Welcome to Daim Dziauddin's big wall of nice thoughts.
I animate, I draw, and sometimes I write nonsensical stories.

a gift for me? thank you!
~this is rather timely~
Sunday 31 January 2010

This post is dedicated to Konstantin Vernikovskiy from USA, who went out his way to give me a bunch of awesome gifts, in the form of fanarts! Fanarts of what, you say? Why... Death, Kitty & the Fat Man, of course!

I think everyone should get to see these crazy scribbles he made for me. Firstly, because they're really cool. And secondly, because it would be a shame if no one else were to see these. So here they are. Enjoy. :)

Death looking rather badass than usual. His rolled up sleeve is a nice touch, and his pose is just awesome. I think black and white works really well for him

And here's Kitty in a... black dress! Oh my~

I'm surprised that I'm still getting mails about my Death Kitty animation, which is almost 4 years old now. Thank you to all fans who keep giving me positive feedback over the years. It makes me happy to know that people find joy in my work. :)

And of course, a big thank you to Konstantin. :D
Please enjoy this page, because your drawings are stupendously great. ;)
Thanks, dude!

Konstantin's gallery - [link]

daimation 4.0 ahoy!
~it's not much of a change. please don't be angry~
Monday 25 January 2010

I've made some improvements over at the gallery section. Once you click on a specific artwork, you can see it has a spiffy new thumbnail navigation menu!
On the right side! Say hello to fun-clicking adventure!

I know it's just a minor upgrade, but I'm happy with it. Cuz it took me the whole day to implement that.

Anyway, I've (finally) updated the gallery with my past drawings. They're not really new, but at least they come with my splendid commentaries now. :) Enjoy.

Rock on 2010~

about myself
Tuesday 5 January 2010

This entry is about myself. I think a lot of people don't really know what I like and don't like. Being an animator, most people assumed that I love animation. I do, but not to the extent of "holy shit guys I just found this animated short that you must see!" territory. I'll best explain myself.

I have 3 passions in life. That is:

1. music
2. story-telling
3. art

Music will always be the one thing that drives me. It drives me to live, really! Without it, I would not function properly in this world. As my mom would say, "Life without music would be a mistake". After music, then comes story, then art.

These 3 points will arc through everything that I do. As a career, I might try music, but I'm not talented enough to write my own songs. At best, I could just duplicate them. I would be a story-writer, and that is in fact one of my ultimate goals. But I don't have any current training on it. So I just write simple stories in my head and put them on my drawings. So what am I left with?
Voila... that's why I'm an animator. :)

This is why I love movies so much, because it has all the three best elements that I care for. So when I'm watching a movie, I will enjoy them through music, to story, to visual. What is important is that these 3 will compliment each other, and this creates emotion. Emotion needs a good balance of music, story-telling and visual. Emotion is what separates the great movies from the good ones!

My problem with most animated movies and shorts is that they rely too much on visual. I personally believe that animation has a huge potential to tell a compelling story, but most people are using it to show visuals first, then story and music second. Nothing wrong with that at all, because hey... it's animation! Of course we want to show off our crazy artsy imagination! But at the end of the day, as important as visuals are (and they are important), story will always be the core element of a movie.

Maybe some would disagree with me on that.
So here's my example on the 2 extremes:

[ If you take a movie with awesome visuals and an empty plot, you get Michael Bay's Transformers and The Phantom Menace ]

[ If you take a movie with boring visuals and an enganging story, you get 12 Angry Men ]

This movie is literally just shot in one room with 12 men. But look at how it's directed and tell me if that's not brilliant. This is a scene where one of the juries showed his true colours by passing judgement through prejudice. It takes a damn good story to keep your attention on a single room for 2 hours straight.

Now I'm not saying that all animation should be heavy-handed like some award-winning drama. I just want more emotion. More than just, "oooooh that's cool." More weight than just a pretty picture.

Fortunately, some animation do have these. Here are some of my favourites:

Boundin'

Still regarded by me as Pixar's best animated short (by a margin so HUGE that it is in a league of its own), Boundin' is a perfect example of a good story + good music + good animation + good message + practically everything else. While Pixar's other shorts rely mainly on gags, Boundin' took a different route and decide to present itself as a heartwarming tale told with a touch of folk music. The sheer perfection of this short always put a smile on my face in the end. ^________^

The Prince of Egypt
 
This is one of my absolute favourite musical scenes in any animation. It's relatively short and simple, but there is so much emotion poured into this scene. This is the breaking point of the hero's story, from his carefree life as a prince to the shattering realisation of his past. You can feel that he tries his best to sing with pride of his family, but at the same time there is a feeling of denial in him, and the fear to know the real truth.

Millenium Actress

A very beautiful sequence visually and emotionally, this is the highest point of the film, in a sense that it is the most uplifiting moment for the heroine to pursue her lifelong goal. You can't help but feel empowered by her determination.

The Iron Giant (ENDING SPOILERS!)

There's not much that is needed to be said about this scene. It gets to me everytime the giant says, "Supermaaan." Goes to show you can invest a lot of emotion into an animated robot if you do it right.

The Plague Dogs (WARNING: video contains animated blood)

Agreed by most viewers to the advice "don't watch this film if you are a dog lover ", Plague Dogs deals with a very heavy message on animal cruelty. This movie is about two lab dogs that were experimented upon and their struggle to escape for freedom. The voice actors did such a great job that you will feel utterly sympathetic to the dogs right until the powerful ending.

So, yeah... there are some great ones out there, but not as many as I hoped. I think the problem is that most people perceive animation as a genre, when it is not. It is just another means of telling a story. So as long as animation is treated as nothing more than just a visual treat, then I just have to accept that I am not its intended audience and find my satisfaction elsewhere.

But... if we are strictly talking about commercials, game openings and trailers, then I still enjoy those very much (since they are rarely about story and more about eye-candy, music and good editing). :D

Well, that's all I have to say about myself. Thanks for reading!
I made this entry as a response to my bro and couz, Dzaid and Hazmer, who were surprisingly shocked when I told them I wasn't quite into animation.
I hope this clears everything up. 8-)

Ohyeah... it's already 2010. Happy new year to all. :D
My resolution this year is to draw more and eat less junk.

I love Uniqlock

They go to France!

And they dance!