http://search.deviantart.com/?q=by:GraphicHead&section=today deviantART RSS for by:GraphicHead en-us Copyright 2009, deviantART.com Tue, 08 Dec 2009 13:43:03 PST deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://s.deviantart.com/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png http://GraphicHead.deviantart.com/journal/28618130/ http://GraphicHead.deviantart.com/journal/28618130/ Fri, 27 Nov 2009 20:02:17 PST
Think about it: Project Natal supposedly has the ability to copy your every body movement, and has no need for a controller. Don't get me wrong, it's brilliant, but how do you travel across a landscape bigger than the room you're playing in? Unless the game moves you around automatically, like in some shooting games, there's no possible way, is there?

So, where is this headed? Are all games of the future going to be simple party games, which I think Wii has too many of? I might as well buy all the Mario and Sonic games I can, before Natal takes most of the adventure out of them.

However, if party games are your thing, I respect that. Also, for those of you girls who like fashion games and stuff, I'm sure Natal can make use of that.

]]> ~GraphicHead http://GraphicHead.deviantart.com/journal/26256467/ http://GraphicHead.deviantart.com/journal/26256467/ Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:07:48 PDT
Still, imagine if that same touch last given to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was given to Oz (that is, with Tim Burton and Danny Elfman)? The thing is, I think the same thing was done to Charlotte's Web, and nobody seems to care about that movie.

Don't get me wrong; I love the old movie, even today. Again, this is just a random thought.



The way I see it, here's how this movie adaptation (if not any such adaptation) should be done:

- Use every available technique that's necessary, and take it seriously. Even if you were doing a random comedy or something, I think it pays to make something like you care. Imagine if the tin man was a puppet controlled by rods, wires, and/or animatronics.

- Respect the source material. Simply put, studios should act like they actually care about whatever they're adapting. That "I know better than you" attitude didn't work for Godzilla or Lost in Space, as we may all agree. Not only does observing the original material keep fans happy, but it provides some influence that saves some time put into creative thought.



It's just occurred to me, though: What can a new Oz movie do that the old movie hasn't already, other than build on the visuals? I didn't care much for the remake of Miracle on 34th Street very much, because having watched and enjoyed the original movie, it didn't itself have much new to offer.

I guess this is another guideline to follow with movie adaptations, or remakes: If it ain't broke, don't fix it (I think this idea applies well to Spider Man's movie costume). Or, if there's no creative vision to complete, don't bother.

Maybe a remake of Wizard of Oz is completely unnecessary, but I wonder what everyone thinks of this discussion?

And no, I still haven't completed that mech tutorial. It's getting a little harder, and I don't know if it's even necessary.

]]> ~GraphicHead http://GraphicHead.deviantart.com/journal/18873991/ http://GraphicHead.deviantart.com/journal/18873991/ Mon, 16 Jun 2008 13:17:04 PDT
But this isn't the main point.

Obviously, it's been a while since I even mentioned that transforming mech tutorial. Not only do I tend to drift randomly from one project to another, but I'm not sure I'm as experienced with this subject as I thought.

9/10ths of the time, the transforming mechs I've made never changed from real life objects, just fictional things, like Voltron would do.

A little while ago, however, I've just started creating my own line of Transformers, using photos of actual vehicles as references. It's quite a weird experience; it seems I have to work harder in order to make the robots look good.

Now I'm not sure if my methods are effective. I'll need to think about whether I actually want to continue working on the tutorials.

Any comments and suggestions are welcome. Thanks.

]]> ~GraphicHead http://GraphicHead.deviantart.com/journal/18598512/ http://GraphicHead.deviantart.com/journal/18598512/ Sat, 31 May 2008 18:50:21 PDT
I needed my twin brother's help to see how much better the show got later on. I found it addictive and fun, and the freakish designs became more eye-catching. At this point, I now have more than the toys to like about this series.

With how much I'm getting to like this series, it's easy to overlook any times where the studio seems to be taking it easy, and it's only sometimes where a certain inconsistency actually gets on my nerves:



The title.



"Transformers Animated". I can't believe they named it that; it's like the fact that they're cartoon animated is a completely new thing.

I mean, what were they before besides animated? Aside from the few prop effects and the real cars in the live-action movie, they seemed to do it all the time. It's hard to even imagine them being anything else.

The original series was cartoon-animated, and so was the animated movie. Beast Wars and Beast Machines were 3D animated. Finally, R.I.D., Energon, and Cybertron were all anime, the last two mostly with 3D animated robots.


It's funny how that title has caught on with me; it's just such a happy-sounding thing, and the look of it just stands out beautifully. Sometimes, you just can't explain entertainment; I mean, how did we ever grow to love guys in helmets fighting rubbery monsters?

Besides, the title's going to be a happy sight for me when I see it in the toy section at Wal-Mart....

....watch out, Bulkhead....and Prowl.....and Bumblebee.....

]]> ~GraphicHead http://GraphicHead.deviantart.com/journal/17870875/ http://GraphicHead.deviantart.com/journal/17870875/ Tue, 15 Apr 2008 19:32:23 PDT
Let me pause for dramatic effect.

Ever seen the Guyver AMERICAN MOVIE? This is one rare case where America tries to adapt an anime into a movie, and probably the only one seen for years, other than its much cheaper sequel.

I can sum up the style of the movie in two words: TOTAL MOCKERY. Although they seemed to have a firmly defined
background to the story, and there was a competent animatronics crew involved, that studio just couldn't take this thing seriously.

The Guyver himself has a synthesized voice, lower class Power Rangers style, and when he fights, the sound team can't resist throwing in silly airplane noises when bad guys fly from his blows. Also, the monster designs tend to look either too bland or too ridiculous, unlike the inventive and creepy monsters from the anime; one monster seems heavily based on a Predator, another has an oddly-placed elephant trunk, and even makes trumpet sounds like an elephant.

In the sequel, they tried to be more serious, and I thought the designs and the animatronics improved for the monsters; still, other than that, it just doesn't look quite theater-worthy, and the airplane noises still remain, with even more badly-placed sound effects to go with them.



Now that anime has gotten more respect these days, with a greater range of ages following after it, can we safely say movie companies are taking it more seriously?

Debatable.

The Transformers movie, though one of the most important motion pictures of the year (this movie counts because I think the original toys came from Japan), was sadly handled in a similar way to Guyver, but with highly refined 3D graphics; it had a serious background, had decent (in fact, incredible) special effects, but the scriptwriters seemed to have their minds heavily set on comedy. Nearly everyone was either comic relief, or was so shallow it was enough to laugh at; I'm sorry to say, I've seen Power Rangers villains with more character than Megatron.

And what about the approaching Speed Racer movie? Watching those cars racing by those weird 3D volcanoes is like watching a Spy Kids movie: It just looks cheap. That disturbing, toon-like style is at least eye-catching, but I would've liked to see it given more life, like with a modern Marvel movie.

My twin brother has told me things like, "It's just like the cartoon." Or, "How did you expect Speed Racer to be adapted?" I just don't know how to take the movie's style.



I must say, it is embarrassing to see movie companies treat Japanese concepts each as a great big joke, but is it really possible to take it seriously, like with Marvel comics?

Think of the rough ride Mighty Morphin Power Rangers had making its way to the big screen; heck, how do you actually interpret that "morphin" thing with any depth whatsoever? I can't even explain it myself.

]]> ~GraphicHead http://GraphicHead.deviantart.com/journal/17321946/ http://GraphicHead.deviantart.com/journal/17321946/ Thu, 13 Mar 2008 19:23:07 PDT
I've just been interviewed at the workplace, Dollar General, for a position as a third ranking supervisor. I need the money one of these days, and I can't imagine a supervisor's job being any different anywhere else, even if it were an art position.

I said I would make a mech tutorial, and I've made a little progress at times, but I keep getting distracted by other progress; perhaps, most of all, by the work I'm putting into the 3D anime girl.

That anime girl's not just a head and neck anymore; I've given her a body, and I've started on her limbs. Some parts take forever to make decent; I only have so much experience at this 3D thing.

Speaking of decency, the only reason I'm not putting up a new picture of the 3D girl right now is because she's naked. The thing is, I'm going to use simulated cloth, and I figure I have to have a body for it to fall over.

All in all, I'm going to work, putting off business at home, and pursuing my art dreams mostly around the house. I dream of doing some special effects, and building costumes, but all that seems kind of heavy for me right now.

]]> ~GraphicHead http://GraphicHead.deviantart.com/journal/17167019/ http://GraphicHead.deviantart.com/journal/17167019/ Mon, 03 Mar 2008 15:39:41 PST
Although I think my twin brother is the real expert in creating transforming mechs, I did develop actual methods for my style, and was thinking of putting up a tutorial about this. How-to books don't often go into this subject very thoroughly.

Having written down some notes, I'm about ready to make the complete tutorial. But first, I'm hoping I could hear some feedback on this idea.

]]> ~GraphicHead http://GraphicHead.deviantart.com/journal/16774261/ http://GraphicHead.deviantart.com/journal/16774261/ Thu, 07 Feb 2008 17:47:46 PST
]]> ~GraphicHead http://GraphicHead.deviantart.com/journal/15894619/ http://GraphicHead.deviantart.com/journal/15894619/ Tue, 11 Dec 2007 18:45:05 PST
I'm pleased that I'm getting comments and favorites, too. Not only that, I'm seeing some lovely talent with a fair share of them.

All I can say is, thanks for the appreciation.

]]> ~GraphicHead http://GraphicHead.deviantart.com/journal/15770140/ http://GraphicHead.deviantart.com/journal/15770140/ Sun, 02 Dec 2007 19:06:16 PST
I remember hearing that Power Rangers Jungle Fury is scheduled to come on TV sometime in december; whatever time that is, Disney and Bandai have wasted no time firing off this series' toy sales.

All that's been on TV so far is a vague commmercial, compositing various Jungle Fury characters in some specially made jungle scenery (an apparent sign of the first stage of advertising). Plus, on Youtube, the mock previews still outnumber any real references to the approaching show; in spite of this, the new Battlized Ranger figures, vehicles, and even their Megazord (the "Jungle Pride" Megazord) can be found at Wal-Mart as we speak.

I must say, where their vehicles and special armor figures (which aren't from the japanese show) are concerned, I'd say Bandai put a good effort in creativity; to name a couple, there's one ranger figure that can change into a convincing robot tiger, and one motorcycle that can open up into a striking pair of jaws. The funny thing is, since they once again have a problem with giving these special gadgets to the girl rangers, they instead gave their third set of gear to an imaginary green ranger, who has the power of an elephant.

As for their megazord, I've got to compliment them for one good effort: accuracy. Although the first megazord of the last series was rebuilt to be far too simple for my taste, the Jungle Pride Megazord is just like the japanese toy in every way I can think of, except maybe in size. It even has the motorized kicking/punching feature, which both involve a spinning of the waist. For this reason most of all, and the robot's simple cuteness, I was so close to buying it the first time I saw it.

I have to admit, though, this toy from japan never was the most sophisticated combining robot I've ever seen, even for Power Rangers. The worst of it being, to change the megazord's fists into tiger paws, you just place the fists on the ground, with its knuckle claws facing forward; having seen other megazords, that's so simple it hurts. Still, it was a breath of fresh air to see that Disney didn't butcher the toy enough to leave it gasping for breath; they've had a habit of doing that, at times.

In conclusion, I don't know if the Jungle Fury series will be any more intelligent than the last (although the last series came close to satisfying me), but maybe I'll at least enjoy the series just for the megazord toy. With any luck, if they decide to change to change the morpher at all for american kids, I at least hope they do it in an interesting way; maybe that toy will tempt me, too.

]]> ~GraphicHead http://GraphicHead.deviantart.com/journal/15652622/ http://GraphicHead.deviantart.com/journal/15652622/ Sat, 24 Nov 2007 16:15:01 PST
I don't want to say, however, that these are entirely bad; the drawings are very well-made, and some movements actually look interesting, if done just right.

However, what disturbs me most about Wii cutscenes in general, besides their bad dubbing and lack of animation, is that almost no Wii game uses 3D in them. I mean, what, does Nintendo have so little confidence in the Wii's visual power that they dare not do anything sophisticated to tell their stories?

This is not hard to imagine, considering the Wii's graphics are dragging behind the other non-portable systems, like a kid trying to keep up with his dad on a hike. In the Transformers Wii game, where XBox 360 or PS3 would have detailed wires and gadgets on their robots, they had colored blobs meant to look like machinery.

One encouraging thought, though: Other than the N64's reign, Nintendo's nearly always had the most inferior technology and/or visual quality, and they've still kept their armies of fans playing their games.

Besides, the way the Wii-mote works makes games so much more fun. The ability to swing a bat, a golf club, or whatever, by swinging the Wii-mote, made Wii Sports one of my absolute favorite games. What makes this worth mentioning is that normally I hate sports games, and the graphics of Wii Sports are well-defined, but fiendishly simple; the interactivity of the Wii made all the difference.

]]> ~GraphicHead