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oyceterJust finished watching Animatrix. It's very pretty, absolutely breathtaking animation. I especially liked the animation of the two shorts directed by Shinichiro Watanabe, the guy who did Cowboy Bebop (awesome series). One was a Trinity backstory, very film noir, done almost completely in grainy black and white animation. You could tell right away it was by Cowboy Bebop guy. The second one he did came at the very end, and the style was completely different -- very sketchy, with the lines still there in the animation, very pseudo-realistic. I liked it alot. I don't think I've ever really seen that style of animation before, and it was coupled with what I thought was an interesting story. So the animation just added great atmosphere.
The other one I liked a lot was by Mahiro Maeda, who apparently did Blue Submarine 6 (kind of strange series, don't remember much of it), directed the weird rose in space bit of Memories (haunting), and worked on Akira. I think it's available for download on http://www.theanimatrix.com.. it's called The Second Renaissance, and it's basically all about how we got to the entire situation that led to the creation of the Matrix and the enslavement of humans. The animation looks very simplistic and kind of old-fashioned, but I love the way everything's round and almost 50's like.
Final Flight of the Osiris was technically nice, done by Square of Final Fantasy fame, and it featured a kickass Asian chick (always a good thing, hee). But I felt it wasn't quite as haunting or as atmospheric as some of the other ones... it felt more forgettable to me that it probably should have.
I also liked this itty piece called Beyond, just about some kids finding a glitch in the Matrix. The animation was extremely simplistic, just lines, not that much shading even. The closest thing I can think of for it would be Lain or the animation from the newest Zelda game. Very flat, very cartoony, yet the animator really managed to capture how human bodies move. There were more than a few moments in it in which the main character would take a few steps, wend her way around obstacles, and I would catch my breath because it was so real. Strangely, that never happened to me during Final Flight, which technically should have been more "realistic." I also liked the feeling of wonder in Beyond, the feeling of kids playing.
There were definitely some pieces that just disturbed me. For some reason I didn't like the one by Ninja Scroll guy... I mean, the animation was cool, but off-putting. And the story was just kind of silly, I thought. The animation for World Record was also very disturbing to me. As well as that of Matriculated, which was the only feature in there that felt American. I congratulated myself on picking this up when it turns out that the guy that did Aeon Flux on MTV did it. There's just something about the way people in anime move, very fluid, very volatile, that I don't quite feel is there in American animation right now. People move differently in American animation (and I'm generalizing horribly). I think American animators in general tend to pay more attention to little body movements to make things more "realistic," but as they're doing it, the not-so-good animators will focus so much on these tics that they don't bother to smooth out the animation, and character just feels jerky and not quite an entire person. Japanese animation doesn't tend to do that so much, probably due to economic factors -- money, time, etc. So stillness is a huge part in Japanese animation, whereas I don't think it's quite there in American animation. I mean, how often do you watch a Disney movie or something and have everything be still, no fancy camera movements, nothing. I feel like there isn't because the animators think that for the bigness of the picture and the money that goes in, every single second should have some nifty animation going in. Whereas in a lot of Japanese television animation especially, they just don't have the money to animate that many frames. Different aesthetics.
Obviously I watch a lot of animation. But that's because I think it's an art form that is sorely underutilized as of now, with the possible exception of Japan. And even Japan isn't doing all the things it could be with animation -- instead, like America, it's sticking to a very defined style. That's what I loved about the Animatrix -- it was a great showcase of all the different styles of animation there can be and how each one influences the mood of the story being told. I was a particular fan of both of Watanabe's stylistic bits -- loved the grainy noir and the sketchy, unfinished feeling of his other one. And I liked the simple, child-like lines in Beyond. And I liked how clean everything in Second Renaissance was, how it used images from so many human atrocities to hit the viewer with sympathy for the machines, and how it felt like a fairy-tale because of the deceptive simplicity of the animation.
In other news, I went to Borders today. Caved and bought a romance novel (want to read smut, but I can't print something as massive as the Last Summer, and shorter ones won't last me on the plane, sigh) and a book called the Wild Swans by Peg Kerr. Is she any good? I had to get it because I love fairy tale fantasy, and I especially love the Seven Swans story... especially what Juliet Marillier did in her Sevenwaters trilogy. I wish someone would rewrite the Goose Girl, because that was my favorite story as a kid. I also found a Far Side collection for 6 dollars! I love Far Side.
But the best thing of all was, while browsing the comics section (must read Lucifer series and Fray), I found a box of 40 postcards from Sandman! And over half of them consist of artwork that I've never seen before. They're all completely gorgeous, very high quality prints, and I love it to death already. Now I have to find a scanner and scan them all so I can make icons!! Hrm. Wonder when I'll find the time.
The other one I liked a lot was by Mahiro Maeda, who apparently did Blue Submarine 6 (kind of strange series, don't remember much of it), directed the weird rose in space bit of Memories (haunting), and worked on Akira. I think it's available for download on http://www.theanimatrix.com.. it's called The Second Renaissance, and it's basically all about how we got to the entire situation that led to the creation of the Matrix and the enslavement of humans. The animation looks very simplistic and kind of old-fashioned, but I love the way everything's round and almost 50's like.
Final Flight of the Osiris was technically nice, done by Square of Final Fantasy fame, and it featured a kickass Asian chick (always a good thing, hee). But I felt it wasn't quite as haunting or as atmospheric as some of the other ones... it felt more forgettable to me that it probably should have.
I also liked this itty piece called Beyond, just about some kids finding a glitch in the Matrix. The animation was extremely simplistic, just lines, not that much shading even. The closest thing I can think of for it would be Lain or the animation from the newest Zelda game. Very flat, very cartoony, yet the animator really managed to capture how human bodies move. There were more than a few moments in it in which the main character would take a few steps, wend her way around obstacles, and I would catch my breath because it was so real. Strangely, that never happened to me during Final Flight, which technically should have been more "realistic." I also liked the feeling of wonder in Beyond, the feeling of kids playing.
There were definitely some pieces that just disturbed me. For some reason I didn't like the one by Ninja Scroll guy... I mean, the animation was cool, but off-putting. And the story was just kind of silly, I thought. The animation for World Record was also very disturbing to me. As well as that of Matriculated, which was the only feature in there that felt American. I congratulated myself on picking this up when it turns out that the guy that did Aeon Flux on MTV did it. There's just something about the way people in anime move, very fluid, very volatile, that I don't quite feel is there in American animation right now. People move differently in American animation (and I'm generalizing horribly). I think American animators in general tend to pay more attention to little body movements to make things more "realistic," but as they're doing it, the not-so-good animators will focus so much on these tics that they don't bother to smooth out the animation, and character just feels jerky and not quite an entire person. Japanese animation doesn't tend to do that so much, probably due to economic factors -- money, time, etc. So stillness is a huge part in Japanese animation, whereas I don't think it's quite there in American animation. I mean, how often do you watch a Disney movie or something and have everything be still, no fancy camera movements, nothing. I feel like there isn't because the animators think that for the bigness of the picture and the money that goes in, every single second should have some nifty animation going in. Whereas in a lot of Japanese television animation especially, they just don't have the money to animate that many frames. Different aesthetics.
Obviously I watch a lot of animation. But that's because I think it's an art form that is sorely underutilized as of now, with the possible exception of Japan. And even Japan isn't doing all the things it could be with animation -- instead, like America, it's sticking to a very defined style. That's what I loved about the Animatrix -- it was a great showcase of all the different styles of animation there can be and how each one influences the mood of the story being told. I was a particular fan of both of Watanabe's stylistic bits -- loved the grainy noir and the sketchy, unfinished feeling of his other one. And I liked the simple, child-like lines in Beyond. And I liked how clean everything in Second Renaissance was, how it used images from so many human atrocities to hit the viewer with sympathy for the machines, and how it felt like a fairy-tale because of the deceptive simplicity of the animation.
In other news, I went to Borders today. Caved and bought a romance novel (want to read smut, but I can't print something as massive as the Last Summer, and shorter ones won't last me on the plane, sigh) and a book called the Wild Swans by Peg Kerr. Is she any good? I had to get it because I love fairy tale fantasy, and I especially love the Seven Swans story... especially what Juliet Marillier did in her Sevenwaters trilogy. I wish someone would rewrite the Goose Girl, because that was my favorite story as a kid. I also found a Far Side collection for 6 dollars! I love Far Side.
But the best thing of all was, while browsing the comics section (must read Lucifer series and Fray), I found a box of 40 postcards from Sandman! And over half of them consist of artwork that I've never seen before. They're all completely gorgeous, very high quality prints, and I love it to death already. Now I have to find a scanner and scan them all so I can make icons!! Hrm. Wonder when I'll find the time.
re: animatrix
Sun, May. 25th, 2003 09:34 am (UTC)Re: re: animatrix
Sun, May. 25th, 2003 11:49 am (UTC)MMmmmm bookstore visit! No real suggestions since it seems like you've already read a lot of the stuff I usually recommend ;). I've never read Vogler or Brust, what do they write?
More than you wanted to know!
Sun, May. 25th, 2003 03:13 pm (UTC)VLAD TALTOS novels
In chronological order:
1. Taltos
2. Dragon
3. Yendi
4. Dragon
5. Jhereg
6. Teckla
7. Phoenix
8. Athyra
9. Orca
10. Issola
Theoretically there are to be nineteen of the things. One for each House, Taltos, and the last book, possibly called The Final Contract. Of course he has to live long enough to write all of them. I must say, Brust just might be able to pull off writing that many books about one character. Being a stylistic shapeshifter doesn't hurt. What Steve said about it today (I'm on his mailing list):
At 09:45 AM 5/25/2003 -0500, Ryan wrote:
>Ok this has me thinking so I'll ask.
>Steve have you ever read any of the Elric novels and if so did any of
>that have any influence on how Morrolan was developed? I don't have any
>Elric books remaining but I've always thought of stormbringer anytime
>great weapons were mentioned.
>
>Anyone else had these thoughts or am I just in need of more sleep?
Okay, I thought it was kind of obvious. Just in case it isn't: yes, Moorcock's Elric books are huge influence.
Hmmm.
You can think of the Vlad books this way:
A world created in honor of Fritz Leiber
Fantasy tropes created in honor of Michael Moorcock
A narrative style in honor of Dashiel HammetA general aesthetic in honor of Roger Zelazny
It reminds me a lot of Buffy: humor and more underneath. Great female characters too.
By Paarfi aka Brust
modeled after Dumas
1. The Phoenix Guards
2. 500 Hundred Years After
3. The Viscount of Adrilankha which has been split into a trilogy
1. Paths of the Dead (out)
2. The Enchantress of Dzur Mountain (not)
3. The Lord of Castle Black (not)
All of Viscount has been written. Enchantress will come out in about 9 months -- August 2003? Steve says industry standard is 12-18 months, but he got Tor to go faster.
Other
Brokedown Palace-- taking place about 1000 years after The Phoenix Guards, probably around the time of Vlad's birth. More specifically right before Cawti's birth.
Dzurlord -- a Choose Your Own Adventure kind of book. I haven't heard great things about it, except it provided the descriptions of some of the animals.
Not in Dragaera
Reign in Hell a different take on a biblical tale(republished)
Agyar Avampire novel
Gypsy (w/ Jane Lindskold) Great book and he did a CD after, which I want***
Cowboy Feng's Space Bar and Grill
The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars his best IMHO about writers, artists myth and life
Freedom and Necessity with Emma Bull -- "an epistolary fantasy novel of the year 1849".
**http://www.dreamcafe.com/main.cgi Brust's page
***wanted to link you but the lyrics sites have mega popups... google search will find em if you're curious.
PS
Sun, May. 25th, 2003 03:17 pm (UTC)Re: PS
Sun, May. 25th, 2003 08:50 pm (UTC)Ooo, now those I have read. I do like Martin's series so far: he's got a great world going, with very interesting people and politics. My only problem with him is that I'm not too fond of most of his characters, which is probably a good thing, considering how much pain he likes inflicting on them. The third book is particularly painful...
I liked Kushiel's Dart a lot too -- especially Carey's take on Europe and France and the entire idea of Blessed Elua. I love fantasy worlds that are almost exactly like our own, except with that little twist, much like GGK's Tigana and Song for Arbonne.
PPS
Tue, May. 27th, 2003 05:27 pm (UTC)It's funny that you noticed the strand of Tigana and Arbonne because I thought of it also. Pretty clear it seems. But she's both more so and less so if you know what I mean. More so with certain ideas from the books and less so w/ the prose. Still if Dart is her first fiction, that's not bad. And I'm trying to remember if any of GGK books were first person narrated. Don't think so, and it's not easy to do well, especially in a series.
I'll wait to hear from you about the Kerr book. It was a little scary to see all the fantasy with so few that I wanted to read that I hadn't read! Back to the non-foction section.
Re: PPS
Thu, May. 29th, 2003 08:52 am (UTC)I keep desperately wanting to buy Avatar in hardcover! But I counsel myself patience and eventually it will show up at the public library. My poor wallet =(. Book buying is definitely one of my more expensive hobbies, thank goodness for used book stores and libraries!
I find it interesting that I found Kushiel's Dart around the same time I found Daughter of the Forest -- both are first person, and it just seemed to be going around with fantasy books at the time. I wasn't all that happy with Kushiel's Chosen, but then, could be the middle book symptom...
Kerr... got halfway through. It's not that amazing, sadly. The characters just feel a little too pat, a little too nice or too evil, depending. It's not really a quantifiable feeling either... kind of like a Mary Sue detector? Except for published fiction...
Re: PPS
Thu, May. 29th, 2003 10:27 am (UTC)