Lightsaber Choreography Competition VI

It's here, be sure to vote for your favorite entry!

These are my first impressions:
First Impressions (trying to keep these one sentence or so):

1st Entry - BruceM: Definite improvement. Keep at it and I think you'll really be able to make a quality entry.

2nd Entry - Darkpitaman: Alright. Pretty average. Nothing too memorable. Needed more time to practice to really make the moves pay out more smoothly.

3rd Entry - Demogoblin2: Couldn't watch it. It crapped out on my computer.

4th Entry - FSFilms # 1: White Masked Dudes = Putties from Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. Intense. Really enjoyed this. The sound editing could have been a bit better. 6:28 Amazing! Simply Amazing!

5th Entry - FSFilms # 2: Not as amazing as the other but pretty good for the time given. That ending was .... interesting.

6th Entry - Tim DeHaas *NON-TFN MEMBER: Cool setting but pretty generic fighting and kind of slow. Sound editing was off. Some of the sounds just didn't work with some of the strikes.

7th Entry - Jacob Landis-Eigsti *NON-TFN MEMBER: Strange opening. Cool idea with B&W with lightsabers. Don't appreciated the sped-upness of it though. Couldn't really make sense of it.

8th Entry - Ramsaur: Cinematography and Editing needed a lot of work.. The choreography didn't amaze me. It just seemed like it needed more practice.

9th Entry - ResidentOfEvil: 2:03. THE MAN WITH NO EYES! It was alright. The dueling with the apprentice should have been cut cause the only thing worth watching was the duel between the Jedi and Sith. Holy shoot I forgot what you looked like Laughing_Cheese.

10th Entry - Ryan_W & BrandonFlyte: Ryan ... that ending ... arghflagems. I can't talk about this right now. My feelings are hurt.

11th Entry - StickGuyProductions: It was really slow and the choreography was really simple and unexciting.

12th Entry - Whiteley79: 0:33 reminds me of Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix. Like the choreography but I think some of the cinematography takes away from it. There were elements that I liked but I can't say I enjoyed the duel in its entirety.

13th Entry - Tyson Benard *NON-TFN MEMBER: This as just alright. I really wasn't thrilled much at all.

I'LL MAKE FULL REVIEWS THREE AT A TIME WHENEVER I HAVE THE TIME.

Also, I had some fun with one of the entries:

Peace!

Pork & Beans

Ryan and Dorkman make an appearance at the end. Also, this is just a good video :)



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Ryan Wieber Interview

I believe we have to cover the obvious stuff first. How did you get involved in computer graphics? Did you receive any kind of formal education?

I never took any formal training in visual effects, I learned most of the basics on my own. It's something that I was always interested in, so when I was young and finally got a computer that could do that sort of thing, I became immersed in it. I think my parents were concerned that I spent too much time on the computer. I filmed a lot of tests with my camera in the back yard and followed tutorials online, or just experimented on my own, and soon had a home-made reel of goofy effects tests I showed around at school. They look very simple and silly now, but I was teaching myself the basics, and I attribute my fundamental skills to those kinds of tests. Nowadays, I learn and grow on the job, which I think is similar in that it's real world experience.

Browsing your IMDB page, I see you have an impressive portfolio. One thing I noticed is that you are often (if not always) credited as digital compositor. Of all the different fields in computer animation (meaning everything from modeling to finishing), why did you choose to become a compositor?

Well, as an artist who does not (as of yet) possess skills with a 3D program, everything else kind of falls into the category of "compositing". It's the final stage of visual effects, where all the pieces come together and receive the final treatment to become a finished shot. I think that's where the most fun is, for me. And it encompasses all sorts of things. For example, working on Heroes, one day I might be doing a virtual backdrop which the audience is not even meant to notice is an effect, and the next day I might be doing big bold electricity power effects. It's a great variety and I get to flex (or try to build up) many different muscles (so to speak) as a compositor.

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