Thursday, July 24, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
the lion king and creative solutions
The Lion King is unique in that we see how the magic works on stage. There's no attempt to cover up the wheels and cogs that make it all happen. The human beings that control the puppets and wear the animal masks are fully seen. As an audience member at The Lion King you have an important job: With your imagination, you are invited to mix the "animal" with the human into a magical whole. As Julie Taymor says, "When the human spirit visibly animates an object, we experience a special, almost life-giving connection. We become engaged by both the method of storytelling as well as the story itself."
"Disney animated characters are so expressive -- they're animals, but they're very human animals," Taymor continues. "I had to play with keeping some of the 'character' of the Disney characters, so that they're recognizable. But then, I was also very inspired by African masks, which are much more abstract, much more stylized, much more essential, less soft and round. Because we're doing three-dimensional theater, I didn't want the faces to look flat, I wanted them to have a kind of depth, like wood has. So I used texture and organic materials, fibers, wood -- things that would make it less cartoonlike."
"In contrast to the continually changing facial expressions in the animated film, a mask can project a single, fixed attitude," she says. "The sculptor has only one opportunity to incorporate the anger, humor, and passion of a character, to tell his or her whole story."
"I thought, what if I create these giant masks that really are clearly Scar and Mufasa, but then the human face is revealed below, so that you're not losing the human facial expression, you're not hiding the actor?"
To create the masks and puppets in The Lion King Taymor worked with Michael Curry, one of the country's leading puppet experts. Curry had worked with Taymor on several of her films and operas. With background in engineering as well as puppetry, he would create the technical design of the characters.
Taymor and Curry's first step in creating the theatrical world of The Lion King was to craft the masks for Mufasa and Scar. Could a balance be found between the recognizable characters from the animated film and the human actors?
The lions' costumes also helped to create this duality. While the human qualities of the lions come out in the African-styled beadwork, corsets, armor, and cloth, the costumes use silk cloth to negate the human shape, breaking the shoulder line, enhancing the powerful joints and thighs.
Monday, May 19, 2008
What you can't stop ...
You can only hope to contain!
InDesign just can't keep up with us. Actual error message documented 5.19.08 @ 10:23 am.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Monday, May 12, 2008
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
James Cameron and Stereoscopic film
"Perceived resolution = pixels x replacement rate. A 2K image at 48 frames per second looks as sharp as a 4K image at 24 frames per second."
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117983864.html?categoryid=1009&cs=1
Type Tester
29/34 for me.
Apparently it gets harder as the game ages, so get your shots in soon!
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Monday, March 3, 2008
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Conference
Conference, originally uploaded by mo/de.
The conference table at Kerker is larger than most third world homes.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Spring '08 mo/de DVD drops Wednesday
... and what spring reel wouldn't be complete without an Easter Egg, be sure to check it.
Ypao Beach, Guam
This is the first beach i saw on Guam. I was 12 years old. I hadn't seen anything like it in my life. The emerald colored ocean and the bright blue sky. it was as though the whole world was photoshoped with the saturation level cranked up. i was literally speechless. my aunt who lived there for like 10 years was talking about a Zojirushi rice cooker she recently bought and how it made rice taste good.
current temperature in Guam is 79F.
Top Shots of 2007
Even if you haven't seen any of this year's Oscar films here is a great 2-part article highlighting the best cinematography of 2007.
www.incontention.com
Monday, February 25, 2008
2nd Floor Gallery Show: Attempts at Communication
Conceived and curated by 2nd floor resident artist, Kyle Fletcher, "Attempts at Communication" is an installation that challenges language, circumstances, and product.
The show runs from February 25th, 2008 - March 12th, 2008 and is located on the cutting mat, unless someone else needs to use the cutting mat. Artists panel scheduled Friday March 7th.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Things I Have Now Learned in My Life So Far
Thanks to Sagmeister's new book, I too have learned a lot of valuable life lessons, in a shorter amount of time.
Whether the impact of his experiences translates second hand, time will tell. Blitzed through a bunch of it already and its packed with beautiful imagery, experimental typography, and a sculpturesque wonder-charm that's hard to resist.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Better late than never
Here's our follow up to the popular Mulligan shirt and the second piece from the "Translation Series."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)