...Wow.

I haven't updated in so long. How embarrassing. XD

For the most part, my thesis is due April 7th (hope that's a lucky number for me). However my thesis teacher wants to see it first on Monday. That gives me four days to complete my thesis. That also gives me two extra days to tweak my piece till Wednesday. I still have animation to do and all of that keying and compositing to do; not to mention sound. It looks more hectic than it sounds or that's what I hope at least.

Wish me luck!

Side Project: Female Sculpture

Clay sculpture I modeled in David Cortez's class/SVA.

Female Sculpture from Jason Hata on Vimeo.

My attempt at a stop motion turn table.

Demo Reel

Hata's Demo Reel from Jason Hata on Vimeo.

Last year's reel, but still holds all more computer art work. Hopefully, I can compile a reel of my clay animation.

Thesis script

For the longest time, I've been trying to find a way for viewers to "enjoy the ride", while they watch my animation. I can't have a song, because it'll be too distracting. The characters can't be silent, because some people don't know about the Japanese evacuation. I can't just have music, because I don't have any good tunes that fit. Plus I do want people to learn from this story. So I decided to just tell the story myself. Hopefully, there can be music in the background, but this is the best I can come up with. I feel this is the best way to do it anyway. The two things I want to show the world are my story telling and clay figures.

When it comes to the ending, I didn't really want anything to be said. Seeing the family before the train is said enough. But I will recite a poem I wrote when the little soldier boy helps out my family:



Out of all the evil she faced during the evacuation
Out of all that was lost
She stood there at the train station
Until she heard something being tossed

A little soldier boy gave up his possession
He gave up his rations, just so that others may survive
My grandmother had never seen such compassion
These are truly the things that will keep us alive

She started to look around
For the little soldier boy she never knew
But he was too far to chase down
So Yuri called out and said “Thank you!”

Welcome to the Yano Family

Not only did I make Grandma's older and younger sister, but I decided to re-paint the figures. My thesis is serious and realistic enough. I want to remind people this is art too. The intricate paint detail is a homage to Yoshitaka Amano's art style. I've always wanted to incorporate his essence into my piece, but he only does 2D work. I finally found a way to express that essence.

Also, because color is a major motif in my piece, I wanted to make sure each individual had a different color to them. The father wears mostly black and gray to evoke 'mourning'. Out of everyone in the family, he loses the most. The mother wears green garb to represent nature/life/health. Despite the events taking part in my piece, she tries to create "harmony" amongst the family. The elder sister wears blue and because I'm going to have her carry a baby with her, you can catch the biblical reference. The youngest sister wears all yellow, to promote happiness and joy, especailly since she's still just a child. But the main thing I wanted to point out is the yellow bow she wears. Yellow bows were worn as a sign of hope (And usually worn by women waiting for their men to come back from war, and we still see that today).

Yuri wears purple simply because it's my grandmother's favorite color. :) Purple combines red which is a very warm color and blue which is the coolest color. You see both of Yuri's faces during the story. She's rebellious, strong, hot and ill tempered; but when effected by the evacuation, you see her blue, upset side.





Just a bit of trivia, the three Yano sisters are named after flowers. The eldest sister is Sakura (Cherry Blossoms), my grandmother's middle name is Lily, and the youngest sister is Rose.



I also remodeled the father so that he looks younger. All the photographs that Grandma had of her father were probably after the camps.

*Side Project: Clay Figures

Mostly focusing on my Senior Thesis, I neglected to stick to my roots. I've been making 1-inch clay figures for the past 12 years now and lately I've been too busy to make any more. I haven't made a little clay figure in about a year, so I took a break.

Here's the latest clay figures. I really should post my entire collection, but I'm too lazy. larks

The third time making Jill Valentine from Resident Evil. And a Zombie to go along with her.

Great Grandmother has been added

I decided to do the rest of Grandma's family. I was going to make them before, but I've decided to incorperate them into the story. I wanted to keep the stop simple by only making it about the father and daughter relationship. However, I feel this'll make an even stronger emphasis on family values and what each of them lost. It's also good to show that Yuri is the rebel in the family by comparing her to her two sisters.

This is Yuri's mother. She was effected by the loss of her fine china that she had for a long time and valued them very much. Her jewelery were also taken. I gave her a green dress just for the sake of being able to easily pick her out in a crowd. Cause all of us asians look the same. Hopefully, I'll have enough time to squeeze in her story as well as Yuri's two sisters.



Just for kicks, here's my set up. This is what my room looks like clean.