#Jon Dunleavy

[animblog]

Two Gracious Uncles Smooched to the Beat -- 2023 Jon Dunleavy 3:00

#Two Gracious Uncles Smooched to the Beat #Jon Dunleavy #Phil Archer #2023 #annecy #ai #artificial intelligence #3d #capitalism #cloth simulation #social commentary #meta #art #artist #empathy

[canmom]

L'Aventur de Canmom à Annecy - Mercredi 4: WTF 2023

WTF (read 'what the fuck' in a heavy French accent) seems to be a kind of annual collection of weird online shit. Titmouse is involved in some capacity, although I don't think they're necessarily the ones who picked the films. And while I did recognise one selection (umami had a film) most of it was new to me and there were some crazy good ones...

... but most of all the atmosphere of the late night screening was amazing. I got in at the last minute and somehow ended up in a reserved seat for Titmouse, since I guess they didn't show? Which meant I had one of the best views in the house. The theatre was completely packed and full of excitement.

So then this guy comes out in the skintight purple vest and cape and rainbow stockings. The boss of Titmouse comes on stage and picked up one of the paper planes to invite whoever threw it to come and bite a balloon in half (which would have been a better bit if the person actually did it).

Then came the directors of the films, mostly to tell jokes ("there's too much business and not enough fucking at Annecy" declared one director, instructing us to have sex tonight). After these guys... some Gobelins instructors came out to throw shirts into the crowd, people went absolutely nuts for these shirts. Then: films.

Actually a bunch of these are available online so... here, watch along x3

To open we had this stop motion earworm, Du vélo à St-Malo, du kayak à St-Briac. By the second chorus, the audience was singing along. The images are a bit lolrandom but I can't deny it's infectious in its editing.

Next up came the debut of David by Patrick Ward, about a seriously injured footballer confronting his rival framed through the story of David and Goliath. Lots of little visual jokes that made it flow even if the overall thrust of the story remained a little opaque to me.

Umami's Safe Mode was a natural fit; if you've seen an Umami film you know what to expect. Surreal character designs and a guy with a monotone voice. Looking forward to more of this series.

The Rubbings of Trajectories by Cheng-Hsu Chung from Taiwan took things in a rather Adventure Time direction in its drawing style, full of wild perspective shifts and morphing. I was a little too caught up in the visuals to take a lot from the voiceover lol.

Insomnie by Paul Utkay leaned on Stable Diffusion interpolation for its surreal shifting visuals. This was I think the only time, besides the one after this, I've seen AI in the festival, and right now the main use of AI seems to be like this, a visual effect.

Following this came Two Gracious Uncles Smooched To The Beat (currently password locked so I can't embed it) by Jon Dunleavy, a completely frenetic sendup of the whole AI art 事件. Rather than being made by AI it's mostly deliberately janky cgi, rapidfire jokes, and wrong subtitles as an extra layer, which made for a fun watch. The thesis was maybe something like, "this is all a bit silly". As a programming move, putting this right after the AI film was kind of genius.

A Kind of Testament by Stephen Vuillemin was simply fantastic, absolutely the highlight of this collection. The framing device is that a woman stumbles on a website created by another older woman with the same name as her, consisting of incredibly elaborate animations based on her social media photos. As we watch more, we learn more about this mysterious animator, who died shortly after the protagonist contacted her. Ultimately though this framing device is just a vehicle for some really tight imaginatively grotesque shorts that gradually start to connect up more and more. I hesitate to call it ero-guro because it's not exactly ero, but it definitely put me in mind of e.g. shintaro kago. the framing device works just right, linking the shorts and providing a certain frame for interpretation - the animator is terminally ill, so jokes about foot killing parasites and regrets make sense - without being overbearing. honestly just a really great film, the perfect level of enigmatic. i hope i can show more than the trailer some day.

Internet Gaga by Reinhild Bidner slammed into a much faster pace, a pastiche of Radio Gaga by Queen with the music video consisting mainly of cutout animation and AI deepfake animation of memes. Two minutes was about the right length for this lol. But yeah, haha, the internet, what a mess amirite

Todo está perdido by Carla Pereira Docampo and Juan Francisco Jacinto Prados was a fascinating oddity though. Stop motion, with these wildly distorted models - built in forwards or backwards slants and birdlike eyes. The story concerns a suburban nuclear family where the mother lays eggs, which they mostly eat, but decide to fertilise one one day, resulting in a baby with a wrinkled head hatching. The B plot concerns their other child who gets a rat inside her skin by accident during surgery. As you can imagine it went for the squick reactions. I can't find an online video of this one but here's a previous project by the same directors.

From this point on things got pretty wild. First up we had Uncle Babysitter 2 by Tung Yin Ng aka Tungwood.

as far as toilet humour goes? This was actually great, just relentless gleeful escalation. I got to chat a bit with Tungwood and his friends after the films, and funnily enough he was very shy and would run up to people saying 'souvenir' and give them a card for the film. It was very funny talking to a group of animators, which in my eyes is like the peak of the world's professions, and have them act impressed when i say I'm a game dev.

Anyway, this was a really fun short about a baby's adventure inside a man's stomach as the man desperately tries to pull him out. The breakneck editing really makes the stupid jokes work, it's kinda Imaishi in that way.

Granny X by DD Sheahan relaxed the pace only barely, telling the story of an old lady in a nursing home having a vivid lesbian fantasy that in the waking world leads to her careening around strangling nurses and stuff. It was fun visually, although the humour seemed generally a little meaner.

Monsterfuckers by the Tohu Animation Collective led by Ori Goldberg was something like a multi animator project with loops contributed by different animators around the vague prompt of monsters having sex. So this one's like, straight up porn but weird porn so it gets to be in here lol. The editing to the music was tight and many of the clips were really creative - but no sign of it online as yet so I can't show you.

We were really on a roll at this point. The final part was the music video for Cool Party by Simon Medard for a band called Cocaine Piss, which pushed the jank factor to maximum. It didn't do a lot for me but it kept the energy going. After that we spilled out onto the lawn outside Bonlieu and everyone gathered in small groups. Not really wanting to just walk away, I inserted myself into conversations here and there, said some nice things to the showrunner, met Tungwood... and then at last time to go home, packed on the last bus like sardines.

Honestly, even if it could have been a little weirder to be truly 'what the fuck', this event was a blast. I mean you know how much I like this kind of thing lmao.

As for Thursday... haha god it's 2am. I'll write about it tomorrow... or maybe on Saturday... but the very short version is that I saw Art College 1994 (solid, donghua with a realist style and richard linklater energy), Kensuke's Kingdom (impressively elaborate adaptation of a Michael Morpurgo story, had a bit of an Iron Giant feel visually), White Plastic Sky (a very compelling scifi dystopian drama from Hungary in a rotoscoped style similar to A Scanner Darkly), stood in line for two hours for Mars Express and still didn't get in, watched a bit of Perspectives block 1 (mostly bad, it's the block for serious social issues rather than compelling storytelling) and then tried Graduation Films 3 (sadly could not live up to Graduation Films 2). So a bit of an unfortunate end to the day but that's how it be sometimes...

Tomorrow I've got another packed day so I'm gonna end up really behind on these writeups but stand by lol. Annecy is amazing, I don't want it to end...

#Youtube #Vimeo #l'aventure de canmom à annecy #annecy film festival #annecy #animation

[lsncsn-gobelins]

Art Club with Jon Dunleavy - 03/05/23

This week we learnt how to use a free website called WebbyPaint. WebbyPaint forces the user to pick the hues for the colour that you want. This forced me to think about what colours make up the scene. I used a series of brushes to create a somewhat abstract piece.

[k-gill-animation-year3]

Animatic feedback

I sent Jon my animatic for feedback in todays tutorial. He responded with some feedback in the email...

“Notes-Blimey I like it very much. Lots of opportunity to push it and be weird and playful, going to go down so well this. well done.

https://syncsketch.com/sketch/ab423115371c/ 

obv the scope of research and development may be less than had we started a while ago, but def back on track.” - Jon Dunleavy. In the email he also sent the syncsketch link where he’s made notes over my animatic. 

The notes he made on syncsketch are incredibly helpful, stuff about the sound, (which I’ll hopefully be recording later today) notes about the perspectives which is really helpful especially his one note about overlapping the service window behind the doughnut counter so it’s clearer. He also made notes about the posing and how using les functional posing will look better, which I was trying to avoid but it makes sense as it gives the poses more of a dynamic interesting look so I will be playing around with that more. 

Then in todays individual tutorial we had more of a chat about the feedback and where he thinks I’m at...

I’m really glad we had this chat today because it’s made it allot clearer where I need to go from here especially with regards to the project development doc and the project proposal because I was really not sure what to do.

He also said about working on the timing and the reveal a bit more, maybe add another big scene in before hand- which I am super excited to hear as I did have an idea about doing some kind of forced insemination room filled with women as well but though it might be a bit much. I’m going to play around with that idea over the next couple of days but also this does mean more work for me which is kind of the last thing I need right now.

Again I am super concerned about the time restraints and the amount of work left that I need to do, but hopefully if I stick to the timetable I made (see previous post), I should be ok. (I’m praying.)

#fmp #animatic #feedback #jon

[junker-town]

TITLELESS: 16 NBA championship contenders who weren’t good enough

The cold, hard reality of the NBA Playoffs is that only one team can be champion. These 16 teams weren’t quite good enough.

The cold, hard reality of the NBA Playoffs is that only one team can be champion. That means that countless great and memorable teams have suffered the unfortunate fate of running into an opponent that’s just a bit better. Meet the 16 teams of the Not Good Enough Division.

APRIL 13: 16 teams that flamed out early in the playoffs APRIL 14: 16 “Overachievers” COMING THURSDAY: 16 teams who were robbed or had their era cut short

16. 1996-97 Atlanta Hawks

ERA: Dikembe’s Hawks

RECORD: 56-26

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +5.4

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in second round to Chicago Bulls (4-1)

KEY STAR(S): Dikembe Mutombo

COACH: Lenny Wilkins

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Mookie Blaylock, Steve Smith, Christian Laettner, Tyrone Corbin, Alan Henderson, Eldridge Recasner, Henry James, Jon Barry

OTHERS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: None

Once upon a time, the Atlanta Hawks were a free-agent destination. At least they were for Dikembe Mutombo, a young, shot-blocking center who wore out his welcome in Denver. Mutombo seemed headed to Phoenix in a three-team sign-and-trade that would’ve sent Charles Barkley to Houston, but the deal fell apart when Mutombo asked the Suns for more money. Detroit initially jumped to the front of the line, but Atlanta ended up winning the war with a seven-year, $70 million contract offer.

The money was the biggest factor in Mutombo’s decision, but Atlanta also won Mutombo over by promising a bigger offensive role and rewarding close friend Steve Smith with a fat new contract of his own. “I’m much happier, but poorer,” team president Stan Kasten ominously said after retaining Smith. “He was really hard on us, that’s all I’m going to say.”

Atlanta got better the next season, improving by 10 wins and even taking a game off the mighty Bulls in the second round. That was the high-water mark of this era, though. Chicago won that series in five, and the Hawks slowly faded after a fast start to the 1997-98 season.

15. 1984-85 Denver Nuggets

ERA: Doug Moe’s run-and-gun fun bunch

RECORD: 52-30

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +2.4

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in West Finals to Los Angeles Lakers (4-1)

KEY STAR(S): Alex English

COACH: Doug Moe

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Fat Lever, Calvin Natt, T.R. Dunn, Wayne Cooper, Dan Issel, Bill Hanzlik, Elston Turner, Mike Evans

OTHERS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 1987-88

The Denver Nuggets of the 1980s were the prototype for the Seven Seconds Or Less Suns and other up-tempo marvels of the modern era. In many ways, coach Doug Moe was a precursor to Mike D’Antoni. He created a revolutionary whiplash pass-and-move style of play and then left the details for the players to figure out. While other coaches diagrammed intricate set plays and poured over what passed for game film those days, Moe often cancelled practice and never really studied his opponents.

The Nuggets lit up the scoreboard because nobody could get a read on them, but also gave up a ton of points and thus weren’t taken seriously. Not that it bothered Moe too much. This quote from a 1988 Sports Illustrated profile sounds a lot like something D’Antoni would shout to the rooftops years later:

”Most of my career, we’ve been first in offense and last in defense,” Moe says. “But what people don’t realize is that total scores have nothing to do with defense or offense, just the pace of the game. It’s the dumbest statistic ever, totally wacko, and yet everyone uses the total scores as an indication of the kind of defense you play. I may not be the smartest guy in the world, but as long as people go by that stat, I know there’s someone out there dumber than I am.”

Adjusting raw stats to account for pace … what a concept!

The 1984-85 team was Moe’s best of the bunch, though it also was the one that looked most traditional. Before the season, Denver traded Kiki Vandeweghe, a 29-point-per-game scorer who couldn’t guard a chair, to Portland for a king’s ransom that included big man Calvin Natt, point guard Fat Lever, shot-blocking center Wayne Cooper, and multiple draft picks. All three thrived while rounding out the roster around star Alex English.

Denver reached the conference finals and had a real shot to beat the mighty Los Angeles Lakers. They blew LA off the court in Game 2 to tie the series, with English dropping 40 on a stunned Forum crowd.

After losing Game 3 at home, Denver came out hot in Game 4, with English scoring 26 first-half points. Disaster struck in the second half when English re-aggravated a thumb injury that kept him out the rest of the series. Denver rallied from eight down in the fourth quarter without English, but lost Game 4 when the Lakers got seven zillion offensive rebounds before a game-winning James Worthy putback with 20 seconds left.

“That has to rank with one of the most courageous performances I’ve ever seen,” said Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, never a man to resort to hyperbole, in a TV interview.

Without English, Denver had no chance in Game 5. Too bad. That was a fun team.

14. 1982-83 San Antonio Spurs

ERA: The Iceman

RECORD: 53-29

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +3.6

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in West Finals to Los Angeles Lakers (4-2)

KEY STAR(S): George Gervin

COACH: Stan Albeck

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Artis Gilmore, Mike Mitchell, Gene Banks, Johnny Moore, Mike Dunleavy, Bill Willoughby

OTHERS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 1978-79

George Gervin, the skinny, slick wing who brought the finger roll into our lives, had two real chances to win a title.

The first was in 1979. Led by Gervin and high-scoring running mate Larry Kenon, the high-octane, loosey-goosey Spurs ran circles around the aging Washington Bullets to take a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference Finals. (Why were the Spurs in the East then? :shruggie:) They blew the next two games, but zipped ahead in Game 7 on the road, with Gervin lighting up the scoreboard for 34 points in three quarter. They led by 10 in the fourth and six with two minutes left, but fell apart down the stretch. Gervin didn’t score or even get a shot late, and was bullied inside by Greg Ballard on the other end. Meanwhile, Washington’s Bobby Dandridge took over down the stretch and eventually won the game with a baseline turnaround over three Spurs.

Gervin’s second real chance came in 1982-83, with a team that barely resembled the one that was forged in the wide-open ABA. The Spurs replaced coach Doug Moe with Stan Albeck, who believed San Antonio needed to slow the game down and build a smash-mouth team exclusively around Gervin. Kenon made way for Mike Mitchell, a former all-star in Cleveland who rediscovered his game with the Spurs. After the Lakers swept them in 1982, San Antonio made a bold move for Artis Gilmore, a big-name center to match up with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. San Antonio won four of five against LA in the regular season, but a pissed-off Abdul-Jabbar raised his game to another level and destroyed Gilmore in LA’s six-game West Finals victory.

Which to choose? The 1979 team got closer, but the 1983 team had more top-end talent and was more equipped to succeed in the playoffs. They just happened to run into a buzzsaw in Abdul-Jabbar and the Lakers.

13. 1971-72 Chicago Bulls

ERA: Dick Motta’s Bulls

RECORD: 57-25

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +9.3

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in second round to Los Angeles Lakers (4-0)

KEY STAR(S): Bob Love

COACH: Dick Motta

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Chet Walker, Jerry Sloan, Norm Van Lier, Bob Weiss, Tom Boerwinkle, Clifford Ray

OTHERS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 1970-71, 1972-73, 1973-74, 1974-75

The Bulls were to the 70s what the Bucks were to the 1980s: a well-rounded ensemble cast that always put itself in the mix, was one piece short of taking down the best teams of their era.

In Chicago’s case, that piece was a center. Jerry Sloan and Norm Van Lier were pit bull defensive guards, and the combination of Chet Walker and Bob Love were nearly unstoppable at the forward spots. But Chicago kept getting beat by the great big men of their era, losing three times to Wilt Chamberlain’s Lakers and once to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s Bucks. Tom Boerwinkle and Clifford Ray got more out of their talent than they should have, but they were dramatically overmatched against the best of their era.

Chicago came closer to the Finals in 1971, 1973, and 1975, when they lost in the seventh game of the conference finals. The 1972-73 team actually held a seven-point lead over the Lakers with less than three minutes left of Game 7 before fumbling it away. But the 1971-72 club had the best point differential of the bunch and destroyed everyone not named Los Angeles or Milwaukee. Unfortunately, they had to face the 69-win Lakers in the playoffs, which ended in a sweep.

12. 2008-09 Denver Nuggets

ERA: Melo’s Nuggets

RECORD: 54-28

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +3.4

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in West Finals to Los Angeles Lakers (4-2)

KEY STAR(S): Carmelo Anthony

COACH: George Karl

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Chauncey Billups, Nene, Kenyon Martin, J.R. Smith, Anthony Carter, Linas Kleiza, Chris Andersen, Dahntay Jones

OTHERS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: None

The early-season acquisition of Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson turned these undisciplined Nuggets into a tough unit that actually played up to expectations. Billups gave George Karl much-needed leadership and enabled Carmelo Anthony to focus on what he did best: score. If only they could complete an inbounds pass in the closing seconds of tight West Finals games against the Lakers. My God.

How hard could it be?

11. 1996-97 Houston Rockets

ERA: The old “Superteam”

RECORD: 57-25

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +4.5

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in West Finals to Utah Jazz (4-2)

KEY STAR(S): Hakeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley, Clyde Drexler

COACH: Rudy Tomjanovich

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Mario Elie, Matt Maloney, Kevin Willis, Eddie Johnson, Sedale Threatt, Brent Price

OTHERS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: None

This was the original Superteam, at least in the inorganic, player-empowered way we now associate with the term.

Following a rough year in Phoenix, Charles Barkley threatened to retire if the Suns didn’t trade him to a contender. Houston obliged, giving up a package centered around Sam Cassell and Robert Horry, two key members of their back-to-back title teams in 1994 and 1995. “I’m excited because I called the shots,” Barkley said when the trade was reported. “When push comes to shove, I think you have to stand up to the system.” These kinds of trades are common now, but they weren’t back then.

The move left the Rockets as an old, shallow team, with Barkley joining fellow graybeards Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler. Houston patched together enough of a supporting cast to reach the conference finals, but fell to a John Stockton buzzer beater in Game 6.

They then succumbed to injury the next couple seasons, with the bottom falling out after an ill-fated deal for Scottie Pippen during the lockout season.

If you ask Horry, the deal for Barkley was the moment the Rockets’ dynasty died. From a 2015 Huffington Post interview:

“It’s one of the things that me and Sam Cassell talk about all the time. If they would have made the changes and bring in Kevin Willis and Eddie Johnson to that team adding to me and Sam, that’s all we needed. Now they bring in Barkley, a guy who doesn’t like to practice and a guy that doesn’t work hard — it’s documented by Jordan. Now you would’ve added us to that mix with two vets; we would have had a great team. But, no, they think, ‘Oh, we’re going to bring in Charles,’ and, hell, you just realize Charles didn’t win anything in Phoenix — he didn’t win in Philly. And sometimes great players don’t make a great team better.”

Horry’s right that Barkley’s fit was awkward, but he’s dramatically overrating a pre-trade Rockets team that was already showing its age after the Sonics swept them out of the 1996 playoffs. Were the 72-win Bulls really gonna be scared of that Rockets team, plus two 34+-year-old aging vets? At least adding Barkley gave the Rockets a chance.

10. 1975-76 Denver Nuggets

ERA: David Thompson’s Nuggets

RECORD: 60-24

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +6

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in ABA Finals to New Jersey Nets (4-2)

KEY STAR(S): David Thompson

COACH: Larry Brown

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Dan Issel, Bobby Jones, Ralph Simpson, Chuck Williams, Byron Beck, Gus Gerard, Claude Terry, Jim Bradley

OTHER SEASONS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 1974-75, 1976-77, 1977-78

The lone ABA representative on this list might have been disrespected in the rankings. As the ABA fell apart around them, the Nuggets turned into a powerhouse. In 1974-75, young coach Larry Brown led Denver to 65 wins before they were overwhelmed by George McGinnis’ one-man show in Indiana. That team then added David Thompson, a breathtaking rookie from NC State whose grace and high-flying aerial assaults mimicked a young Michael Jordan a decade later. (Jordan idolized Thompson, which is why he asked Thompson to present him at his Hall of Fame induction.)

But the Nuggets were again defeated by a one-man band, falling to Julius Erving and the Nets in the ABA’s last Finals series. Denver led by 22 points in the second half of Game 6 before falling apart to lose the crown.

Thompson and the Nuggets’ NBA careers were decidedly less memorable. Thompson dealt with injuries and a cocaine addiction that nearly wrecked his life. (He is thankfully sober today.) His relationship with Brown soured, with Brown chafing by Thompson’s $800,000-a-year new contract before calling it quits midway through the 1978-79 season. (Larry Brown folding early? Why I never.) The Nuggets have occasionally thrived in the NBA, but have never reached their ABA heights.

9. 1996-97 Miami Heat

ERA: Riley and Zo

RECORD: 61-21

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +5.5

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in East Finals to Chicago Bulls (4-1)

KEY STAR(S): Alonzo Mourning

COACH: Pat Riley

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Tim Hardaway, Jamal Mashburn, Dan Majerle, P.J. Brown, Voshon Leonard, Isaac Austin, Keith Askins, Kurt Thomas, John Crotty

OTHER SEASONS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 1997-98, 1998-99, 1999-00

Four of the five legitimate Heat teams of the ugly-but-effective Pat Riley-Alonzo Mourning era lost as favorites in the playoffs. Three of those losses were to the Knicks, while the fourth was a thorough evisceration by Baron Davis’ Charlotte Hornets. This was the fifth of those five, and they may have lost to the Knicks too if not for the league’s controversial rule about leaving the bench during a fight. You remember this, don’t you?

I remembered the fight, but I forgot the politicking by both teams thereafter. I forgot P.J. Brown saying he doesn’t believe “all that choir boy image stuff” with the Knicks. I forgot Charlie Ward claiming he was just “boxing out like I usually do on free throws” even though the Knicks were down 15 with less than two minutes remaining. I hadn’t seen Pat Riley’s firm insistence that the fight only got “out of hand” because the Knicks players left the bench. (Riley’s annunciation on “com-BAT-ants” was especially well executed.) I very much enjoyed Jeff Van Gundy’s withering sarcasm at the thought of the NBA allowing “6’11 guys picking on six-foot guys.” (Think of the children!)

But Tim Hardaway is the one who really stole the show. Look at his wink-winking to the camera while saying, “it’ll be very interesting to see what [NBA rules czar] Rod Thorn does.” It was not subtle.

It worked, though. Thorn tossed Brown for the rest of the series, but made five Knicks — Ward, Allan Houston, Patrick Ewing, John Starks, and Larry Johnson — serve one-game suspensions. The first three missed Miami’s Game 6 victory at MSG, while the latter two sat out as Miami closed out the series in seven. The Heat ended up losing in five to the Bulls in the next round.

8. 2003-04 Minnesota Timberwolves

ERA: KG and Flip

RECORD: 58-24

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +5.4

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in West Finals to Los Angeles Lakers (4-2)

KEY STAR(S): Kevin Garnett

COACH: Flip Saunders

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Latrell Sprewell, Sam Cassell, Wally Szczerbiak, Ervin Johnson, Trenton Hassell, Fred Hoiberg, Michael Olowokandi, Mark Madsen

OTHER SEASONS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: None

The one and only credible Timberwolves team in the Kevin Garnett era rose and fell in a flash. Dogged by first-round exits carrying a limited supporting cast, Garnett went to owner Glen Taylor and asked for more help. He did his part by signing a new contract below the max, and Taylor’s embattled general manager Kevin McHale did his by acquiring Sam Cassell and Latrell Sprewell. Both veterans came with high salaries and as distressed assets, having worn out their welcomes in Milwaukee and New York.

After a slow start, the team gelled beautifully, racing to the top of the Western Conference. They survived a formidable Kings team in the second round, then split the first two games with the vaunted Lakers in the conference Finals. But their Game 2 victory was tarnished by a debilitating Cassell injury, which turned out to be a torn hip that rendered him useless the rest of the series. With Cassell and backup Troy Hudson both out, Minnesota had to use third-stringer Darrick Martin, with Garnett of all people supplying additional playmaking. “I knew for a fact that if I was healthy, we would have won a championship,” Cassell said in 2014.

Minnesota lost that series in six, and then all hell broke loose. Sprewell and Cassell asked for contract extensions, but didn’t get them. (This is where Sprewell’s famous “feed my family” quote was born.) Hudson and Wally Szczerbiak, both former starters displaced by Sprewell and Cassell the previous season, wanted their jobs back. As a horrendous follow-up season came to a close, Taylor called the trades for Cassell and Sprewell “a failed experiment” and “financial-wise, a poor decision on our part.” Ten months ago, they were the missing pieces in the best Timberwolves team of all time. Now, they were a failed experiment? The about-face was remarkable.

Sprewell left in free agency and never played again, while Cassell was included along with a first-round pick in a disastrous sign-and-trade with the Clippers for the right to give Marko Jaric a six-year, $37 million contract. Two years later, the Timberwolves traded Garnett to the Celtics. Now that’s how you destroy a contender.

7. 1997-98 Indiana Pacers

ERA: Reggie!

RECORD: 59-23

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +6.1

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in East Finals to Chicago Bulls (4-3)

KEY STAR(S): Reggie Miller

COACH: Larry Bird

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Rik Smits, Mark Jackson, Dale David, Antonio Davis, Chris Mullin, Jalen Rose, Derrick McKey, Travis Best

OTHER SEASONS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 1993-94, 1994-95, 1998-99, 1999-00

This was the best Pacers team of the Reggie Miller era, though others may have advanced further in the playoffs (2000), suffered more disappointing defeats (1999), or produced more iconic moments (1994, 1995).

The 1997-98 club was rock solid, having replaced taskmaster coach Larry Brown with the more laid-back Larry Bird. They were deep, with young Jalen Rose emerging as a dynamic bench player to complement the veteran core of Miller, Mark Jackson, Rik Smits, Chris Mullin, and the Davises. If only they could have snagged a defensive rebound or two in that Game 7 defeat to the Bulls.

6. 1985-86 Milwaukee Bucks

ERA: Don Nelson’s Bucks

RECORD: 57-25

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +9

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in East Finals to Boston Celtics (4-0)

KEY STAR(S): Sidney Moncrief

COACH: Don Nelson

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Terry Cummings, Paul Pressey, Ricky Pierce, Alton Lister, Craig Hodges, Randy Breuer

OTHERS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 1980-81, 1981-82, 1982-83, 1983-84, 1984-85, 1986-87

Any of the wonderful-yet-forgotten Bucks teams from the 1980s would be a strong entry in this tournament. You could make a great case for the 1980-81, which relied on an in-prime Marques Johnson, an emerging Sidney Moncrief, and an aging-but-still-effective Bob Lanier in the middle. They won 60 games despite enduring several injuries, but fell to the 76ers in the second round by the slimmest of margins. Game 7, played in front of a sparse Philadelphia crowd, featured 19 ties, 11 lead changes, and one furious Bucks’ rally from 16 points down that fell just short.

But the 1985-86 Bucks get the nod because they did the one thing no other Bucks team could during the decade: beat the 76ers. It took a missed jumper by Julius Erving in the closing seconds of Game 7, but it happened. One point on the right side in 1986 vs. one point on the wrong side in 1981 was the difference.

Just getting past Philly took everything out of Milwaukee. Moncrief, who always seemed to have nagging health issues, was nursing a painful foot injury that kept him out of Game 6 against the 76ers. Young co-star Terry Cummings, acquired in a masterful trade with the Clippers for Johnson before the 1984-85 season, was fighting through a dislocated finger. Ricky Pierce, the Bucks’ fabulous sixth man, played through a sprained ankle. They might have been drawing dead against the fantastic 1985-86 Celtics even at full strength, but we never really got to find out.

5. 1963-64 San Francisco Warriors

ERA: Young Wilt

RECORD: 48-32

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +5.1

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in NBA Finals to Boston Celtics (4-1)

KEY STAR(S): Wilt Chamberlain

COACH: Alex Hannum

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Guy Rodgers, Al Attles, Wayne Hightower, Gary Phillips, Nate Thurmond

OTHER SEASONS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 1959-60, 1961-62

Fair or not, Young Wilt Chamberlain had a reputation for being a selfish coach-killer that only cared about his own stats. That got taken to its logical extreme in 1961-62, when Chamberlain averaged 50 points a game for a Philadelphia Warriors team that catered to his every move.

After those Warriors fell narrowly to Bill Russell’s Celtics in the East Finals, they moved across the country to San Francisco and saw Chamberlain mope his way through a 31-49 season that alienated his new fans. “He felt like someone who bought a Rolls-Royce only to discover that the horn didn’t work,” read one Sports Illustrated article.

In came Alex Hannum, a no-nonsense, 6’7 former championship coach who was there to stand up to Chamberlain. The two men got into a screaming match early in the season, but Chamberlain responded by playing more team ball and empowering the rest of the Warriors players. They lost in five games to Boston in the Finals, but the Hannum-Chamberlain partnership seemed poised for the long haul.

Instead, the Warriors fell apart the next season. Chamberlain was nowhere near himself after a preseason bout with pancreatitis, and eccentric new owner Frankie Mieuli traded him to the 76ers to avoid paying out a massive salary. Hannum left the next season and later reunited with Chamberlain to win the 1967 title as 76ers coach.

4. 1961-62 Los Angeles Lakers

ERA: Elgin and Mr. Clutch

RECORD: 54-26

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +2.2

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in NBA Finals to Boston Celtics (4-3)

KEY STAR(S): Elgin Baylor, Jerry West

COACH: Fred Schaus

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Dick Barnett, Frank Selvy, Rudy LaRusso, Jim Krebs, Hod Rod Hundley, Ray Felix, Tom Hawkins

OTHERS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 1962-63, 1964-65, 1965-66, 1967-68

It’s a real shame Elgin Baylor never won a championship. His Lakers always ran into the same brick wall that was Bill Russell’s Celtics, and always seemed to fall short in the same way. He and Jerry West were always spectacular, but the Celtics always had more depth and cohesion.

Baylor came closest in 1962, and damn did he come close amid remarkable circumstances. He was called up to the Army Reserve during the season — because he was stationed in Washington, he could only travel back to play in weekend Lakers games. His service was finished by the time the playoffs rolled around, making LA a much more dangerous team than its record indicated.

Led by Baylor and West, the Lakers split the first three games and 47:55 with the Celtics. With five seconds left in Game 7, the Lakers inbounded the ball to Hot Rod Hundley. Legendary Celtics point guard Bob Cousy inexplicably gazed at the ball, leaving Frank Selvy wiiiide open from 12 feet away. But Selvy missed, and Boston eventually survived in overtime when Cousy dribbled out the clock.

Seriously, what was Cousy doing???

Dogged by injuries, Baylor was never quite the same player thereafter. He retired early in the 1971-72 season as a shell of his former self. Months later, those Lakers won the title.

3. 1992-93 Phoenix Suns

ERA: Barkley’s Suns

RECORD: 62-20

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +6.7

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in NBA Finals to Chicago Bulls (4-2)

KEY STAR(S): Charles Barkley

COACH: Paul Westphal

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Kevin Johnson, Dan Majerle, Richard Dumas, Tom Chambers, Danny Ainge, Mark West, Oliver Miller, Frank Johnson

OTHER SEASONS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 1993-94, 1994-95

These Suns are remembered for their star power, high-octane offense, and memorable duel with the Bulls in the 1993 Finals. They swung a huge trade for Charles Barkley and ran away with the West. Barkley won MVP, scowling and shouting his message from the rooftops whenever he could find a microphone. The Barkley-Michael Jordan Finals duel occurred at arguably the peak of NBA interest in this country.

As fun as they were, though, they’ve become a bit overrated over the years. Their point differential was about the same as the previous two Suns teams without Barkley, and their defense was porous for a title favorite. Barkley and holdover Kevin Johnson co-exited, but never developed great on-court chemistry thanks in part to Johnson’s injuries. They lost the first two games of their first-round series against a dogshit Lakers team before rallying to win in five. Their West Finals victory over Seattle could’ve gone either way. Key reserve Cedric Ceballos missed the tail end of their playoff run.

I’m just saying they might be over-ranked.

2. 2017-18 Houston Rockets

ERA: James Harden’s Moreyball

RECORD: 65-17

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +8.5

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in West Finals to Golden State Warriors (4-3)

KEY STAR(S): James Harden, Chris Paul (injured Games 6-7)

COACH: Mike D’Antoni

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Trevor Ariza, Eric Gordon, Clint Capela, P.J. Tucker, Ryan Anderson, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Gerald Green, Nene

OTHER SEASONS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 2014-15, 2016-17, 2018-19

Fortified by the offseason acquisition of Chris Paul, the Rockets dominated the regular season behind a switch-everything defense and a deadly isolation attack spearheaded by James Harden.

Everything they did was to match up against the Warriors, a team nobody else dared to challenge. They took a 3-2 lead in their conference finals series, but lost Paul due to injury late in Game 5. Somehow, they led both Games 6 and 7 by double-digits at halftime. But Golden State flipped the switch and the Rockets faded, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 missed threes at a time.

1. 1996-97 Utah Jazz

ERA: Stockton and The Mailman

RECORD: 64-18

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +8.8

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in NBA Finals to Chicago Bulls (4-2)

KEY STAR(S): Karl Malone, John Stockton

COACH: Jerry Sloan

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Jeff Hornacek, Byron Russell, Greg Ostertag, Antoine Carr, Chris Morris, Shandon Anderson, Adam Keefe, Greg Foster

OTHERS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 8987-88, 1989-90, 1991-92, 1993-94, 1994-95, 1995-96, 1997-98, 1998-99

Twenty-three years later, the subhead on Jackie MacMullen’s “Inside the NBA” piece for the March 17, 1997, issue of Sports Illustrated sticks out like a sore thumb. “[Karl] Malone is playing like an MVP,” it read. “Not that anyone has noticed.”

Whether the piece changed the narrative or simply reflected something deeper beneath the surface, it had a major effect. Two months later, Malone edged out Michael Jordan in the voting to win the NBA’s preeminent regular-season prize.

The Bulls seethed, which proved to be bad news for Malone when he finally reached his first NBA Finals. As he stepped to the line in the closing seconds of a tied Game 1, Scottie Pippen whispered the now-iconic words: “The Mailman don’t deliver on Sundays.” Malone missed both, opening the door for Jordan to hit a game-winning jumper at the buzzer.

That set the stage for a Finals in which Malone played below par and the Jazz lost in six games despite often being on the doorstep of victory. Their Game 5 loss has been memorialized as Jordan’s “Flu Game” moment, and they gave up a game-winning jumper to Steve Kerr in Game 6 before throwing the ball away at the buzzer.

Too bad, because these Jazz were a dominant force. They zipped through the West playoffs, schooling the young Lakers in five and outlasting the superteam Rockets of Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, and Charles Barkley in the West Finals. In any other season, they would have been champions.

[sportsleague365]

The AAF may have imploded in spectacular fashion, but that doesn’t mean people are done taking cracks at spring football leagues. Vince McMahon’s XFL is gearing up to start play early next year, and they’ve already made some big hires. They’re now moving on to filling out the rosters, and some recognizable names are resurfacing. We heard a couple days ago that Landry Jones, Aaron Ripkowski, and Christine Michael would be auditioning, and now we have even more names to report. Trevone Boykin, Lance Dunbar, Kony Ealy, and Ahmad Dixon were at a showcase yesterday as well as a handful of other ex-NFLers, per Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). According to a tweet from Optimum Scouting’s Erik Galko, former Seahawks receiver Kasen Williams will also be among those trying out. Finally, a tweet posted by the XFL Houston account shows that NFL veterans Will Hill and Robert Meachem also participated in a camp. Meachem is 34 and last played in the NFL with the Saints back in 2014, so this would be quite the comeback. While the XFL will still be facing an uphill battle, they do appear to be in better position than the AAF. McMahon seems fully invested in the league, and the TV deal the league has is far superior. It’ll be interesting to see how it pans out. Here’s more from around the football universe: * Speaking of the XFL, one of their big hires was when they namedDaryl “Moose” Johnston the director of player personnel for their Dallas franchise. Johnston was the GM of the AAF’s San Antonio Commanders, so he has experience in this type of league. Most players in the AAF and XFL were looking to get back to the NFL, and it’s no different for coaches and execs. Johnston wants to be an NFL GM one day, per Machota. Johnston spent all 11 years of his pro career with the Cowboys as a fullback, winning three Super Bowls with the team. He made the Pro Bowl twice and has done a lot of broadcasting work for FOX since retiring. * Evan Engram missed the Giants’ recent minicamp, which raised some eyebrows. But thankfully he’s not dealing with anything serious, as Engram said today at Landon Collins‘ charity softball game that the Giants were just being “cautious” by holding him out, per Ryan Dunleavy of NJ.com (Twitter link). He also writes there’s “nothing lingering from last season.” Engram had a breakout rookie season in 2017, but took a step back last year while dealing with injuries. Hamstring and knee injuries limited Engram to just 11 games last year, but he finished strong down the stretch. In each of his last four games he finished with at least 75 yards, so he should be poised for a bounce back 2019 campaign. * 2018 first round pick Mike Hughes got off to a solid start last year. The Vikings cornerback had a pick-six in the first game of his career, but his rookie season ended in devastating fashion. The UCF product had his season ended by a torn ACL after just six games, and has been rehabbing ever since. Things appear to be going well, but the team is being cautious with him. To that end, Minnesota coach Mike Zimmer recently said that he wouldn’t get any practice in until training camp at the earliest, per Andrew Kramer of the Star Tribune. We heard recently the Vikings were listening to trade offers for both Trae Waynes and Xavier Rhodes, which would seem to indicate they’re optimistic about Hughes’ recovery. #MikeHughes #AhmadDixon #EvanEngram

#MikeHughes #AhmadDixon #EvanEngram

[ba1afunadamentalzyrickvillar]

Weekly Summary CG 3D MYSTERY BOX

Introducing the Mystery Box brief

Project Deliverables

Weekly Breakdown

The Art of Performance

Mystery Box Story Board

CG INTRO - A. KIRALY

Week 1 - CG UFO and Cows

Today is our first day of CG lesson. Our first task is to create an animation that includes a 3D UFO and a 3D cow. The aim of this task is to animate the UFO by abducting the cow. What I’ve learned about this lesson is the fact that it correlates to after effects but instead of 2D, it’s 3D. Using the cone shape as a ray of light to abduct the scene creates an illusion to the audience. The only thing that didn’t go well is when I didn’t save my work and Maya completely lagged and I needed to start it again. Always save my work every 5 mins.

Week 2 - 3D Pencil, Pen, and Radio

Our first task was to create a pencil and a pen by using a polygon. By the end of the task, our tutor now told us on how to texture it using basic texturing. On the second half of the lesson, we did a radio base on a picture that our tutor gave us. Making the radio is much more difficult than the first one as it has a lot of details and shape to use. Things that I’ve learned on this lesson is using the shaping tools: bevel, extrude and texturing. What could’ve done well to this lesson is if I textured my radio to make it more pop out.

Week 3 - UV Mapping                

The most difficult part of CG is UV mapping as it dissects an object to give texture details. Today, our task is to UV map a cereal box and we are designing our own serial box as well. By the end of the lesson, I’ve made a cereal named space pops sponsored by Elon Musk. Using tools like cutting taught me how to separate parts to make it eligible for texturing. I also learned that I can paint my model using Maya. UV mapping is also good if we will use some detailed textures such as ground, materials, and skin textures.

3D MYSTERY BOX - J DUNLEAVY

Week 1

Today we started our new project 3D mystery box. I’ve chosen CG over stop motion because I want to explore more about CG and Maya. We were given a pre-rig model and the aim of this project is to understand the basic fundamental of animating a 3D character. Today’s experiment is all about emotions. Creating an emotion base on our idea. What I’ve made is an aggressive post where the character is in a boxing stance. What didn’t went well for me is the fact that I should have animated a quick jab punch to make the character more exciting.

We also had a lesson about the Art of performance and I’ve planned my first trials for my mystery box.  

Week 2  

Week 2 is all about analyzing the walk cycle in CG. It has the same principle with 2D but the good thing with this is there is no drawing involves and it is all about moving and understanding the movement using the animation graph. Keyframing is the main part that I need to understand more to make sure my animation is fluently delivered. What didn’t go well is the fact that my character’s body is a bit bouncy while walking? The problem that I need to solve is to sort out the body’s stretching by editing the frame.

This week, we also videotaped our selves doing different expressions about how to do we react about the mystery box. 

Week 3

On today’s lesson, we started with a rigged model that is sitting on a computer desk. The aim of this lesson is to understand the animation option and adding some emotion to the rig. My character’s reaction is he's shocked as he leans back to his chair. What went well today is the fact that I’ve applied all the things that Jon said. What didn’t go well is I would’ve edited the animation options more to make it much more fluent.

Out of all the performance video that we’ve had, I came to the conclusion that I’m going to use Ben’s performance as it has a lot of emotion reacting to the box. I also finished my animatic to Ben’s performance as it will help me find the keyframes to my 3D animation. 

Week 4

On today's lesson, we started with a revision on how to simply animate a bouncing ball and animating a moving box. I’ve learned to smooth out the animation using the animation graph. The graphs can be edited in different ways like adding weight, speed, and volume. I’ve also learned that editing the line graph manually by right-clicking and selecting the weight option can add some dynamics to the animation. The second part of the lesson is all about starting my 3D mystery box project.

On today’s week, I also started doing my Mystery box project as I have enough knowledge now to start with. 

Week 5 

This week is mainly focusing on finishing and finalizing my mystery box project. The first render has a lot of issues. The first thing is some of the movements overlaps to the other part of the body, the background isn’t detailed enough (very pale), and I’ve chosen the batch render over render sequence and because of that, the final outcome has Arnold font in each rendered frame. 

After I’ve done my first trial, I’ve put it to Photoshop and write all the things that I need to improve. First of all, the first thing that I want to improve is the background. Even though BG is not graded, I’ve put some details on the appliances to make my animation more appealing. Second of all, I’ve fixed the overlapping of the arms and the body in between the keyframes. Lastly, I’ve changed the camera angle by zooming it a little bit.  Last time I’ve chosen the batch render and it didn't went well as it has an arnold font when it is rendered. To fix that, I’ve chosen Render Sequence to remove the arnold thing. If I have more time, I would have added my character’s second actions such as facial relations and the movements of the fingers. 

Reel:

The process of creating my mystery box. 

[eh-animations2]

Bestiary Brief

Today was our first lesson after handing in our last projects, and we started by being briefed of the fourth project we are to do which is, Character Bestiary. A project in which we are tasked to create and animate an anthropomorphic, beast character amongst the real world. It’s to can also be animated in 2D digital, 3D, or stop motion, with added sound and the duration of such animation is of our individual definition (basically we can choose how long the animation is)

Jon Dunleavy spent the first half hour or so going through the brief and specifications with us, and more importantly explaining one requirement, the character bible, which is document made up of:

Style frames

Narrative arc - 100 word story of beast

Character sheet - dynamic posing of character

Model sheet - turn arounds

Construction sheet - details of what the character is made out of (e.g: shapes, wiring, joints, etc)

Cast - complimentary mythological character, such as, a friend, foe, or food.

We were also shown the past years work, so we had a basic idea of what the animation is to be.

Once we all knew what was expected for this project we then started to create collage characters on photoshop which Jon also went through with us. After downloading a photoshop document form the vle that contained layers of different textures, e.g. fur, stone, wood, etc., we then had to create a beast out of any of the layers we liked, which was done by using the mask layer. When we all understood today’s task, Jon showed us where to get textures: https://www.textures.com/ , and we were free to make any beast from any texture.

I mainly stuck with the textures already in photoshop for the first couple of characters I made, as I was still warming up and trying to think of something to make. However, once I was more comfortable with coming up with random characters without planning them first (a thing I sometimes have trouble with), I downloaded and bought textures and human face parts into new layers. I decided to go down the creepy route for a couple of them, done by adding human teeth and skin on the beasts faces.

This is the result from this task:

I had a lot of fun with this task, as it made me try and be more free with my work and to go with the flow when designing characters, which was made easier with the fact that they are beast so there is no right or wrong.

After doing these designs and a talk with Millie about my ideas for this upcoming project, which I will be doing in stop motion and my character will be a Mushroom like forest creature, or a mutated beast, to which she showed me a great stop motion studio site: http://www.parabellastudios.com/ , which will be good for future reference and to help with any ideas.

I started to sketch out some character ideas. I’ve decided to do sketches and designs of both ideas that I have to see which I prefer more, and what will be easiest/ less time consuming/ possible to create in stop motion, as I have to think about the deadline, as its all due on the 15th February 2019, a seemingly long time until I remember about the project briefs to come.

These are the sketches I was able to do in lesson:

For the above designs I searched google for different mushrooms for reference. I’m quite pleased with how they turned out, and will be designing/ refining more mushroom beasts.

Overall, this day has been highly enjoyable and I am very excited about this project, as I love creating beast like characters, and I’m looking forward to bringing my characters to life. One thing I will do is make the stop-motion model of the character a bit bigger than my last one I made (Branch from year one box project) as it will be easier to add details and move around. Before next lesson I will try and do as many designs for each idea (mushrooms and mutated beasts)  as I can, so I can choose which of the two ideas to go for and also start creating them in the next lesson.

#bestiary

[willardsuitcases]

Willard Suitcases / Margaret D / 14 April 2015

Willard Suitcases / Margaret D / 14 April 2015

I am working my way through Margaret’s cases and her collection never ceases to amaze me.  You can see the latest here. (Don’t forget to click “view all” as there are now close to 500 images in her collection.) Margaret brought quite a lot of sewing items with her when she came to Willard, including the above stencil with Masonic designs. I am currently editing a shoot that was mostly delicate…

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#Jon Crispin #Margaret D #Margaret Dunleavy #Willard Asylum #Willard Asylum Suitcases #Willard Psychiatric Center #Willard Suitcase Project #willard suitcases #Willard Suitcases Project