Unfinished project_part3

I know tonight is an Oscar night. But I don't have basic cable to watch it ....so.....here we go:)!
Unfinished project part3! It will be interesting to see how many more parts I have.:)

This is called "Vet Pepper", which is about a girl vet who has a headless chicken and a coyote as her sidekicks/nurses. They have a magic bath tub which allows them to give  door to door service.

This is a concept drawing for the sample story where they must cure the kid-mole who has unusually bright vision. no offense to any moles....:)

Unfinished project_Part2

Because, I don't have anything to blog about today...Let's talk about "Suicidals":)

This is my personal project, so you can see the style is more personal and more "nikiishi":)

It's a story about a dog and a girl who very much would like to kill themselves. Believe it or not it's a comedy!:) Don't worry, they never succeed with their attempts.

Here are some backgrounds.

I even made a test sc! I guess I was very pumped up about this! but look at the date,I made this on 12/20/09.....this makes me so saaaaad.....

Suicidals from Nikiyang on Vimeo.

Hiking

When your head  has  full of thoughts,

Hiking is the best cure.

Unfinished project_part1

I have done an unbelievable amount of unfinished projects in my life. One example, As you may have noticed, my interview project has quietly vanished.:)

I decided to give a little spotlight to those projects which have stayed in my drawers for years. Some were created with the purpose of pitching to a network, some were born just for the fun of it-to make a short. As you all understand, making an animated short is very challenging.Because of the requirement of an incredible amount of labor and time which is my lame excuse.:)....... One day, I shall make them!!

O.K-the first one is a story about a sister and her ten brothers who got cursed and were turned into ten Alligators. She must solve the riddle of this curse in order to turn her brothers back to normal. Sounds familier? yes-It is loosely based on an Andersen's fable.
Ummm.. It could be an animator's nightmare. Ten Alligators!:) The rainbowy flying fish-owl above, is her guardian.

I think I created the story to pitch to Frederator for their feature projects. I don't remember if I pitched this to them or not. 

P.s:If you find any interest in some of these unfinished projects-please let me know. I will finish them, if you invest in me!:)

Voiceover

People says that once you cast the right actor, 90 percent of your job as a director is done.
I've truly experienced that quote and had a blast of a time. Actors are such  fascinating creatures. They  surprise me every time on sets with their hidden rabbits underneath of their tophats. I heart them.

I experimented with editing this time and I hope the emotion of this character came across in 1 minute and 30 seconds......


Ucla_voiceover film from Nikiyang on Vimeo.

Guy: Sol Mason

Director: Niki yang
D.p: Terry Lawyer

Character study

Yes, I am still taking the directing workshop at UCLA, learning more about filmmaking and enjoying my time fully. This first assignment of the second semester made us focus on characters. We are only allowed to cast one character and study this character's inner world. I came from an art background so I tend to focus on composition and cut way too much:) True, it is important to think about the "languge" of film. But I fully understand the intention of this assignment. What makes great films are not great stories, certainly not great looks-it's great characters.....wait, I guess if you can pull all those things together, it would be ideal.:)

I had the pleasure to work again with the amazing talent Marry Walls.
Terry Lawyer was my D.p and Rus is always a great help.


Ucla_Character film from Nikiyang on Vimeo.

I recently watched Sophia Coppola's "Somewhere"which is a great example of a character film-and  I loved it.- You learned about this character  inside-out in 2 hours. I guess the issue is if you would care for this character or not. In my opinion, "Stephen Dorff"'s character was very believable. What kinds of lives would Coppola know the best? -Celebrities. If she made her movie with some dirty down 50 year old alcoholic characters, I wouldn't buy it. The long tracking sc of Dorff wearing a white plastic mold which covered his whole face was very powerful. That showed who this person clearly is without babling dialogue. He was a faceless, nobody.

I even loved all the shot choices- how simple and steady they were!they made us focus only on the characters. I should shed my "artistic side" off more:) It will take time but in meantime, I will console myself  with what Alexander Mackendrick wrote:
" It's a sound rule: as a beginner you are advised to experiment-if only to 'get it out of your system' and appreciate the value of simplicity."

Whewwww---I talked a lot:)

Piper

I FINISHED!!!!

This is my first family book project. The talented Angela Brutsche wrote and I did the doodle part.
I wanted to finish it before I go back to work, so the drawings are very simple...Is this too simple??
I can't tell you about the story but it's a horror!:) It will be fully colored and 27 pages and  we will self-publish.

I will update when they are available online!:)