Sunday, October 30, 2011

Cyclops


I took a digital sculpture class during my junior year at SAIC.  Here we were introduced to various digital programs where modeling could be done.  We learned Rhino, Google SketchUp, Google Earth, Second Life and ZBrush.

I had created a family of Cyclops in my sketchbook one day and decided to model them digitally.
I used Maya to model all the Cyclops except “Lxrtqs7” which was created in Second Life.
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Aymch25, DnmxL20, Rptxs19

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Dnlp124, Mshpv2, Odmld37, Zmpqs27

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Cwlnz14, Lxrtqs7, Elqmn33

Copyright Danielle Albert 2012

Friday, October 21, 2011

It's Raining on Clarence


During the winter of 2008 to early 2009, I spent my days creating puppets for my upcoming animation I would be doing in my Puppet Animation Independent Study Class.

Clarence (2.5' x 1', Skeleton:cardboard, wire, epoxy joints.  Outer:floral foam, fabric, acrylic paint)

Umbrella (6" x 4", wood, fabric, clay, acrylic paint)
 
I had come up with an ironic thought early in my education involving a tree with no leaves that just wanted to be shielded from the rain.  What would be the perfect shelter from the rain? An umbrella!

It’s Raining on Clarence is an animation about Clarence, a tree, who asks his poor, broken-footed friend to help him get out of the rain.  This animation is done in all stop-motion techniques with an original Foley soundtrack.




Copyright Danielle Albert 2012

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Like a Fat Kid in Kickball...

Did you know that I was once a DJ? Welp, I was!  My junior year of college, I had my own radio show where I would play oldies during the first half hour.  I would then have a five minute talk called Tourist Rants where I would basically talk about the annoyances for the week.  The second half of the show was dedicated to some Broadway musicals.

Yeah, I am a nerd. I cannot help it.

I would end my show with the phrase, "Welp, it is that time of day.  Like a fat kid in kickball, I'm out!"
Hence, the title of the radio show.

Copyright Danielle Albert 2012

The School.

My school had a contest to showcase The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in a quick video.  I decided to ask the students, "What S.A.I.C. meant to them?"  After receiving their thoughts, I compiled them to make a narration that was voiced over an original animation.


Copyright Danielle Albert 2012

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Bright and Sunny.

Today my friend sent me one of the greatest texts in the world.
It read, “…I’ve already noticed a bright and sunny quality to you!...”

This made me so happy!

My roll as a Christian is to show God’s love. I don’t want to force Jesus down anyone’s throat but I want people to notice that there is something different about me. 

I show His love through my spirit.  I show it through my constant smile.  I show it through my positive contentment in life.  I want people to see my bright, sunny personality and just feel God’s love out poured from that.

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Copyright Danielle Albert 2012

It Sucks to be that Teabag

In the spring of 2010, I took a Maya animation class.  It was a very basic introduction class allowing us students to get used to the Maya program.  During this time, I was getting just getting into putting my music to animation.  This was the first time I screened to people I did not know.  They loved it!



Copyright Danielle Albert 2012

Friday, October 14, 2011

The Magic Boat

From June 2010 through May 2011, I was part of an independent studio here in Chicago called Colorphony Creations.  Here, I was part of a project called The Magic Boat, a children's puppet show.  My role on this webisode series was Animator, Prop Maker, Set Designer, Editor, Foley Artist, and Co-creator.

These puppets were created by me for the introduction of the show.  They are stop-motion puppets ranging from three inches to seven inches in height.  Each puppet is structured with a metal skeleton with working joints.  Their bodies are carved from upholstery foam and dressed with fabric.

Fin and Shep Crow Brothers
Brother Abbot, Rynan, and Cap'n Gown
Chef Otter, Caroline, and Brother Bear
These are the hand puppets used in the webisodes.  They are about two to three feet in height.  All are made from upholstery foam and fabric.

Rynan, Brother Bear, and Brother Abbot

Cap'n Gown, Chef Otter, Caroline

Shep and Fin Crow Brothers
In early 2011, The Magic Boat received a grant to perform live shows in the park of Wicker Park.  I was part of the set design and prop making department. 
Shep, Brother Bear, Cap'n Gown, and Brother Abbot

Bee Costume, Part of Set, Boot Prop


The Magic Boat Live Show

Here is one of the most current webisodes of The Magic Boat.  To view all the episodes, visit their website!
 
The Magic Boat - 01 The King Banana from Colorphony Creations on Vimeo

Copyright Danielle Albert 2012

Sunday, October 9, 2011

I Will Fill You In...

I figured maybe I should fill you in on my life besides that little poem I wrote.
I grew up in a creative family with artists, singers, and musicians.  I started singing real young and joined my first official choir in the third grade.  I found my love in theatre where I studied and performed in it until the end of high school.  There was a time where I wanted to go to college for acting but come junior year of high school I realized I loved making the props and set more than the actually acting side of theatre.  I started taking art classes then and found my love in that.

I took a college visit to The School of the Art Institute of Chicago summer of 2005.  I got to stay in their dorms and go through a nice orientation to understand The School.  To check in for the weekend, we needed to go to the 17th floor (the top floor; a quarter of a city block) studio in the dorm located in the heart of downtown Chicago.  When I stepped off that elevator and opened the doors, I knew this was where I needed to be.

I got accepted a few months later and I cried.
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At S.A.I.C., I started my education with film and video.  I realized editing was what I loved mostly about that process.  I finally took animation classes come my second year where I studied traditional, stop-motion/puppet, and 3D computer animation.  During this, I would take random sculpture classes to give myself a break from the tedious job of animating.  I have always loved sculpting and mix-media art so it is understandable why puppet /stop-motion animation became my real passion.  There is nothing more fun than making puppets and sets for a stop-motion film.

Sometimes I would even just build tiny sets and never end up animating them.  I enjoy it that much.  I also found that creating my own Foley sound effects was a joy of mine too.  All my films have original sound effects created by mixing and creating Foley.

My last year at The School I finally intertwined my singing with my animations.  My senior year B.F.A. thesis animation was an 11-minute stop-motion film with an original song in the credits.

And From the Glass the Flowers Grow
And From the Glass the Flowers Grow (Abridged Music Video)


Copyright Danielle Albert 2012

girl in the corner.


In October 2006, I created this sculpture entitled "girl in the corner."  It was created in response to the reaction of my mom being diagnosed with cancer. 



I then wrote a poem to go along with the piece which is written below. 

girl in the corner.

a porcelain girl shattered in the heart
that was deeply wounded and pulled apart
from the comfort she had before that day
that made her sunrise turn gray

now worry sadness mixed with fear
floods her body with every last tear
the pain she feels, a punch of nails
scrape and destroy her body so frail

she hunches over low to the ground
escaping any person, any sound
her broken figure stays in the corner
hiding from the misery that mourned her

the blood she pours carries pain
that leaves a trail, a crimson stain
the comfort that made her sunrise turn gray
will slowly come back yet another day

that porcelain girl still pulled apart
will await in her corner with a broken heart











I made this poem into lyrics and wrote my first ever original song.  I then created this music video.


Copyright Danielle Albert 2012

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Dear Pixar


My most recent song I have written is titled "Dear Pixar"; a song humorously asking Pixar to hire me.  It got pretty popular and was even featured on The Pixar Times blog!  I was thrilled! To see the video on the blog, click here!



 
Copyright Danielle Albert 2012

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Take a peek...

As of May two thousand and ten…   
My schooling came to an end.

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is where I got my degree…
Bachelor of Fine Arts is what my diploma reads.

I found my love in animation, stop-motion to be quite right…
I love to make the puppets, sets, props and the like.

There is something quite exciting to see…
The puppets come to life after animating.

Now I can sit in front of a computer screen…
And edit, edit, edit until my eyes bleed.

Now don’t forget foley, which I also enjoy much…
I’ll create an awesome sound effect with celery and such.

I am also a singer/songwriter who plays guitar and ukulele…
My songs are little jingles inspired by the fifties.

And when you listen to my catchy little songs…
Inside your head it will get stuck and you’ll be singing along!

So take a peek inside my soul, my head, and my heart…
And take a peek inside this blog containing all my art!


Copyright Danielle Albert 2012