Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Watered Down or How Entertainers Miss the Point

I've been thinking about this for quite a while, specifically how to express the point I'm going to try and make without making it seem like I'm picking on something stupid or completely unimportant. I figured that the chipmunks might be a good way to show this as I've already talked about what makes the clips from The Alvin Show so entertaining.

Below are two takes on the same theme, Alvin and how he wants to play his harmonica. The first one a lot earlier than the second.



This clip uses a lot of the interaction I talked about in the previous post. The main story here is the same, Alvin is an instigator and he wants to play harmonica and be the star. This story has more depth than that though. Dave is so pissed off at Alvin he even DREAMS about Alvin breaking the rules and being a little snot.



I guess I'll start at the beginning. So the first 30 second is a helping-loving-caring-fest. What's up with the chipmunks caring about Dave's song writing at all? A real kid certainly wouldn't care, and even if they did does anyone care that they care? I don't. That just seems like new-age let's all help each other bullshit to me.

Then Dave gets mad at Alvin for reasons I'm not really sure about, it made more sense in the original. Alvin is a brat, a real brat, the kind you see throwing a tantrum at the store for candy. The kind you just want to avoid. Simon and Theodore don't think Alvin's song is fun, Simon has a broom up his ass, and then the whole thing degenerates into rap while Dave sits back like a pansy and lets it unravel.

The real difference here is that the people who were working on The Alvin Show are interested in what makes something fun, which is really not that hard. They're trying to entertain with the things they find entertaining: the family dynamic, kid fun, extreme anger, a silly song.

The second clip is not focused on entertainment at all. Actually its foggy as to what its focused on. Everything seems disjoint. It's still the chipmunks sorta. The story is derivative of previous chipmunk things. It focuses more on "what worked in the past" than what's entertaining. Other than that is focuses on "what's hip" or "now". It adds in a bunch of new-age bullshit too. Things like hating the center of attention, and giving you life lessons.

The ironic thing is that by just trying to copy other successful things, it's not successful at all, and everything that was fun before is gone, washed up in hip trends and phoned-in feelings.

Preview: not the chipmunks

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Good Writing: The Alvin Show

The really old segments of The Alvin Show are fantastic. They are poorly animated, the voice work isn't very good, but they're entertaining and funny. What more could you ask for?



I think the reason these are successful cartoons is how well written they are. Not even for how individually well written segments are either, although that is also the case. It's mainly in the pathos. The general plot for these old segments are all the same: Dave Seville is an average song writer who found some chipmunks and decided they'd be good singers. So he uses/forces them to sing his songs, wear human clothes and act like they're his well behaved children. The chipmunks don't really care for his rules, generally disobey him and undermine his authority.

Such a ridiculous concept, but it's believable because it happens in a cartoon, and the characters are relatable. Everyone knows the basic family structure, the hard-ass father figure, and how kids act.

Dave is basically the man. He hates things that are fun or that a kid would naturally want to do. He craves obedience and is easily stressed out when things are not how he wants them to be. He's also pretty clueless and hates spending money.

Simon and Theodore are basically the same character. They're both the average kid. They aren't disobedient, they listen to Dave, but they do want to have fun. When they are excited or riled up they stop listening to Dave and act like rowdy kids. The only difference between the two is that one is tall and reads books (the glasses are a good indicator) and the other is fat, short and giggles a lot.

Alvin doesn't like to be told what to do, he's a rebel. He likes to show off and be the center of attention. He usually gets back at the people who tell him what to do. Sometimes he just disobeys for the fun of it.

The basic concept is so solid that any situation you put these characters in can practically writes itself. Pure entertainment.

Here's some more fun.







I also like how every cartoon has a song.



Share your feelings on Alvin or whatever in the comments, they're appreciated.

Monday, April 7, 2008

Nine More Paintings!

Nine Paintings from a series I call 'sketches'










Sadly I don't think the pictures for 6 or 9 turned out well at all. Complete change from the paintings. As always, colors are at least a little off in each photo (some a whole lot more than others).

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

More Paintings courtesy of Juliann

A BIG thank goes to Juliann, who took all of these pictures and did a pretty damn good job and made some pretty great images (with the exception of a few lighting errors).






Friday, January 18, 2008

Cereal Boxes: Color Theory?

This is dedicated to a beginning artist looking for tips wherever she can get them. I hope she gets a chance to read this!



The 1950s were filed with great designers, It's incredible how many things rarely seen today were almost second hand to these designers.

Cereals boxes provide a great example of this change in design.

Today's cereal aisles look like this...

Yuck.


Doesn't Read from across a room. Unnecessary Clutter.

The character designs range from alright to terrible....



But the Cereal Boxes of Yesterday are completely different.


Great Designs! And Easily Readable!

Super Kid Friendly Characters and Designs!

Easy to look at, Fantastic Color!



The biggest difference between these images is the color; surprisingly or not, you can take a lot of lessons from this. Learn from great design principles!

Why is the color so bad in recent boxes and not in the older?

The simplest explanation is that the new colors are Too bright. All of the Older designers either understood color better, or the Newer designer aren't allowed to actually mix colors the same way they used to.

The Older designers simply gray ALL of their colors at least somewhat.

Compare the two Toucan Sams. they both appear to have bright colors, but really look at them. Look at the colors individually. The Pink in his nose is bright and hard to stay focused on in New Sam, but easy and cooling in the Old Sam.

It's almost impossible to stay focused on one thing at a time in the New Froot Loops Box. Because ALL the colors are at their brightest, they ALL distract you. You're eye doesn't stand a chance. Instead of being interesting and fun, the colors are just a distraction.

Check out Jose the Monkey and his Cocoa Krispies. Do you notice where your eye is naturally attracted? Is it his face? And Why would that be?

It's not the most vibrant color in the box, in fact it's rather brown and tan. The most Vibrant color is actually the Yellow. Placement does have something to do with it, as does detail. These designers use every trick in the book, but those are other topics.

The real reason is Variation! The colors in and surrounding that area are all different hues, shades and grays.

These designers really understood color!


And FUN!


Sunday, January 6, 2008

Nighttime Scene

Painting posted. More to come...

Friday, January 4, 2008

Quick preview

Here's a pretty crappy image of what I'm painting right now.


I wish I could get better quality, but oh well.

A couple people were asking me about what I'm painting right now so I just quickly put this up. Oh well. I hope they can at least see it a little bit.

I can't take a better picture while it's on the floor drying.

When I'm done with the image I'll explain it too...