So Much To Tell You About Genocide!

Untitled from Zac Seaton on Vimeo.

OK, so here we have an example of me doing this thing called animation. It's weird huh? Me, of all folk, doing some animation!

Jokes and witticisms aside, this is the work in progress of my first show reel piece. It's been uploaded in it's current form due to assessment reasons and anybody who has a problem with that can go die in a fire. Really, do it now, I command you! OBEY THE FIST!!!

So really what this piece is currently demonstrating is the overall timing, posing and break-downs of the movements. This piece is an excerpt from a much more grandiose scene where upon 'A dude' is fighting a 'minion' for possession of a pretty girls handbag. 'A dude' has just scooped him up buy the leg and thought the 'minion' beat, but the little monkey bastard has a lot more fight left in him.

I'm not really sure what else to say about this piece to give anymore insight, or perhaps it's best I don't and it receives the full force of context ignorant criticism. Whatever, enjoy.

P.S. Don't listen to the toaster, it's full of lies. LIES!!!

Bouncin' Bean from Zac Seaton on Vimeo.

DEFEND YOUR ORIFICES FROM THE SKY! no really, that shite will find it's way in anywhere, yeah, anywhere.

So, this little nugget is an assessment peice from my tafe 3D class. We were to model, rig then skin a character and finally make the sucker bounce. This I have done, so I bequeath unto you, oh vengefull interwebs!

Wall-e vs Space Chimps

Silence your flatulence, you writhing tape worms!





I think I've been reading too much Johnny the Homicidal Maniac... or not enough, whatever. As promised, my opinion shall be spat in your general direction and you will swallow.

So, Space Chimps. While it looks pretty and the voice acting is enjoyable, it really seems to lack something. Acting, me thinks. The animators weren't bad, that's not at all what I'm saying, but there was a definite lack of symbolism and expression through their bodies. It was in essence, a movie full of monkey sized Keanu Reaves. To further my disappointment, the lack lustre compositions leave a series of poorly framed head shots to entertain you. Couple that with a classic 'you can do it' themed plot, it left me screaming at the movie store cashiers intestine.

In stark contrast to the luke warm effort of the affore mentioned monkey business, wall-e was brilliant. Emotional, deep and breath taking, the team at Pixar have out done them selves. While director Andrew Stanton is no Brad Bird, I was truly awestruck by the complexity and yet simplicity of the plot. With no voice acting per se through the fist portion of the film (robot sounds were composed by Ben Burtt), the level of acting required to convey the situation was astronomical. The brilliant visual compositions giving us an insight into the mood and creating atmosphere. When your soundtrack includes 'Thus Spake Zarathushtra' (bombastic little number from 2001: a Space Odyssey) you know you're onto a good start. The genius use of such mood music gives an edge to the scenes that truly enraptures you.

Anymore Chimp bashing from me will have the RSPCA kicking down my door to open up my insides with sporks, so I end it here. I had intended to go more in depth into the break down, but alas, I work on borrowed time and toe nails.

A New Year Dawns

Greetings one and all.

Ok, I've been spastically remiss with this blog o'mine. I figure it's mostly because of a lack of purpose. I have been willy-nilly posting whatever takes my fancy at the time.

So I have something of a goal for this year; I watch a lot of movies, really alot of movies. I like discussing cinematic techniques, too. So, I'm going to use this blog space to dissemble movies and share my thoughts on what I liked/disliked or thought made the movie work, or not.

Futher, I find my self a prudent opportunity to tick off an assignment for TAFE. By the by, I'm back again. I have come back to Tafe for the express purpose of creating a 3D showreel worthy of what I've been taught.

Ok all, I think I'm about done here for now. Oh wait, RISEN DVD hits the shelves next month, GO TEAM ME!

Take it easy and enjoy folks.

A Long Time Coming

Well, It has been some time since I sat down and updated this thing, so I figured 'why the hell not?'

Since July has been and gone much has happened and much has changed. I would like to tell you all about it, provided my freakin' cat will let me control the damnable keyboard. Considering how long it's taken me to type this, I feel the short version is in order.

So... well I guess the big news is that I now have a job contracting for Liquid Animation in Brisbane. I'm working on multitudinous Flash based animations for the most part and what ever other random 'arty' assignments get thrown to the department I'm working in.

Ok, it's become apparent that the cat must control the keyboard or it will never be happy again, so I'm going to leave it there for now and bring up some more in depth reports on some of the random shite I've been up to in a later post or posts. It'll be great, totally, I swear.

In the meantime, have fun!

'RISEN' Amebix Retrospective DVD

So, it's been a while since I sat down and blogged something. I thought I'd better just throw one out there for good measure.

But what to say? I saw Batman and thought it was awesome, which you'd think too if you were any kind of thinking human being. Or maybe I could regale you all with a hate anthem dedicated to my housemate and her preponderant need to use 'post-it' notes as a means of informing me what I'm doing 'wrong'. That's too unclassy for the hour of the night that i find myself in.

Well, I think I'll just lay out an update of the Amebix DVD. The same DVD that some of my amigo's and I created an animated music video for, yeah that one.

We recently were informed by the guys at Amebix HQ that they liked the clip so much, they were going to use pieces of it throughout the main feature. How freakin' awesome is that? Not only is the full clip going to be in the special features section, but it's going to be in the feature as well! I tell you, it makes the whole thing so much more worthwhile. The DVD is going to be released internationally late this year.

So that's something exciting anyway. I should say there are many possible things in store the future that may be as awesome, if not more, than this. However, for fear of getting myself too excited at nothing but shadows and impressions, I ain't sayin' shit.

Later

The Life and Times of Me

Hiya gang, it's been a long time since I sat down and subjected myself (and you by proxy) to a session of self indulgent ranting and pseudo thought processing. It's like thinking but progressive and on my computer screen!

So, a couple weeks back i got hit by one hell of a case of glandular fever and since then I've been too fucked up to think straight... or at all really. I have spent an incredulous amount of time sleeping, resting and varying degrees of both. Normally I would have trouble getting my brain to stop ticking, but with the whole sickness thing, thinking itself consumes far too much energy and just doesn't seem to be propagating of it's own accord anyway. Which sucks, cause the power to think separates me from the bogans. That and my leet drawing skillz, like a fish!

As much as the prospect of doing sweet fuck all appeals to me (really, what isn't appealing about pay TV, reclining chairs, good food and a warm bed?) I have come to realise something; I am missing something. Firstly, it's not the remote. It's purpose, I believe. Earlier this year when I was working on the Axeman music vid (been sent off to Amebix in Ireland for editing, BOOYAH!) there was always this driving need to animate more, to get stuck in and really give it my all. There was a sense of purpose.

I think this is something that Shawn Kelly harps on about. You gotta love animating.

It's something that I feel needs some extrapolation; mostly on the word 'love'. Love is the only word we have for the sensation of the combination 'admiration, happiness, adoration' and what ever other sappy crap you can think of. I have been told that the ancient Greeks had several words for the different kinds of love found out there, be it brotherly sexually emotionally or the love of a pursuit. Whether there is an appropriate word for this or not, the kind of love that you need for a craft like animation is something more of a respect. Like a mountaineer looking at Mt Everest, you have to respect the craft for what it is and what it takes to 'conquer' it, or even rise to the challenge.

Me personally, I think it's the challenge that I love. Can I do this? Do I have what it takes to make this awesome? Am I going to give it one hell of a go? HELL YES!

I've dealt with a lot of shit in the last two years, more so than I would have thought tolerable in any other circumstance, but now I understand why I haven't relinquished my struggle and why I won't desist. I love the challenge too much. I see people building houses, selling clothes, counting beans and flying jets for hours on end and I don't envy them. I've worked a 'real' job before for several years and do you know what? IT SUCKS! It blows big time. I have animated at Tafe for 8 hours or so a day, came home and animated for another 3 or 4 before heading off to a part time job and I was happy as Larry.

So, there it is. The confession of an animation student who loves the challenge of animating. It's the love of the challenge that makes me want to keep learning to keep producing, to practice, to perfect, to give it everything I've got. At one time I may have thought it weird to really feel a passion for something like this, but fuck it and fuck you if you have a problem with it.

Bring it the fuck on.