Good things come in 2s?

I guess I'm still trying to get the hang of writing blogs, and how often I'll get topics posted. A lot of stuff to work on, and probably more to talk about.

Anyways today's topic is the sequel of movies that I've watched over the past year!

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 is another one of those light-hearted movie with a simple storyline. Some of the jokes probably the kids won't get, as they are quite puny. I liked the animation and some of the creatures/characters are visually interesting. I feel it's equally nice to watch compared to first movie.

Catching Fire (Hunger Games 2) is somehow better than the first movie. The danger does seem more deadly, although the starting had quite slow, so as to explain a bit of the situation. Some of the new characters presented had interesting personalities that seemed likeable to me.

The Desolation of Smaug (Hobbit 2) is a crazy visual feast. I was amazed at the dragon's dungeon, and probably sorta happy to see the appearances of legolas and gandalf. I wouldn't say it's a super awesome movie, but I admit the effects and environment is really insane! It is probably more exciting than Hobbit 1 too.

Thor 2: The Dark World felt more like a fan service movie to me than anything else really. I admit it was nice to see cameo appearance and Tom Hiddleston's acting though. It probably is a prequel to something bigger, but otherwise I wouldn't find any reason to re-watch it.

Rio 2's story takes place in the amazon, which is different from Rio 1, where many of the shots are in the city. It is a well animated film with many musicals and songs to enjoy! I wouldn't mind rewatching this movie to be honest.


Alright, that's all for this post, I'll have to leave the house soon, see ya!

A final note of my university studies.

It's my first post for 2014! but I guess I'll start off by talking about a major thing of 2013...
(this is a post i kept in draft for a long time, but i think i ought to share it)

It's been at least 3 years since I enrolled into DigiPen, and I would say I've come a long way from where I've started. And I've learn a lot along the way.

At the beginning, I loved school, especially since i just finished serving my 2 years in National Service. Everything seemed great, and although I was a bit disappointed that I had to study a sem more than my other ex-classmates back in poly, I felt it was super refreshing going back to study. I was proud that I managed to get enrolled in DigiPen, and felt I was doing better in the traditional aspect compared to my other classmates. But after the first semester, I began to realize a couple of things; One was that I wasn't doing so well as I thought I should. I've been living under the impression that if I'm one of the better few in my class, I can find a job after graduation. Well, I was proved wrong after realizing I knew so little about anatomy, or even anything! So I started to work hard (or harder).

During the second semester, I had actually lost my clique of friends who I used to hang out with during the first semester. They have decided not to pursue this course. I guess that is another thing, you have to know what you want to do when you graduate; Be an animator? an illustrator? a modeller? You have to be sure you want to pursue this line of industry, and lock it in. I told myself I wanted to do animation or illustration, but at this point I wasn't so firm on my decision.

I've got the taste of working with a team during the 3rd semester. You can say that I found out everyone has their own work ethics, and it is not easy to 'clique' with them. Sometimes I want it a certain way, but I just can't seem to even compromise for it, and so just have to 'suck it up' and move on. I also felt that it was a very tough semester compared to the 1st two, partly due to the fact that I had a project class and another time-consuming film class(requires scouting of places etc). I never felt this difficulty thus far, and seeing everyone also feeling the same, it made me wonder, is this course even humane?

I somewhat liked the 4th semester, partly coz there wasn't a major module, and it was relatively easier compared to the 3rd. At that point I learn that I wasn't great with environment, and maybe I lacked the enthusiasm for it, so I was slowly convinced that I should be a character artist/animator. It pushed me to find things to do, and work on other side projects. I guess that's another thing to keep in mind, to do stuff outside of school. I've been trying to work on that, but it just doesn't last long.

The junior year felt like a great accomplishment to me, I felt great, and managed to apply what I learn into a solo project. Of course, I do have help along the way, and I was it was a nice experience that my friends and I worked hard together, and even overnight-ed at my place once, to finish our individual project. These two semesters were where I was convinced that animation is really what I want to do and work on. This passion kept me moving I would say.

I was the producer of a 5-man team during my senior year, and have a semester study in the US campus. I would say it has been a life-learning (and even a life-changing) experience. I admit I learn the most here throughout the course of study. There were so many things I didn't know how to do; I didn't know how to cook, I didn't know how to do the laundry and I got to know my friends a LOT better. Being in a new place, I was over-cautious about things, so I tend to be hesitant most of the times. I'm glad that my friends are quite supportive on how I do some of the planning, although I felt some things could have gone much better.

During the final weeks of my study, I found out that my work was... okay. You can say I'm really depressed at one point in time, and it ain't easy to suppress this feeling, when many of your friends are also concerned in finding a job after graduation. But after taking a step back, I realized that why did I choose this in the first place...

Because I wanna do what I like to do.

So I just have to take life easy, and slowly work on build up my portfolio. Overall, I really am glad that I came to DigiPen Singapore, because the friends here are really awesome, and it definitely matures you as a better artist AND person.

On the road.

So... I'm currently enrolling in driving lessons, and I must say that so far it has been a fun experience as compared to the last time I learnt it (maybe it was too stressful)

I also recently heard this catchy song (Karmin - Brokenhearted), and right now am hooked onto it... didn't really hear any of the other songs off the album though...

Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed has been fun, and if you have a tag team buddy (like my brother), we tend to aim the 3 stars for almost every race! Hahaha, so exciting, and I can't wait to complete the game.

Another manga has come to an end... and I qouls say although the ending was a bit abrupt, I really loved to thrilling story they're portrayed out. I have to admit, it's quite interesting when they describe the creatures and how they struggled to survive this.. Cage of Eden.

Gangster Squad is one of those all-star show where it has a simple storyline and you feel as though you already know the ending. I kinda watch it for the cast, the acting and the action rather than anything else.

Paranorman was actually a visual feast rather than the story, I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I felt Coraline was better.

Looking back at my list, I still having a lot of things I have yet to do...but I do hope with the duo screen i'm having now, I can get to watching more running man episodes and probably other shows/movies...

Another semester's approaching

Welcome to 2013 my friends! First off I would like to say that I've been resting well for the past few days and slowly getting used to the weather. I think I have to kick my old habit of taking naps during the afternoon though...

Anyways another movie and game review!

Les Miserables (still can't pronounce it right) has been an interesting show to watch, and I quite like some of the solos, but maybe it's just me, but it's better to just watch for the singing and less of the story. I wouldn't say it's recommended, but it's not a bad show either.












Ragnarok Online 2 has actually made me remember the many good times I had when I was playing RO1. But now, the gameplay has been quite linear, and I find that it is so much different. There are good stuff like the dungeons and the existance of mini-bosses, and many channels to jump from, but the essence of the competition is not there... The map is so big, and there isn't much of maps to hunt and stuff, feels more like another WoW than an RO at times. The gameplay has changed quite a bit, like I don't see aspd and cast delay being part of the game,..(or is it?)


And now, my thoughts on my artwork, the Sky Turtle.

It all started when I was cleaning up my room, when I stumbled upon this drawing, then I remember it's for a creature design module back in my poly days, and one of my friends was saying this is such a cool creature. Looking back, it is such a cool idea, i mean, a flying turtle? It has gotta be a crazy! So I went to the drawing board and,....

Remade the sky turtle, Honestly, I began to like the concept sketch, maybe it wasn't clear or I have to ink it in the end, but the end result turned out a bit different than I envisioned...

 









He looked a bit more friendly than the sketch, and the composition changed a bit too... But I sorta like my color choices. I do hope to improve on painting wings and trying to blend the character to the background better. And I need more focus or patience when it comes to painting.

Hope you like the second post of the year! See ya soon!

Another Year's Passed

It's been a tough year for many of us, and we've been though quite a lot of assignments and all, but I hope that this year will be a better year for us all.

Ghost Trick is, what many have said, a very good game not to be missed. It has a surprising twist at the end, and extra back story to it too. It's no wonder many of my friends have been crazy over the characters and story.

 










CZ12 might have been a prolonged chinese TV show, but it definitely has the distinct flavor of jackie chan to it, which I sort of liked. Guess one could watch it for the actions.












The Hobbit is a prequel to Lord of the Rings, but this time, it isn't about the ring. I guess it's nice to see a different prespective on the same setting, but I felt it was a bit boring early on.

Ben 10 Omniverse is the sequel to Ultimate Alien, and has actually changed art style on this season. I guess it's more unique, but I do prefer the old style they've been doing for the past shows. Still, their story is good and exciting.

Been trying to catch up on my sleep too, and hopefully I'm well rested for the NEW YEAR.