Inspirational Animated Movies and Videos

eyeseeeyesee Posts: 172
edited December 1969 in Carrara Discussion

Dartanbeck and I got talking about movies we liked with an animated theme, and he suggested we should start a thread, which sounded like a good idea to me.
So I'll try to get the ball rolling. You'll notice a Japanese Anime theme in my suggestions... Darn fine artists the Japanese.

"Appleseed Ex Machina"

Movie clip here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZkag7M_i5A


"Vexille"

Movie clip here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyJFIyFAm7Q

Making of clip (I think you'll really like his) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xOwJOcOk6Y


I'm given to understand Americans like zombie type movies. So for you there is

"Resident Evil:Damnation"

Movie clip here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmUR6f39dg4

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Comments

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,103
    edited December 1969

    Ouch!
    Just watched Vexille, link one. Most Jammin'!!!
    Exactly the thing I need to see... just right! That inspires me. Great tempo, I think... and the fact that it's heart-thumping art in motion put to music and dialog makes it very similar to what I'm doing, while being entirely different. Very nice!

    Hey!
    Thanks for making this thread! I can't wait to see this thing grow ;)

    Everyone knows of my views about Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
    If you've never actually seen an episode, This 100 Episode Celebration clip is an excellent five minute journey into a smidgeon of what you've been missing.

    Has your helmet shown you many Clone Wars episodes yet? Great show, isn't it!!! :coolhmm:
    eyesee said:
    It certainly has and I'm loving it. My guess is your daughter prefers this to original because there's more and better scripted female characters in it.

    Perhaps that too. But she really likes the stories and how it's played out.
    The opposite of what one might think from the outside, is that these animated episodes aren't nearly as 'Family of all ages' oriented as the movies are - not even close. Much more dark and graphic. Pretty heavy issues dropping down on the republic, knowing that it's being run by the leader of the leader of the opposition, whom is his apprentice - someone whose fate is already determined to be ended by the hero of this show just before he gets the reins of the system that overruns both sides in the end... they play that card really well.

    The voice actors and artists collide into a very convincing telling of a story of how truly powerful Anakin becomes, and how valuable he really is for whichever side gains his allegiance. But what really nails it home is the fact that, right from the start, he gets assigned a Padowan to train - someone we don't meet anywhere else within the Star Wars collection. She is too young to really be a Padowan. She is immensely gifted in both the force and her abilities with a lightsaber, undeniably fearless, and watching her grow under the training (?) of Anakin is very cool to see! All this as the Chancellor weaves his web and the trust of the Jedi counsel is constantly tested, even though he has saved so many of their kind from the cartoon series before this... single-handed...

    Padme and Anakin, Asohka, Obi-Wan and the Clone Troopers are the main stars of the seasons. The friendship grows into a tight family. It's gets disturbing how many troopers fall right before your eyes... all the time, like... every episode. The evil of General Grievous is very well outlined before this series from the Cartoon version predecessor, and he is the driving threat as well as Duku's own apprentice, Asaj Ventress.

    We see just about everyone whom has ever made an appearance in the background of the prequel movies at one time or another, in very cool ways. Cool new bad guys and very welcome story lines to Jedi that have only graced the screen in the movies.

    That's why you should really watch these seasons.
    I watch them over and over because I like to soak in some of the techniques done by the team. The music is amazingly cool... the voice acting is super pro. The animation takes me away... big time. Emotions look so real and natural, which inspired me to time out keyframed emotions alone - a study that has taught me a lot about many little things that make an animation job look far more convincing. The timing and frequency of blinks, subtlety of mouth movement-to-sound along with mini emotions and twitches that add so much. Stuff that the hands are downing when the arms move, stuff that the arms do when walking and talking, running after or being chased by an enemy... Attack, jump, roll, land... but then also the common motions that liven up a conversation between two or more people who are just standing there talking.

    The hand-painted styling caught my attention as really good artwork through the whole thing. The highlighting of a lower poly mesh is one thing... that's pretty cool on it's own, too... but I'm talking about the textures that are painted on everything from the people and monsters, to ships and terrain, to the vast, gorgeous yet very simplified backgrounds. The colors and the broad globs of a wet brush on dry paint with brush strokes on every single thing - and then sometimes added to the bump channel... really cool to just kick back, relax, and enjoy a great story while getting a nice lesson in a style of animated art... I love it.

    I'm given to understand Americans like zombie type movies. So for you there is

    "Resident Evil:Damnation"

    Movie clip here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmUR6f39dg4

    Got it. Pretty darn cool.

    It's sitting next to Titan AE on my shelf, near Beowulf.
    You'll notice a Japanese Anime theme in my suggestions... Darn fine artists the Japanese.

    "Appleseed Ex Machina"

    Movie clip here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZkag7M_i5ACool! I have a few Japanese titles, I think... This thing looks really cool - I'll be buying this. Are there more to it yet? You probably would have already told me if there was...

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,103
    edited December 1969

    Might be a bit too long of a rant on Clone Wars... if so let me know and I'll shorten it up some ;)

    Since I've started animating in Carrara, I've been noticing a lot more stuff that's done using software like this than I've realized prior.

    Even more, the more I check out features of other software products that I was considering adding to my collection, I've been finding ways that I could actually perform those stunts with Carrara. Is there anything about adding special effects to - or creating from scratch, videos and movies, that cannot be done in Carrara? Wow! Love this thing!

  • eyeseeeyesee Posts: 172
    edited December 1969

    They did release one three years earlier, but I prefer the later style. I don't know how they've got away with it but this is the whole movie, but its not dubbed in English

    "Appleseed" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ndhqr6mnbUU


    Hold on to your hat though. This clip only went online 10 hours ago, so it's first time I've seen it.

    The soon to be released "Appleseed Alpha" Check out the photorealism- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNDb2J6DIwg

  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,026
    edited December 1969

    I just watched a documentary on Ray Harryhousen.
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1839590/

    Very inspirational.

  • eyeseeeyesee Posts: 172
    edited December 1969

    diomede64,

    I remember being transfixed watching "Might Joe Young" as a young lad. The technicalities of making such a film never occurred to me then.
    The patience needed to do the stop motion and how make it fluid and natural while moving a model in tiny fractions of a millimetre.. amazing. Not to mention compositing with the live action. Did they have green screen techniques then? Did the documentary mention anything about how the films were made?

  • evilproducerevilproducer Posts: 9,040
    edited December 1969

    eyesee said:
    diomede64,

    I remember being transfixed watching "Might Joe Young" as a young lad. The technicalities of making such a film never occurred to me then.
    The patience needed to do the stop motion and how make it fluid and natural while moving a model in tiny fractions of a millimetre.. amazing. Not to mention compositing with the live action. Did they have green screen techniques then? Did the documentary mention anything about how the films were made?

    They probably used rear screen projection and an early version of a traveling matte put together with an optical printer. It would basically be a double exposure. I don't think he invented it, but Harryhausen made heavy use of these traveling mattes and refined the technique as much as his budgets and the technology of the day allowed.

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,103
    edited December 1969

    eyesee said:
    diomede64,

    I remember being transfixed watching "Might Joe Young" as a young lad. The technicalities of making such a film never occurred to me then.
    The patience needed to do the stop motion and how make it fluid and natural while moving a model in tiny fractions of a millimetre.. amazing. Not to mention compositing with the live action. Did they have green screen techniques then? Did the documentary mention anything about how the films were made?

    I never saw the original :( It was King Kong for me. Sinbad movies, too! :)
  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,103
    edited December 1969

    Here is a cool "Behind the Scenes" from yesteryear: {url= of Fire & Ice, the movie by Ralph Bakshi & Frank Frazetta. Really interesting seeing their workflow before having Carrara to work with ;)

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,103
    edited December 1969

    diomede64 said:
    I just watched a documentary on Ray Harryhousen.
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1839590/

    Very inspirational.

    Wow... Immensely!
    I have that dvd on it's way soon, I hope. Until then, I decided to start watching {url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ePV0w8lStU8]Aliens, Dragons, Monsters, and Me, a three-quarter hour special featuring Harryhousen himself. Cool stuff! He, too was inspired by King Kong, low and behold!
  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,103
    edited December 1969

    eyesee said:
    diomede64,

    I remember being transfixed watching "Might Joe Young" as a young lad. The technicalities of making such a film never occurred to me then.
    The patience needed to do the stop motion and how make it fluid and natural while moving a model in tiny fractions of a millimetre.. amazing. Not to mention compositing with the live action. Did they have green screen techniques then? Did the documentary mention anything about how the films were made?

    They probably used rear screen projection and an early version of a traveling matte put together with an optical printer. It would basically be a double exposure. I don't think he invented it, but Harryhausen made heavy use of these traveling mattes and refined the technique as much as his budgets and the technology of the day allowed.Amazing how long blue screen filming has been around, eh? All the techniques they've used with double exposure, glass plate painting, stop-motion... whatever they could come up with to wow us in out theater chairs ;)

  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,026
    edited December 1969

    eyesee said:
    diomede64,

    I remember being transfixed watching "Might Joe Young" as a young lad. The technicalities of making such a film never occurred to me then.
    The patience needed to do the stop motion and how make it fluid and natural while moving a model in tiny fractions of a millimetre.. amazing. Not to mention compositing with the live action. Did they have green screen techniques then? Did the documentary mention anything about how the films were made?

    They probably used rear screen projection and an early version of a traveling matte put together with an optical printer. It would basically be a double exposure. I don't think he invented it, but Harryhausen made heavy use of these traveling mattes and refined the technique as much as his budgets and the technology of the day allowed.

    Yes, you are correct. The documentary includes some examples and diagrams of the setups.

  • McGuiverMcGuiver Posts: 219
    edited December 1969

    Several years old, Funny, but graphic.......daz & baz.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcTxE1ay5SI

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,103
    edited December 1969

    McGuiver said:
    Several years old, Funny, but graphic.......daz & baz.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcTxE1ay5SI

    Dear David Clayton, Andrew Silke, and James Johnson,
    Thank you very much for having the genius minds to create such a wonder film as Daz and Baz... for I much enjoyed it!
    Nothin' quite like it in the ole' wide wold :ahhh: ...and I Loved it!
  • McGuiverMcGuiver Posts: 219
    edited May 2014

    Andrew Silke has since made it big in 3D animation.......true inspiration....

    About Andrew Silke

    Andrew has 13 years experience as a 3d professional. He’s worked from small games studios to the biggest post effects houses in the world including Weta, Framestore and Animal Logic. Andrew’s credits include many movies such as Avatar, Harry Potter and Happy Feet. Andrew has also won many awards for the Cane-Toad short film which he co created. Cane-Toad was nominated for an AFI award (now AACTA Awards) along with winning many film festivals.

    Andrews website:
    www.create3dcharacters.com

    Post edited by McGuiver on
  • NoName99NoName99 Posts: 322
    edited December 1969

    diomede64 said:
    I just watched a documentary on Ray Harryhousen.
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1839590/

    Very inspirational.

    AWESOME!! Thank you for posting this, I love Harryhausen!!

  • evilproducerevilproducer Posts: 9,040
    edited December 1969

    eyesee said:
    diomede64,

    I remember being transfixed watching "Might Joe Young" as a young lad. The technicalities of making such a film never occurred to me then.
    The patience needed to do the stop motion and how make it fluid and natural while moving a model in tiny fractions of a millimetre.. amazing. Not to mention compositing with the live action. Did they have green screen techniques then? Did the documentary mention anything about how the films were made?

    I never saw the original :( It was King Kong for me. Sinbad movies, too! :)

    Kink Kong was the original. Mighty Joe Young was later and was produced by the same talent that created King Kong. Harryhausen worked as an apprentice on that one I believe.

  • evilproducerevilproducer Posts: 9,040
    edited December 1969

    eyesee said:
    diomede64,

    I remember being transfixed watching "Might Joe Young" as a young lad. The technicalities of making such a film never occurred to me then.
    The patience needed to do the stop motion and how make it fluid and natural while moving a model in tiny fractions of a millimetre.. amazing. Not to mention compositing with the live action. Did they have green screen techniques then? Did the documentary mention anything about how the films were made?

    They probably used rear screen projection and an early version of a traveling matte put together with an optical printer. It would basically be a double exposure. I don't think he invented it, but Harryhausen made heavy use of these traveling mattes and refined the technique as much as his budgets and the technology of the day allowed.

    Amazing how long blue screen filming has been around, eh? All the techniques they've used with double exposure, glass plate painting, stop-motion... whatever they could come up with to wow us in out theater chairs ;)

    I don't think it was really blue screen.

    Rear screen projection which they used mostly in Kong was basically actors in front of a movies screen and the effect shot was projected on the screen from behind the actors.

  • NoName99NoName99 Posts: 322
    edited December 1969

    eyesee said:
    diomede64,

    I remember being transfixed watching "Might Joe Young" as a young lad. The technicalities of making such a film never occurred to me then.
    The patience needed to do the stop motion and how make it fluid and natural while moving a model in tiny fractions of a millimetre.. amazing. Not to mention compositing with the live action. Did they have green screen techniques then? Did the documentary mention anything about how the films were made?

    They probably used rear screen projection and an early version of a traveling matte put together with an optical printer. It would basically be a double exposure. I don't think he invented it, but Harryhausen made heavy use of these traveling mattes and refined the technique as much as his budgets and the technology of the day allowed.

    Amazing how long blue screen filming has been around, eh? All the techniques they've used with double exposure, glass plate painting, stop-motion... whatever they could come up with to wow us in out theater chairs ;)

    I don't think it was really blue screen.

    Rear screen projection which they used mostly in Kong was basically actors in front of a movies screen and the effect shot was projected on the screen from behind the actors.


    This isn't specific to King Kong, but here's a great, and fascinating, video on the history of film compositing.
    The stuff they pulled off back in the day is amazing.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8aoUXjSfsI&sns=em

  • evilproducerevilproducer Posts: 9,040
    edited December 1969

    dinopt said:
    eyesee said:
    diomede64,

    I remember being transfixed watching "Might Joe Young" as a young lad. The technicalities of making such a film never occurred to me then.
    The patience needed to do the stop motion and how make it fluid and natural while moving a model in tiny fractions of a millimetre.. amazing. Not to mention compositing with the live action. Did they have green screen techniques then? Did the documentary mention anything about how the films were made?

    They probably used rear screen projection and an early version of a traveling matte put together with an optical printer. It would basically be a double exposure. I don't think he invented it, but Harryhausen made heavy use of these traveling mattes and refined the technique as much as his budgets and the technology of the day allowed.

    Amazing how long blue screen filming has been around, eh? All the techniques they've used with double exposure, glass plate painting, stop-motion... whatever they could come up with to wow us in out theater chairs ;)

    I don't think it was really blue screen.

    Rear screen projection which they used mostly in Kong was basically actors in front of a movies screen and the effect shot was projected on the screen from behind the actors.


    This isn't specific to King Kong, but here's a great, and fascinating, video on the history of film compositing.
    The stuff they pulled off back in the day is amazing.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8aoUXjSfsI&sns=em

    Thanks for that link. I was trying to come up with a way to describe the differences and was having trouble. I knew what they were but lacked the proper vocabulary. This video does it so much better, and had some other information I wasn't aware of, such as the "yellow screen" method.

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,103
    edited December 1969

    Yes! Thanks for that link!
    Right, ep... although I really wasn't aware of the technique you were mentioning, I was just saying... it's amazing how long blue screen has been used. 1957 Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, for example... once they started using color film, etc.,

    Wow. Watching stuff on Harryhousen is incredible. I feel so spoiled having the wonderful thing called tweeners! :)
    For the longest time Clash of the Titans was one of my favorite things to watch. Those models are simply gorgeous. Jason and the Argonauts' skeletons... yeah!!!

  • evilproducerevilproducer Posts: 9,040
    edited December 1969

    Yes! Thanks for that link!
    Right, ep... although I really wasn't aware of the technique you were mentioning, I was just saying... it's amazing how long blue screen has been used. 1957 Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, for example... once they started using color film, etc.,

    Wow. Watching stuff on Harryhousen is incredible. I feel so spoiled having the wonderful thing called tweeners! :)
    For the longest time Clash of the Titans was one of my favorite things to watch. Those models are simply gorgeous. Jason and the Argonauts' skeletons... yeah!!!

    I was always partial to Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger or the Golden Voyage of Sinbad.

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,103
    edited December 1969

    Golden Voyage is Awesome!!! Hmmm... Eye of the Tiger... how did I miss that one? Maybe I didn't. Hmmmm

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,103
    edited December 1969

    Seventh Voyage will always have a place in my heart if only because of that freaking Cyclops. My parents used to take my Brother and me to this store called Spooky's, which had a big paper mache head replica. It was also a really cool cover for the Famous Monsters magazine. It might actually be my favorite Cyclops model ever.

    On that note, thinking of those clay-mation animations, or dynamations as they called them, I would never consider myself going from digital animations in Carrara to stop motion. For a few years, I was even under the impression that I wouldn't even enjoy a dynamation movie any more. I am very grateful to know that I was mistaken on that. I still love watching Golden Voyage, Seventh Voyage, the original King Kong... they are still very enjoyable to me.

    The stuff that they're doing now is really exciting though. I really love the animation work in Desolation of Smaug! Jumping between live Elf actors to digitized animations and back is priceless for intense action chases! Smaug is a huge wyrm, and yet he moves like a big, dextrous lizard!

  • evilproducerevilproducer Posts: 9,040
    edited December 1969

    Golden Voyage is Awesome!!! Hmmm... Eye of the Tiger... how did I miss that one? Maybe I didn't. Hmmmm

    Young Jane Seymour? Giant Saber tooth tiger? Trog? Prince turned into a Baboon?

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,103
    edited December 1969

    I guess I never have seen it.

  • evilproducerevilproducer Posts: 9,040
    edited December 1969

    I guess I never have seen it.

    Put it on your short list! I think Harryhausen has some of his best work in that one.

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,103
    edited December 1969

    Done ;)
    Thanks Bro!

    What about really cool CG movies or TV... anything really cool out there that should not be missed besides what eyesee already mentioned and the wonderful Clone Wars?

    On that note... make sure you check out the short example of Clone Wars I've linked to in my first post!

  • evilproducerevilproducer Posts: 9,040
    edited December 1969

    The first Final Fantasy movie would be a given. Also anything done by PIXAR should be on the list.

    I think if you're going to talk about CG movies you need to talk about live action pictures as well. Especially effects oriented pictures. They can span the gamut between the over-the-top Transformers films to something like Paul, which is freaking hilarious. I won't say Paul is subtle in the plot department, but the creative team does a great job getting you to forget the guy is CG.

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,103
    edited December 1969

    See? That's what we're talking about. Not just fully animated films... anything that inspires towards using Carrara

    I know that I'll get ridiculed for this, but I don't care... I have both Final Fantasy movies. I do like Spirit Within a bit more, but I really like Advent Children as well. Great soundtrack and great CG art and animation

  • evilproducerevilproducer Posts: 9,040
    edited December 1969

    See? That's what we're talking about. Not just fully animated films... anything that inspires towards using Carrara

    I know that I'll get ridiculed for this, but I don't care... I have both Final Fantasy movies. I do like Spirit Within a bit more, but I really like Advent Children as well. Great soundtrack and great CG art and animation

    The only one I liked was Spirit Within.

    The one flick that really inspired me to push into CGI was Jurassic Park. To me, that is still the gold standard for story Vs. CGI effects.

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