Semester 1 final

2010 semester 1 final from Craig Yamamoto on Vimeo.

Progress 1

I basically have the concept, environment and the story down.

I just need to get animating

Here is a motion test that runs through the whole action

(just imagine Meteors are falling behind him, with one final one that hits him in the head)


Motion test for first final from Craig Yamamoto on Vimeo.

Fire element

Fire element from Craig Yamamoto on Vimeo.

first of two other elemtents

Metamorphosis Remix, “Inconsistency”

Metamorphosis Remix, “Inconsistency” from Craig Yamamoto on Vimeo.

Walk Cycle With Character

Walk Cycle With Character from Craig Yamamoto on Vimeo.

Walking Heavy

Walking Heavy from Craig Yamamoto on Vimeo.

Walking Female

Walking Female from Craig Yamamoto on Vimeo.

Walking Male

Walking Male from Craig Yamamoto on Vimeo.

Visual Research 1

Weight: three objects

Weight: Three objects from Craig Yamamoto on Vimeo.

Incremental 2

Bouncing Ball

Bouncing Ball from Craig Yamamoto on Vimeo.

Ball Under Layer

Pendulum

Pendulum from Craig Yamamoto on Vimeo.

Incremental # 1

While we were drawing this woman in action, I was constantly thinking about proportions; even though we were only supposed to pay attention to the placement of parts of her body. In the past I was always trying so hard to figure out how to draw a human figure with the arms and legs the right length and with an accurate thickness to their build. But what I did differently this time around was pay attention to the way those same parts moved through space.

INCREMENTAL SAMPLE #1

Metamorphosis

Metamorphosis from Craig Yamamoto on Vimeo.

I had a lot of fun creating this video. The process itself is meant to be painful, although if you take it step be step and if you utilize a good work flow, the difficulty goes down significantly, however this did not mean the project wasn't challenging and in need of future improvement. One thing that I found difficult was trying to come up with different metamorphic stages; this was the point of the assignment that made me begin to question my creativity, considering the parameters of this project involve an animation that is derived from the very previous and unplanned frame. what I have learned about myself is that I tend to think more objectively, not that that is a bad thing but a lot of creative works often times come from abstract ideas. On the plus side what I began to learn was that creativity comes second to being able to articulate movement both properly and gracefully. Not that I have done this well either but I'd like to think thats what I was attempting to do as I kept focusing on specific elements for long periods of time when I was making this animation.

Well here is my first official video, Enjoy.

KCAI ANIM: Hunting & Gathering Project, PART 1

 

During the course of several years my father has taken both myself and my uncle camping in a little place in northern Nevada called Black Rock, a dried lake bed with a surface of cracked, salted dirt and absolutely nothing for several miles in all directions. It was always a great place to allow my imagination to create characters and stories with out any outside influences, while watching my father and uncle continue their life long dream of being astronauts through their amateur model rocket club (which was always the reason we were up there). I have lots of memories connected to these trips, like the time I meet team Jupiter and their accurate, almost to scale model of the Saturn 5 rocket; complete with capsule (with parachute system), a GI Joe astronaut, and a series of cameras on the hull and the interior of the capsule to capture the glorious reenactment of one of America's greatest achievements. However, as much as I like celebrating model scale versions of historic events, the most memorable events that happened in Black Rock nevada have always been the hilariously violent crashes (some of which coming from my silly Uncle). You cant truly appreciate the achievements of the rocket science without seeing a model tomahawk missile impale a poor guy's Winnebago.

I am not much of a guy who goes out partying or has a designated hang out spot where my friends and I talk about current events or philosophy or whose dating who or pretty much anything else I don't give a crap about. But what I have always liked to do with friends, which is also something I like doing with the friends I have meet, is go to the movies. Over the course of both last year and this year, I might have purchased a little over a hundred dollars worth of movie tickets at the palace theater in the Kansas city plaza. A lot of my favorite memories of my first year in college are attached to this place, most of which involve my friends making it a monumental achievement when I finally see a good movie that they have all watched. I guess the best movies I have ever seen in this theater are Kick-Ass, Inception and Scott Pilgrim vs the World; oddly enough, those were also the best I have ever seen in my life. I can only hope to continue seeing great movies there.