Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Not very mint condition


So, as I sort of feared in the back of my mind last week, I could not finish the Ending theme song I so dreamed of doing. I had the screenplay all worked out, I had what each scene meant to me and my project, and I found the perfect anime ending/music to go with it.

Unfortunately, I had no idea how involved and time consuming making one of these videos would be. First of all I had the handicap of only Windows Movie Maker to work with. This in itself was something I should have planned way in advance for. Working with my variable camera and photoshop also had issues, and it all resulted in a very annoying situation. While it is probably a mere shed casting of what could have been, I decided to upload the hyper rough cut of the first 30 or so seconds of what I was trying to make; as well as the original Ending.




While I may have failed in my attempt to make an anime ending based on my figures and my life with them, I do have to say, the mere prospect of being able to complete one filled me with more creative energy than I have had in a while. The problem solving for the shots I had to produce, the fiddling around with photoshop knock-off programs to get things to fit, the sheer joy of editing still images in time to the music. The final video was not completed, but my desire to do things like this, and really explore how to be creative with my figures, possibly make my own has skyrocketed.

During the course of this project, many themes came and went in my mind. Collecting, masculinity, maternal instincts, the various cultures I inhabit etc. My last two projects were trying to explain, and share my hobby and interest with others, most notably the non-initiated majority of my class. Their reactions have been nothing short of fascinating, and really fun to watch. I also really liked sharing some of my information and what I believe to be a cultural history with them. But the project I attempted to finish was something quite different. It was a little more self indulgent. For instance, here are some things no one would understand without knowledge of "geek/nerd" culture.

Haruhi Suzumiya: This character is essentially a god. In the series, she has the potential to change the world to her subconscious whim (especially when bored), and fear of world changing events are always hovering over the other main character's heads during the series. My own personality has also been attributed to Haruhi's on more than one occasion. Thus, by showing her opposite me, I make a bored and powerful god girl my partner in my dream-like imaginings which appear in the next images. While my own image may have been edited out in the final cut, this is still significant, and completely impossible for "mundanes" to interpret. (Mundanes is a term used by Madarame in the anime series Genshiken to describe non-otaku.

Nanoha: The scene with the girl in her own box and the angry looking girl outside of the box? These are the same character. Hopefully this is more obvious, as the message here is also much more simple. The series in question here is one in three parts over several years. The first season is a "Magical Girl" series, but upon reaching the second and third seasons, it becomes more militaristic, and while not sexualized, a romance between the two main girls from the first season replaces the more innocent magical adventures of the first season. Thus, this image is simply a sort of reminder to myself to not become the older girl, and to keep the magic and youthfulness in my life even as I grow older. That kind of thing.

Comic Book Store Scene: The characters here are Blue Beetle (III) and Yoko from Gurren Lagaan. I would explain more about them here, but I actually intend to show this image in full as I personally think it is a wonderful image on its own.


Sample Images From my Attempt:



This one was fun, but could have been staged much better

I wish I had somehow got this to be more dramatic, as I really do love younger Nanoha's expression


Both of the above two images seem to deal with characters facing themselves. I wish the background was more clear here...


This is obviously Marvel vs. DC stuff, but it doesn't really make sense out of context from what would have surrounded it in the video.







I love this picture. It is one of many I shot of roughly the same pose, but somehow came out much better. Again, I don't want to explore too much into it right now because I want to hear what people have to think, but while it looks very staged, I like it very much.





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So, that may not be the last of this blog, but it may in fact be. I rather like what I am exploring here, so there may be more updates in the future. But I did want to end off my thought I had before I listed the pictures and my feelings on my last two projects.

This one was self indulgent, which decreases my potential audience quite a bit. But, it was also very fun. My interviews and lecture were also very fun, but it in a different way. Though I have been talking about toys, they both felt very professional, and I felt that with a couple extra weeks or months of work, they could be submitted to some actual venues. What I did, and what I tried to do here is much more childish; which is what I would have hoped to present in the video. It was going to end with a shot of me asleep next to customizing supplies or my half-built from scratch action figures. It was going to imply the wonders of imagination, how how much I desire to make my own ideas into reality.

I'll be honest, I am unsure how to feel about what I did, and what I was trying to do from a "fine art" perspective. From a subcultural art perspective, it was probably a huge step for my creativity though. And even in for my creativity in general, it showed me what sort of things I get personally excited about doing; things which eventually lead me back into my spheres of interest. I am very excited to finally try making or customizing my own figure, or to draw some new characters for my fantasy comic stories, or all the other things I don't have the time or drive for due to the University experience.

It was amazing fun venturing out and making contact with those who don't know Booster Gold from Kamen Rider, but it seems that I'm moving back to where I came from, at least for the time being. I hopefully have three days of living in the ("high art" world which has turned me bitter) left, so maybe I have begun celebrating a little early.

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