Epitaph of an unfortunate artist:
"He found a formula for drawing comic rabbits:
This formula for drawing comic rabbits paid,
So in the end he could not change the tragic habits for drawing comic rabbits made." - Robert Graves
Excerpt from The Animator's Survival Kit, by Richard Williams
Profile art provided by Joe Ledbetter's paintings.
"He found a formula for drawing comic rabbits:
This formula for drawing comic rabbits paid,
So in the end he could not change the tragic habits for drawing comic rabbits made." - Robert Graves
Excerpt from The Animator's Survival Kit, by Richard Williams
Profile art provided by Joe Ledbetter's paintings.
Thursday, Jul 3, 2008
Last Sunday I finally had the chance to visit the local Star Wars Expo. After meeting Anthony Daniels, the man behind C3PO, human-cyborg relations back in March, I procrastinated going to the event. The location, Sao Paulo's famous Ibirapuera Park, is a pain in the tush to get to from where I live. Alas, the expo had its duration extended, and I took the cue to visit it.
While not nearly as big as the websites, TV programs and magazines made it out to be, it was a very interesting place to visit. Cut into two floors in the underground expo space at the park, the Star Wars Expo has its share of rare items. As you enter, you are greeted by Imperial stormtroopers and people wearing weird crosses between Jedi and Princess Leia's garments. The first area presents many concept drawings made mainly by Ralph McQuarrie for the original trilogy and some for the newer films, along with models for some of the more popular space ships and ground vehicles, like the X-Wing. On the walls, the Star Wars time line, with detailed info on the many planets presented in the films. Following this hall, the lights dim, and the main exhibition is presented. Encased in glass displays, characters, scale models and more concept art are there to be seen. Amongst the more interesting pieces is a scale model of the Millenium Falcon, so detailed that you can even see bullet (or is it laser?) marks on the fuselage. There's even one model in particular for the Imperial Star Destroyer, which also has a depth in detail that is impressive. Right across from the Destroyer, among the other mannekins, Chewbacca roars to the visitors, and is accompanied by another Wookie wearing even more belts. With these furry guys, I got the chance to learn something new about Star Wars: Wookies have normal fingers, even thumbs. Quite shocking.
The second section of the expo greets visitors with the robotic duo, C3PO and R2-D2, posing for photos (which I took, or course). Around the two bots, many, many concepts for them made by McQuarrie. Here I could see how closely Metropolis influenced the design for C3PO. To the back, a special shrine for Yoda, which, disappointingly enough, doesn't bring the toad himself, but a holographic image in the swamps of Dagobah. Right next to the master, the many dresses Natalie Portman used in the new trilogy, and drawings by Ian McCaig, one of the main illustrators for the new films. Along with the dresses, some miniatures for the planets in Episode Two and Three, and some of the creature costumes from the Episode Three Malastar council, with highlights to Tion Medon, played by Mad Max's Bruce Spence (a.k.a Jebediah the gyro pilot). At the other side of the robots, a table is set with the many weapons featured in the films - Count Dooku's curved blade, Darth Maul's double saber and Luke's second lightsaber are some of the arms featured in it. Sadly, due to lighting conditions, I was not able to capture these.
And last, but certainly not least, following the hall, comes the Darth Vader space. Encased in a dramatically lit glass case, the black mask menace glares out, with a monitor by him showing the 'birth of Vader' segment from Revenge of the Sith, and of course, the incessant breathing. Other items in this space are the chair in which Anakin is strapped for the Vader transformation, and more concepts and frame by frame plans for the Luke/Vader fight from Return of the Jedi.
I have to say I enjoyed the expo, but it lacked many things I'd have loved to see, like more creatures, the Death Star itself (which was mentioned many times in the description texts but never shown) and some more star ships. Either way, it was great to see something like this being brought overseas. As a big fan of Lucasfilm and Industrial Light & Magic, I was glad to have been able to visit something like this. I hope we get to see more exhibitions like this in the future.
If you would like to see the pictures I took, feel free to click this link that goes to the photo album.
Wednesday, Jul 2, 2008
... after you see this.
Tuesday, Jul 1, 2008
I must say - Professor Layton and the Curious Village surprised me. I went into it expecting a kiddy game with some simple puzzles, but in the end, after completing the main story mode, it turned around. The story itself follows the standard 'everything-is-not-as-it-seems' approach, and the ending is very rewarding. I loved the game's visuals and the cartoon scenes. The puzzles themselves are diabolical - amongst the normal math problems, you can find ones with trick instructions that lead you in circles if you don't pay attention...
Certainly not just a kid's game.
This will be an interesting one to review.
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edubuccaneer has written 1 review.
Jackie has been my favorite actor ever since I was little. This guy is a great person that didn't let fame go to his head. His movies are the best because they don't rely on violence alone to be entertaining, as there's always some funny bit...
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Posted sep 2, 2006 2:59 am pt
edubuccaneer must really love MovieTome and agree with every review we've ever written! What other reason could edubuccaneer possibly have for not rating a single film?
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