August 31, 2008

Tropic Thunder


Ahh, Ben Stiller. Of course you've seen Zoolander, and of course you know about Tropic Thunder. Personally I enjoyed Zoolander more; it stayed on track, where as TT sets out to explore. I was having a really good time in the first 10 minutes with the over-the-top war movie bits. And then the movie started, changing its tone - I wanted more of the silly stuff. But still, the rest was very fun!

August 28, 2008

Rod Guen

A friend at work passed on a link to Rod Guen's website, which showcases an amazing collection of girls, superheroes, comics and storyboards. The girls gallery is definitely my favorite.

The Hive

Don't expect alot from The Hive. Terrible editing, acting, cinematography, and dialogue ruin this kind-of-interesting aliens + ants adventure movie.

The editing is guaranteed to make you confused, and the poor camera work is often hilarious. There are lots of ants in this movie, and it doesn't muck around until it reaches it's annoying mid section, where the narrative seems to get bogged. It's laughable, while not intentionally funny, but it is on the line of just plain terrible.

There's a guy with an ant in his brain who flinches 'involuntarily' and starts to go quietly crazy - oddly this doesn't seem to have anything to do with the rest of the ants in the movie; it's just a rogue ant biting brain bits when it feels like it. You'll be confused.

Somewhat redeeming is some of the aliens + ants concepts flying around. An alien is controlling the ants, which sometimes become a physical extension of the alien form - forming tentacles, and even a computer matrix cube thing with electricity pulsing inside. It's cool, and makes you unhappy that the rest of the film isn't.

Watch with beer, and keep a finger near the fast-forward button.

August 27, 2008

First!

Hello! This is my new blog. Above: A pink squidgy thing.

August 19, 2008

About Me

My name is Joe Bryant, I'm 26 years old, and I live in Melbourne, Australia. I'm a character animator with experience in 3d animation and 3d character setup.

Experience

Feb 2007 - Sep 2009 (2 years 8 months)
Red Tribe - Animator
Red Tribe is a games studio in Melbourne, Australia. Character animation and setup using 3D Studio Max for projects involving combat, cutscenes and dancing. Worked directly with various outsourcing parties. Assisted engineers with automation tasks. Briefly touched upon Creative Producer role for XBLA pitch title.
  • Original IP Pitch (XBLA): Creative Producer, Lead Animator
    Developed existing game design and art direction for pitch prototype, Assisted with project management, Created stylised animations for player, enemy and critter characters, Rigged characters.

  • Original IP (Wii): Animator
    Created stylised animations for player and enemy characters, Created scripted animations, Rigged characters.

  • Unannounced Licenced Project (Wii): Lead Animator
    Created realistic animations for various characters, Managed outsourcing of animation, Created previs cinematic animation, Assisted with design elements including gui prototypes and level progression.

  • Space Chimps (360, Wii, PS2): Animator
    Created stylised animations for player, enemy and critter characters, Rigged characters, Optimised characters.

  • Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal (360, Wii, PS2): Animator
    Created stylised animations for enemy characters, Rigged characters, Created effects, Optimised characters.

2006 (6 months)
- Queensland University of Technology - Sessional Academic (tutor) for Animation and Motion Graphics, teaching Photoshop and After Effects.

2004-2005 (8 months)
- WebXpress - Worked as a contract developer for various design and interaction design projects for a number of clients.

2004 (6 months)
- Qantm College - Lab Supevisor (after hours tutor) assisting with queries regarding a variety of software programs.

Education

2006 (1 year)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) (Majoring in Communication Design, Specialising in Animation), Queensland University of Technology

2003 - 2005 (3 years)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Specialising in Animation), Queensland University of Technology

2002 (1 year)
- Diploma of Screen (Animation), Qantm College

Software/Programming Languages

Expert
- 3D Studio Max
- Alias Maya
- Adobe After Effects
- Adobe Photoshop
- Macromedia Flash

Competent
- Macromedia
- Dreamweaver
- Maxscript
- Melscript
- Actionscript