Freshly Squeezed

KoreAm Feature

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Myung) — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 17:03:00 +0000

Mmmmmm Daniel Henney......yum

Welp, I'm finally a published artist! That's so weird to me haha- My work is being featured in this months edition of KoreAm Magazine, one of the leading publications in Korean American journalism!
A while back I did a painting for a spot in the Dari Project's collective book on Korean LGBTQ stories and KoreAm magazine chose to feature my piece in their article about it- I have yet to see the article so who knows, maybe they made me sound like a fool for all I know but it was a fun experience being interviewed by the magazine! If you can, help support this awesome magazine and pick up a copy! You can purchase one online as well.

The cover story is available online as well on their website

SUCCESS and A New Venture

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Myung) — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 16:57:00 +0000

It's been almost a month since my Kickstarter campaign was successfully funded, and life hasn't slowed down, AT ALL! I thought it would get a little bit less hectic but it's quite the contrary- but in a good way! I'm so motivated to finish this film that I've been working nonstop; I set a 9-5 daily schedule but I often find myself working well into the night :)

I feel bad since I've sort of been neglecting this blog, but it's only because I have a new one specifically for the new film! While I will still be updating here as well, I'll be keeping it mainly about outside work with some film updates here and there. If you would like to check out the Production Blog for Arrival, you can check it out here!

Please follow me on this amazing new journey! I promise you won't be disappointed :)

12 hours down, 696 to go (I think, was never good with math)

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Myung) — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 03:19:00 +0000

It's finally here!! Can you believe it?! It's taken me nearly 2 months to put this together but I finally launched the Kickstarter today for my second short film, Arrival.

This story is so important to me, and I think it can really speak to many different kinds of people out in the world today, I just want to share it with all of you! Any support you can give the film is so encouraging to me- whether it's a monetary donation, sharing it on your blog or facebook (or just anywhere on the internet!), or if you have just said something really kind about it, Thank you so much.

It's only been 12 hours but we've ALREADY raised $1,600 of the $20,000 goal! That's incredible! I couldn't stop staring at my computer today because I was so excited and antsy hahaha.

Thank you all again for everything up to this point. Here's to the next 29 days! Funding officially ends at 10am on 2/20/13!

Below i've attached the video on the kickstarter page, but if you would like to be taken to the actual website, just click here! or click the banner at the beginning of the post!

-Alex

Arrival is about a boy, growing up with his mother in the countryside, who journeys into the big city to follow his dreams. All the while the two communicate by sending pictures back and forth to each other, sharing their now completely different lives. Along the way he meets another boy with whom he is determined to share his life with. However, when tragedy strikes, the boy becomes stuck in a cycle of indifference rather than standing up and facing his problems.

Though it is said (and certainly not disputed) that the "journey" is the real story, at some point we have to arrive at our destination. The decisions we make once we get there define us just as strongly as the decisions that brought us there in the first place

kickstarter!

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Myung) — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 22:21:00 +0000

It has been QUITE some time since I've posted, but that's only because I've been working really hard for the past 2 months on fine tuning my Kickstarter Page for Arrival! I cannot wait to debut it this month (hopefully within the next week or so) so you can all see what I've been up to!

I'll make another post when it goes live, and if any of you have blogs of your own and want to help share the awareness please do! I can use all the help I can get :)

For now, take a peak at the "Story" Page

things are happening!

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Myung) — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 04:29:00 +0000

Hello! I got back recently from my trip to Asia and it's been pretty crazy since I've gotten back. However, my trip did exactly what it was supposed to do: allow me to reflect upon my goals I've set out, and rejuvenate my motivation to complete them!

With a little convincing from my friends I've also started to put together a Kickstarter page to help raise funding for my film. At the moment the budget is TBD and I have a lot to put together so It will hopefully go up by the end of the month (as a birthday present to myself haha).

I don't want to give everything away in terms of what I'm putting together so I'll just give you some glimpses. I feel quite naive for thinking the KS page would be really easy to set up.... oh how wrong I was...

I'll be back soon with the page info! Things are happening!!!

work dump

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Myung) — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 15:04:00 +0000

In a short while I'll be in Asia for about five weeks, making stops in various parts of Korea and then Shanghai. So before I left I wanted to just get some of these backgrounds up here. If you are friends with me personally, you have probably seen the last two but the first one is a new- A fitting one, perhaps, in accordance with my travel plans.

Aside from work on my film, I've been futzing around with an idea I had to come up with in College for an "Animated Series" class. I'm not entirely sure what I would like to do with it, but so far I've worked out most of the story. Essentially it's about a really quirky girl named Lavender who solves mysteries with a quiet boy named Milton, and her pet ant eater named Barf. It's a very different style from how I normally draw, but I've found that it allows me to create so many interesting characters; I have about ten pages of weird people and descriptions of them. I also love the idea of lighthearted stories containing darker and much more complex underlying structures so I've been using that as a bit of a blue print for the plot line.

I'll be back soon! Maybe I'll post some sketches from my trip as well :)

Ciao!

300 more to go

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Myung) — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 04:03:00 +0000

Just finished the first scene from Arrival!

I was incredibly weary about starting it, mainly because I'm also a bit rusty, so I decided to start with a scene that I was more familiar with; I had already done a birds eye view from this scene as a quick concept piece here so the color palette was less stressful to work with haha.

It's not EXACTLY how I hoped it would turn out, but I think over time I'll improve. I have a pretty basic understanding of photoshop so I need to learn about some more brushes and techniques from my friend. When I'm done with all the backgrounds I'm sure I'll also go back and edit some of them a little.

More to come as always :)

loss

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Myung) — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 03:49:00 +0000

"Loss" 4/08/12

I haven't done a full digital painting in a while, or at least it seems like it's been a while...

TO ALIEVIATE THIS, I painting...digitally. I was a bit inspired by a lot of Satoshi Kon's artwork and I've been in a weird mood lately, due to a ton of different reasons, so it resulted in this sort of moody portrait. I think at this point, any picture of a woman that I draw ends up being the mom from my film haha. This is not a bad thing, however.

Man... I wanna do another one now...

back on track

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Myung) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 19:44:00 +0000

So, as promised, I'm back with some layouts! The next step for these little B's is to get scanned and colored but again, I'm scared to take that next step. For now I'm just going to get most of the rough layouts done before I start actually coloring any of them.

I'm almost done with the first main act of the film, and I'll soon be moving on to the really difficult shots of the city. I wish I had paid more attention in perspective class b/c it's growing increasingly difficult to make these backgrounds. MY BRAIN CAN SEE IT BUT MY HANDS NO CAN DRAW IT! GAH!

The biggest challenge I'll have to over come is showing scale. I've always found I struggle with showing proper size relationships between people and their surroundings, so I'm studying a lot of different films and shows to see if there are any tricks that I can borrow. It's allllll about finesse...

Everything looks better in blue pencil.

end of break! or: work begins again!

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Myung) — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 03:34:00 +0000

I took a little bit of a break from posts due to work getting busy and I was also having a bit of a creative slump. I think I'm nervous now that the pre-production work is all over: taking that next step into actual animation is actually quite terrifying. It's terrifying because it's really time consuming to redo scenes in animation if they don't come out the way you want them at first, and I'm afraid of making mistakes.

However, with that said, I will be posting again shortly! Hurrah! I've started getting back into the groove of things (i.e. made a production schedule, started layouts etc) so I'm excited to share with you again once more.

I'm still here

fashion in animation

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Myung) — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 01:19:00 +0000

I really love fashion. Let me just put that out there. I don't think I have the best sense of style, and I don't follow all the designers very closely but I really love someone with spot on style. Trendy, Classic, Urban, Casual, Preppy, I love it all! Like I said, I'm not the most fashionable person, but I'm so happy to be welcomed into the chaotic fashion industry that I sort of fumbled into for my day job.

Due to my infatuation with this form of design, I really want to incorporate interesting fashion into Arrival. In no way am I setting out to create this ground breaking collection of pieces, however. I really want to use the characters' clothing as an expression of seasons changing, and I think it would add a new layer to the protagonist's personalities. What I AM setting out to do however, is create a collection of outfits that seamlessly flow into each other- specifically with color. My theory is that it'll help pull the numerous time jumps together a little bit more, and the viewer wont feel as disoriented when the scene changes.

You other animators out there are probably laughing at me b/c of the detail in these outfits. You're probably thinking "YOU FOOL. TOO MUCH DETAIL. THE ANIMATION WILL KILL YOU." However, I HAVE A TRUMP CARD MY FRIEND. That trump card is the simple and weird fact that I absolutely LOVE to animate clothing (see almost every other post where I go on and on about it).

Even if you don't like the outfits, I hope you can get wrapped up in the story that will be presented as well :)

the boards

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Myung) — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 03:14:00 +0000

I'VE FINALLY COMPLETED MY STORYBOARDS!! The story is finally complete and in a place that I'm happy with! Of course there's a COUPLE of small edits I have to go back and do, and I'm sure I'll find some more revisions to make once I've made the animatic. However, I think it's safe to say the story is LOCKED! I've scanned some of the boards here for you to see without giving away anything.

(Obviously I've only picked out the ones I like since I don't want you to see the ones that look like dirt.)

From here on, the next step will be a final animatic, the layouts then animation! not many steps, BUT SUCH A LONG WAY TO GO!

I WILL finish this film. It means everything to me...

memories in shadow

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Myung) — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 15:12:00 +0000

I recently had to have my computer fixed (for a billion and one reasons), but now that he's back to me I can share with you some of the work that I did during that time!

I started actually doing detailed drawings of some of the more complicated interiors- these three specifically are of the same room shot at different angles for one scene in the film. I absolutely love the contrast that natural lighting gives to films (ex. Maboroshi) and for this environment it's really important to the development of the mood.

A little bit of tweaking will probably be done before I actually do the final colored versions of these, especially since I might decide to draw them bigger-not sure. However, I hope that the somberness I'm trying to express reaches you!

hair toss

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Myung) — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 12:50:00 +0000

I really wanted to start off this post by saying "SO....blah blah blah..."

But then I realized how many posts of mine start off in such a way; this made me depressed.

THEREFORE I will start this way :) Here's another REALLY SHORT animation test I did for Arrival. I had actually finished it a while back but had some issues with After Effects. I wanted to have a background with it but I got lazy and just kept it as is (also all the backgrounds I made for it previously sucked).

I have a pretty long amount of time off of work ahead of me so I'll be working on Arrival and doing my best to finish up DYDIC? (FINALLY!!)

testing testing 1,2,3

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Myung) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 19:29:00 +0000

So, as promised here's a little treat for you! For the past couple of weeks I've been putting together some test animation for Arrival and I'm pretty pleased how it came out. It's not perfect, but I learned some good techniques about how to make it look like there's a lot more going on than there really is haha.

I was also going to have the clouds move left to right (or visa versa) but it actually ended up looking rather cheap and very boring. So instead I have the clouds pulling back slightly as the camera zooms in- also known as a "Dolly Zoom." It blurs reality every so slightly and it makes the background seem much more vast.

Basically the point of this was to see how detailed with the actual animation I could get, while finishing it within a reasonable amount of time. I have another, quicker set of animation to clean up as a test, but I'm going to take a bit of a break for the time being. Enjoy!

oh HI, I didn't see you there!

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Myung) — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 19:55:00 +0000

"OH HOHOHOHOHOHOOOOO"

SO! I'm still here hahaha. I haven't really posted in a month but there's a very good explanation for that, and you'll see why soon. Just hang in there for a bit longer while I finish everything up. Expect a new post by the end of the month :)

CIAO :D

two worlds

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Myung) — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 00:22:00 +0000

Two mood studies I did pretty quickly (obviously I still need a lot of work on my cityscapes...) Inspired by the awesome new BRAVE poster from Pixar. The top one is definitely stronger, but I'm not completely disappointed in how the other one came out. hope you like them!

vanilla and sand

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Myung) — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 18:06:00 +0000

So I've been away upstate for the past week, not thinking about anything but the kids I was working with, but I'm finally back in NYC! I recently saw this photo that had this really GORGEOUS sandy, vanilla color to it and I decided to just do a quick sketch using the same palette (perfect for summer!)

I really love the maturity that these colors lend to my style, since I'm normally all about BRIGHT, FUN, EYE POPPING, colors haha. I think I'll be utilizing these more in the future; the color experimentation continues onward! Let me know what you think!

5000 THANK YOU'S

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Myung) — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 00:11:00 +0000

I just really wanted to say THANK YOU SO MUCH for following my blog and finally allowing me to hit 5000 hits!

It may have taken me 3 long crazy years to even get here, but I made it. WE made it! Furthermore, while my blog might not be the coolest, most interesting, or by any means "the best" out there (as exemplified by the previous statement), I'm just so happy that you're all coming back and looking at my work from time to time, watching my shy little film evolve.

Thank you for sticking with me

Thank you for growing with me

Thank you for supporting me.

This film means so much to me, and while it may be a couple of years yet to its completion...

when Arrival is done it will be for you.

(you will be seeing these images again in the near future, unmasked and a little more confident)

city sunrise

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Myung) — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 16:29:00 +0000

I have often said that I would start doing more concept art for the city scenes in Arrival

Now, while this is true... DAMN SCENES IS HARD! :(

I've been looking at a lot of art work of cityscapes and I've decided that this will be my new main focus. SO, without further ado, here is the first one!

Oh dear lord it's so awful, but I was trying to focus on the lighting and color schemes, since I'm not entirely sure what kind of palette I wanted this particular section of the film to have (excuse). In the shot's defense... it looks pretty good as a thumbnail!

..... Small steps. Small steps.

perfect future

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Myung) — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 16:14:00 +0000

"...in a perfect future, I would lucky to be with you again, forever."

just a quick sketch before I hit the gym

color split

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Myung) — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 20:50:00 +0000

Again I'm just playing around with the colors here. Trying to better understand how colors might change depending on what kind of objects the light has to pass through (in this case a pink veil). I'm also, once again, just trying to figure out the logistics of field depth. It's hard! I found if you blur the wrong areas it can look like you're looking at something really really tiny, like a miniature set. I still have a lot to learn but these exercises are definitely helping. What do you think? :)

sketchbook tear

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Myung) — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 17:19:00 +0000

Just a little checklist I made for myself; It's been sitting above my computer for some time now. I have so much to learn about animation (and everything else), and I hope sharing this little reminder inspires you to learn more everyday! :)

beyond the veil

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Myung) — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 05:25:00 +0000

Wow, realized I hadn't done a new post in WAY too long. Thought I'd whip something up quickly for you all. I've been thinking about the cinematography of my film a bit more, recently. I finished the rough storyboards, but it's looking pretty plain so I've been looking at a number of music videos for some inspiration. A lot of really simple music videos have some great cinematography and lighting so I've been trying to study the depths of field: Where is the focus? Where are the shadows? What kind of forms and compositions do they make? Where do the shadows look LEAST appealing?

Now, whether or not these questions have been answered through this one sketch is subjective haha, but it was definitely a good learning experience. I learned what kind of colors make the picture look hokey and what colors make it look muddy. I really want my film to look as though it's been shot in real life, and hopefully this was a good step forward!

romantic McQueen

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Myung) — Thu, 12 May 2011 18:55:00 +0000

My favorite piece from the collection

I finally got an opportunity to check out the Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty installation at the Metropolitan Museum of Art today. First off let me just say, this exhibit is huge! I wasn't really expecting there to be so many pieces on display. Secondly, everyone who has the ability to should go and view this amazing collection of work. I had to get there when the museum opened just to beat the rush (even though by the time I left it was packed) but it was totally worth it. Each room is carefully curated into a very in depth (and yet somehow "tip of the iceberg") view of what it might be like to attend one of the late Alexander McQueen's shows.

Now, yeah, this is an animation blog- but I am OBSESSED with drapery and drawing clothing so I jumped on the chance to go see this. I've never felt so moved by fashion before; maybe it's because he's dead, or maybe it's because he's really just that much of a genius, but I found myself getting somewhat emotional looking at these pieces.

These are just a couple of sketches I did while I was there. It was a bit difficult since there were no benches and the lighting was dark. Also there was a good amount of ppl later on and my sketchbook didn't have a good backing to it (These are either really good explanations for any weird proportions, or really poor excuses for them just being awful). I might go back again soon to sketch once more and better prepare myself.

Again I suggest every animator, and illustrator for that matter, go and see this installation- you might walk away with more than you bargained for.

If any of you like the visuals from Tarsem's films,

you'll get a little teary eyed looking at some of these pieces.

Also as a small update- work on DYDIC? is moving along (slowly but surely) and Arrival is also finally in the animatic stages! The story boards were finished last week and now I'm doing my first rough cut. Stay tuned....