#so like studying that + the composition of a single shot etc etc is what i think helped me with writing imagery!! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

jenbendraws · 4 years

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How to train yourself to be an effective storyboard artist

HI HELLO long time no see! I haven’t been on here in a long time!

A while back, a student reached out to me over e-mail and asked for suggestions and tips on storyboarding, and asked how to become an effective storyboard artist. I wrote a whole lot in response because I love talking about this stuff--I hope it was helpful for her, and I figured I’d post it here just in case it could be helpful for anyone else!

To be an effective storyboard artist in any medium, you'll want to:

Be a solid draftsperson: be able to draw proper perspective, correct proportions, clear acting (both gesture/movement and facial acting). Some shows will want you to draw perfectly on model, others won't, but the most important thing is--can you clearly draw all the information needed by the many departments who will use your storyboards as a blueprint for the final product?

Be a cinematographer: know good shot composition, the utility of shot choices i.e. a medium shot versus a close up (intimate) versus a wide (informational, impersonal). Know how to guide the audience's eye to what's most important on the screen from shot to shot, not just in a single drawing.

Be an editor: understand how a scene will feel when moving, where and when to cut to the next shot. Is it more effective to stay close on this character as they react, to give the audience time to feel and settle into the same thoughts or emotions the character is feeling? Or is the character's reaction not the point of this scene?

Be an actor: know how a character moves, talks, what small mannerisms make a character feel alive and uniquely them. Be able to think about and show how a character lives in and interacts with the world around them--how one character might walk into a room entirely differently than another.

It's a lot! But it can be a lot of fun, and it means you never really stop learning. (I'M definitely still learning.) You also don’t need to be great at all of those things (or even most of them) to get a job as a storyboard revisionist--you just need strong drawing fundamentals, an interest in storytelling for TV/movies/etc, and you’ll want to be ready and excited to learn on the job.

One of the best ways to practice all of the above is to do film studies. Find a scene in a movie or show (or a video game cut scene, even--many narrative games out there are on par with great tv and film) you love and watch it through a few times. What is the sequence of shots? How does the composition in one shot lead your eye to the next? What motivates a cut--does a character start to stand up, does someone from off-screen start to say something? Do quick thumbnail sketches for each shot, each important beat inside that shot--the important thing isn't to do nice drawings, but to capture the information in the sequence as it's given to you as an audience member. You'll start to understand the machinery behind it all, see the strings being pulled, the reasons for the decisions behind made--why is the lighting like this? What tiny expression change from the character totally changes the feeling of the scene? Why is it cutting so quickly, or so slowly? You'll build your shot library and hone your decision-making skills the more you study and understand the reasons behind it all.

Other ways to train: study storyboards from artists you find online! There are so many great storyboards being posted these days. You'll get a good understanding of what the work actually looks like, and how it can vary depending on the style of production. Boards on Steven Universe will vary a lot from a show like Adventure Time will vary a lot from a show like Korra, etc.

I also recommend books like: The Filmmaker's Eye: Learning (and Breaking) the Rules of Cinematic Composition, and any of the Master Shots books.

I've used Storyboard Pro almost exclusively as a professional. It's the best program I know for doing production storyboards. However: all the training I did leading up to my first job was done on paper, or on Photoshop. I didn't learn how to use SBPro until my very first job. It's easy to pick up how to use software, and the programs used might change--better to focus on the skills that you'll use your whole career, no matter the program!

#storyboard advice

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atalana · 3 years

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[copied over from my cr blog, also this is gonna get long, i’d apologise but im not sorry]

okay, so

this is a rant probably about 7 years in the making, bc when i first watched lok i had not done any music study, i had not done any composing of my own, my knowledge of music theory was at a primary school level and i still thought tv soundtracks were just made by one person composing a whole cache of music and then the audio editors pick and choose what track to place where

(spoiler alert that’s not how film and tv scoring works, i have now done a music composition course where we had to score a short film, among other things, and i have so much more respect for tv composers jesus christ)

but this one stuck out to me even way back then, bc me barely knowing what a leitmotif was was like “hey this one little refrain keeps popping up whenever bolin does lavabending, and i like it, i’m gonna see if it’s on the soundtrack”

it was not, and that’s sort of where i left it back in 2014, but i actually did a rewatch of lok pretty recently out of nostalgia, and then noticed it even more

and to explain why (and this is also a little bit why five’s stuck out to me in tua, i’ll get to that in another ask), let’s cover, leitmotifs, and tv scoring in general

so a leitmotif is basically just a short musical idea that represents something in a piece of music. when i studied motivic development we were encouraged to make that motif four notes or less, and then develop it into something longer (aka a theme), because if you can constantly come back to a really short idea while keeping the piece moving, that’s what makes a piece of music memorable

(you can ignore those rules on purpose but that’s a different essay)

so the most common way that a leitmotif shows up in soundtracks is to represent a character or a location - you play the motif when that character shows up or when you’re in that location and boom, the audience associates that motif with that person place or thing, and you can then use this to tell the audience things without actually telling them. for example, star wars playing the imperial march whenever someone does something darth vader related - darth vader isn’t on screen, but you can feel his presence, because his music is playing

and if we were a film score, where we have two hours to show one particular character’s development, great! we give them a simple motif, and then as they grow as a person we change their motif to reflect what is happening to them, until we end up with something that communicates on a subconscious level how much they’ve grown. we toss in as much symbolism as we can, and we have a really great soundtrack that’s instantly memorable

tv scoring, is harder. partially because of time constraints (have you ever composed half an hour of original music a week, and had to make sure it fits perfectly with every beat of what’s happening on screen? these guys have), partially because there’s a much larger focus on ensemble casts

so what atla and lok do, for the most part, is not score individual character motifs for everyone. this is fairly common in tv soundtracks, instead we score ideas, concepts, and feelings - these’ll come up a lot more and give you more information than just “oh hey this character’s on screen”

the avatar state, for example, has the strongest and most recognisable theme across both shows. i’m linking an atla track in here because it has the best example but you’ll know this shows up with korra too - and with particularly important moments for wan, for kyoshi, etc. they also appear in the opening of both shows, four strong notes that start and end on the same note (in the case of what i’m linking, it’s an F#)

youtube

the first part of this track is the more uncertain, pensive theme that comes up when both avatars are feeling doubt/worry/sadness, but then it transitions into the more recognisable four. worth noting though, those are both basically the same motif. if i write them out back to back, you’ll notice they both have four notes and start and end on F#. if i had to guess, four notes four elements, and it comes back to the start because the avatar is a cycle.

korra has a theme for when she’s fighting, but not an individual character theme. the airbenders as a concept have a theme, republic city has thematic instruments, as do some big name characters, like iroh and his tsungi horn (this is also a cross-series thing, he’s always playing it in atla, it shows up when zuko has to make big moral decisions, and when we first meet iroh in the spirit world in lok, it shows up there too, to let the audience know who this is before we properly see him)

so, if korra doesn’t get a single theme and instead has several for different aspects of her life, and mako and asami follow along with the mood of the story like all the other characters, the fact that bolin has a personal leitmotif at all, let alone a solid, developing one, is pretty remarkable!

now, granted, it mostly starts with book 3, before then he was like every other character, but it has clear symbolism through those last two books! and, initially i thought it was related only to his lavabending, since that’s most of when it shows up, but since my rewatch, i’ve started calling it his hero theme

see, when people wanna criticise mako and bolin, usually the comments they get are that bolin’s too immature and mako’s too serious/uptight. but like, that’s how they work, you can’t analyse either of them without the context of the other. since they were little kids on the streets, bolin chases his heart and mako makes sure they don’t die from it, that is their entire childhood. and neither would have got here on their own because mako wouldn’t take the necessary risks and bolin wouldn’t take the necessary precautions. (like. remove either one from the equation and they’d still be working for the triple threats bc s1 and their flashback miniseries make pretty clear that bolin got them out and mako kept them out)

and then book 2 proves it! because it splits team avatar up, and what happens? bolin is totally taken advantage of by varrick and used as a pawn in his evil plan and mako ends up in jail

so what’s book 3, to them? it’s, being able to find themselves without having that codependency. mako no longer has someone to protect, which is what he’s based his whole life around so far - bolin’s doing fine and he’s no longer dating either korra or asami. and bolin’s trying his hand at some of that responsibility (look at how he immediately adopts kai who is explicitly them but younger because he wants to be the older brother for once). most importantly, they find the rest of their family, and stop being defined by being orphans. they don’t have to be that singular piece of a puzzle, they can just be themselves. and that’s where bolin’s character really starts to shine, because that’s when they bring in the bending plot, and bending, perhaps more than any other character, really gets to the heart of who bolin is

if you want more of my thoughts on that i have an essay here, but tl;dr: bolin’s an extremely powerful earthbender, but he’s not a metalbender because metalbending requires you to double down on the earth characteristics and think like an earthbender, and bolin doesn’t, he’s too fluid for that, which is one of his major strengths, so of course he can lavabend

and finally - to his motif itself! (as a note, i’ve put all of these in the same key to show where it repeats, but there’s a variety of keys used in the show)

as far as i can find, it first shows up in s3e8, when bolin stuns p’li with this well placed shot

[Edit: it first showed up in the s2 finale, but again in a simplified version and again with him doing something heroic with earthbending, so we can still start the analysis here]

mako volunteers bolin for that job, because he knew bolin was capable of it. why? because bolin landed an identical shot earlier in the episode, after trying to metalbend, getting frustrated he can’t, and cheating with some extremely well aimed earthbending. it’s just a short refrain and you barely notice it, but it’s the first connection of this motif with the theme of bolin’s bending

it looks like this, and it’s always played on a trumpet, which is part of why i call it the hero theme, because, if you’re looking at music from a western perspective, trumpets were used to herald kings, and then used to represent military glory, and then when superhero themes started happening, they used trumpets too - it’s basically western music shorthand for hero these days

(it’s also symmetrical so that helps with the good vibes)

and he’s saving everyone here, so it’s linked to his bending, but it’s also linked to his heroism

it ties the two together, and they are tied together.

when’s the next time it shows up? episode 10, when the brothers are in prison in ba sing se, and bolin tries to metalbend them out. again, he’s doing this to save people, and this motif gets a few notes added on to the end in a raising pattern - they’re inspiring, but they don’t go anywhere. which is exactly what happens in the scene, because he’s trying to go about this in the wrong way. mako believes in him, but it won’t (and doesn’t) work

it appears in episode 12 when bolin saves everyone from ghazan destroying the temple, in a more fancy orchestral remake of the first version - it’s impressive, but it hasn’t actually developed yet, it’s just his discovery of it

the book 3 finale already has its own fucking amazing soundtrack, i love that entire episode’s score, but it gets its own moment there too, and the first real development!

because what we hear is not what we’ve heard before. we know it’s the same theme, because it’s using those signature trumpets, but it’s the second part of this phrase, the answer to the question supplied by the first one. why? because bolin’s figured out who he is and he’s starting to use it. it still hasn’t settled yet though, it’s early days and he’s still just turning ghazan’s lava back on him, so again, it raises, leaving it on a question mark

it doesn’t appear in s4e7 when he lavabends as a warning against the escaped prisoners, because he’s using it as a threat, not to help people. but it does later in the episode when he uses lavabending to save them from kuvira. and that’s when we get the first full phrase, question and answer

it keeps the first motif identical, takes out the first note of the second, and ties them together - except now it’s not open ended, now it knows where it’s going - it’s been three years, at this point bolin is confident in both himself and his bending

and then that phrase appears all over the place in the finale, because all bolin does is save people - everyone from the exploding building, he slows the giant mecha with lavabending, he saves opal, he slows the giant mecha again by collapsing a building on it, and most importantly, he’s the one rescuing his brother this time, instead of the other way around (though that one doesn’t get a motif appearance bc admittedly a fuck ton of other things are happening in the soundtrack at the time)

so to that question asked in book three - who is bolin when not next to someone else? well, funnily enough, we saw it in book two as well, just in a warped way, playing nuktuk. it just wasn’t truly him because it was created by varrick, and he needed to get away from varrick too. the question put forward by the narrative is who is bolin, and the answer given by the music is, he is a hero. and i don’t know why bolin is the only one to get a theme like this, but i think it may have something to do with the fact that, while everyone in team avatar has been a hero and saved people, he is the only one who has, from the start, solely been motivated by wanting to help people. he follows his heart, and his heart cares, about everyone. it’s been the driving force behind almost everything he’s ever done. and i love him so much

#so yeah those are my thoughts on bolin go forth and cry with me about five notes on a trumpet #legend of korra #lok #bolin #music

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gjdraws · 3 years

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2020 Creator Wrap: Favorite posts

Rules: It’s time to love yourselves! Choose your 5 (or so) favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2020. Tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works!

Thank you for the tag @dead-end-street and @mangobone <3

Oooof 2020, or what essentially became my introduction to kdramas? And tbh TVn’s Stranger/Secret Forest really broke my art block. I hadn’t drawn for essentially 6 months, and then bam! Cho Seung-Woo and Bae Doona stole my heart, my muse and introduced me to a small and charming fandom.

1. Kingdom trio: I love this because it was unplanned - sit down, sketch, paint it in. It encapsulates the show so well (in my humble opinion tbf), and was made in 2 hours flat. The two color palette is something I’ve been trying to work with for a loooong time. Also Bae Doona is HARD TO CAPTURE.

2. No Respect for Authority: On to Secret Forest art lol, which tells you about the breaking of art block. The stances of these two is something that I’m pleased with because while it’s similar to the referenced promo image, Bae Doona’s attitude in the original is more bored, but here she looks more purposeful. Like a 'don’t mess with us' vibe, compared to the BTS promo shot. I think this is the closest I came to capturing Yeo-Jin ;__; Art nerdery here, but the light CMYK palette with the highlighting pink/yellow lines just kills me still. This palette is one of my favourites, but Istill manage to bomb it every so often lol. I think it works well here to soften the two with pink but also lend the image an energy with the yellows against all that harsh navy blue.

3. Body Language: YES HELLO THIS MAY BE MY FAVE PIECE OF THE YEAR. And I forever regret not having time to color it yet. It was a pain and a half imagining Yeo-Jin and Si-Mok’s first kiss in a realistic way. They both approach physical contact and boundaries so differently. This one speaks to their body languages and I love how it tells a story in a single image. Kind of inviting the viewer to imagine a before and after - what happened to lead them here, and what happens after this snapshot in time. To capture ‘middle moments’ like this, it’s the dream really. With color and mood lighting it would have been so much richer, but maybe next time.

4. Rooftop Kiss: This was a quick speedpaint, and some wish fulfillment hehe. It began as a lighting study, as the suuuper sketchy city backdrop will show. The real fun began with transplanting a kissing Si-Mok and Yeo-Jin into the scene. The moonlit blues against the warm city worked in the episode to highlight Yeo-Jin’s unhappiness and distance from Si-Mok but the composition of the kiss makes it work with the vibe of a secret, moonlit kiss in spite of the cold blues. I should rly work on doing more color studies for this show.

5. Entanglements by Archeryian: This may not be every one’s cup of tea (art for fic is so personal because everyone imagines it differently in their heads?). But the morning gone-for-a-walk feeling in this was something I think I got successfully, right down to the wet sand. Also this was done entirely in brushpen on paper! Traditional work is something that I really got back into with Secret Forest art.

Super late to the party with this ask meme, so apologies if you've already been tagged (and please let me know if you want to be untagged). Also no pressure to do this btw:)

@leukaraii @cuddlybitch @cupcakesandtv @beingjanee @hachinana87 @deheerkonijn

#kingdom netflix #secret forest 2 #secret forest #hwang si mok #han yeo jin #ask meme #chatter #mangobone #dead-end-street #ty for the tag!! i loved everybody's gifs and fics <3 #kdrama #also apologies for the crummy formatting #im on mobile :/#process

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dennou-translations · 4 years

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Tokushima Shinbun Interview with Yano Shougo

Interviewing Yano Shougo-san, who has starred for the first time in the topical anime “Given” and is originally from Tokushima. “I wanted to be an actor that would make people go, ‘I’m glad I entrusted the role to him’.”

Yano Shougo-san (30), who is from Tokushima and belongs to the troupe Super Eccentric Theater (SET), played a starring role for the first time as a voice actor in the anime “Given”, which aired from July to September on Fuji TV. “Given” is a heartrending story that centers itself around a romance between men from the same rock band. Having received high evaluations for his acting and singing voice, which portrayed with excellence the delicate emotions of the protagonist, Satou Mafuyu, Yano-san has told us about the feelings he put into the role and about his future goals.

Raw || Index || Ko-fi/PayPal ( ╹◡╹)っ’･*

——Good job on your first starring. Please tell us again about your impressions from when you were entrusted with the leading role.

Thank you very much. Playing a leading role in an anime series was my goal for 2019, so when my manager contacted me saying that I had passed the audition, I was happy to the point of shedding tears, but at the same time, I was also relieved. I could not sleep a wink the day before the recording of episode one, and at any rate, I was nervous. On the recording day, I was thinking as I headed to the studio, “It’d be great if the recording were tomorrow”, but I got over it a little by the moment that I thought, “If this anxiety would continue until tomorrow, then it’s actually better for it to be today!” and I remember relaxing straight away at it

——Yano-san, your fragile voice was a perfect fit for Mafuyu. What did you keep in mind when performing him? Were there any points that differed greatly in comparison to the roles you have been playing until now?

Mafuyu has an extremely painful past, unable to move a single step from where he was, as he bore a huge wound. Still, he has proper thoughts and feelings of his own, as well as a stubborn side, and though he has a mild and introverted personality, I figured that he was someone who had a strong core.

Other than that, when I saw him playing basketball with his friends, smiling and earnestly absorbing himself completely in music, I had the impression that he was a “high school boy that you can find anywhere”. This was something I always cherished when performing.

I have played uke roles before, but this was the first one where so many of my lines were “...” (laughs).

——What parts of Mafuyu do you think you have in common, Yano-san, and what parts are the total opposite of you?

I think we are just a little bit alike in that we are greedy about the things we like, and we are unable to concentrate on anything else when there is something that we need to do our best in order to achieve. What I feel to be the opposite is that Mafuyu gives off the impression that he is a big shot in some way, even without speaking much, while I am talkative and shy (laughs).

——You were also in charge of singing the insert song and ending theme song.

I knew ever since the audition phase just how essential Mafuyu’s song was for the series, so rather than my being happy about singing, the pressure was much more prominent. As a matter of course, the frequency of my voice training soon increased, and learned the basics and techniques of singing as much as time allowed me to. When I was first told about the composition, I thought, “This song was made for Mafuyu’s sake”. That is exactly why, rather than the technique, I reflected about why and how Mafuyu would be singing those lyrics, as well as the emotions that would be overflowing from him, and I thought I should sing it with care, without sugarcoating it.

——What did you keep in mind when singing as Mafuyu?

The song that Mafuyu sings bears his definite resolve to face his past and live in the present, thus I believed that I had to make it into something like a love confession, so to say - a song that could be sung because Mafuyu was the one doing it. For this, of course, technique was important, but I kept in mind that it would be okay even if it was rough-hewn or even if my voice faltered, as long as I sang in a way that would spit out everything Mafuyu had been shouldering.

——Although Noitamina has produced countless master piece animes, this has been their first Boys Love (BL), a series that depicts romance between males, so was there anything you were particularly conscious of when performing?

There was not. Just as I do when performing roles from other series, I performed while keeping in mind that I was going to live in the world of “Given” as Mafuyu with all my might.

——I believe there was such a huge response to “Given” due to its painful content, but did it get to your ears?

There are many fans of the original work not only in Japan but also overseas, so I became aware once again of the popularity of “Given”. That is just how high the expectations were for the anime adaptation, and I wanted people to like it even more when watching the anime, so I was truly happy when I actually did get evaluations like that on Twitter, etc.

——The airing of the anime “Given” is over, but a movie adaptation was green-lit. Please leave a message for the fans.

The story of “Given” will continue from now on too. I hope everyone can watch over what kind of sounds will come from Mafuyu’s song, Given’s (as in the band that Mafuyu and the others formed in the show) music and their romance from now onward.

——From here on out, Yano-san, I want to ask you about yourself. It seems you wanted to be an announcer at first.

I had the vague desire to move into the television business, and from yet another vague motive of wanting to become an announcer and engage with my favorite variety show, I started thinking in my third year of high school that I wanted to be an announcer.

——Why did you aim for voice actor from there?

After graduating from high school, I took a gap year in order to attend university, and during that time, I watched “Neon Genesis Evangelion” as per a friend’s recommendation, so with this as the trigger, I became interested in anime. I had almost never watched anime until then and was unfamiliar with voice actors, so I was shocked when I read in the end roll that Ogata Megumi-san was the one who played the role of Ikari Shinji, a boy, thus I became interested in them.

——Was there anything you put effort into in order to become a voice actor?

During my gap year, I watched many animes, looked up the voice actors that piqued my curiosity and imitated their acting, and performed lines from anime and manga with as much emotion as I could. I also bought a training book for becoming a voice actor and practiced enunciation while keeping it a secret from my family.

——What are the details of your joining SET?

I was was part of a the theater research association in university, but when I was in my fourth year, I once gave up the way of an actor and went job hunting. Even so, I wanted to have a job that was related to acting, so I took the recruitment test of a major production company hoping to become a manager, but during the individual interview, the person in charge told me, “Are you really all right with giving up on becoming an actor? If you want to be a voice actor, then go study theatre”.

And so, I began wanting to challenge myself one more time, so I stopped job hunting and after looking into audition magazines, I took an audition to become a research student of SET, where I could learn the essentials for musical, action and comedic theatre. I became a research student at 23, and after about a year of lessons and a graduation performance, I became an official member at the age of 24.

——Please tell us about the works and roles you did before your voice actor debut.

During my first year in becoming a troupe member, I played the role of Saburou, the protagonist of the TV anime “Nobunaga Kyousoukyoku”, as a motion actor - the kind of actor who does the gestures that are used as base for the characters’ movements.

I also participated in the troupe’s own public performance. It was a role where I had to drink coffee and say only one phrase, “It’s sweet”. It was a sentence that connected with a funny punchline, so I had been thinking all along about how I should act it out in order to induce laughter, and even during the performance, I did many attempts.

——After that, you debuted as a voice actor in the anime “Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V”.

When I was selected, I was really happy to be able to take the voice acting job that I had once given up on. I was brimming with confidence for some reason, even though I had no experience points. But when I went to the studio, I was no good at all; I would get nervous every week and had to stay overtime a lot, so I honestly hated going to the studio (laughs). Even so, thanks to the director and all the co-stars not throwing away someone like me, who did not know left and right, and instead nurturing me during the three years of “Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V”, I changed my thinking and posture in regards of acting.

——Afterward, you became capable of being entrusted with important roles, such as in “iDOLM@STER SideM” and “Tsurune —Kazemai Koukou Kyuudoubu—“, but were there any parts of them where you could feel your own growth?

In that I started thinking it was fun to perform. Even now, I still get nervous when going on-site, but as I would read the script, think about the role and create a foundation for my acting, I feel like I have become able to perform in front of the mic by responding to the acting of the person playing the other role, without thinking about unnecessary things, little by little. The moment I feel that the air has set to motion and it has turned into a drama is, if nothing else, enjoyable. I started having challenges, aspirations and goals for myself, such as, “I want to perform like this more” or, “I could bring this role into life more if I performed like that”.

——What are the fun and difficult parts of voice acting? Please tell us about your future goals too.

I believe the fun in being a voice actor is that we can perform roles that would be difficult in filming or on a stage.

There are many things that you can only learn in a recording site. When I go to them, I find a whole lot of people who are better at acting than I am, so I have to earn a role for myself. I fail most of my auditions and get depressed each time. Even so, I want to keep showing up in those series and play a role that moves the story. I always strongly think that I want to become an actor who can make people go, “I want to use Yano for this” and, “I’m glad I entrusted this role to Yano”.

——From now on, between actor and voice actor, which one to you plan to put more strength into?

Voice actor. That being said, in order to broaden my ranges as an actor too, I think I have to take on all kinds of jobs that require technique for different facial expressions on-stage. For us voice actors, charming people are mostly those who are also charismatic on the stage, so I think I also want to become a charming actor.

——Are you able to return to Tokushima regularly even now?

I make sure to go back as often as I can during summer vacation and New Years.

——Are there any parts of your life in Tokushima that have been put to good use in your acting jobs?

I seldom have any chance to come in contact with anything related to acting in Tokushima. Even if I had interest in voice actors and acting, wanted to attend a training school or thought about going to watch a play, they were all things that could not come true if I stayed in Tokushima. That is why I created many opportunities to come in contact with acting after moving to Tokyo, such as joining my university’s theatre research association and attending a school where I could study voice acting. I think I could cultivate something like a hungry spirit exactly because I used to live in Tokushima.

——If there is anything or any place in Tokushima that you like, please tell us.

Awa Dance, I guess. I did not like it that much when I was little, but after I became an adult, the group dance I watched from a box seat was stunning, and it made me so emotional that I started crying.

Also, the park that my grandfather often took me to when I was a child, though I don’t know if it still exists. I would put rice balls and pickled horseradish in a big plastic container and go there. I have memories of eating them with cold tea from a polyethylene teapot with my grandfather, after playing badminton. I want to do the same with my children and grandchildren when I become a parent and a grandpa.

——Yano-san, since you have made your dream come true, please leave a message to the young people who are chasing their dreams in Tokushima.

Time passes in a flash. For now, please do what you can with all your might. It can be anything, like classes, club activities, cultural festivals, sports festivals or romance.

If there is anything you can work your hardest in over there, please try facing it with all you have. It will certainly become a sustenance for your life from this point onward. I believe that it is better to do something and regret it than to regret not having done it.

Should there be anyone aiming to become an actor, please take action while constantly thinking about how you can get closer to the future that you have as your goal. I think there are surely many things you can do even if you are in Tokushima.

If you do not know what you should do after doing a research and reflecting on it, have courage and go consult someone who can give advice. Nothing is in vain, but rather than spending time not thinking about anything, I believe that spending time thinking about whatever is more worthwhile.

Please do your best. I will do my best too.

——Please leave a message for the fans who are cheering for you from Tokushima.

Thank you so very much for supporting me. The other day, when I took part in a recital play being held in Tokushima, I was able to show my acting to my family for the first time. They were very pleased.

Most events are held in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area, so I believe that people cannot go watch them even if they want to. My wish for more and more people to experience an event in Tokushima and see me working has become even stronger.

I will be doing my best from now on too in order to be able to take part in more series, play all kinds of roles, get to do an event in Tokushima again someday and have people come talk to me. I will be counting with your continued support from this point onward too.

#fyeahgiven #satou mafuyu #dailygiven #givendaily #given #yano shougo #my translation #seiyuu #interview

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incarnateirony · 3 years

Text

Pre-Rewatch Notes

So since I’m going to be doing a mix of in-timeline and full retrospective text value of the canon, one of the things I’d like to actually get out of the way is the Key Concepts of the eras, most explicitly Kripke and Dabb as the start and end.

The Key concepts are the single most important framework in media studies. They have evolved as a means of understanding a text by using a critical framework, rather than just making unconnected and meaningless observations. Throughout the course, you will need to refer to the Key Concepts and use the terms you learn when analysing media texts. One way to remember the Key Concepts is to use the mnemonic "RAILING". Representations, Audiences, Institutions, (Media) Language, Ideology, Narrative, Genre.

(also sometimes called MIGRAIN if using Media Language to clarify rather than spoken language)

With this as my note in front of the cut, I’m going to drop the rest behind one while I try to sort out the RAILING of the show before I even try to start establishing long term collective rewatch arguments on the canon. I do also invite some discussion on these, as in, if you feel my markers are off, or if I’m missing anything that I could probably negotiate the text.

Pulling, for my sanity, from here [x]

SO FIRST TO DEFINE:

Media Language This is how media producers communicate their ideas to the audience. Below are some examples to think about when considering media language:

Images used

Words used

Use of colour

Signs and signifiers

Connotative meaning

Use of sound

Iconography

Camera angles and picture composition

Institutions The companies who produce the media. Fox, Disney, CNN, the BBC, Warner Brothers etc will have a set of Institutional Values; beliefs on aspects of life e.g. their political stance or moral beliefs etc. Also, whether they have to make large profits for a board of directors. These institutional values will guide what their media products include. You should consider who made a particular media product and what impact this has on that product.

Genre The style of the media form.

A film could be Horror or Action.

A book could be Fantasy or Thriller.

A computer game could be RPG or Sports Simulation.

A website could be News or Social Networking.

Representation How media producers show a thing, person or group of people.

May be positive or negative.

Why have they chosen to show them in this way?

Think about the 5 w’s: who, what, where, when and why?

Audience

The people who buy and consume media.

Who are they?

What do they want from the media product?

How does the media product fulfill these wants?

Use theories such as Uses and Gratification theory.

Ideology Ties in with Institution.

What values and beliefs underpin the product?

How does this fit with the values of society?

Narrative How is the text structured?

Use Todorov’s Theory of Narrative Structure.

Use Propp’s Character Theory.

Use Strauss’ Theory of Binary Opposition

I’m going to use VERY shorthand notes on these moving forward.

So here’s what I see off the cuff:

KRIPKE ERA

Media Language Faded film stock to denote horror; darkness; emphasis on SFX like footsteps. Grim cinematic. Eventual christian imagery overlapping urban myth icons. Faded color palettes. Fairly classic color use (pink or white for femininity or purity, etc). Nostalgic classic rock/music. Nostalgia, general. Muscle cars. "Classic american masculinity." Hopelessness seeking hope.

Institutions WB, CW, and the timeline of 2005-2009. Kripke, Singer. Manners. McGee. Sgriccia.

Genre Horror, survival, drama

Representation Americana, working class america, "american masculinity", fraternity; Sam and Dean vs the world with occasional help from other friends or family in the life. Metanarrative hostility to issues like queerness reflective of both time and institution at the time.

Audience Originally targeted at young/teen men (to “not be like other girl shows on the network”), became split demographic. Split conservative and liberal demographic. Discussion on how these are handled will come up over the study.

Ideology Fraternal bonds. Arguably, family. Hero's sacrifice for the greater good.

Narrative Campbell, Hero's Journey; Rule of Cool; Christendom; Man vs Divine

GAMBLE

Media Language Film stock, brightness, saturation at fairly standard media level -- sometimes unstable. Standard cinematics. Residual christian imagery overlapping lovecraft. Decline in classic music from Kripke. Unclear or unreliable interpersonal messaging. Arguably southern gothic. Hopelessness.

Institutions WB, CW, and the timeline of 2010-2011. Gamble, Singer. McGee. Sgriccia. Norman Bee. Edlund.

Genre Teen Drama, Adventure

Representation Established characters Sam and Dean. Fraternity. Sam and Dean vs the world.

Audience Originally targeted at young women, became split demographic. Split conservative and liberal demographic. Discussion on how these are handled will come up over the study.

Ideology Brothers quarreling; fight monsters; I don't know. Did she know? "Everything is tragic but have some dick jokes"

Narrative Lovecraft. Does anyone know. "I need to make more episodes"

CARVER

Media Language Brightened film stock with increased saturation establishes fantasy setting. Smash cut interruptions to former grim cinematics offset more hopeful visuals. Fairly media standard lighting and color use in related fantasy cinema. Found family. Hope against hopeless odds.

Institutions WB, CW, and the timeline of 2012-2014 (arguably 2015). Carver, Singer. Glass. Sgriccia.

Genre Fantasy, Adventure, drama

Representation Widened character base. Widened hero's journey arcs (castiel). Masculinity messaging of the past has not vanished, but has dampened and become less hostile to the LGBTQ and woman audience. Regular Cast widened (Crowley, Castiel)

Audience Split gender demographic. Split conservative and liberal demographic. Split age demographic from targeting vs duration. Increasingly digital demographic and marketing; begins increasing queer, poc and other audience. International boom (Netflix deal, digital 2012+). Discussion on how these are handled will come up over the study.

Ideology Found Family, Hope against odds. Free Will highlighted. Destructive or harmful relationships. Humanity. The human journey.

Narrative Self-established TV episodical, largely internal lore, residual christianized mythos or christendom. Castiel acquires first proper hero’s journey personal arc/lens. Multiple relationships vs world, man vs world

DABB

Media Language Carries from carver; largely identical but more close-up shots and interaction shots for drama focus. Internal color pallate unique to its own while still interacting with Carver standard media pallate.

Institutions WB, CW, and the timeline of 2015-2020. Dabb, Singer. Sgriccia. Buckner, Leming. S15: Berens. CW has begun rebranding into a “queer friendly” platform with unreliable results.

Genre High-fantasy, drama, arguably soap.

Representation Carries heavily from Carver, plus. Expansion of queer creatives adds queer voice to the text. Queer text manifests over time into show's canon text. Lack of metanarrative hostility has become space for queer text. Attempted routine inclusion of women, queer characters. While not a queer piece, establishes queer narrative with roots as far back as Kripke. While still maintaining strong leads, Regular Cast and other leading cast has expanded (Crowley, Castiel, Jack, other major recognizeable faces: Rowena, Wayward). It flirts with ensemble presentation without ever landing on it wholly.

Audience Split gender demographic skewing towards women. Split conservative and liberal demographic skewing towards liberal. Multiple generations of demographic from longevity. Primarily digital demographic and marketing (top 99.9% digital but a bottom live ratings performer on live TV outside of the CW); primarily queer, poc and other audience. International boom. Discussion on how these are handled will come up over the study.

Ideology Found family. hope against odds/defining the odds. Free Will vs authoritative power. Psychological rebuilding*. The family journey. The family unit. Non-nuclear families. (finale not withstanding)

Narrative Self-established TV episodical, largely internal lore, subverting christendom and authority with alchemy or gnosticism. Optimism vs Nihilism. Contrasting ending (see: Nihilism) Campbell. Other characters, like Jack, begin claiming narrative presence like Carver era Castiel, whereas Castiel maintains or expands on his. Man vs Divine vs Man IS Divine

These will be used to address the text during the large scale rewatch.

Each era has its own parameters to best address its showrunners’ visions in. Each era will receive snapshots unto itself, or snapshots also only in regards to how it adapts to the previous text. On the other hand, as half the goal is also a full retrospective to address the complete body of the text since the show stands as a complete body of word and I shouldn’t change my tools over and over again throughout for the complete-text study the same way I will by showrunner era.

I’m going to make a PITCH on the most likely way to give this a strong reading through to prepare what targets to keep an eye on as they evolve. This may change along the way if at any point I realize the first-glance overview was wrong, but

OVERVIEW MIGRAIN

Media Language The growth from hopeless dark into vivid potential; the lost heroes still oblivious to the world, their vision distant and dark to begin. Contrast faded dark to vivid and bright as much over timeline as Carver did between shots. Consider addressing the increased interpersonal camera work that blooms in later seasons for commentary in regards to the increased interpersonal complexity and growth of the cast.

Institutions WB, CW, and the timeline of 2005-2009 as the holdover of some audience being maintained with inevitable pressures from the outside world of 2020 forcing change.

Genre Survival, drama, fantasy

Representation Americana, fraternity, family; Split Hero's Journey Narratives. Late-end queer story affirmation demands a look at the body of the text for its queer journey throughout, though the work itself should not be expected to perform as an LGBT genre work but rather a Survival-Drama-Fantasy work with queer characters. Loved ones versus external forces.

Audience Too shifting to consider in the target read anymore.

Ideology Expanding knowledge. Growing expansion of the world first to find, then surpass and subvert God--or at least their intention. The growth out of expectations of work or behavior into passions and dreams. Finding and pursuing hope. Fraternal bonds. Family, Found Family. Queerness. Hero's sacrifice for the greater good, but to find and define what that greater good is, one must know the self through the family. Free Will vs authoritative power. Psychological rebuilding*. The family journey. The family unit. Non-nuclear families.

Narrative Campbell, Hero's Journey; Occasional intertext (On the Road, Vonnegut, Lovecraft). Varied mythos, best collected and then addressed and subverted through gnostic thoughtform per the ending.

Comments, critiques, criticisms, ideas to add, things I may be missing?

#polol #the great rewatch project #RAILING #MIGRAIN #meta

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mak-to-the-future · 4 years

Note

You're a big inspiration for me, and my goal is to learn to storyboard and become a professional animator. I've seen a couple of your videos and i wanted to ask if you have any tips for storyboarding/animation?

HI! SO, I always feel like I’m bad at explaining things, but for basics of storyboard Do’s and Don’ts, this tweet by stu livingston is really helpful for that!! As for my personal tips on storyboarding... well, the thing about storyboarding is that you have to wear a lot of different hats on the job. You are simultaneously a little bit of a layout artist, a little bit of a character designer, a little bit of an animator, and a little bit of a writer. That’s a lot of work, and a lot of hats! but dabbling in and knowing all the different parts of the job is important because, you aren’t JUST drawing one character. In TV animation, especially, your boards are the blueprint for everything that happens to the episode, after you board it! once you’re done with your boards, it goes down the rest of the pipeline, and you want to make your boards CLEAR enough so the people who have to edit, animate, revise, and etc., down the line have an easier job! Another thing, a part of storyboarding is STORY. not just drawing! As said before, you kind of have to be a little bit of a writer, too! you write your own jokes and a lot of the time they leave the delivery of dialogue up to you! So make comics! People like seeing comics in storyboard portfolios! Not only that, it’s good practice without even having access to SB pro or making an animatic! Even if it’s not original comics and you’re mostly doing self-indulgent fan work- It shows you know how to work with characters interacting with eachother or how to write dialogue! Most of what I know about how I write characters came from all the years i spent making fan comics and fan art for the fandoms ive been in and the AU’s I’ve created. Things like webcomics or just starting with little dailies about your life- its good practice! And ANOTHER thing: watch movies! watch TV shows! read comics! build your library of visual and writing references to pull from so you can use that in your boards and even when writing jokes or dialogue! and dont just watch... STUDY. Learn about different shot composition, camera angles, and etc. and watch a movie with that knowledge, every single shot in a movie is the way it is for a specific reason! Nothing is really composed at random or without purpose! And how you frame and compose a shot can give off a different feeling or mood!

#mak to the future

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silencedsonatas · 4 years

Text

petra nikonova is an americanized version of her name that she had to assume because of her aunt who is now her guardian. her aunt is her father’s sister but unlike her dad, her aunt took off from russia at literally the earliest convenience, marrying the first person who could take her far away from russia and all of its corrupted politics and general state of ‘shoddiness’ as she calls it. her aunt is also a black widow having killed three of her four husbands in the last decade. her aunt has been married a total of seven times. the first died naturally, the second and third were divorces.

her aunt has control of petra’s rather impressive inheritance which is a combination of her father’s business profits, her mother’s (minor) inheritances from the titled side of the family, all of the proceeds of petra’s performances and compositions – she still composes and publishes (she writes mainly pianist pieces though has written a couple of orchestra pieces and is working on an opera off and on though it’s mostly in her head). her manager still retains a large percentage of her profits though her aunt is trying to fight that ‘on petra’s behalf’. petra never performs in front of anyone. ever. ever ever. she literally has such stage fright and true terror of performing in front of anyone ever again that she physically freezes and her head spins and she can’t breathe and the walls close in and all of that manner of reaction. she also still has night terrors regarding performances, regarding her parent’s death, regarding her various suicide attempts.

she has attempted suicide three times. the first was a year after her parent’s death, approximately at around age fourteen when she took a bucco of sleeping pills with a fifth of vodka and slit her forearms from pretty close to wrist to elbow. she tried again in the asylum in russia by hanging herself. a year and a half or so later after being trapped under the aunt’s thumb she overdosed again // still isn’t quite sure herself if it was intentional or not. she half has the idea that she is immortal, that Death itself doesn’t want her. she is also incredibly self conscious of the scars on her arms and keeps them covered almost every single moment of the day, waking or not, whether by sleeves, fingerless gloves, that sort of measures.

in terms of wardrobe she wears a haphazard combination of most of whatever she happens to grab hold of. she is the epitome of glitter grunge. she will wear ten dollar jeans with a two dollar tank top from goodwill and a ratty sweater that belonged to her dad for twenty years with six hundred dollar shoes and a twenty thousand dollar necklace and not even think about it / bat an eye or care. makeup is a constant but it’s just as much a mess and mix. nails are always kept short to keep from getting in the way of her playing but usually painted (chipped of course) and ink stained.

she is usually a mess of bruises of one kind or another whether it’s from shooting up or getting into a fight or a fist fight with her current fuck boy that got pissed at her for whatever fucking reason under the sun. she has a horrible horrible horrible horrible history with relationships. she doesn’t believe in them. people die people leave people beat her up people abuse her use her take her money steal her drugs lock her up you name it. she has maybe one or two friends in the mass of humanity and they had better be well used to her absolute bipolar madness that is only made worse with her drug use and addiction of the month. fickle is her middle name, but let’s be real if you get under her skin and into that one little tiny miniscule part of her heart she will literally fight tooth and nail for you and will do anything to keep you safe (from anybody but herself honestly…) and would literally die if it meant you’d be ok. this is not something that most people would ever get the chance to see or know but because this is the rp world it’d probably more likely that a larger number of plots will creep into that role because i can…

she also totally needs fuck buddies and enemies and people that abuse the fuck out of her because… again… i can

she is always listening to music. she reads everything and anything and almost always has a book shoved into her purse or back pocket or backpack. she speaks at least five or six languages. she hates math but she’s really good at it but she’ll never admit it. wickedly intelligent. never EVER uses contractions, it’s a huge huge huge pet peeve. always has a russian accent when she speaks english because it pisses off her aunt but she’s absolutely capable of speaking perfect and flawlessly, accent free at her whim. she’s also got an amazing singing voice, and if you get her drunk or high enough she will serenade you or kick ass at karaoke.

she loves animals but refuses to keep any because she knows she is entirely incapable of that amount of responsibility.

she has dropped out of school. she could easily get her ged and even probably test out of a lot of subjects at a collegiate level even in her teen / late teen verse and even without her formal education via public schools or anything. she did have private tutors with her manager and on tour and such which was a wonderful experience for her because she was so so hungry for knowledge but she can’t stand going to school with the idiots that are the mainstream american teen and she cannot stand the teaching to the lowest common denominators so she just doesn’t bother. if anyone bothers to ask her aunt says she is being homeschooled with private tutors and what not and, there was some attempt at making that a reality but after her aunt walked in on petra and her tutor banging in the manor’s library, that was discontinued.

on that note as far as sex goes any pretense of being a good girl has never really been a thing for petra. she was molested and abused by her manager, whom she was given over to at the age of seven when she was being pushed into performing and writing and studying and just very very very much being pushed to excel in every way with her musical abilities. she saw her parents on very few occasions, holidays and when she was on vacation from classes, and whenever they decided they wanted to come see her perform. they were not lacking for money by a long shot – her father had seized a number of businesses when everything fell apart and was making a killing financially, her mother was a noble (minor title) – they were just very busy and very focused on their own lives —- which is not to say they didn’t dote on petra, because they did, they just thought they were doing what was best for her by letting her throw herself into her passion.

unfortunately with no other continuous adult supervision, her blossoming mental and emotional instabilities and the control (physical, mental, emotional, financial) that her manager had over her, she never reached out or acknowledged anything in regards to the abuse even after she was abandoned by him and even during her time in the institution and after. ie she’s never told anyone. her parents died when she was thirteen on the way to a grand premiere performance at a renowned hall (have to do some research to see if i can remember which one i’d settled on). they were run off the road by another car. it was believed an accident but it was actually a hit by one of her father’s business partners [ she has never learned this so she blames herself entirely ] and her parents were rushed to a hospital nearby where she was performing. her manager was informed, but he chose not to inform her until after her portion of the performance. she arrived at the hospital basically in time to sit with her father for a few minutes before he died. her mother had died in the interim.

she was institutionalized a year later after her manager gave up his custody of her due to the fact that she would not perform and would not compose and refused to do anything in terms of her music for anyone // combined with the fact that she was now reaching mid-teens, he had no more use for her and dropped her like a hot potato when she tried to kill herself.

in terms of sexuality as a whole, she gives no cares at all for anything in terms of morality. she sleeps with anyone she wants, or anyone (mostly) that wants to sleep with her if she can get something out of them, or if she needs a place to crash, or a ride from one end of town to the other, or finds them attractive or is high and doesn’t care. she’ll sleep with men or women, girls, boys, one, two, many. the more it hurts, the more she feels the better she likes it, which means especially when she’s high on something like ecstasy or heroin. she drinks, like all the time, but she laughs it off as saying she’s russian its vodka which means its like americans and water.

she has scripts for medications for her bipolar depressive disorder and acute anxiety, add, etc. but she really only fills them so she can sell the or for things like her sleep meds when she really needs to crash out she’ll take a handful, she’ll take a handful of her add meds to stay awake and buys scripts for pain meds on a constant basis to level out any other high or crash etc. etc.

she likes sleeping with older men, married ones, married ones with families especially, though she is just as happy to fuck him and his wife if that’s his thing. she likes fucking angry men too, teen or above, and she definitely definitely pushes everybody’s buttons just daring them to beat the shit out of her and/or have their way with her. she is the type that can be on the ground, the guy on top of her, fucking her and throttling her / and or literally punching her for sassing off and she’d just laugh and spit the blood back in their faces. she is rarely likely to call anything with a guy a ‘relationship’

she’s definitely not as violent seeking instinctively when it comes to females she’s just as masochistic with them if the opportunity presents itself. she does tend to be less angsty / violent / sadistic towards anyone of the female persuasion that she sleeps with, and is definitely more likely to have a repeat performance combined with something that resembles a friendship before during and or after the fact.

she has zero problems being somebody’s fucktoy and encourages age gaps in her own relationships but. if it ever came to her attention that somebody was messing with a kid / their kid / somebody else’s kid (and it probably has given the type of people she usually opts to hang out with) it will not end well. as in, in different rps over the years, she’s hired hitmen and or people to castrate people sexually abusing children. physically, she might not hire someone to KILL them but she probably finds a way to encourage a few guys to give the asshole a taste of their own medicine (ironically, unless it’s her aunt who does still physically abuse petra when petra is around and doesn’t do what she wants)

she encourages corruption of self and others, outside of that one area, however and is a hedonist in all things. despite her roman catholic upbringing / because of her roman catholic upbringing she hates religion and, not surprisingly, thinks that if there is a god he’s an absolute asshole and should basically fuck off and die. she has a branding of a pentacle on the back on her neck, following the junction of neck and shoulders about three inches high in almost every verse. she has a multitude of piercings and some tattoos (they tend to vary a lot on verse specific things).

#HEADCANON.#BIOGRAPHY.

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tinynebula · 4 years

Note

for the ask thing! bruce banner, nebula, okoye!

bruce banner- talk about something you’re passionate about: wow, ok, i’m so passionate about photography? and like this past year i’ve been almost exclusively doing film photography because there’s something so hands on about having to think about the composition, the light, the color, wait for the perfect moment before taking a shot! you only have 36 photos so when you’re on a trip or something every single moment is unique.... digital photography it’s easier but it’s also so bland in the sense that it takes away the magic!!! random thing but like two days before the obligatory quarantine started i took 4 rolls to the laboratory and they closed so i have no idea when i’ll get my photos back 😭

nebula - how much have you changed in the past year?: i would say personality wise, not a lot... i am a little bit more restrained, like i don’t get into stupid pointless arguments for no reason anymore, but i’m still the same and think the same. just less ready to start shit i guess. also i’ve learned soooo much and also learned how much i don’t know. like i’ve always been used to being the leader in a group but to direct a film (i directed my first short film and it was kind of shitty mostly because in a group of 8 only 2 people did everything) you need more than natural leadership, you need to lead by example, you need to know about every single field (acting, writing, lighting, editing, make up, etc) not because you need to micromanage everyone, but because everyone will value your opinion above everyone else’s. i guess that made me realise if i want to be a good director i need to study a fuck ton more than what i was doing.

okoye - what is something you love about where you’re from?: i love how incredibly diverse it is? being such a huge city you’re always finding new people with new and different stories. like walking down the street you find people from all over the world speaking different languages. or i guess because my neighborhood is particularly diverse, like other places in the city are more or less homogenous, but my neighborhood is a mixture of the jewish community, immigrants from bolivia, peru, brazil, colombia, venezuela, senegal, china... like everyone i went to school with (primary school, secondary school was a different story) had a completely different background. it’s amazing.

send me a character question!

#Anonymous

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hellopromusic · 5 years

Video

youtube

H!P All Stars - 憧れのStress-free

Akogare no Stress-free Lyrics and Composition: Tsunku Arrangement: Hirata Shoichiro Music Video: Nomura Toru

Normally I do not engage in idol talk, but I always make exceptions when I'm moved. So this video was great because it showed the members of H!P in a way that shows the popularity of the members and a slice of personality for them. The whole video is a collection of Solo Shots (one red background, one blue background) that were put together in a manic fashion. This girls on screen correspond to the girls singing in the song. Since its the HP all stars, the singing lines are generally split up by group, so one group sings this line, another sings this line, you can see who is singing by what solo shots are on the screen. In general, the groups do not mix when they sing, but not all members sing at once. So 5 girls from MM may sing at one time, but its not a mix of 3 MM and 2 Angerme girls on screen at once. Its pretty cool. I think Dawa and Fuku-hime are the only ones to get a solo line, and they are the leader and sub-leader of hello project respectively. If you focus on the center of the screen, you can see who the "most popular" girls are in each group. The closer to the middle of the screen, the more popular, except probably Maa-chan who is not represented as such. So fan favorites like Ayacho, Kumikkyo, Hama-chan, kiki-chan, etc got big pictures and were near the center. This gives you a general ranking of the popularity of the girls. If she is off in the corner, she is probably an acquired taste. But if you study those solo shots, my oshis were SHINING! I was Love love LOVING Akane's solo shots, they were almost as charming as Maa-chan's but not quite... I am excite!

Biggest thing in this video is how this is the first single that Beyonds participated in. So It feels good looking at these girls who have been patiently waiting to debut. They look so nice here, but I am waiting until they get more mature as a group to really cheer for them, but I'm patiently waiting for them to blossom.

General Thoughts

Surf Rock + Baroque = WTF. Just how in the world did Tsunku mix the two genres? Why would he even try... this song is another really good example of songs you will only hear in H!P. So surf rock is a style of rock that emerged with the electric guitar. This is probably one of the most popular surf rock songs. The sound of the guitars and the space between the notes... yes, this IS my aural image of the surf rock sound... and baroque is a period of "classical music" that is highly distinct...

Song Structure

Okay disclaimer time. I am no music major or performer, so my musical vocabulary to talk about some of the things Tsunku does is limited. He does not often write typical songs, so I do not have the correct vocabulary for the variety of parts he has in this song. I have just chosen to name the parts of the song as follows and whenever I want to mention a part of a song, just know that is what I'm talking about.

Lead In - 1 bar Intro - 8 bars 1st Verse - 8 bars Chorus -stress 8 bars 2nd Verse - 8 bars Part A (Peace) - 8 bars Part B (Naritai) - 6 bars Baroque Bridge - 10 bars 3rd Verse - 8 bars True Chorus (Fuku-Hime) - 2 bars True Bridge - 20 bars

1st Verse - 8 bars Chorus -stress 8 bars 2nd Verse - 8 bars Part A (Peace) - 8 bars Part B (Noritai) - 6 bars Baroque Bridge - 10 bars 3rd Verse - 8 bars True Chorus (Dawa) - 2 bars Outro 10 bars

Lyrics

Its hard for me to tell what this song is about without me translating it. I do not want to translate it at the moment, so I think that I will just be in the dark about this song until I translate it. However, it seems to be a song about the stress in young women's lives. They stress other bring to them, and the stress that they put on themselves. I think the protagonist wishes that they lived in a stress free time like when they were a child, but alas, no such luck.

Arrangement

So the sounds in this songs seem to be keyboard, drums, guitars, bass. A very stripped down small combo sound. I generally favor this sound over the very large, tons of sonic layers, sound. Its probably a symptom of my Jazz preferences. I think the most understated part of this song may be the bassline. Tsunku is known to be a fan of "funky" basslines, and in this song he really gives the song a lot of bounce with his basslines in the verses. In the intro, the bassline is very typical of surf rock, but after the intro the bassline gets very groovy baby. It is, of course, very plain in the Baroque Bridge, because its baroque-like. But outside of the baroque bridge the bassline is really worth noticing.

The True bridge is quite "ProTool-y" in that its like a EDM breakdown-y type thing. No emulations of live instrumentation like the other parts of the song. It certainly is a different experience.

I think I have clearly stated that I am a very very helpless circle of fifths addict and would do anything to "get my fix." Tsunku serves up a really nice version of it first 4 bars of the baroque bridge. Here is an example of legit baroque music played on piano. Of course the voice is one melody (and harmony) and the keyboards play another melody and the bass is the slope that serves as the base for us to descend the beautiful circle of fifths slide.

One of the notable things in this song is the amount of space in the song. Its a fairly open song with so much space in between the notes and the phrasings of the instrumentation. Its not this huge cacophony of sound. Its likely because so few elements were used to make the song and the genre of the song lent itself to leaving spaces and openess between the instruments. Its so great, its like a grilled cheese sandwich, the lack of things competing for your taste buds allows you to really taste what the cheese, bread, and butter bring to the eating experience... In a way that they may be lost or not as noticeable in eating a fully dressed burger. Anyways, I just think that the keyboards play the most chilled part in the background part of the song. Ever so often, just popping in on 1 to give us some color to the song. The rhythm guitar is just chugging along, lol. The lead guitar is like a drizzle of dressing that just shows up every so often and just gives us a sweet simple guitar lick to chew on, then disappears. Then that main guitar riff that starts the song off in the lead in is playfully withheld from us listeners.

The vocal part in general is two part harmony. But in times is gets more complex (Part A Peace) and more simple (True Chorus). In my opinion, its standard H!P fare (which I like a lot), but I think that its hard to notice how much flavor H!P give to songs without listening to instruments. Maa-chan already told the people they need to listen to more instrumentals... On the other hand, the harmonizing parts of the vocals are not shabby. The youtuber “Hello Factory” has a channel full of extractions of the isolated vocal and chorus versions of H!P songs. Please like and subscribe to them if you like what they are doing. You can find their channel here. Just listen to the harmonies in this song, aren't they just splendid? Listen to the Vocal Version and the Chorus Version。Its actually more nuanced and has more parts than I realized on first listen. The harmonization is so beautiful... man H!P is certainly for music wota.

All in all. I think its songs like this that make it worthwhile to be a Tsunku wota. All of his stuff is good, but from time to time he will give you something you can only hear from Tsunku. This is one of those songs.

#憧れのStress-free #hello! project #hello project all stars #tsunku #つんく #ハロプロ #ハロプロ・オールスターズ #analysis

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chrisbeckstrom · 6 years

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Limitations = Creativity! A python script that generates a composition assignment

Contents

1 Finding inspiration

2 Constraints

3 Here’s what it does

4 Examples

5 Does it work?

6 Try it

Finding inspiration

Sometimes I feel so creative that I rush to get the music in my head out and into a recorder, a computer, or onto some paper. There have been many times I created an entire album of music in a week or less. Other times, trying to get inspiration to flow feels like pumping a dried-up well.

Lately has been those other times, and it’s been a struggle to get that “creative mode” switch to flip. Reading back through articles I’d saved on the subject (in my journal, of course), I saw one from a few years ago that tickled my fancy.

The title reads “How I recorded an album in an evening with a lunchbox modular and a python script”. Right off the bat, it checks a lot boxes for me: music creation done very quickly, modular synth, computers, coding, music from algorithms.

As I re-read Tom Whitwell’s adventure writing a simple python script to randomly (algorithmically?) generate a set of musical constraints, I decided this might be what I needed to get back into creative mode.

So during one of my daughter’s naps, I sat down and wrote my own version of Tom’s script. Like his, it’s in python – and I borrowed a function or two – but for the most part it’s a new piece of code. Like most of the code I write, it’s not very sophisticated, but it works. I’ve been tweaking it the past few days, adding features, and – yes, using it as a starting point for creating new music.

Constraints

I am especially inspired by limitations. When faced with a fairly well-stocked music studio and a generous sample library, I can be overwhelmed with choices, frozen in place. Looking back on my musical output, almost everything I do is created through limitation. “I want to create a funk album and use mostly physical instruments that I play, make it short, EP-length, with distortion and tape hiss,” or “I want to make an album (or series of 9 albums, so far) of holiday music played in very weird styles,” or “I want to make a hip-hop album, but the subject matter is fishing, and I am the rapper, and the samples should come from weird sources,” or “I want to make an album where each track is just a single color (via my synesthesia).”

Those are just some examples.

In grad school I studied film scoring, and my favorite part was getting new assignments with unusual instrumentation requirements, unusual style requirements, and other limitations. Like “Score this really uncomfortable love scene with one harp, three flutes, and sound effects.”

I eat that stuff up! That really gets my brain going. I always enjoy seeing how far I can get within the limitations. Sometimes I go beyond the artificial or prescribed limitations, but it’s a place to start.

This code does the same thing: it generates a composition assignment for me with weird limitations, and it really gets my creativity going.

Here’s what it does

The code contains a range of options – musical and otherwise – and when the script is run, the python interpreter (the thing that reads the code) chooses various options and presents them to the user as a “score.” Naturally I use the word “score” very, very loosely here. Here is a list of some things and choices the script generates:

Name of the piece, randomly generated from the English alphabet, between 5 and 15 characters long, including spaces

beats per minute (tempo)

beats per bar (time signature) or “no pulse”

the number of tracks to use to create this piece

the function of each track (melody/ambience/pad/harmony/rhythm/etc.)

a small piece of generated ascii art

one or more audio files from my sample collection to use in this new piece

a short rhythmic motif written in “graphical notation”, extremely open to interpretation

what instruments to use (I basically list everything in my studio and the script decides which ones I use)

what radio frequency to use if “radio” is one of the instruments selected

between 1 and 3 words, chosen from a word list that includes a wide variety of terms, phrases, places, and things, with a large focus on words that describe visual art

I run the code and a new text file is generated, and in this text file are basic instructions for creating a new piece of music.

Examples

Here’s an example: [crayon-5b87170d0ce14472732490/] …and here’s another: [crayon-5b87170d0ce20883812385/] Weird, right? But also mentally stimulating!

Each new generated piece is a puzzle to solve. Some are outright ridiculous, others show potential. Sometimes the name alone is inspiring. Some of my favorites so far are “Tocuxan Dos” and “Ipaqaho.”

Each little suggestion/requirement is an opportunity to get creative. What does the random song title make me think of? What does the random ascii art look like? What sort of music would those random words describe? What the hell does > O + sound like?

That’s up to the composer. This code doesn’t really compose music, even though I named the script cbcompose.py. Really it just assembles a collection of prompts and invites me to make some sense of it all and create something new.

Does it work?

Yes. I’m currently working on my third new track since I wrote the script. At this rate, I’ll have a new album in a week or so. I’m using techniques, instruments, and sounds that I probably would not have chosen myself, and the challenge of making them work together is invigorating. The music that I am creating based on these constraints is still my music, I just got some creative help from a little computer program.

Try it

I wrote this script to be specific to my own pool of choices, instruments, modular synth modules, etc. but it could easily be adapted to fit yours. I fill my code with comments so that anybody looking at it should be able to make sense of what everything is doing.

If you want to give it a shot, you can download it here: cbcompose.py, or look at the code in its current state here. Once you download the file, called cbcompose.py, you most likely can run it in a terminal by typing python cbcompose.py (if you saved the file to your home folder). The internet is full of info on using python, so if you get stuck, the answer is a search a way! Of course I can also help too; if you’re interested, let me know!

Stay tuned for some of the audio results of this experiment.

- - - (original: https://chrisbeckstrom.com/2018/08/29/limitations-creativity-a-python-script-that-generates-a-composition-assignment/)

#algorithmic #brian eno #coding #john cage #modular synth #music #python #scripting #tom whitwell #Coding #Music

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arabcllax · 6 years

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xx. intro

ARABELLA REYES, who strongly resembles SHAY MITCHELL, is more commonly known as MARIA MAKILING. They are TWENTY-NINE/UNKNOWN year old DIWATA and they have been in the city for A WEEK. MARIA has been known to have CHLOROKINESIS, GEOKINESIS & THE ABILITY OF ‘PUSHING’. While they are not MARIA, they are working their day job as a MODEL. They are known to be AMBITIOUS & RELIABLE and VINDICTIVE & PRAGMATIC.

A is back on her bs and tbh, someone should just stop me...

see more below the cut:

xx. OVERVIEW:

If you Google Arabella Reyes, her Wikipedia page will inform you that she’s a Canadian-Filipino supermodel, who has walked the runways for prestige designers, as well as New York, Paris, Milan and London’s Fashion Week. She even made it to something as over hyped as Victoria Secret and made the covers of major magazines and editorials such as Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. Arabella was runway royalty, sharing the same fate as all the Tyra Banks, Naomi Campbells, Kendall Jenners and the Hadids.

Prior to her modeling career, it was said that Arabella was raised in a single parent household, with a breadwinner of a mother and a dead beat of a father. Being the eldest she sacrificed her future by enlisting in the Canadian armed forces as a Medical Technician. The pay, the benefits, the free education—it was too good to pass up. After two years of deployment, it was said that she was discovered by a modeling agency in a restaurant during her sister’s birthday. Realizing that she didn’t have to risk her life for this opportunity, she instantly accepted and didn’t look back on it.

However in reality, Arabella is an infamous DIWATA named MARIA MAKILING. Diwatas are a species that’s a combination of spirits, deities and faes. They derived from the islands of the Philippines and are known to either be benevolent or indifferent creatures. Furthermore, they are said to be malicious to those who have wronged them. As a result, these spirits brought forth positive crop growth, health and fortune, but they’re also capable of casting illnesses and misfortune if not given the proper respect.

xx. THEN:

The story of Maria started out with Bathala, the God/Creator of the Universe, who sent her to aid the people with their everyday living. She was the guardian spirit of a mountain named after her called Mount Makiling, and she helped the village people by gracing them with agriculture and goods to sustain their way of living.

What caused Maria to become Arabella started off with The Curse of Maria Makiling. She had 3 suitors during the Spanish colonization: a Captain of the Spanish military, a mestizo scholar studying in Manila and a commoner that was a farmer. Despite his low status, Maria fell in love with the farmer which caused a jealous rage from the other two suitors. As a result, they conspired to frame the farmer by blaming him for setting fire to the Spanish barracks. The farmer was shot as the Spaniards assumed he was the enemy and before he died, he cried out for Maria. This caught the diwata’s attention as she descended from her mountain to discover her lover dead. Out of fear for what had happened, the two suitors fled to Manila to escape Maria’s wrath. However, the diwata cursed them, along with all other men who cannot accept failure in love. The scholar contracted an incurable illness and the Captain died at the hands of the Revolutionary Filipinos.

From then on, Maria prohibited herself from being seen by the people. They say that if you happen to get lost in the mountains, it’s due to the curse of the diwata. For centuries, Maria resided on her land, monitoring the nature and greenery. She observed humans from above, casting curses if they disrespected the land and wildlife around her...As the world evolved, she realized that humanity was all the same. The same outcomes eventually led to her boredom and exhaustion, that she decided to join the humans and get up close and personal with them.

xx. NOW:

For decades Maria lived amongst the Filipino people, gracing them with goods or misfortune, before traveling world wide. The golden rule applied greatly to the diwata: treat others the way you want to be treated. She grew disappointed as humans became greedy and weak with time. Due to her charisma and beauty, she tested their temptations and noticed how easily they gave into her charm. What angered her more was how they were treating their Earth and that all of Bathala’s hard work was put to shame. Destroying their home was sickening and occasionally she can feel Mother Nature’s pain course through her veins.

Maria had plenty of identities through the years. She loved and loss, she cursed and saved, she lived her life freely and eventually, she stuck to being ARABELLA REYES. She did serve in the Canadian Armed Forces during her time in Canada for the sake of her new found family. Her ‘mother’ was wronged by her husband and the society around her. However, even with all that, her mother still had a heart of gold that Arabella avoided becoming the vindictive diwata that she is. Instead, she grew to love and accept her mother and her children wholeheartedly that she remained mundane when it came to their way of living. Following her mother’s footsteps, she refused to manipulate her way through getting what she wants and so, the moment her modeling opportunity came, she just ran with it.

Why Ceres? In truth Arabella was curious, that’s all. She liked the idea of meeting with other powered beings and associating herself with all sorts of Gods and mythical persons. Besides, it’s been centuries since she surrounded herself with non-humans and so a change in environment was very much needed. Over the past millennia, she could sense Bathala from above, scolding her decisions and actions. However, Maria refuses to go back to her roots due to humanity’s disrespect and foolishness—she owed them nothing.

xx. powers

As a diwata, Arabella’s known to have some form of magic all around. For the most part, she’s an expert at casting curses and aside from having close ties with nature around her, she can connect with wildlife as well. However her main abilities are the following:

PUSHING: She has the ability to implant memories, thoughts and emotions into the minds of others in order to manipulate them. It is a form of emotional and mental inducement where they are able to make a person do anything they desire. (ooc: yes, think of kira from push)

CHLOROKINESIS: She can create, shape and manipulate plants, including wood, vines, plants, moss, and parts of the plants, such as leaves, seeds, roots, fruits and flowers.

GEOKINESIS: She can create, shape and manipulate earth and "earthen" elements including most solid objects, specifically all minerals and mineral compositions regardless of their state (mountain, boulder, sand or dust), dirt, soil, etc.

ooc: she’s only been in Ceres Centropolis for a week, but i’m up for any pre-existing connections cause she has lived a long time and she’s famous. also PSA there are many other myths to Maria Makiling, but I stuck with the 3 suitors one! :3 okieeee that’s about it! hmu for all the plotssss!

#( &. once upon a time she was a goddess || arabella reyes. )#vi.intro

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sciencespies · 3 years

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The Unfiltered Truth Behind Human Magnetism, Vaccines, And COVID-19

https://sciencespies.com/news/the-unfiltered-truth-behind-human-magnetism-vaccines-and-covid-19/

The Unfiltered Truth Behind Human Magnetism, Vaccines, And COVID-19

Every once in a while, a claim comes along that wildly challenges the mainstream scientific narrative. These challenges can occasionally serve as the seed for a revolution in our understanding of some aspect of the world, but much more frequently, the novel claims simply fail to pan out. Oftentimes, the very nature of the claim itself is suspect, and based on a misunderstanding of already known and established facts. Regardless of what’s being claimed, however, we can always anchor ourselves by beginning with a scientifically sound starting point, and then examine the viability of those new claims through that lens.

Recently, Dr. Sherri Tenpenny has claimed that the coronavirus vaccine is actively magnetizing people, stating in her testimony, “I’m sure you’ve seen the pictures all over the internet of people who have had these shots and now they’re magnetized. You can put a key on their forehead, it sticks. You can put spoons and forks all over and they can stick because now we think there is a metal piece to that.”

Fortunately, the science of magnetism has been extraordinarily well-understood for over 150 years. Here’s a look at the science behind this claim.

A permanent magnet induces a parallel magnetic field inside certain metals and alloys. Those … [+] newly-magnetized materials will then attract to the original magnet, as magnetic “north” and “south” poles attract one another just like opposite electric charges do.

getty

Magnetism. Most of us are familiar with permanent magnets, which generate their own magnetic field. When you bring a permanent magnet close to certain materials, the magnet induces a magnetic field inside of those materials, leading to an attractive force. Common examples of this include:

bringing a permanent magnet close to a refrigerator, upon which it “sticks,”

bringing a permanent magnet close to a series of paperclips, which can then be picked up by the magnet,

or using a permanent magnet on the end of a stick to search for any loose metals that may have dropped to the ground.

But this is not how all magnets work; permanent magnets are just one specific type of magnetism at play. All materials that are made of normal matter — atomic nuclei with electrons bound to them — exhibit one or more forms of magnetism, and that includes human beings and everything in them. Of course, there’s an enormous difference between saying “this material exhibits a form of magnetism” and “human beings can be magnetized,” and if we want to answer that latter question, we’d better understand how magnetism itself works.

In the absence of a magnetic field, diamagnetic and paramagnetic materials remain non-magnetized on … [+] average, while ferromagnets will have a net magnetization. In the presence of an external field, diamagnetism will oppose the field’s direction, paramagnets and ferromagnets will align with the field’s direction. All materials exhibit some diamagnetism, but paramagnetic or ferromagnetic effects can swamp it easily.

LEONADRO RICOTTI / V. IACOVACCI ET AL., 2016, IN LAB-ON-A-CHIP FABRICATION AND APPLICATION

The three types of magnetism that occur in materials are diamagnetism, paramagnetism, and ferromagnetism. Whenever you apply an external magnetic field to a material, you’ll get one of the following three responses.

Diamagnetic: when you place your material into an external magnetic field, the material weakly magnetizes in the opposite direction to the external field, and when you remove the external field, the material completely demagnetizes once again, reverting to its original state.

Paramagnetic: when you place your material into an external magnetic field, it weakly magnetizes parallel to (in the same direction as) the external field, and when you remove the external field, the material demagnetizes and comes out with no internal magnetic field.

Ferromagnetic: when you place your material into an external magnetic field, it strongly magnetizes parallel to the external field, and when the external field is removed, the material may remain partially or even completely magnetized, retaining its own internal magnetic field.

Of these three, only ferromagnetic materials can remain magnetized in the absence of an external field. If we’re talking about “magnetizing” something in a permanent or semi-permanent fashion, we’re always dealing with ferromagnetism.

Magnetic field lines, as illustrated by a bar magnet: a magnetic dipole, with a north and south pole … [+] bound together. These permanent magnets remain magnetized even after any external magnetic fields are taken away. If you ‘snap’ a bar magnet in two, it won’t create an isolated north and south pole, but rather two new magnets, each with their own north and south poles.

Newton Henry Black, Harvey N. Davis (1913) Practical Physics

Most substances, however, are not ferromagnetic at all. A few ferromagnetic materials are common: the elements iron, nickel, and cobalt, as well as most of their alloys, plus a number of compounds involving certain other elements, including manganese, chromium, gadolinium, and other lanthanides from the periodic table. When it comes to magnetism, it’s important to remember that it isn’t just one type of magnetism that’s at play, but at least one. All materials are diamagnetic; they all magnetize anti-parallel to any external magnetic field. It’s just that some materials are also paramagnetic or ferromagnetic as well, where paramagnetic effects are frequently stronger than diamagnetic ones, while ferromagnetic effects are — when present — always stronger than diamagnetic ones.

The questions we should be asking, then, are threefold.

What are the typical magnetic properties of a human body, and is there any substantial ferromagnetism inherent in people that could possibly be exploited or measured?

What are the ingredients in the specific vaccine in question, as well as in other vaccines more generally, and can they be responsible for magnetizing a human?

And finally, is there any science behind claims that assert something like, “you can put keys, forks, spoons, etc., all over a human who’s had a coronavirus vaccine, and they’ll stick?”

Let’s begin with the magnetic properties of a human.

The composition of the human body, as broken down by various elements. While, by mass, we are mostly … [+] Oxygen, Carbon, Nitrogen and Hydrogen, these atoms are further bound together into molecules like water, lipids, and proteins. Salts, bones, and all the remaining contents of the human body make up only approximately ~5% of our mass.

Openstax college, Anatomy & Physiology, Connexions Web site

Human magnetism. If you were to break down a human being into the molecules that compose us, you’d find that the overwhelming majority of the body — about 60-65%, according to most estimates — is made of water. If you’ve ever held a permanent magnet up to a glass of water and noticed how non-responsive the water is, that’s an indication: water is not ferromagnetic. (In fact, water is quite diamagnetic.)

The next most common set of molecules in the human body are lipids: the fats and fatty acids that we store to help meet our energy needs. Lipids are also not ferromagnetic, but can be paramagnetic if certain specific conditions are met.

Proteins, the third most common material, are generally not ferromagnetic in nature, but a 2017 study did discover a magnetic protein, and there is some suspicion that such proteins may be responsible for the sense of magnetoreception in some animals. We can also engineer magnetic protein crystals, but these do not occur in nature.

These three components — water, lipids, and proteins — compose approximately 95% of the human body, typical for many animals. Which effect, overall, dominates? It’s the diamagnetic effects of water, as spectacularly demonstrated by the levitating frog in the video below.

Short clip of a levitating from from Dr. Andre Geim’s lab, circa 1997. The full video can be found … [+] on YouTube at the following URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlJsVqc0ywM

Dr. Andre Geim, Catholic University of Nijmegen/AP

When you apply a very, very strong external magnetic field — the kinds we can only reach with superconducting electromagnets — the induced diamagnetism in water-containing objects will cause the creation of a magnetic field that opposes the external field. If the external field has a “north” pole at the top, then then magnetized frog will have a “north” pole at the bottom, and two north poles will repel each other. If the external field is strong enough, this can even overcome the force of gravity, leading to the phenomenon of magnetic levitation. As it turns out, most biological materials, including human beings, contain large amounts of water and are, overall, weakly diamagnetic.

If you wanted to cause a human being to behave as anything other than diamagnetic — which would repel permanent magnets and experience no forces from non-magnetic materials — you’d have to add in some sort of magnetizable material. You might think, “hey, hemoglobin, found in blood, contains iron, and couldn’t that be ferromagnetic?” But it turns out not to be so; hemoglobin, dependent on whether it’s oxygenated or not, can behave either diamagnetically or paramagnetically, but doesn’t behave ferromagnetically. We’d have to introduce some external agent.

A single dose is drawn from a vial of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, on March 6, 2021. … [+] Although there are many different ‘flavors’ of COVID-19 vaccines that one can receive, none of them contain magnetizable materials or the metals/alloys that can serve as permanent magnets in any way.(Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images)

Getty Images

What’s in the vaccines? This is the next big question: if human beings, themselves, aren’t permanently magnetizable, could some sort of agent introduced into our bodies suddenly render us capable of being magnetized? And, if so, could any of the vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 contain ingredients that turn our bodies into permanent magnets?

While each of the available vaccines are different from one another, they all have commonalities, too. All vaccines against COVID-19 contain no traces of:

iron,

nickel,

cobalt,

lithium,

or rare earth alloys,

as well as lacking (the more conspiratorial) microchips, microelectronics, graphene, nanowires, or electrodes.

Instead, the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, which are mRNA vaccines, contain mRNA, lipids, salts, sugars, as well as (in the case of Moderna) acids and acid stabilizers. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine, on the other hand, contains a modified version of the common cold virus, as well as acids, salts, sugars, and ethanol.

None of these ingredients are magnetic, and — as the CDC notes — even if they were, the size of the vaccine dose is insufficiently small to cause magnets to stick to even the injection site directly.

If a person can easily attach smooth objects to their skin, there’s a good chance that one or more … [+] of their parents and/or offspring will be able to do so as well. The level of stickiness of someone’s smooth, hairless skin seems to be genetically inheritable, but magnetism does not play a significant role.

getty

Magnets and metals stick to human skin. And yet, there are copious examples, including a significant number of recent viral videos, where people are sticking metallic, magnetic, or other objects to their skin, directly, while simultaneously claiming that it’s the coronavirus vaccine that made this “magnetism” possible.

There actually is a kernel of truth in here: many people can, legitimately, “stick” metallic, magnetic, or other objects — including glass, porcelain, plastics, wood, brass, and aluminum — to their skin. Although people who can do so are sometimes colloquially referred to as “human magnets,” with many making claims that they are, in fact, magnetic, the phenomenon at play here is much more mundane than magnetism.

Instead, the reason objects can stick to certain people is the main reason that practically any two objects might refuse to slide off of one another: the force of friction.

Brenda Allison, a so-called human magnet, can easily stick smooth objects to her skin. However, … [+] despite the alleged claims of magnetism, a series of tests can easily show that no magnetism is involved, that non-metallic and non-magnetic objects stick just as well as magnetic ones, and that talc will cause these objects to slide right off. It’s friction, not magnetism.

Brenda Allison / CCA-SA-4.0

In every case where these “human magnets” have been tested, the same results appear each and every time. They include:

if you try to measure the magnetic field around the person, you achieve a null result; no detectable field above the background of Earth’s intrinsic magnetic field,

the same people who can stick metallic or magnetic objects to their bodies can stick non-metallic and/or non-ferromagnetic metals to their bodies just as easily,

that the “sticking” only occurs where the skin is smooth and hairless,

that the subject is often either leaning back or sticking an object to themselves at less than a 90° angle,

and — as demonstrated by the late skeptic and magician James Randi — their claimed magnetic powers suddenly disappear if you cover their skin in talc.

Much like the phenomenon of balancing an egg upright during the equinox, which can be done equally well during any day of the year, metal objects can often stick to human skin. But neither magnetism nor vaccine ingredients of any type plays a role at all.

This 2015 photo shows ‘magnetic boy’ Elvir Silayciya, 13, of Kakanj, Bosnia and Herzegovina, as he … [+] attempts to get into the Guinness Book of World Records for sticking a record number of metal spoons to his body. His sticky, smooth, hairless skin uses friction, not magnetism, as the mechanism by which this phenomenon can occur. (Esmir Sabic/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Getty Images

It’s true that some people have stickier skin than others, and are quite capable of temporarily attaching massive, macroscopic metallic or magnetic objects to their bare skin. But it isn’t because they’re magnetic; the human body generates and possesses no measurable magnetic fields on its own. It isn’t because you got the coronavirus vaccine; there are no magnetic or magnetizable ingredients in any of them, and the stickiness properties of human skin are unchanged by the vaccines, even at the injection site.

The crux of these claims — that the coronavirus vaccines can transform human bodies into magnets — is demonstrably false. All COVID-19 vaccines contain no magnetic or magnetizable ingredients, they don’t cause magnetism in humans, and moreover, magnetism in humans isn’t even a real, measurable phenomenon. This is simply two unrelated phenomena, the natural stickiness of human skin and the fact that many people have recently gotten a coronavirus vaccine, that have been incorrectly conflated together. If you feel the need to prove it to anyone who claims to be magnetized themselves, simply put some talcum powder on their skin and watch their so-called magnetism spontaneously disappear.

#News

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openslatevfx · 3 years

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8 SPECIALIZATIONS AND COURSES IN VFX – VFX & 3D ANIMATION CAREER GUIDE

In this blog we will discuss about the multiple specializations, courses in vfx, animation courses in pune. Will also try to provide you a road map to build up a great career in vfx by selecting right courses/specializations. VFX being a new career option is very less explored and not many people can guide on to selecting a right vfx career path. We will also provide information about softwares relevant to each of the VFX specialization and the one that are demanded globally. In our previous blogs we provided information about VFX as a career and misconceptions students have towards VFX career, here we are going to focus on VFX courses and specializations in detail.

VFX, Animations are basically a CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) used for creating film shots in film industry. CGI shots complexity and quality differs depending upon the projects and the budgets of a certain show. When a series of frames runs at the pace of 24 FPS (frames Per Second) digitally, it gives us an illusion of a motion picture; so, if a VFX artist wants to edit a one second shot of a movie then he/she has to work on 24 frames one by one. Any CGI Animation shot in a movie is not a job of a single person but is a product of multiple departments and artists that work together in liaison with each other. To understand the specializations and courses in VFX let us now understand VFX pipeline.

VFX pipeline is basically a step by step process which is followed globally by each and every production house to create CGI effects. The VFX pipeline followed globally is as follows,

Conceptualization – Concept Design.

3D Modelling – Creating a 3D model with reference to concept design.

Texturing – Giving texture (color) to the 3D model with the reference to the concept design.

Rigging – To rigg the character basis the anatomy / structure (animal anatomy, human anatomy etc).

3D Animation – To animate the character developed by the 3D modelling, texturing and rigging department.

Digital Lighting – Providing light effects, shadows etc to the shot as per the requirement to match the real shot footage.

FX – Simulating / creating smoke, fire, dust, destruction, water, cloth (flag, superman’s cape etc), liquid as per the requirement.

VFX Compositing – Combining of visual elements from different sources / departments in to a one single shot.

The above-mentioned departments are the specializations in VFX a student may choose to opt while starting VFX training. It is very important for a student to understand that he can get professionally trained on either one of the mentioned specializations / departments. To understand why only one specialization please refer to our previous blogs.

Now to understand these departments in detail, imagine a scene wherein a furious bull is running on a dusty path for attacking a man (Man in this scene is a real person shot on a green screen and bull is a CGI which needs to be created digitally). This shot is an imagination / vision of a director and he wants to turn it in to realty with the help of VFX. Let us now understand the pipeline in detail as below.

Conceptualization – Concept department is the first stage in VFX pipeline for which there are concept artists who are professionally trained on softwares like Photoshop and Illustrator. Director/Client communicates his vision to the concept artist; artist in turn develops a bull in photoshop or illustrator software that the director wants to put in a movie. Creating a concept is not an easy job and takes lot of time and efforts; concept artist keeps on making multiple versions of a bull till the time the client is not satisfied. Once the concept is ready and approved, now the job is passed on to the 3D modelling department.

Software training required to be a concept artist – Photoshop, Illustrator.

CONCEPT DESIGN

3D Modelling – Modelling is the second stage in VFX pipeline for which there are 3D modelers. Modeler takes the reference from the concept department and creates a 3D model (bull in our case) in a computer. This model of a bull is just a model without any color. In modelling again there are divisions viz organic modelling (creating model of any of any living being like for example human, animal, birds etc) and inorganic modelling (creating model of a nonliving item like for example table, chair, rock etc), in current scenario it would be an organic modelling for a bull. Once the modelling is approved, now the job is passed on to the Texturing department.

Software training required to be a 3d modelling artist – Maya, 3ds max, Z brush.

3D MODELLING

Texturing – Texturing is the third stage in VFX pipeline for which there are texturing artists. Texturing artist gives texture (color) to the model created by a 3d modeler with reference to the concept design. Texturing artists are trained on softwares like Maya, 3ds max, Zbrush etc. 3D modelling and texturing can go hand in hand i.e. One person can learn both of these skills together and can take responsibility as a modelling and texturing artist in the industry. Once the texturing is done to the bull the work is then passed on to the rigging department.

Software training required to be a Texturing Artist – Maya, 3ds max, Z brush.

TEXTURING

Rigging – This is a very niche skill; rigging is basically to give joints/bones to any model where the movement is required to be animated by an animator. Rigger will study the anatomy of the character and basis that will provide joints/ bones to the model in a computer; in our current scenario it’s a bull so the rigger will work as per the animal/ bull anatomy. Rigging is a must before animation step and animators know the basics of this skill; however, highly skilled riggers are required in animated or grade one, top quality movies like for example The Avengers, Kung fu panda wherein the movie quality and budgets are the best in the industry. In certain movies hair rigg is also required where you see hairs moving as the character moves. Rigging is followed by lighting department.

Software training required to be a Rigging Artist – Maya, 3ds max

RIGGING

3D Animation – Animation is to animate a character i.e. to give movements to the character that is created by the previous departments. Animators gives frame by frame movement to the CG (computer generated) character as per the requirement and this movement is so seamless that it gives an illusion of a motion picture. In our case the bull that is created will be animated by an animator, so what all movements one sees of that bull is a work done by an animation department. Animators also studies real life animal or people movements; they also try acting in front of a mirror for a certain shot so that they can use it as a reference to give movement to the character accordingly.

Software training required to be a Rigging Artist – Maya, 3Ds Max, Houdini

3D ANIMATION

Digital Lighthing – Lighting artist works on the type and a source of light in any sequence. Lighter has to match the light color and source that is used by the director at time of shooting a movie shot. Shadows of CG characters and light effects that you see in movies are the work done by the lighting artists. In our scenario lighter will match the light color used by the director during the shoot and will ensure that the shadow of the bull falls in the same direction as that of the man so that everything matches in one line failing to which there will be a mismatch in lighting and scene will not look real. Lighting and FX departments generally works parallel to each other and from both of these departments the job is passed on to the VFX compositing department.

Software training required to be a Lighting Artist– Maya, Katana, Nuke.

DIGITAL LIGHTING

FX (Effects) – FX artists simulates / creates smoke, fire, dust, destruction, water, cloth (flag, superman’s cape etc), liquid as per the requirement. The simulation created is so seamless that it looks like a real-world thing. In our example the dust that will arise while the bull is running is created by the FX department. FX is a much-demanded skill in the industry but we suggest this specialization to students with technical background since there is python coding knowledge required in this area. Post FX simulation the job is passed on to the VFX compositing department.

Software training required to be a FX Artist– Houdini, Maya, RealFlow

VFX Compositing – Compositing is the final stage of the VFX pipeline and is responsible for the overall shot aesthetics and delivery to the client. Compositing artist composes the final shot in which he combines the visual elements from different departments in to a one single shot. In our example Compositor will compose the final shot by combining the animated bull, Man shooted by the director in green screen, dust and many other elements made by different departments together; comper will add multiple effects to the shot, will beautify the shot and deliver it to the client. Rotoscopy, Paint (cleanups), tracking, match move, chroma keying (green screen, blue screen), matte paint (digital paint) is a part of compositing and compositor needs to have knowledge about all of these things. VFX compositing is the most demanded skill and generally has maximum number of vacancies in the industry. VFX compositor after a relevant experience can also be the part of on shoot vfx supervision wherein he/she works with the director of the movie on shoot.

Software training required to be a VFX Compositor– Nuke, Silhouette, After Effects, Mocha

VFX COMPOSITING

The delivery made by the compositor is then checked by the client; if there is any feedback then that is communicated back to the studio which needs to be addressed and rectified. This is how the effects are given in any of the movie globally that you see on screen. The softwares mentioned above for the respective specializations are globally demanded and students must consider these softwares while selecting any course. Student may kickstart his career in any one of the above-mentioned departments

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mysticandskepticmuses · 4 years

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she also totally needs fuck buddies and enemies and people that abuse the fuck out of her because… again… i can

she loves animals but refuses to keep any because she knows she is entirely incapable of that amount of responsibility.

#BIOGRAPHY.#BIOGRAPHY. ( petra nikonova. )#TO BE EDITED.#DO NOT REBLOG.

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sakuurae · 7 years

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any writing tips u can share?? i adore your work so much, just the way everythings described flows so nicely~

Mmmm, im not the best with this, but ill try ^~^ thank you by the way! Ehehe, it means a lot.This advice will go on like stepping stones, haha.

1. This is probably the most broad thing i can say, but just keep on writing. When i used to tutor creative writing (or english as a whole, lol) i met a lot of students who were so focused on sculpting their writing to perfection, and the purpose of it was lost along the way. This happens a lot, from what ive seen, in creative writing. I feel as if when writers are more focused on creation their pieces to perfection in hopes of it being acknowledged and seen, theyre not writing for themselves anymore; thus, this leads into the second piece of advice. Practice makes perfect. Everything that you will write you are improving in every single piece—even if you dont realize it. The things ive written two weeks ago make me cringe, but thats a sign of improvement.

Work with your strengths, and improve your weaknesses.

Go back and read your old work so you can see what you like and dont like—what you should improve on or keep doing.

2. Write for yourself. The value of your work is so much more when you write for yourself because it makes you happy.

Moving onto the composition work…

1. Vocabulary bank. It takes a while to build up a wide vocabulary bank, but its worth it. In my opinion, its more engrossing to read a piece with a lot of high vocabulary over the simple words. It bumps up everything, and if theres a good sentence flow then its a plus.

I studied word lists everyday, and i always do every other day because i want to keep on building up my vocab. They are always out there, and its a total helper!!

For me, id rather read an entire piece that was written like an SRI test over pieces that dont have that much high lexicon.

This also becomes the case for the word said. There are many words out there to use aside said, like drones, equivocates, gasps, jeers, etc.

Ex: “He wanted to tell her the truth.” ➝ “He had an urge to apprise her of the concerning verities.”

2. Sentence structure. Some sentences are far too shot, and some are really extensive (and do not have commas, semi-colons—oh my goodness). Now, sentences dont always have to be extremely long; there should be a variety. Itll make the paragraph flow more, and you can get the emphasis where you want on certain places.

Ex: “His eyes shined under the darkness of the night. The smile that graced his face warmed you from the heart. And it was not an everyday occurrence for that to take place.” ➝ “The smile that graced his face made his eyes crinkle into crescent moons, the glint evident in his two orbs. It warmed you from the inside—his beaming grin—and it was not often you felt this from another individual.”

Speaking on this, try to not use the same prominent word twice in one sentence.

Ex: “He turned the paper face down, turning his head to face his friend.” ➝ “He turned the paper over, tilting his head to address his friend.”

3. Being metaphorical. Im not really sure how to elaborate on this; i guess it provides more depth/character to the paragraph?? Aah, heres an example instead.

Ex: “The sky was a calming blue, the cluster of brilliant stars surreal to your eyes.” ➝ “The curtain of aegean draped over the muted sky, golden pins splaying upon the surface.”

4. Adjectives. It bumps up your sentences—trust me. With more details, it becomes easier to picture in your mind. Have you read a smut without adjectives, and another smut with? The difference is quite prominent because with one you can imagine the scene with more detail, and the other not as well.

Ex: “His member was twitching, the pleasure of being inside you unbearable.” ➝ “His stiff member was twitching uncontrollably, the overwhelming pleasure of being inside you borderline unbearable.”

“Sweat dripped from his forehead.” ➝ “Beads of sweat slowly dripped from his forehead.”

But try to not be heavy on the adjectives… i still struggle with this, haha, but i think many readers can tell if you have a thesaurus in hand or not.

5. Paragraph breaks. This might not seem like a biggie, and it is completely up to you when you decide to break paragraphs, but there are times that one must paragraph break… like with dialogues or setting changes, or when a new character is introduced. Please… avoid the block… oh my goodness…

6. This might be a me thing… but go into detail with the actions. To say this under a brighter light, imagine this: actions during a kiss scene. When you kiss someone, you and the other’s mouths arent the only thing that are moving, and the touch of the lips arent the only thing youre feeling.

Ex: “He pressed his lips against yours, his mouth prancing to the melody of your heartbeat.” (and thats it) ➝ “He pressed his lips against your own, his mouth prancing to the melody of your heartbeat as his hands trace the outline of your body. You palm snakes up his back, only to place it on the nape of his neck to tug him closer. At such a closed proximity, you noticed something else: his scent. There was a swirl of cinnamon and vanilla that intoxicated your senses… etc.”

What im trying to say is that going into some detail, brief or not, about actions will add more sparkle into the paragraph—especially dialogue.

Ex: “’You’re kidding me,’ he groaned, flailing his arms in the air animatedly. He was in a disbelief at the sudden news, lodged at a crossroads on how to respond. ‘You’re fucking kidding me!’

You took a step back, placing a fist over your heart cautiously. ‘I-I’m sorry,’ you uttered weakly, tears pooling at your eyes. ‘I didn’t mean to.’”

Obviously the apostrophes wont be there in the final product, lol, it would perturb me if i didnt write that grammatically correct, ahaha.

Think of these composition levels as a pyramid. From letters, to words, to sentences, to paragraphs, the purpose of the piece, etc. The letters would be the bottom. So if you mess up at the bottom of the pyramid, the rest is disrupted. I read over a paper before where the first and second base were horrendous, and i was correcting it so much. The student came up to me and asked me what i thought about the message of the piece, but i actually paused and thought. I was so focused on correcting the mistakes—paying attention to the mistakes—to the point i missed the entire purpose of the piece. So, honestly, proofreading will be your best friend here.

All of this falls under the tab of your style. Remember, dont try to force out word after word to sculpt your piece into perfection. Work with your strengths, find your weaknesses and improve.

On the finding inspiration and keeping motivation side…

1. Work at your own pace. Do what makes you feel like your best work will be exhibited, and dont let other deadlines push you at your limit. Personal deadlines would most likely take the fun out of your writing process, and you might miss some particulars youd wish to convey—so dont rush! Trust me on this, lol. I made this mistake again when writing overrated, and im so hesitant to even hit that upload button because of how much i rushed it to meet my personal deadline. I keep re-reading and editing it, but i know that if i spent my time on it and pushed aside the personal deadline then it would be better.

2. Inspiration comes at the most random of times. I got ideas from waiting in the line in the bathroom and in the middle of my english class; they come when you least expect them too. If you force it out then it wont be that good (for me, that is). Of course, you can go out and find inspiration by walking outside or listening to music, but dont try to force out ideas—let them come to you.

You can write about real life occurrences that have taken place, or base stories off those. ‘Two Cups of Sugar’ is based off my friends experience of trying to get a guys number at an ice cream bar, but always failing so she went back around seven times—and only got his name in the end.

An upcoming fic i have is based off my boyfriend and i, and how we came to be. To be honest, all my fics are based off some real life experiences i had, or some outrageous stories my friends have told me. ‘Study Sessions’ was some real events, and a few scenes in ‘After Hours.’ What im trying to say is that those simple stories can take you a long way. The scene that started ‘After Hours’ was my friend talking about a bar. It was supposed to be a 4k bar scene, but after thinking about her experience and incorporating it into my own piece, it built its own way to 21k, and an ongoing series.

3. Keeping up motivation. Depending on what youre writing, you should focus on those elements. For example, im writing two fics—one of them being a basketball au and the other a soccer au. My motivation for that has seriously been dying, so ive been watching basketball videos and soccer games to keep my motivation running. Also, it helps when writing out action scenes, ahaha. I also talk to my friends that play those sports and ask them about how they feel about it and the rules of the game. Just kindle your flame with more information.

I know im not the best at giving advice… and there is way more in this whole writing sphere that im not addressing, but i hope this helps!! This is just what i think, what i go through, and my opinion—i really hope this helps you out. I wasnt sure what department you wanted concrete information on, whether it be the writing process or inspiration side or etc, so i briefly did all three :)

I know its a lot, so thank you for spending the time to read all of this ^~^

#Aaah this was great to type with my coffee ahaha #im sitting in the uni right now mortified at the fact i made a typo in my submitted work LOL #but yeah!! i hope this helps somehow ;;#rae rambles #writing advice #anonymous #messages

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