Animation Learning

I've been setting some work for myself to complete during the holidays to keep my learning up to date. Over the following days I shall blog-post about 3 things. My learning of animation, the progress of my narrative, and my thoughts on this new book I received.

I've recently been learning about the qualities of animation in my free time, this included watching several videos on YouTube as well as some tutorials. 

One of these included an informative explanation of the 12 principles of animation by Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas, re-explained by Alan Becker: 12 Principles Of Animation

Once I saw the video, I began working on the first principle, "Squash and Stretch". This is the rule that certain objects must sustain the same volume during changes of their shape. For example, say a ball fell to the ground, the ball will seem as if it's stretching, before hitting the ground and flattening, as well as taking a few more bounces before finally returning to it's original shape. In the process, though the ball seems as if it's stretching and flattening, the ball keeps the same volume. Unless something is growing or shrinking, the objects will have to shorten if adding on to it's width, or decrease it's width when it stretches it's length. I began working on an animation that emphasizes this value on Flipaclip:

This animation shows the differences of mass between two falling.... Spheres.... The first ball that falls from the screen probably has the mass of a bowling ball, while the other is more-likely to be something like a hand-ball. So that's my animation that supports the "Squash and Stretch (SS)" rule.

Once I had finished that, I began working on a more complex version of SS:

This includes an animation of a stickman jumping over a gap. The SS featured here is the stickman, widening as he crouches, before leaping and stretching their appearance, as well as looking as if they're keeping the same volume. Though, I'm unable too keep the same volume for some of my animations as I believe I'm not skilled enough yet. 

Well, this brings my blogpost to an end and I hope you learnt something new from it.

Percy Jackson: The last Olympian ( Book review )

I've been setting some work for myself to complete during the holidays to keep my learning up to date. Over the following days I shall blog-post about 3 things. My learning of animation, the progress of my narrative, and my thoughts on this new book I received.

To be honest, I've actually had this book for quite some time, but only started reading it recently.  ( Don't worry, I've read the previous books in this series )

I'm thoroughly enjoying this book as it is full of action-packed adventure, as well as interesting and well structured characters.

(Spoilers!!! Including the rest of the books!) 

The storyline is a great feature of this book series as young Percy learns about his place as a Demi-God, also known as "Half-bloods". He goes through a series of adventures, conquering the golden fleece, defeating a giant cyclops, fighting alone, against The Greek god of war, resurrecting a demi-god, visiting the underworld and much more!

(End of spoilers)

I began reading this book yesterday, and I'm already on page one-hundred and sixty six. That's how intriguing it is! Nonetheless, I recommend this book to fictional lovers, or people that enjoy Greek mythology. (Basically me). It features a variety of epic and emotional scenes that keep the reader hooked and wanting to read the whole series. 

What I loved about this book and series is the exploration of Greek mythology, and how the author (Rick Riordian) creates a modern world based on Greek history. Percy is a likeable character. He's humble, but confident, and is able to think in intense situations, resulting in victory. 

This particular book in the series features (More spoilers) Percy Jackson and his friends, who aid a group of gods in the takedown of Kronos and his growing army. This happens at the same time that Typhon (A titan), is reeking havoc throughout his journey to New York City.

What starts off as a mission to help others quickly turns into a fight for life when Percy and his friends are confronted and challenged by the Father of monsters, Typhon. Those angered and betrayed by Percy and the Olympians lend their might in helping Kronos to strengthen his army, determined to stop Percy in his tracks. Not only does Percy have to deal with these confrontations, he also turns 16 in the following year.

So will the prophecy be true? Will he be the decider for the future of mankind?

Anyways, that's my review, so I hope this encourages you to read the book Percy Jackson: The last Olympian. Maybe even read the whole series!