#Forefront

[oh-dear-so-queer]

The fact is that two-spiritedness, homosexuality, bisexuality, and transgender are at the forefront of some of the most significant scientific re-visionings of our time – in which the gap between indigenous and Western perspectives is finally being bridged – yet their contribution is rarely, if ever, acknowledged by Western scientists. When prominent chaos theoreticians, biodiversity experts, and post-Darwinian evolutionists invoke the teachings of tribal peoples, they are usually unaware of the pivotal role played by homosexuality and transgender in these indigenous belief systems, or in the lives of the writers, storytellers, and visionaries who give poetic voice to their scientific concepts.

"Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity" - Bruce Bagemihl

[swamyworld]

Project Mbappé: Could a summer with France bring smiles back to the forefront? | Kylian Mbappe

CCristiano Ronaldo was already 24 years old with three Premier League titles, a Champions League and a Club World Cup under his belt when he registered the CR7 trademark in June 2009, promoting a line of underwear just a year after first using it. The Manchester United player scored 22 goals in 66 matches for Portugal. He has participated in three major international tournaments and reached the…

[ruporas]

dragon meat, you, and me

[xtruss]

Young People Have Always Been At The Forefront Of Change Through Mass Protests, Sit-Ins And Boycotts, As Evidenced By The Ongoing Student-Led Pro-Palestine Protests Across The US.

Here are several student protests throughout history that made a significant impact and led to lasting, far-reaching changes.

[stil-lindigo]

an ex-zionist jewish man recently went a bit viral on tiktok for sharing exactly how he sees zionism tie israel to the jewish identity and his personal experience with breaking away from it - I think it’s a really great watch.

He also made a follow up talking specifically about how he learned to humanise Palestinians, and a really integral part of it was his school, which would often bring in Palestinian speakers who’d share their perspective (here’s a link to it).

[joesanimationblog]

Forefront Post 10

The Balcony

The Balcony is 2D animated film created by writer and director Anya Martin and released on the 30th of April, 2022. This film is about a man named Matt who goes out to his balcony and sees someone on a balcony across from him, despite the distance between them theres a real sense of connection and warmth from this interaction in an otherwise cold world. I really like the muted palette of the film and the textured lines. The overall artstyle works realy well and matches the mellow tone of the film. 

While other blog posts are about using space and motion to expand the world, this one is about how staying in one place can create atmosphere and communicate ideas surrounding the characters life or mentality. As the name of the film suggests, the majority of the film takes place on a balcony. Matt, the main charcter, is painted to be lonely and melloncholic. His dreary appartment's washed out palette evokes feelings of fatigue and isolation. When a stranger from the balcony opposite his comes out and calls him, these ideas of isolation are made more apparent. The contrast between the party balcony radiating light and Matts cold flat is a great way of framing the life of Matt as someone who feels disconnnected and distant from other people.

Matt is presented from a mid shot almost every time we see him, and the girl is always far away. The barrier between is made even more obvious by the water running where a road would be. Maybe this is playing with the idea of no man being an island. I like how human this story is and how it embraces how small it is and how small the character feels. 

To be sincere and tell a story where nothing really happens asides from a moment of lonely reflection is breaking away from the conventional use of animation as the "silly medium". There are many animes that tackle stories like this, but this is one of the first modern animations ive seen that really is trying to represent the reality of human loneliness without making it more than what it is. The types of stories which audiences are hungry for is changing, and with this change, western commercial animation must grow.

References

Anime vs. Western Comics and cartoons - reelrundown. Available at: https://reelrundown.com/animation/Anime-vs-Western-Comics-and-Cartoons (Accessed: 12 August 2023).

The Balcony (2022). YouTube. 30 April. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qb75vQK6dzk (Accessed: 12 August 2023).

[lrussellconceptart]

Forefront Identification - Environments

As I have researched before about the demand for jobs in the concept art industry, it is apparent that Environment artists are also in high demand as well. As we can see from this screenshot of LinkedIn (typed in environment artist) this job for Splash damage requires an artist that can build assets in 3D as well as understands Unreal engine 4. As seen below Splash damage create shooter and SciFi games which will require future employees to understand creating apocalyptic environments such as there game Gear Tactics.

This is another search on LinkedIn from the company AAA trying to find an environment artist presently. Once again requiring excellent 3D knowledge and skills and an excellent understanding of lighting. With games released such as God of War and Monster Hunter Rise, you will be expected to design for more fantasy-based environments.

Due to environment artists being in demand, I want to expand my skills and try and develop some of my own environments. As I am inspired by games such as Monster Hunter and Horizon zero dawn, I a more drawn to the fantasy side of things. Researching the forefront is very insightful because it allows artists to keep improving their skills and creating works in current demand to impress employers.

Image referencing:

Image 1: Screenshot taken from LinkedIn with results for environment artist

Image 2: Студия-разработчик gears tactics анонсировала новый эксклюзив для stadia - outcasters (no date) 3DNews. Available at: https://3dnews.ru/1015727/studiyarazrabotchik-gears-tactics-anonsirovala-noviy-eksklyuziv-dlya-stadia-outcasters (Accessed: 17 August 2023).

Image 3: Screenshot taken from LinkedIn with results for environment artist

Image 4: Black, T. (2023) 19 best AAA Games of 2022, Gameranx. Available at: https://gameranx.com/features/id/290692/article/18-new-aaa-games-of-2022/ (Accessed: 17 August 2023).

[rohitgurumith]

FOREFRONT 10 : THE BATMAN (2022)

This film is one of my favorite films be it in terms of entertainment and in terms of finding references for lighting, shot selection, and storytelling techniques. I've learned a lot from this movie and john wick 4 and I will be starting to apply those to my projects once I'm done with my major project. I can draw inspiration from the film's visual style and composition. Matt Reeves is known for his attention to detail and visual storytelling, and this film definitely had unique and visually striking scenes. From the lighting choices to the use of color, I have studied the film to understand how to create mood and atmosphere through visuals.

I read this article from Variety which featured the cinematographer Greig Fraser talking about a lot of cinematic aspects of the film. there was a point where he explained how he just assigned 2 lights to 2 characters and stuck with it throughout. this is something that I've always wanted to do in my films as well, which is being able to tell a story with just light. I've also analyzed the film's shots and framing to gain inspiration for my own future work.

this film also delves into the psychological aspects of the characters, providing a deeper understanding of their motivations and inner struggles. As mentioned in the above video, The narrative depth has inspired me to explore similar themes in my own work, whether it's through illustrations, paintings, or other visual mediums.

Understanding how the film presents complex characters and their emotional journeys can help me tell more compelling stories in my own creations. this film also features intense action sequences. I've studied the film's choreography, camera movements, and editing techniques to understand how to capture dynamic and visually stunning action sequences and also find inspiration in these sequences to depict motion and energy in my own work at some point because one of my future works is a part of the action genre and it will involve action sequences so this film will definitely teach me a trick or 2 and help me achieve those intense dynamic sequences.

REFERENCES :

Reeves, M. (2022) The Batman. United States: Warner Bros. Pictures.

Viramontes, D. (2022) How ‘the Batman’ cinematographer Greig Fraser reinvented the Dark Knight’s big screen presence, Variety. Available at: https://variety.com/2022/film/news/batman-cinematography-greig-fraser-batmobile-1235197570/ (Accessed: 23 August 2023).

Tomasso, P. (2022) Why the Batman is so beautiful.: A cinematography video essay, YouTube. Available at: https://youtu.be/STynLl-2FqU (Accessed: 23 August 2023).

[critterbitter]

A trip down memory lane! Though the tower seems to have changed…

Celestial tower! Built during the direct aftermath of the Founding Unovan Civil War, it remains a cultural landmark in memory of those lost in the fire and storm.

Time has dulled the scars left behind by the twin dragons. Today, the tower is primarily used as a mausoleum (the preferred method of burial are urns) and, well, a tourism site. Legend says if you climb to the top of the tower and ring the bell, you can lay your ghosts to rest. But mostly? You can ring a GIANT bell.

Course, you gotta GET to that bell first.

Masterpost for more pokemon shenanigans here!

[devakey]

Forefront 10:  Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (2022) and its Use of Colour

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners presents a colorful, eclectic ride through a dark, futuristic setting. It delivers spectacularly on its animation and artwork and action sequences. Albeit having impressed with it’s style, it has been criticised for its lack of character and depth (Kauffman, 2022).

Animated Adaptation of a Video Game

It is the latest in a long list of anime adaptations of video games. Unlike other successful adaptations of similar nature such as Arcane (2021) and DOTA: Dragon’s Blood (2021), Cyberpunk: Edgerunners was far more successful than the video game upon which it is based. In fact, it ended up raising awareness about its existence and aiding in the game receiving an expansion due to its popularity (Jennings, 2022).

Image: Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (2022) | Netflix Original series

Animation

The show was animated by the Japanese Studio Trigger under the supervision of the Polish CD Projekt. Studio Trigger has animated some very impressive anime and is held in high regard. It has worked on several futuristic projects, and their experience comes through in Cyberpunk : Edgerunners.

Their fluid, frenetic style combines flawlessly with the tech-laced world of Cyberpunk 2077, making for an enthralling, action-packed visual adventure (Jennings, 2022).

Image: Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (2022) | Netflix Original series

Colour

The stylish character designs and the radiant neon color palette of both the characters and the world make for a vibrant, electric visual which truly ties the visual and animation styles together. The detail of the red outline on characters represented in the net adds to the coruscating visuals of the series.

The show uses the boldest, brightest colours and pairs them with muted shades of its complementary colours to bring the most visually satisfying palette to its screen. Not only is it visually pleasing but also very appropriate given the  futuristic setting and concept of the series.

Image: Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (2022) | Netflix Original series

Connection

Although I generally tend to rely on less vibrant and more analogous colour palettes in my own work, I used a heavily complementary palette for my visual depiction of the poem Because I Could Not Stop For Death by Emily Dickinson. I used colour to symbolise connections within objects and emphasise contrast in others.

For my Red vs Blue animation, I deliberately picked the very striking, RYB colour scheme, using only shades of the primary colours. It helped me isolate the protagonist and bring emphasis onto key details. It helped me build the aesthetic that I wanted to portray without much detail in the lineart. Colours fill life into a scene and can be used to support concepts and execute various themes.

Without the brilliant use of colour in the series, the world of Cyberpunk would not have felt as cohesive but striking. Its colour scheme, apart from the character and background design, is a key component in placing it in the futuristic timeline.

References

1. Kauffman, A. (2022) ‘cyberpunk: Edgerunners’ - style lacking substance, The Emory Wheel. Available at: https://emorywheel.com/cyberpunk-edgerunners-style-lacking-substance/ (Accessed: 20 June 2023). 

2. Jennings, C. (2022) ‘cyberpunk: Edgerunners’ proves that anime is the best medium to adapt video games, Collider. Available at: https://collider.com/cyberpunk-edgerunners-proves-anime-is-best-medium-to-adapt-video-games/ (Accessed: 20 June 2023). 

[local-space-gay]

I’m so Normal about this

[reith-sheep]

Forefront 2 Dog and Boy

This is an example of what I learned while writing about how AI can help animators animate faster. The Dog and the Boy (Netflix 2023) AI-assisted animation is an animated short with 147,927 views that use AI to generate animated backgrounds. Although its appearance remains a source of intense public debate, it shows the potential of using AI to save animators' time and financial resources.

Ryotaro Makihara believes that incorporating the latest creative techniques into his work will ultimately strengthen Japanese animation and expand its possibilities. For my subsequent animation work, I can use AI to give me more ideas for my creative style or as an aid to my background painting. It can help me save a lot of repetitive work and time on my animation, and provide more background angles to my animation without spending too much effort.

However, I think that while AI technology can go some way to saving animators time and labour, it has also come in for some criticism. An over-reliance on AI technology can lead to animators losing their unique creativity and artistry. In addition, the use of AI technology to generate animation backgrounds may also result in all backgrounds looking too similar and lacking in individuality and uniqueness. Therefore, while using AI technology, I need to remain creative and innovative in order to maintain the quality and uniqueness of my animation work and the potential ethical issues that may arise from my use of AI in animation, such as copyright issues with the use of other people's work in training data. It's important to have a diverse range of viewpoints when incorporating AI in animation since this technology can offer significant opportunities for advancement.

reference

Netflix クリエイターズ・ベース、rinnaとWIT STUDIOとの共同制作プロジェクト、アニメ「犬と少年」を公開。クリエイター支援の可能性に一手を。 (no date) About Netflix. Available at: https://about.netflix.com/ja/news/the-dog-and-the-boy (Accessed: May 7, 2023).

Japan, N. (2023) アニメ・クリエイターズ・ベース アニメ「犬と少年」本編映像 - Netflix. Youtube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9DpusAZV_0 (Accessed: May 7, 2023).

[mccodylim]

Jump 🦁 Jump 开工大吉 • 顺顺利利 01.02.23 . #acrobaticliondance #liondance #tongtongchiang #airwalk #lionjump #cny2023 #forefront #forefrontinternational (at FOREFRONT) https://www.instagram.com/p/CoXXi4jJX7R/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[joesanimationblog]

Forefront Post 9

Catopolis 

Catopolis is a 2D animated short film by animator Victoria Vincent aka Vewn that was uploaded to her YouTube channel on the 6th of June 2022. I saw this film when it was first released and it inspired me to start this course; now I sit watching it as my studies come to an end. Enough poetry... let's get into the breakdown! 

The visual style of this film is familier as it seems to take inspiration from many of the Adult Swim projects in its rough line work and saturated colour palette. The skewed perspectives and wonderfuly coloured scenes take the real world and make it more than what it is, Vewn's design choices reframe what we know in a way we dont know it. 

While a skewed perspective city with bright colours have existed before in animations going back to the 50s there is a clear modern illustration influence creeping in. The work of Vewn reminds me of three of my favourite illustrators, Kihojise, Philip Lindeman and my former tutor Jim Stoten. I see Vewn's work liing somewhere between these artists styles but this is not to say that her work is dirivitive, far from it.

Jim Stoten always stressed the importance of making lots of work and not being attatched to it, of expressing your mind all the time and not being critical of it, but instead to produce work constantly and then pick out your favourites. I have found that when I work in this way, I am so much more capable of recontextualising existing ideas in creative new ways. Rather than trying to inovate by pushing something new, you end up innovating through a combination of old ideas mashed together. 

This is what Vewns work seems like it is doing and i believe this is why their work has found such a large audience in such a small amount of time. In Vewns work there is so much to enjoy that it doesnt feel like you need to notice when things arent quite right. 

Catopolis (2022). YouTube. 6 June. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYnv8tHyOJE (Accessed: 01 August 2023).

Munday, R. (no date) Catopolis - animated short film by Vewn (aka Victoria Vincent), Short of the Week. Available at: https://www.shortoftheweek.com/2022/06/15/catopolis/ (Accessed: 01 August 2023).

[lrussellconceptart]

Forefront Identification - The future of gaming

Games have been around for many years, allowing players to immerse themselves in another world. Games can transport players to space, alternate dimensions, enchanted forests, and many more. With the popularity of gaming constantly rising it is now bigger than movies and sports put together. What comes next? The popularity of gaming will only increase culturally. But how will new technological advancements affect the gaming experience and how will they shape the future of video games?

Despite several obstacles along the way, tech and gaming businesses are hard at work attempting to progress the industry by spending a lot of money on creating VR technology and games. Over the past few years, businesses like Meta, Valve, PlayStation, and Samsung have all entered the VR market (Koss, 2023). With interactive experiences, viewers may become more engaged in the plot and a part of more complex and immersive storytelling in the future. Although it might sound far-fetched right now, it is really rather close to reality (Digital, 2023). However, this may still be distant from the future as despite the release of Quest Pro and other much-awaited VR gadgets, Segal said that there are other variables at work in the US VR sales downturn. He suggested that a market correction following COVID-19 or a recession may be to blame for the dip (Mileva, 2023). Following on from Covid this would result in fighting for social gatherings and people wanting to go to the movies or festivals. However, companies such as Sony are creating all-new VR headsets; and the competition amongst other companies pushes for better production.

A new degree of immersion in gaming is now possible for players owing to augmented reality (AR) technology. As a result, there can be a blurring of the lines between the virtual and actual worlds, which would enhance the realism and interest of games. For instance, AR technology is utilised to create a virtual environment that appears inside the player's actual surroundings in games like Pokemon Go and Ingress (Quarks, 2023). It has been mentioned that there is a vision of AR being used for laser tag or hide-and-seek. The most well-known AR games are played on smartphones, but tech giants like Meta, Snap, and Magic Leap are also developing AR spectacles. The flexible, glasses-style headgear from Magic Leap is designed primarily for business applications including healthcare, design, and manufacturing (Koss, 2023).

Image References:

Image 1: Maher, M. (2022) The Best VR Movies (so far) ranked, The Beat: A Blog by PremiumBeat. Available at: https://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/the-best-vr-movies/ (Accessed: 04 August 2023).

Image 2: Speicher, M. (2022) What is augmented reality, anyway?, The Conversation. Available at: https://theconversation.com/what-is-augmented-reality-anyway-99827 (Accessed: 04 August 2023).

Digital, T. (2023) Exploring the future of VR Gaming & Entertainment, LinkedIn. Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/exploring-future-vr-gaming-entertainment-teamleasedigital (Accessed: 04 August 2023).

Koss, H. (2023) What does the future of gaming look like?, Built In. Available at: https://builtin.com/media-gaming/future-of-gaming (Accessed: 04 August 2023).

Mileva, G. (2023) The future of VR: What’s next for the world of VR gaming?, ARPost. Available at: https://arpost.co/2023/03/20/future-of-vr-whats-next-world-of-vr-gaming/ (Accessed: 04 August 2023).

Quarks (2023) The Future of Augmented Reality in gaming: Exploring the ... - linkedin, LinkedIn. Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/future-augmented-reality-gaming-exploring-potential (Accessed: 04 August 2023).

[rohitgurumith]

FOREFRONT 9 : JOHN WICK CHAPTER 4 (2023)

I've never been so pleased by the cinematography and the lighting more than this film and I've taken a lot of inspiration from this film which I definitely will be using for my future films when time permits. only in a film like this can a character be at any place in the world and it would still look relevant to the film and not take us out of the story whatsoever. This film has also made me do my research on background elements that might have a hidden meaning behind them so they can be used to foreshadow something that is about to happen, convey emotions and the mood of the scene, etc intention was to make this movie purely epic. The lower set shots, which they have used before, went to an entirely different level.

I was watching an interview given by Dan Laustsen to Collider Interviews regarding the action sequences of the film in general and there was a section where he spoke about how it took them a whole week just to set up the lighting for a scene. he then goes into depth explaining how every single element counts in contributing to a scene with great lighting and although it's different to set up lighting in real life than in 3D software, I will definitely remember some of his words about the positioning the light and keeping multiple lights in a certain angle to give a better result.

The production design by Kevin Kavanaugh was impeccable too. Seeing the blossoms come out of the tree with John standing there is just poetry in motion. You don't need John telling us he's still full of his pain and grief, but also full of anger towards the world that he used to be a part of. It's all played by these sorts of moments well. He looks to his friends to find a path, find some solace. They understand what sorta of man he is and why dying for/with him is a worthy death in honor. Because what happens in this epic-scaled story of the end of John, will be set in stone against the High Table.

REFERENCES :

Stahelski, C. (2023)John Wick : Chapter 4 . United States: Lionsgate Films.

Interviews, C. (2021) John Wick 4 cinematographer on Keanu Reeves, Donnie Yen, the action, and filming in Paris and Belin, YouTube. Available at: https://youtu.be/PmtQ4rHi9v4 (Accessed: 23 August 2023).