So, firstly, sorry i didn't post for a few days! Just that classes started in earnest this week and i REALLY need to consider writing drafts and simply editing them and posting them later - anyway, before you say "No! Why a Disney movie?!"
See, i have a course (Maya - the 3D software?) where we're learning how to create effects and dynamics as well as a course that deals with 'drawing for animation', where we're learning about drawing (of course) techniques as well as about different animators and they're styles - i learnt a bit about Glen Keane.
Amazing guy this man. Left Disney though and well... i doubt the 'princesses' or any characters for that matter will be as great as when he animated them :/
So, this brings me full circle - he animated or rather did the character design and animation for Pocahontas. Now, what amazed me was how expressive her face was. I mean, i know i sound a bit ridiculous, but the thing is that there were no lines on her face - i mean, yes she's young, but all the lines he used in total were her eyes, her eyebrows and her mouth. While a lot of people might say it's easy, it's not. i mean, if we compared Pocahontas' character design - her expressions and features to any other character, they don't seem to have as much of a feeling to them as Pocahontas does, which is quite interesting to note especially when you think how they're all in the same movie!
Eyes all over the place, indicative of a certain direction near the other character's eyes, but not. I mean, i probably won't be able to watch films anymore - animation will ruin me, but i think that's okay.
Also, one thing i'd like to point out. In pocahontas, there is this one scene
Now this gif above is apparently one of the only scenes of Glen Keane's that was left as is (he does it in charcoal or graphite and when they convert it to 2d into the movie or whatever, all of the rough lines and shading is cleaned out, that's why all the lines are even) and just looking at that one part and seeing how different it is from the rest of the movie not just in terms of how it was drawn, but the sheer beauty and the feeling that strikes you - how different would Pocahontas have been if Glen Keane's sketches were used without any corrections?
Storyline wize, i have to say Pocahontas is a bit different from all the other disney princess'. Firstly, she's the chief's daughter - equivalent to a princess, but her attire is nothing as such, also, unlike the other princess' she doesn't exactly go through 'hardships' - the evil stepmother or other such stereotypes. Pocahontas confronted the real world as it was and maybe that's why it isn't so popular - they stated it plainly but subtly and loudly through the story that when we can't understand someone or something, there is a niggling doubt in your mind as to their treatment.
Pocahontas though startled initially by the appearance of John Smith, runs away, but once she understood his words, she realized that perhaps they weren't so different - each had something different to share, each was satisfied with the way they lived, but John Smith tried to tell her that her people are savages - what was taught to him, ingrained in him for so long that he thought not to question it. Pocahontas helps him question those 'laws' that were ingrained to him and taught him of a love for nature.
I feel like taking a tumble in the grass too after hearing what she had to say - to hear a wolf howl at a blue corn moon... if only right?
Lastly, the storyline is different from Beauty and the Beast for though there is this kind of 'love conquers all' hint, it's made clear that John has to leave - something that didn't happen with the other princess', leaving in your mind this 'So what now? does he survive? Will Pocahontas end up marrying someone from her tribe?'
But what i love most about Pocahontas' character is that she 'listens to the spirits' to the voices of those around her and then lets them guide her where they may - to where the wind takes her. I wonder if any of us can achieve that in today's world. For those who try, how far can we understand the spirits of the land or are we so lost in ourselves and in finding ourselves that we can no longer hear the call of the spirits?
I like that she isn't 'princessy' - she doesn't wear a gown or anything, but she is beautiful as she is. A child at heart, with the wisdom to understand the world around her with the guidance of the spirits. Lastly, the fact that John Smith leaves gives you this - her first and last love? or the first love of many?
A good watch for those who are looking for something a little different from the regular disney princess'! The quality amazed me - honestly, i mean, it's a 1991 film... but the quality! (i only recently got a new tv, so i only recently discovered 'picture quality')
See, i have a course (Maya - the 3D software?) where we're learning how to create effects and dynamics as well as a course that deals with 'drawing for animation', where we're learning about drawing (of course) techniques as well as about different animators and they're styles - i learnt a bit about Glen Keane.
Amazing guy this man. Left Disney though and well... i doubt the 'princesses' or any characters for that matter will be as great as when he animated them :/
So, this brings me full circle - he animated or rather did the character design and animation for Pocahontas. Now, what amazed me was how expressive her face was. I mean, i know i sound a bit ridiculous, but the thing is that there were no lines on her face - i mean, yes she's young, but all the lines he used in total were her eyes, her eyebrows and her mouth. While a lot of people might say it's easy, it's not. i mean, if we compared Pocahontas' character design - her expressions and features to any other character, they don't seem to have as much of a feeling to them as Pocahontas does, which is quite interesting to note especially when you think how they're all in the same movie!
Eyes all over the place, indicative of a certain direction near the other character's eyes, but not. I mean, i probably won't be able to watch films anymore - animation will ruin me, but i think that's okay.
Also, one thing i'd like to point out. In pocahontas, there is this one scene
Now this gif above is apparently one of the only scenes of Glen Keane's that was left as is (he does it in charcoal or graphite and when they convert it to 2d into the movie or whatever, all of the rough lines and shading is cleaned out, that's why all the lines are even) and just looking at that one part and seeing how different it is from the rest of the movie not just in terms of how it was drawn, but the sheer beauty and the feeling that strikes you - how different would Pocahontas have been if Glen Keane's sketches were used without any corrections?
Storyline wize, i have to say Pocahontas is a bit different from all the other disney princess'. Firstly, she's the chief's daughter - equivalent to a princess, but her attire is nothing as such, also, unlike the other princess' she doesn't exactly go through 'hardships' - the evil stepmother or other such stereotypes. Pocahontas confronted the real world as it was and maybe that's why it isn't so popular - they stated it plainly but subtly and loudly through the story that when we can't understand someone or something, there is a niggling doubt in your mind as to their treatment.
Pocahontas though startled initially by the appearance of John Smith, runs away, but once she understood his words, she realized that perhaps they weren't so different - each had something different to share, each was satisfied with the way they lived, but John Smith tried to tell her that her people are savages - what was taught to him, ingrained in him for so long that he thought not to question it. Pocahontas helps him question those 'laws' that were ingrained to him and taught him of a love for nature.
I feel like taking a tumble in the grass too after hearing what she had to say - to hear a wolf howl at a blue corn moon... if only right?
Lastly, the storyline is different from Beauty and the Beast for though there is this kind of 'love conquers all' hint, it's made clear that John has to leave - something that didn't happen with the other princess', leaving in your mind this 'So what now? does he survive? Will Pocahontas end up marrying someone from her tribe?'
But what i love most about Pocahontas' character is that she 'listens to the spirits' to the voices of those around her and then lets them guide her where they may - to where the wind takes her. I wonder if any of us can achieve that in today's world. For those who try, how far can we understand the spirits of the land or are we so lost in ourselves and in finding ourselves that we can no longer hear the call of the spirits?
A good watch for those who are looking for something a little different from the regular disney princess'! The quality amazed me - honestly, i mean, it's a 1991 film... but the quality! (i only recently got a new tv, so i only recently discovered 'picture quality')
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