Thursday, December 19, 2013

Quick Sketch - Toothless

Not so quick sketch XP
I guess, time is relative.
Enjoy!



Cheers,
JECooper

Monday, December 16, 2013

Color and Camera Analysis: Tron: Uprising - Ep1 Intro

Here we are again!
Ill explain my thoughts, but I'll try and keep it brief. ^-^
Let's SNAP TO IT!

THE COLOR ANALYSIS OF TRON:UPRISING 

EPISODE 1 INTRO


Page 1:
1. The oncoming evil is prominent in the color change on the horizon. No words need said.
2. The color of evil is in the right third of the shot and the up shot really tells us that Beck's in trouble.
3. The placement of Beck's disc right on the camera frames Tron(though we don't know its him yet) in a very tangible way. We can feel the darkness coming, but in the way of the red light. Interesting parallel.
4. The yellow parallels show how much Beck is NOT supposed to be present. I quite enjoy the fact that they put the guard in the top third, only showing his feet. We know what's going on by sheer placement, acting and color.
5. This is probably one of my favorite shots. Watching Beck escape through the center of the screen on the bright blue and white light cycle. The red foreground breaks the blue background up nicely and also shows how Beck is fighting for the grid, and these people are the invaders.
6. The before, during and after shot. Beck and his shadow live in the middle of the shot, the desolated bikes of his previous per suers on the far right side (2) and the oncoming shadow at the far left (3) is what awaits his future.
7. This shot is SO COOL! Beck's face lights up ONLY when the disc passes his face, giving us an interesting look into his thoughts, meanwhile letting us grasp the danger at hand.
8. The dark and light in this shot are really cool. They walk FROM the light TO the dark side of the shot. It's done in slow motion in the episode, I encourage you to watch it. I also love how the red circles completely contrast the straight line work of the background. and the discs at the bottom of the screen keep our eyes attention well.

I just fell in love with these shots and I'll explain why.
1. The pans in Tron:Uprising are all very similar. They start wide, circle around the interacting characters and zoom at the same time. Giving us a real feel of the conversation at hand. They never break the 180 rule.
2. Even with the world around Tron and Beck comes to life and blinds us, we never loose site of what we are supposed to look at: them. Why is that? Because of their placement and the line work in the shot. They also keep the biggest black/white difference in the shot, which is inherently where our eye will go, to the biggest differences in values.

Cheers,
JECooper

PS, maybe now you know a little bit of why I love Tron so much!

Compositional Analysis: Tron: Uprising - Ep1 Intro

Alright, all of you have heard my recent love for Tron: Uprising. And with good reason, other than it just being awesome (which it is), it is also a very EXCELLENT example of strong compositional storytelling.
Don't believe me?
I'm glad you asked for more!

Because, without further ado:

Episode 1 Intro Comp Analysis of TRON: UPRISING


**I will explain the basics of the first page, after that, you get the jist of what the arrows and diagrams I am drawing represent. PLEASE, full screen, download if you want higher quality! These images blow up nicely.**


Page 1:
1. the simplicity of this shot, and yet the vanishing point is at the center of the frame, follow the grid at the bottom of the screen and it points at the center, back at the silloutte in the center of the frame. Notice the only lighting is the center of the screen, where the grid will be 'birthed' and his classic 'tron' light from his back.
2. the world expands as the camera backs slightly. and yet as the world build, as the arrows show, everything still points back at flynn. the building even point down, into the arrow, into flynn! the classic silloutte still black and crisp in the center. the blank in the right corner is equaled out well with the building white on the left side. the sky is bare to the floor being full. another balance. and the final piece is the 90 degree angles that STILL point to flynn. Insane.
3. the cracking and crumbling of the grid, point exactly to the perpetrator: Beck. his black silhouette is the ONLY black on the whole screen. Even the corners on the right side are faded out, to give a sweeping motion of pointing back into Beck. His pose is even sweeping back into the grid point. Excellent posing.
4. Even the random garbage points towards Beck in this shot! The glowing of the grid shards point towards Beck as he slides down the mountain in the back and walks towards the camera. Even so, look at the background of the mountainside. Notice the DARK area off to the right, sweeping into the shard that points back to him.
5. Again, the darks and lights of the background focus our eye and tell us exactly where to look. The dark of Beck and the bike are off center, but even so, BECK is in the center. The whole shot (and most shots as you will see) are built at a DIAGONAL. actually, any time that something exciting or action is happening, chances are, there will be a strong diagonal in the shot. Notice that even the mountain behind points in this diagonal exchange.
6. SPEAKING of diagonals! Lo! Again, the environment shards and scraps are used to point us in the direction of Beck's travel. The diagonal in this shot is the focal point.
7. Beck's capture. It's an intense moment, so the best way to show it is often the simplest. They don't even show beck, but his disc! Again, diagonal, and his disc spins and falls in the center of the screen. Pointed to by the diagonal horizon line.
8. Beck's captured. He's alone. How do we portray that? By putting him alone in a room that seemingly ALL points at him. The focal point is him and so is the vanishing point. Smart move. Not only that, we have those handy 90 degree angles again, telling us where to look. And since we are on edge with Beck's unsure state, just as he is, the camera is of course, angled and giving us that lovely slant. Beck's shadow lies perfectly black in comparison to the blinding white interrogation light.




Enjoy! I know I learned a bunch from these screen shots.
Cheers,
JECooper