It might be one of the best pictures I have ever drawn and after comparing with older drawings you can really see the difference in depth and thus how realistic it is. Anyway, here are some work in progress pictures:
The face took my quite a while to get the right look for but after I finally got it to look like her, I started on the hair, which was by far the most time-consuming part of this picture. (Sorry about the different coloured photos, as you can probably tell it was well into the night when I finally pried the pencil from my hand hehe)
Some more hair.. and this is the finished piece, which I am so incredibly proud of :) I would love to see some comments on it and will be uploading many more pitures, possibly one from Supernatural next. I'm off to bed now but thanks for reading :)
G'night all.
I recently got inspiration from an artist from DeviantArt. I know, there are loads of great artists on there but what really struck me about her was that she was around my age (maybe a couple of years older) and some of her work that was dated around 2006/07 really resembled my own. They were good but they lacked that painstaking attention to detail that she now has in her drawings. But now when I look at her recent pieces, I think, 'hey, I could actually be that good in a few years'. It will take a lot of practice, but luckily it's practice at something I love. I haven't drawn any realistic pieces for a long time due to my experiments with style and trying to move away from what I am good at and develop other skills. I realise now that that's probably the wrong thing to do so I attempted to draw a picture of Olivia Wilde, the stunning actress who plays Thirteen on Fox's House MD, one (of many) of the favourite american dramas I watch. I used a reference for it and after spending a lot of time building up some nice contrast in the picture, this is what I came up with:
Pretty good if I do say so myself. This set me on a mission to get better and after nice comments from people when I uploaded the picture to the web, I decided to draw another great character from an even better show. Sarah Michelle Gellar (if you didn't know, which you should if you're reading this, Buffy the Vampire Slayer). This one took a couple of days to finish, well evenings after I had finished work and it looked even better than the other picture. It might be one of the best pictures I have ever drawn and after comparing with older drawings you can really see the difference in depth and thus how realistic it is. Anyway, here are some work in progress pictures:
The face took my quite a while to get the right look for but after I finally got it to look like her, I started on the hair, which was by far the most time-consuming part of this picture. (Sorry about the different coloured photos, as you can probably tell it was well into the night when I finally pried the pencil from my hand hehe)
Some more hair.. and this is the finished piece, which I am so incredibly proud of :) I would love to see some comments on it and will be uploading many more pitures, possibly one from Supernatural next. I'm off to bed now but thanks for reading :)
G'night all.
Back and redesigned... this blog's going to be awesome.
So, I've redesigned my blog and there are a few different things that I still want to add when I get the chance but I'm pretty happy with how it's looking right now.
The main thing that's changed for me at the moment is that i've gotten organised. I bought a day planner and set out the things I need to do each day. I'm really disorganised when it comes to getting stuff done, especially when i'm at work in the summer but things are going to change; one of those being this blog.
I plan to change the style of it, from the personal blog it is at the moment to one that's updated much more frequently, basically talking about anything and everything that I like in the media. I plan to work in television in the future and my drawing has been coming along lately so you can expect realistic drawings of characters from television shows posted fairly frequently. I'll also be posting reviews on new episodes and old of shows that stand out to me and some 3D modelling work i'll be working on in the next few months. I'm going to be busy but by the end of the summer i'll be well prepared for next year at University.
I'm hoping a few more people will subscribe to it, possibly giving me pointers on the sort of things you want to see from the film, television and animation industry and from time to time maybe some more intellectual things will pop up.
I've just finished watching the first half of the third season of A Town Called Eureka and the show seems to be picking up a good stride of late so there may be some reviews on the latest season of that. I've also just finished season four of Ghost Whisperer, watched almost three seasons of 30 Rock and I'm almost done reading Neil Gaiman's American Gods, which definitely deserves a review. Time management will hopefully allow me to get a lot of these things done but as I said before, I'm currently working part time to save for my next Uni year so there may be slight gaps in the times I post updates.
Anyway, thanks for watching and I hope you like the new design and way i've decided to take this blog. Bye for now
The main thing that's changed for me at the moment is that i've gotten organised. I bought a day planner and set out the things I need to do each day. I'm really disorganised when it comes to getting stuff done, especially when i'm at work in the summer but things are going to change; one of those being this blog.
I plan to change the style of it, from the personal blog it is at the moment to one that's updated much more frequently, basically talking about anything and everything that I like in the media. I plan to work in television in the future and my drawing has been coming along lately so you can expect realistic drawings of characters from television shows posted fairly frequently. I'll also be posting reviews on new episodes and old of shows that stand out to me and some 3D modelling work i'll be working on in the next few months. I'm going to be busy but by the end of the summer i'll be well prepared for next year at University.
I'm hoping a few more people will subscribe to it, possibly giving me pointers on the sort of things you want to see from the film, television and animation industry and from time to time maybe some more intellectual things will pop up.
I've just finished watching the first half of the third season of A Town Called Eureka and the show seems to be picking up a good stride of late so there may be some reviews on the latest season of that. I've also just finished season four of Ghost Whisperer, watched almost three seasons of 30 Rock and I'm almost done reading Neil Gaiman's American Gods, which definitely deserves a review. Time management will hopefully allow me to get a lot of these things done but as I said before, I'm currently working part time to save for my next Uni year so there may be slight gaps in the times I post updates.
Anyway, thanks for watching and I hope you like the new design and way i've decided to take this blog. Bye for now
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