JONAS- Maya Research

After having seen Connàn’s video of the model: Jonas, I tried to animate the character to jump. Initially I wasn’t think of how I could give it it’s own identity and bring him/her to life, but rather on the actual arcs and weight.  I noticed when Connán was lecturing us on the use of the graphics editor that all the selected keys from various rig sections being aligned vertically.

I watched this video and noticed this same doing from the animator in the video. This helped me understand how REALLY useful the graphics editor is!

 

Maya Research

Maya Research

On Friday we had a technical class on the program: MAYA Autodesk 2016

I later researched after having learnt about the visor on how it is used in various animations. I stumbled upon this video:

I realized it could be used in a way as a “brush”. We also had learnt in class about the bezier curve and we created a wine glass.

 

Having learnt these two things, I thought to myself if it would be possible to create a vine with something like a bezier curve  using the visor. Found this.

 

 

House of Pans

“Educated to be a mechanical engineer, Vaiciulis’ refusal to conform to the dress code at work led to his career in the field lasting about one week. This only strengthened his dedication to individualism, and his voice was a loud one when it came to politics and community business in his Lithuanian town of Zagaré. His engineering skills and colorful personality naturally led him towards artwork, and he began to carve large wooden sculptures; busts and bears and old men, all out of former tree trunks.

When privatization was introduced after the Soviet Union split in the early 1990s, Vaiciulis purchased half of a house, which he was set on rebuilding. Unfortunately, the neighbors who shared ownership had no interest in the lofty endeavor, and so Vaiciulis had to find a different way to make it his. His neighbors had to agree to rebuild the infrastructure, but designing the outside was something they had little jurisdiction on. Vaiciulis began to make his house as unique and unconventional as he was.

Soon, the outside of the house was slowly but surely covered in found objects. Pots and pans made up the bulk of the unusual siding, but metal plates and a plethora of household objects, as well as machine parts and random metal pieces were thrown into the mix. The garden was filled with many of his wooden sculptures along with more found objects of interest, and the barn wall was adorned with several animal skulls.

Called “The Pan House” Vaiciulis’ house is now the most photographed home in Zagaré, and welcomes individuals and groups to come and take a look. ” (1)

 

(1) –http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/pan-house

Kaunas Culture & Traditions

“Cultural values and traditions are, without a doubt, one of the most important life aspects of citizens of the city. Here we should definitely notice the richness of the local folk culture that has been lost by so many inhabitants of modern cities. In Kaunas various ancient festivals, fairs and festivals are organized even these days. As a rule, each of them is accompanied with performances of folk groups. National songs are very popular in the country in general – there are several thousand of them. All kinds of fairy tales, legends and proverbs, the age of which is more than one hundred years, are no less popular.

Local people are very hard-working. This character trait has even found its reflection in the folk art. Most of the songs are devoted to work and labor. Even fairy tales and legends tell stories about brave and hard-working heroes. There are special literature classes in schools, during which children learn ancient myths and fairy tales, so even small kids are familiar with national folklore. Many national holidays are connected with various religious traditions. One of such holidays and one of the most popular festivals in the city is called Uzgavenes. This holiday also marks the beginning of Lent.

This colorful carnival is particularly loved by children, because delicious pancakes and sweets are the main treat of this wonderful event. The carnival is held on the last days of February. Saying “goodbye” to winter is always accompanied by parades, musical performances and funny activities for children. Collective performances remain one of the main features of local culture. Performances of choirs and various dance groups during holidays and celebrations have become a tradition.

Travellers, who visit local markets and craft shops, will be surely amazed by a huge choice of interesting souvenirs and household items, which are made by local craftsmen. Items made of wood are particularly popular with tourists. Numerous home decorations of different designs and even handmade furniture are real masterpieces that cannot leave anyone indifferent. If wood carving remains the most popular “male” craft, women are usually skilled weavers. The markets of Kaunas are the place where tourists can get incredibly beautiful towels and tablecloths, bedding and clothing decorated with embroidery. Handmade clothes, wool sweaters or shawls will become a great memorable gift, so no wonder why they are very popular with tourists.”

(1) http://www.orangesmile.com/travelguide/kaunas/traditions–2615427.htm

http://www.truelithuania.com/topics/history-and-politics-of-lithuania/history-of-lithuania

Nomadic Tribe

“The Nomadic Tribes and Denotified Tribes consist of about 60 million people in India, out of which about five million live in the state of Maharashtra. There are 315 Nomadic Tribes and 198 DenotifiedTribes.” (1)

LIST of different types of Nomadic People

“Nomadic people are communities who move from one place to another, rather than settling permanently in one location. Many cultures have traditionally been nomadic, but nomadic behavior is increasingly rare in industrialized countries.” (2)

 

(1) https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=nomadic+tribe&oq=nomadic+tribe+&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.4052j1j7&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=91&ie=UTF-8

(2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nomadic_peoples#Europe

Environmental/Nature Research

As a group we decided to focus on the green side of Kaunas. Through this direction I looked at various as aspects of how the project/concept could take shape. With some rough brainstorming I thought of campers, nature enthusiasts, tree huggers, hippies anything. Due to my keen interest in tentwork, I decided to look at various types of tents on the internet.

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What I found particularly interesting  is the scale of certain tents which are put up around the world as well at’s complexity.  From what I saw bubble tent’s are designed to focus on the sense of sight. They try and make you more aware of your surroundings incorporating the camper into his/her “primitive” environment.

When I came across the castle tent picture taken from the internet I was fascinated with the illusion it created. A castle is strong barricaded place. That tent had the geometry of one’s but not it’s thick stone walls. A castle has power and sovereign over lands around it, however the castle tent is a tent and could come down and be put up somewhere else.

There are various types of tent’s used throughout the world. Tent’s are distributed in many sections, not only camping. In time’s of war were refugees flee tent’s are put up for them.

“A tent is a shelter consisting of sheets of fabric or other materials draped over, attached to a frame of poles or attached to a supporting rope. While smaller tents may be free-standing or attached to the ground, large tents are usually anchored using guy ropes tied to stakes or tent pegs. ” (1)

“A house is a building that functions as a home, ranging from simple dwellings such as rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes and the improvised shacks inshantytowns to complex, fixed structures of wood, brick, marble or other materials containing plumbing, ventilation and electrical systems.^[1][2] Most conventional modern houses in Western cultures will contain a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen or cooking area, and a living room.” (2)

Wikipedia’s definition of a tent and a house both return to something in common.

“First used as portable homes by nomadic peoples, tents are now more often used for recreational camping and temporary shelters.” (1)

So… I did some research on nomadic tribe’s and their connection with nature.

 

(1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tent

(2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House

The Writer’s Journey by Chris Vogler

The Writer’s Journey

For the presentation I had to read the pages regarding the Herald. At the start it was hard to understand without reading anything and just skipping straight into it. After having seen everyone’s presentations I understood the importance behind the book, and why In my belief if Conánn had given us the task he would have made us read the entire thing!

The Herald’s actions signal change. In a way they invite the character to answer the “call to adventure”. The Herald motivates the hero/character, despite his/her desire to keep the same status quo. A Herald doesn’t necessarily have to be a person, or even a living thing for that matter. A herald could be a person, an object, even an act of nature. They could be negative, positive, or neutral. For example in Harry potter the letter he receives that invites him to Hogwarts is a herald. Hagrid is also a herald. It is common to combine the role of mentor with the herald. Even in star wars, Yoda plays the role of mentor/herald for Luke Skywalker. Usually the herald is encountered in the first stages of the journey, however this archetype can be also be used to signal major direction changes later in the plot.

While I was reading my pages assigned to me by our group I had deep problems understanding exactly what form a herald could take. After reading it several times I had a better understanding especially after Megan summarised everything for me in very simply english. As a group we rehearsed the day before however I feel like we were not prepared to the standard that Conánn would have liked.