I doubt if it can get much more off-topic then this. theoldghost turned 75 this week. If memory serves me I started with 2.48 and downloaded it four times. Yes, that’s three uninstalls gang. It took me that long to move that damn cube.
But, I was determined to make short animations for my granddaughter. They became known as Kendall Renders. Of course she is thirteen now and has seen Avatar in 3d. Much to sophisticated for my little efforts anymore. But, somewhere the definitive Kendall Render is out there. Just waiting for my expertise to catch up. Maybe one day… .
Oh and the title of this thread. It just dawned on me my last words will probably be; ‘Damn I was just getting box modeling down a bit’.
For you young film makers who didn’t recognize the word ‘Rosebud’ you need to see Citizen Kane. If you were in any formal film class you would have broke it down seven ways from hell by now. And, that includes all facets of film making from camera to lighting. And, of course anyone making a short film in Blender is everyone on a film set. Pick a story to tell and your desktop will be covered with film tutorials. From camera shots to transitions. Not the usual short cuts we have covering our desktops. Well, that’s it. Happy Blendering
When Citizen Kane came out, it was revolutionary in it’s days. Nowadays, it is quite hard to decipher what was so grand about the movie back in the days. I couldn’t bear the black and white screen of the movie…so haven’t seen it.
I know this probably wasn’t the point of your thread, but a (late) Happy Birthday to you nonetheless!
I actually haven’t seen Citizen Kane yet, but I restored an abandoned PC recently(ish) and on one of the hard-drives there was a bunch of movies, Citizen Kane included (also 2001 - A Space Odyssey, which I’ve seen before a couple of times, plus a few others), so I’m planning on watching it at some point. Quite looking forward to it, actually - I like old movies, whether they’re in B&W or colour :yes: Modern Times, The Dictator (only seen it once, actually, but I’d like to see it again), It’s a Wonderful Life, Mr Blandings Builds his Dream House (was a favourite of mine as a kid), The Wizard of Oz…
I’ve yet to create a film of my own (too much of a topology geek, haha), but if I do some day I actually think I’d like to do one in B&W. Would be interesting to set up and create, I think
Thanks Philippe M. It just dawned on me the story line of Citizen Kane might take on new life with the Koch brothers buying up Newspapers now. You might want to add ‘Double Indemnity’ to your movie list.
If I may here are a few observations on B & W movies as I see it. They asked the audience for an investment of sorts. You are actually required to accept a world that doesn’t exist and not in any Sci Fi context. You had to bring a minimum of imagination.
But, more importantly to any aspiring Blender film maker lighting and camera work are everything in ‘Film Noir’. Any art teacher will tell you to squint your eyes to see the shadows. In ‘Film Noir’ the lighting is obvious and it was the heyday of innovative cinematography also. Important aspects of film making regardless of if it’s done in color or B & W.
And, not every Blender artist wants to do a two minute short. I understand that believe me. I was driven to it by the need for a Xmas card last year. And, even through I was trained in commercial art many years ago I didn’t even storyboard it. But, attempted to do it on the fly so to speak. Maybe for a first attempt it isn’t to damn bad. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/81075043/0001-2545.avi
Hey, maybe you could use the old PC for your own render farm. Believe me if you do a short film render times will come into play. Meaning don’t wait to the last minute as I did. Best of luck in your endeavors young man. ghost
Kbot the wiki on Citizen Kane was very good I thought. Orson Welles also did the most famous radio show of all times. ‘War of the Worlds’ Back in those days station breaks were not required so people thought it was real. Yes, the aliens had arrived. My understanding is station breaks started shortly after.
If I had to fill in the dots on Orson Welles I would say young genius who set the bar high with his first recognized attempt. Then fell into a downward spiral of drugs and booze. Hey, something’s never change. And, thanks for not ruining it for film buffs like Philippe M.
Damn it maybe I did? SORRY. ghost
Ha, no way! I already hate it when I accidentally read parts of video game plots (or my youngest brother does and then tries to tell me), and I’ve often heard that Citizen Kane is a classic so there’s no way I’d go and read about it in advance and spoil the story, haha
@theoldghost - Well, the PC I cleaned up is a bit too old to be of much use as a render farm, not with Cycles (or maybe even BI) at any rate. It has a late-generation Pentium4 and only 1GB of memory, so I doubt I’ll be using it for much more than media storage and Linux testing.
And I don’t think you spoiled it - to me it sounds pretty vague, especially since I have no idea who the character is Not yet, anyway.
I also looked at that video you linked, it’s pretty awesome! I liked the camera movements, and the 50s car in the back made me smile
I definitely agree on your point about lighting. It’s something I still struggle with quite a bit in Blender, let alone in real life with a real camera (even with still shots).
That’s something I’d noticed as well, actually, plus I think it maybe brought more focus to the performances. At least, in the B&W fims I’ve seen so far (The Bells of St-Mary’s comes to mind for some reason)
It reminds me of a quote I once saw on a shoe-shop window here in Montreal. I can’t remember what it said specifically, but it was something about when you film/photograph someone in colour format, you’re capturing what they look like and/or what they’re wearing. Whereas if you film/photograph in B&W you’re capturing their heart&soul on camera. Or something along those lines - like I said I can’t remember the specifics :o
Anyway, thanks for the recommendations and encouragement. Best of luck to you as well!
Not yet, anyway.
