Simon-Heiph Animations

This is the game trailer for LIMBO, a game which recently...

Fri, 31 Aug 2012 16:54:03 +0100

This is the game trailer for LIMBO, a game which recently surfaced and has a brilliant atmosphere and visual feel. It’s dark and creepy and again has a bold silhouette style but the lack of any other colour (aside from various shades of grey in my experience thus far) really adds to the experience. The music also is something that I found to be a mixture of enchanting, haunting/chilling.

This game is a strong influence for my second film idea, based in dream scape. Even the animation in the game is something of an influence, I can’t quite describe it which is why I posted a video link. The animation is a bit snappy, probably due to the fact that it is a 2D game so most moving parts need to react to keystrokes, at the same time I feel that this stands out -because- it is black and white. Perhaps it is also because of my uncertainty as to how to describe the animation within the game that is also part of the reason why I have become so focused upon that particular aspect.

I found this time-lapse AGES ago and it really stuck with me, I...

Thu, 30 Aug 2012 01:43:28 +0100

I found this time-lapse AGES ago and it really stuck with me, I thought it was very, very cool. I had it in my memory that it was a piece by Michael Gagné which it turned out was incorrect. This piece by Tim Gagnon I felt had a similar style because of the silhouette nature of the painting. Which, as I mentioned in a previous post is something I would like to implement in my 2nd piece. It also reminds me a little of certain scenes from House of Flying Daggers, which take place in a Bamboo Forest. Which might be something that will also need to be refreshed in my mind that will potentially be relevant to my 3rd idea.

again, the usefulness of stumble-upon for finding images that...

Thu, 30 Aug 2012 01:33:00 +0100

again, the usefulness of stumble-upon for finding images that are really great, this was done by a person called kait kybar the rest of the stuff that I found here was also really interesting and there’s a lot of large landscapes for scifi-esque stuff that could very well be useful for idea no.1 because of the small flying machine but also I just love this kind of artwork anyhow.

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1CZ7Pb/:1JZmzYbmK:Lf2cOO7-/kait.carbonmade.com/projects/3060081/

long live stumbleupon :P

just found this on stumble-upon. I thought it was pretty cool,...

Thu, 30 Aug 2012 01:26:41 +0100

just found this on stumble-upon. I thought it was pretty cool, not sure how useful or relevant it is but something to bear in mind, possibly if anything it’ll be something for my 4th idea which is a magical fantasy andas such will require fantastical and magical landscaping and colours.

Michael Gagné’s art work, as desmonstrated in this piece...

Thu, 30 Aug 2012 01:14:10 +0100

Michael Gagné’s art work, as desmonstrated in this piece of footage from the game “Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet” is a massive inspiration for the mood and style of art that I would like to input into my second film idea. It has a very dark feel and is also visually striking, It’s something I would like to consider in the design of this piece.

Time to Start Blogging again...

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 15:27:49 +0100

Getting a bit late, but I assure you the majority of the work is sitting in my sketchbook. It’s taken me some time to round up some basic ideas to work with:

1. Sci-Fi Horror, featuring an alien creature that induces hallucinations and paranoia.

2. A boy awakes to find a creature is stealing his dreams, he must retrieve them or forever be consumed by the darkness of night.

3. A Martial Arts style adventure, characters replaced by animals. Not exactly original I’ll admit but I need somewhere to start

4. A Wizard who has difficulty casting spells must find the source of magic in order to save the world! Oh my!

5. I wanted to do a twist on the superhero genre, since the marvel/DC films have been very big over the last few years. This idea focuses on the idea of a superhero falling into villainy.

6. Because 3 wasn’t hugely original and I saw something inspiring whilst on holiday. It just came to me as a title “Iron Jungle” I’ll try and find a picture of the sculpture that inspired this idea and explain why.

So yeah, there’s 6 ideas that need to go through a development process. I suppose at some point one might get eliminated and eventually I will be down to one depending on which one is the best liked.

Just saw this posted to animade’s facebook. Very cool,...

Wed, 30 May 2012 11:25:38 +0100

Just saw this posted to animade’s facebook. Very cool, nice and dark/surreal and very well animated (in my humble opinion). It does get me wondering how one might pitch such an idea to get made since it seems to lack any narrative and runs mostly of theme. The soundtrack for this piece is also very well done, the tone and repetition of the bass are quite creepy and almost hypnotic especially when combined with the footage.

fuckyeahpsychedelics: “Stalk” by Scott Belcastro

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 13:01:35 +0100

fuckyeahpsychedelics:

“Stalk” by Scott Belcastro

Design Time

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 12:24:00 +0000

well, what has happened since the last post? admittedly I haven’t engaged with my blog as much as I’d like to. Having now finished some old work, I am now ready to dedicate myself to the new project. So this weekend looks to be set for pre-production designs and what-not for characters and such. I WOULD look into sounds but unfortunately since I am returning home and I have misplaced my flash drive that might be somewhat limited by my inability to transfer digital media.

However, I could still email files across and such, it just makes organising the files a bit of a pain. I shall stick to designing character and hopefully by this evening I will have a few drawings to scan and upload.

Pitch Black

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 01:15:55 +0000

Well, I finished my presentation boards for the pitch tomorrow. They are on black card hence the pun. I am hopeful that the pitch goes well, since I find that given the basis of my idea is kind of bizarre I could easily represent it poorly.

I feel like if I am confident and evidently passionate about my idea, which I am, it could be seen as one of the top 10 in the group. The only thing that bothers me is how my idea will be received compared to some others, I think my idea is strong. There is still some room for development and input from a group but I have a solid idea of what I want the film to be.

Jiri Trnka - The Hand, excellent puppet animation. Taking a look...

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 12:48:45 +0000

Jiri Trnka - The Hand, excellent puppet animation. Taking a look at this as research for the upcoming project, along with a few others.

well, looking into surreal, atmospheric animation can’t...

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:26:41 +0000

well, looking into surreal, atmospheric animation can’t help but look toward Brothers Quay. Street of Crocodiles is a good place to start at least. Continuing on I might browse around youtube from there and see what shows up. Making a mental note here: Rewatch Eraserhead. Bizarre.

Brainstorm = Brainmelt

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 20:34:24 +0000

Another day of trying to figure out a decent Idea, frustratingly close to an idea constantly. Always on the brink of discovering something that’ll work. Can you get brainstorm blindness from staring at a spider diagram too long, I wonder? It definitely reduces one to a mental stupor that is seemingly impossible to break.

In the end, I managed to figure out an Idea that is close to what I am aiming for overall and works a lot better overall. If there are any more kinks to hammer out, which I don’t feel there are, the hammering will be done with my face ‘cause I’m totally shot for idea-juice.

Eagleman Stag: looks really cool

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:02:56 +0000

Eagleman Stag: looks really cool:

This looks seriously cool, will have to see if there is a copy in the library. I do love that style of puppetry.

Idea Generating:

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:01:51 +0000

So for today the focus was on coming up with an Idea for a one minute theme based around one of a selection of themes. Memory, Fears and Phobias, Identity, A moment in time, or A commercial.

Running along the ideas of Identity and Fears/Phobias, I was aiming to generate some story lines that might possibly explore psychology. Some more humorous than others. I had in mind to create something that overall would emote hopelessness. I generally find that I would like to create a film that is more a sad story than a string of comedic events.

I personally find that a serious narrative takes more effort to work out the kinks whereas, In my opinion, a light-hearted story might gain from it’s simplicity. Not saying there’s anything wrong with that but that’s just my opinion.