Doin' it for Kicks

Ok, so I go on music kicks. XD This semester, first it was Tool. Then Justice. Then Tool again. Most recently, Franz Ferdinand.
And now I'm on a Dir en Grey kick. XD

It started with me giving them a listen randomly a few days ago? And then Erin was playing it in her car, and we were talking about Kyo's voice going from all the abuse he's putting on it. (;^;) But later that evening, I was looking at Daft Punk stuff on Youtube, and that freakish baby thing from Technologic was on the screen, and somebody's like "If you think THIS is creepy, then check out Dir en Grey's 'Obscure.'" So of course, what else could I do but look at it? XD

Here it is in all it's crazy glory - DEFINITELY NSFW. Or safe for probably most people's eyes. XD



It was just so horrible and disgusting and disturbingly sexy and amazing and beautiful in its ugliness that I... I just love this kind of shit. XD

This has officially launched a kick. XD

Someday, I want to go through all the albums and figure out what they're really saying in the lyrics - the above song, for example, is about abortion and it's commonplace-ness in Japanese society.. because being a single mother is not an option, and birth control is not so easy to get...

But before we move totally on to the Diru kick, The Franz has to say something:



I'm REALLY diggin' this song too. :D I think I might just do my moving typography piece on this... if I get the time. D: At least on part of the chorus, because I can see it in my head.
"Whoah-ho
LOOK OUT
You're what she CAME for
You're what she CAME for
NO QUESTION/NO DOUBT!"

Either that song, or this one, which I ADORE and launched the Franz kick in the first place:

I just love how entirely whacked out these guys are in this. XD

Hahaha, such a contrast. Franz Ferdinand is all about dance music, kinda happy quirky and weird, and sexy, and Dir en Grey is about dark macabre rock music... and sexy. XD I THINK I PICK THE BANDS I LIKE BY THEIR SEXINESS, LOLZ.

Gaaaaaah but I want to draw Kyo now SO BAD. I think the combination of zombie walk+this = SPEWING BLOOODDDDD FTW!! I'm wondering if I can draw him for my Tin sketchbook - if a few can be from photos, then.... >BD BWAHAHAHAHA.
2 pages from photos out of 100 isn't bad at all right?

TO HOMEWORK~!!

But what, I ask, do you make?

Now some of my work!


This is what I'm proudest of, and maddest at, currently. XD It was my final for an animation class I took in the KI department last year, and it took me SO LONG to get to just that point. I have a few more seconds storyboarded that I really want to do, and so much more I want to fix and tweak. It's my dream to get this actually fixed up and made into a REAL trailer someday, with color and backgrounds and all of that, because this is just the key frames right now...

http://seira-chan33.deviantart.com/art/some-kind-of-temporary-sanity-138509230
and THIS is the aforementioned animation that I did for class recently - I made a quick armature from wire and pipe cleaners for a head of Sean, the main character of my story, that I'd made from a kneaded eraser on a car trip months before. XD He runs into crazed kewpie dolls and molests a styrofoam wig head, what more could you ask for?

If you want to watch more animations, they'll be on my youtube page here. : ]
http://www.youtube.com/user/seir323
I don't have everything up yet, but I need to correct that!

More animation inspirations from the dregs of my Youtube Favorites. XD

A smattering of things from my youtube favorites.. : D


A piece of Jamie Hewlett's handiwork, by his Zombie Flesh Eaters studio, done for the BBC for the Olympics, containing his characters from "Monkey" - an opera version of the Chinese legend Journey to the West.
I REALLY love Hewlett's work - Gorillaz, especially, were an obsession in High school of mine, and a major contributing factor of how I got motivated to go to art school in the first place.

ALL of the videos for Demon Days were extremely important to me, but probably none can top the first (even though I think each has their strengths - El Manana being the most cinematic, I love the lighting in Dirty Harry, the dancing and humor in DARE.) But Feel Good Inc. was the one that started it all. I had so many theories around what this song meant, and Gorillaz in general ended up playing such a huge part in the development of my work, it's not even funny. XD


I like Disney too. XD You just CANNOT top their animation, pretty much.
This was from me re-discovering this movie, actually - I hadn't watched it a lot as a kid, and thus forgot all of the stuff that's in it. XD And I love Clopin~! The way he moves!
Here's hoping Disney gets back on top of it's 2D animation. If ANYONE doesn't know about this....

THEN SHAME ON YOU. XD
I'm pretty stoked there's going to be a 2D movie coming out soon, you don't even know. XD

MOAR OF MY CHILDHOOD!:

Batman was always captivating. I think, even as a grown-up, now, the visuals are striking, and the mood mature, the stories and characters intensely interesting... Kudos to these people!

Also, I'm a Hellsing fan. :D
The animation in the OVA's is top-notch, and keeps getting better. And also, they're gory and awesome. XD




Opening to Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, an anime with a very dark sense of humor... :3


This is a trailer for a movie I haven's SEEN, but have great interest in seeing. XD Worked on by, god, I don't remember his name, but a guy from Gainax, with a crazy as shit looking story, and such colorful animation, and look at all the black shading!! The animation style is just really interesting and fun to watch.


(Currently, and probably for a LONG time..) My favorite anime movie. D:
Miyazaki aside, this is just... AMAZING. I LOVE this show, and the movie is like the show amped up to 11. Beautiful, dramatic, interesting... Best... movie.. ever. D:




This was an awesome looking trailer, but sadly, it's for a comic and not an animation. XD


Ok, this isn't really so much in the "animation" category as it is games, but it's just such a powerful piece, that I played the game before this one, it was that motivating. XD I looove the music. I think part of why I love animation so much is that music can go with images, just PERIOD. It is an amazing nexus of the two..



Ok, NOW, for those Tool videos that inspired this one animation I did for class... XD

The most MAJOR influence, this is just... awesome... on multiple levels. It reminded me a LOT of my story... because the main character could almost be the one singing... All of Maynard's music, singing, I associated with that character since practically the beginning.
The animation is amazing, the concept is haunting and very interesting... It's fostered an interest in stop motion for me, personally, because I love dolls so much... why not put them to work?



My other favorites, video-wise... :D

Ok, I think that's enough for now, don't you? :D

ANIMATION GO!!!

Here's just a smattering of things that I found that I REALLY liked as examples of good animation. This is just one post, but I could probably fill a whole blog with just stuff I liked. XD


Fran found this for me and it's AMAZING.
This was directed by Todd MacFarlane and apparently handled by the same studio that did the Batman Animated Series back in the day.
OMG I LOVE IT.

(also this studio really knows how to do awesome chicks. XD)
But I think it's also just... kind of amazing. And a great juxtaposition (lol THAT word) between the saturday morning cartoons of my childhood and such serious subject matter.
It's fast and great and RAWR I AM MOTIVATED BY STUFF LIKE THIS OMAGAW. XD


and this


Both from Erin!
Both from Erin. <3

And these, which I didn't post when I found them, lol. XD

Vocaloids kinda creep me out and fascinate me at the same time, but the animation's hella nice!

-A Tiffany find of awesome~

So haunting and beautiful. D8

And another from Fran!

IT HAS THE COMBINED POWERS OF THE GUY WHO DID DIGIMON AND TAKASHI MURAKAMI. IT'S FANTASTIC. XD

Hello!

Here is a blog for work that I'm doing in-class and otherwise, inspirations, etc. : ] I'll try to be make a better effort to post actual PHOTOS of in-progress work instead of just talking about it, and be, in general, a better member of the artist community with this.
Hope you find it interesting!

As to who I am, I'm a VCU art student studying Communication Arts (that's illustration, etc, NOT Mass Comm.) and I hope someday to be involved in the animation industry, because I just find the result of all of that hard work to be just sheer magic. I want to make work that is mature and thought-provoking, and interesting, with lots of character development, etc. - all stuff that makes me drool. XD And look amazing! But I also have an interest in making comics, dolls, doing photography, music... It kind of goes all over the place.

This blog will, at first, have a few posts that I made previously on other blogs of mine (that I made in the meantime of getting this one) and then I'll be using this as my primary art blog. Enjoy!