I was pretty happy with my Maya project that was due 2 days after the traditional project( lots of sleepless nights). We had to make simple characters and some kind of interaction.
I was slightly disappointed this year with Halloween. We did get to go see a midnight showing of Rocky Horror, but we were the only ones who dressed for the occasion. We went as Victorian vampires. The make up wasn't as gory as last year's zombies, but they were quite scary. We even won 3rd place at the schools costume contest. There was no time for us to decorate Lindsey's apartment, and we ended up watching The Descent on Halloween and carving pumpkins.
Sorry its been so long since my last post. I've been getting settled down in my new living arrangements and getting used to my new schedule. Speaking of which, I LOVE my new schedule!Here's a few recent drawings I've done at Ringling that I'm quite proud of.
The first one was a character assignment for my Concept Class where we had to draw people in a public setting and then design a character around that. I designed this librarian character off of a woman I saw at the mall.
The second drawing was for my Traditional Animation II class. We're starting off where we left off last year with walk cycles. We were told to design whatever type of character we wanted to make a walk for. I'm not sure how it turned into an old tortoise...but I'm pretty happy with it.
Here's what I have so far. I'm trying to finish the arms and head for Thursday. (wait for it to load so it isn't choppy)
The third was a assignment where we had to draw an environment and then design something else out of it. My original drawing (bottom left of the first image) was of the bayou apartments where I live, and I took the shapes of the architecture and designed something completely different.
Having seen a ton of movies this summer, here's a quick rundown of the good, the "eh," and the "oh my god, I can't believe I just payed money to see that."
Transformers
The Simpsons Movie
Knocked Up
Spider Man 3
Pirates of the Carribean 3
Shrek The Third
The Number 23
300
Being my second Bonnaroo experience, I had an idea of what to expect for the 4 day music festival. Last years festival was incredible with performances by Cat Power, Devendra Banhart, Bright Eyes, Beck, Sonic Youth, and of course Radiohead.
Two days after Jess and I flew in to Tampa from PA, we packed up the tiny but spacious Yarris untill there was barely enough room to seat 3, grabbed the Google maps, and headed off to Manchester Tennessee. I took most of the driving up and we made it at the Best Western at 3 in the morning. You could tell we were in Tennessee by the way the hotel manager said, "Y'all goin' to Bon-e-roooo??."
We left the hotel around 11 that morning and stopped at a Wal-mart to see if I could fix my video camera I brought to document the trip. It was fruitless though. Didn't get to use it the rest of the trip. We stopped at a gas station right outside Manchester and sa
w our first drug bust. I asked one of the police officers how to get to Bonnaroo from here and he asked why I was going to the "dope festival". We found the line for Bonnaroo around 12:30 and proceeded to wait for the next 3 hours watching Fargo and Raising Arizona, while bootleggers tried to sell t-shirts and posters.
Friday, June 15th (my 20th Birthday)
One of the benefits of having a birthday during Bonnaroo is that Bonnaroo tickets make a perfect early birthday gift. This was my second time celebrating my birthday at Bonnaroo. We started out the morning by waking up sweating in the Tennessee head at 8:30 and had an egg and bacon breakfast that took forever to cook. I hit my head on the trunk of the Yarri, leaving a nice little bump on my forehead which Jess is so kindly pointing out.
Caught part of the RX Bandits show with Lindsey and Jess. Lindsey grew up listening to these guys and had seen them at Warped Tour. She was surprised by how good they still were. I enjoyed the reggae, ska, pop-punk rock; but I was worried for the lead singer who was shirtless and apparently forgot to apply sunscreen that morning. He was turning a nice shade of salmon by the time we left. Did I mention that it was like an oven around noonish?
Last year I had tried to see Mr. Black at the Comedy Tent, but gave up after seeing the impressive line that snaked back and forth for 
what seemed like forever. This year Lindsey and I were determined to catch him perform. We got in line right before the first show started and waited for the next 3 hours to be first in line for his second show. We managed to take shifts where one would wait in line in 100 degree heat, while the other got food and drinks. It ended up working out and we even managed to sneak Jess in at the last minute. We got the best seats too! The show was awesome. Lewis Black made a ton of jokes about anticipation and how nothing ever lives up to how we anticipate it. (How true). He had 3 other comedians who were really funny as well. It was definitely one of the best shows at Bonnaroo. Being in an air-conditioned tent didn't hurt either.
Afterwards we parted ways with Jess. She went to see The Brazilian Girls and Lilly Allen while we headed off to a grassy hill to see The Roots perform the main stage. It was fun hearing them perform "Roxanne."
Although they may have the most misleading name in music (I 
originally thought they were a jam band from the name), they sounded really good live. I fell in love with their single "My Old Ways" right before Bonnaroo and really enjoyed their "Beatlesesque" harmonies. They played a pretty good set from what I heard. Lindsey and I had to skip out half way through though, to make it to see Regina Spektor. Didn't get to hear them play "My Old Ways." Oh well.
was really starting to get overwhelming. We headed off to the Movie tent where Bill Plymton, a famous independent animator, was showing some of his short animations and answering questions from the crowd. He answered my question about "recommendations for beginning animators" and informed me that he was "surprised that there were animators in the audience and to keep the animations short, cheap, and funny." I got to meet him and get a dvd signed which was pretty awesome.
We then proceeded to wait for the next 4 hours to see the Flaming Lips. Jess somehow managed to find us soon after Franz Ferdinand ended. I decided it would be awesome to wear our costumes we brought, so I raced back to the campsite (more like walked briskly), changed into my Superman costume, grabbed Lindsey's Wonder Woman and Jess's Ladybug costume and hurried back to the stage. We sat there listening as The Police played on the main stage and as they set up everything on the Flaming Lips stage. Apparently, we didn't miss much by skipping out on the Police show.
An hour or so before the actual set, the Lips launched into War Pigs as a sound check. We knew then that we were in for something special musically and visually. What an amazing show. I've been a fan of the Lips for the last couple years and really wanted to see them live. They always get rave reviews for their performances, mostly for the theatrics, and Wayne Coyne's antics. Seeing them in the front row is the way to watch the Flaming Lips live.
There is so much going on, its really easy to miss something. On either side of the stage were a collection of lucky fans dressed up as Aliens on one side and Santa Clauses on the other. Two huge cannons launched confetti over the audience. Giant balloons and random helium filled objects bouced over the audience. The hardest thing to miss and one of the biggest spectacles was the life-sized UFO that lowered onto the stage, unloading all the band members except for Wayne. He was encapsulated in a giant plastic bubble at the top of the UFO. Here's a video of Wayne making his way down the UFO and hoisted into the audience by stage-hands dressed as superheroes:
e and then pointed at Wayne as he held as large mirror. As great as the Lips songs sound on the albums, hearing them live is another reality all together. Wayne Coyne has an amazing grasp on how to interweave the auditory and the visual. He spent hours before the show making sure every little detail was taken care of. Catchy songs turned into epics. Every member of the audience realized that morning that they had witnessed something special.
I was really hoping to sell something that last day, because I was already out about $180 for the supplies for everything, not to mention all the time spent. After about 3 hours in the heat on the side of the road on Shakedown Street, I walked away with all but 2 originals sold and 5 or six prints sold. I was content with breaking even. I tried my hardest to help sell Lindsey's prints, but it really wasn't the right crowd. They were all hippies who could only recognize the classic rock stars. Plus the dust and dirt made it really hard to see the prints. It was a good learning experience though.
bonnaroo 2007
