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aimeekittyI would love to stop coughing up brains. DO NOT WANT.
that meme where people do five things or something! from darth_teca. :)
I'm not tagging anyone! sorry!
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I drew since I was a little kid and always loved cartoons. When I was 9, I created elaborate comics about Chip N Dale Rescue Rangers. I also drew paper dolls... basically Gadget's head on a human body with a huge Cinderella dress. HA!
When I was about 11, Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" came out. I'd loved "The Little Mermaid", but something about "Beauty and the Beast" really hit me. I'd always been a huge fan of fairy tales... but I loved the smart quality of Disney's Belle and I loved the visual power of the Beast. This was the first time when I saw any sort of information about animation being created BY PEOPLE. I guess I just sort of assumed that it magically came out of the ether. They showed "The Making of Beauty and the Beast" on TV and interviewed Glen Keane, and oh dear,... that was that. I decided right then that I would be an animator (specifically I wanted to be a feature animator at Disney), and stayed true to that dream for years...
I researched what one had to do, and tried to do that. I got into Calarts right after highschool and focused almost entirely on feature-style character animation. I found storyboarding and other parts of animation hard and not as much fun......
... and then my junior year in college... Disney decided they didn't want to do 2-D animation anymore and fired 99% of their staff. I was crushed. I tried 3d animation multiple times (in fact, I taught myself 3d animation in highschool),.... but I've never enjoyed it like I enjoy the rush of rough animation in 2d... so I gave 3d up. Instead I was lucky enough to get some jobs doing character layout and storyboard revision work at various TV studios. Eventually I learned animation timing and full storyboards (thanks to Disney TV and Rough Draft Studios) giving me the skills to attempt Assistant Directing, which is my current job. I think it's kind of funny that I'm doing exactly what I thought I WOULDN'T be doing in animation, and honestly, I'm enjoying it greatly. I've learned so very much. (Oh my god, I still have so much to learn. EEK!)
On the side, also, completely by accident, I've started making my own books. I enjoy THAT so very much! This really is something that I could have never anticipated. So I guess really what I've learned is that you can't truly know what the best thing for you is, and you have to always be open to opportunities. Just keep trying and keep learning.
... I still see great animation and get shivers down my spine, and still, creating anything animation related.... its such a challenge and a joy. I'm absolutely fascinated by all it's aspects!
------------------------
It's a self-deprecating joke about us involving COWS. :D
Anyway, HCC is the costuming group that I've been a part of for at least 5 years. We grew out of the group "One Ring Circus" (which did several dancing Lord of the Rings skits together.) We all knew each other from anime costuming.
I first met Judy while attending one of her anime costuming how-to panels at a convention and I was awed with her skill. I later joined her ORC group... and over the next two years it just kind of organically became Me, Judy, AJ, Char and Cheryll. They taught me most of what I know about costuming and sewing.
It's really just a matter of all of us being good friends and having like-minded ideas about what we'd like to costume and enjoying costuming together. Nothing exciting! AJ, Judy and Cheryll live in northern CA, Char in TX and me in Southern CA. We get together whenever we can. Despite the distance, I consider them to be some of my closest friends, and I depend on their support and advice. They are sweet, intelligent and true people. I really think they have helped me to become a better person over the past 4 years.
I have other strong true friends through costuming, fashion and fandom communities, too! but you asked about HCC. :)
------------------------
Some fun clips from Elisabeth:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-psJZkXJtGU (it starts getting really neat about :54 in)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laTrt0vGSK8
A nice clip reel from Rose of Versailles:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXOpvu5nRjo
an then you have Takarazuka Revue:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_61r4W9pg4
Takarazuka is the all-female musical theater troupe in Japan. wiki article. They preform musicals based on folklore, manga, traditional broadway musicals and more. AJ introduced me to Takarazuka sometime in 2004, I think. She showed me the 2001 performance of Rose of Versailles (based on the anime/manga of the same name.) I couldn't understand a word of it, as it was all in Japanese, but I cried my little heart out anyway. We then ended up traveling to Japan together to watch it performed and then cosplayed three or four separate groups from Takarazuka,... which is actually a big chunk of our group cosplays. I will probably never spend as much time or money on a costume as I did my Marie Antoinette Rose of Versailles costume
Due to my lack of language skills and just lack of time, I don't really keep up with Takarazuka as much as many fans do, I just watch the occasional favorite... but those favorites, I adore.
Takarazuka has given me a greater admiration of :
- rhinestones
- beautiful women dressed as beautiful men
- musicals in general
- the amusement factor of costumes so tacky that they become awesome
Regarding cosplaying Der Tod (Death) from Takarazuka's version of the Austrian musical, Elisabeth... that was the first time I crossplayed, or even considered it really. I've always thought of myself as too hippy, too girly,... and really just not assertive enough to cosplay as a strong
male character. I think costuming Der Tod was a bit of an eye-opening thing for me. It's "OK" for me to be tall when I'm cosplaying as a guy, isn't it? It's nice to have something where my height isn't a liability.
Don't get me wrong, it's not that I want to be a guy, or that I want to dress like a guy all the time. But dressing like a powerful, dark (but pretty) male character is well... empowering! Kinda like a Paula Abdul powersuit.
Judy says it's just because I like to costume where I get to be a pimp and mac on all my girlfriends, which is probably also true. :X what can I say, I'm a goofball.
------------------------
AJ and Judy had been trying to get me to watch it for a while and I kept putting it off, but I was spending the night at their apartment while working on costumes one time... and they forced me to watch Girl In the Fireplace, which has 18th century ball gowns,... which I'm a sucker for. I'm also a notorious sap. I was trapped. The next morning, I had to drive home, but I didn't have to leave at a particular time. After AJ and Judy left for work, I watched like 5 episodes of Doctor Who. (the first series)
As clarification, I'm mostly a fan of "NEW" Who. (Starting with the 9th Doctor) I have seen some of the classic series and plan to watch more, though.
I love SMART heroes who are slightly tortured (like Sherlock Holmes) and I love witty dialogue (like Firefly) and I love history and fantasy,... and I love romance. Doctor Who has this for me, and does it in a really fun way. Also, what's not to love about a "hero" who runs around time and space in a pinstriped suit, chucks and geek glasses spouting things like "Allonsy!"
Perhaps the biggest draw for me though is some of the overall themes of the show. That an average human can do incredible things... and just in general the feeling of joy de vivre. Life can be FANTASTIC and we can do AMAZING things.
to that effect, I leave you with rhoboat's fanvid, GLORIOUS, mind it has some spoilers up to s.4. However, if you've never watched ANY Doctor Who, you can watch about a 2:15 imho in without really spoiling anything for yourself and it gives you a nice feeling! :)
------------------------
Lolita fashion, ie... nothing to do with the novel or young girls dressing sexy to lure an older man. It's a Japanese fashion genre with poofy skirts covered in lace and confection. For me, Lolita fashion is basically a fun fantasy. It's complete whimsy. It's like what you could imagine when you were a little girl, but never existed.
Because of my height (and I grew very tall at a young age), I outgrew young girl fashion very quickly. You know those jelly shoes everyone wore? I could never wear them! And then people in general just gave me the feeling that I was "not cute" because I was so tall. That I was intimidating and such... but my feeling inside was "oh... I really want a pink skirt with candy on it." And yeah, due to my height, some of it does look a bit ridiculous on me, but I love it anyway. I've never treated it as a full wardrobe choice, it's more of a occasionally I want to be a giant cupcake sort of thing.
Lately, I've been cutting back,... and I've been gravitating more towards mixing "lolita" items with my "normal" clothing... (ie, a bit more like KERA and less like the Gothic and Lolita Bible...). but I still like to admire the outlandish super sweet stuff.
------------------------
that meme where people do five things or something! from darth_teca. :)
I'm not tagging anyone! sorry!
------------------------
Animation
I drew since I was a little kid and always loved cartoons. When I was 9, I created elaborate comics about Chip N Dale Rescue Rangers. I also drew paper dolls... basically Gadget's head on a human body with a huge Cinderella dress. HA!
When I was about 11, Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" came out. I'd loved "The Little Mermaid", but something about "Beauty and the Beast" really hit me. I'd always been a huge fan of fairy tales... but I loved the smart quality of Disney's Belle and I loved the visual power of the Beast. This was the first time when I saw any sort of information about animation being created BY PEOPLE. I guess I just sort of assumed that it magically came out of the ether. They showed "The Making of Beauty and the Beast" on TV and interviewed Glen Keane, and oh dear,... that was that. I decided right then that I would be an animator (specifically I wanted to be a feature animator at Disney), and stayed true to that dream for years...
I researched what one had to do, and tried to do that. I got into Calarts right after highschool and focused almost entirely on feature-style character animation. I found storyboarding and other parts of animation hard and not as much fun......
... and then my junior year in college... Disney decided they didn't want to do 2-D animation anymore and fired 99% of their staff. I was crushed. I tried 3d animation multiple times (in fact, I taught myself 3d animation in highschool),.... but I've never enjoyed it like I enjoy the rush of rough animation in 2d... so I gave 3d up. Instead I was lucky enough to get some jobs doing character layout and storyboard revision work at various TV studios. Eventually I learned animation timing and full storyboards (thanks to Disney TV and Rough Draft Studios) giving me the skills to attempt Assistant Directing, which is my current job. I think it's kind of funny that I'm doing exactly what I thought I WOULDN'T be doing in animation, and honestly, I'm enjoying it greatly. I've learned so very much. (Oh my god, I still have so much to learn. EEK!)
On the side, also, completely by accident, I've started making my own books. I enjoy THAT so very much! This really is something that I could have never anticipated. So I guess really what I've learned is that you can't truly know what the best thing for you is, and you have to always be open to opportunities. Just keep trying and keep learning.
... I still see great animation and get shivers down my spine, and still, creating anything animation related.... its such a challenge and a joy. I'm absolutely fascinated by all it's aspects!
------------------------
HCC
It's a self-deprecating joke about us involving COWS. :D
Anyway, HCC is the costuming group that I've been a part of for at least 5 years. We grew out of the group "One Ring Circus" (which did several dancing Lord of the Rings skits together.) We all knew each other from anime costuming.
I first met Judy while attending one of her anime costuming how-to panels at a convention and I was awed with her skill. I later joined her ORC group... and over the next two years it just kind of organically became Me, Judy, AJ, Char and Cheryll. They taught me most of what I know about costuming and sewing.
It's really just a matter of all of us being good friends and having like-minded ideas about what we'd like to costume and enjoying costuming together. Nothing exciting! AJ, Judy and Cheryll live in northern CA, Char in TX and me in Southern CA. We get together whenever we can. Despite the distance, I consider them to be some of my closest friends, and I depend on their support and advice. They are sweet, intelligent and true people. I really think they have helped me to become a better person over the past 4 years.
I have other strong true friends through costuming, fashion and fandom communities, too! but you asked about HCC. :)
------------------------
Takarazuka
Some fun clips from Elisabeth:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-psJZkXJtGU (it starts getting really neat about :54 in)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laTrt0vGSK8
A nice clip reel from Rose of Versailles:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXOpvu5nRjo
an then you have Takarazuka Revue:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_61r4W9pg4
Takarazuka is the all-female musical theater troupe in Japan. wiki article. They preform musicals based on folklore, manga, traditional broadway musicals and more. AJ introduced me to Takarazuka sometime in 2004, I think. She showed me the 2001 performance of Rose of Versailles (based on the anime/manga of the same name.) I couldn't understand a word of it, as it was all in Japanese, but I cried my little heart out anyway. We then ended up traveling to Japan together to watch it performed and then cosplayed three or four separate groups from Takarazuka,... which is actually a big chunk of our group cosplays. I will probably never spend as much time or money on a costume as I did my Marie Antoinette Rose of Versailles costume
Due to my lack of language skills and just lack of time, I don't really keep up with Takarazuka as much as many fans do, I just watch the occasional favorite... but those favorites, I adore.
Takarazuka has given me a greater admiration of :
- rhinestones
- beautiful women dressed as beautiful men
- musicals in general
- the amusement factor of costumes so tacky that they become awesome
Regarding cosplaying Der Tod (Death) from Takarazuka's version of the Austrian musical, Elisabeth... that was the first time I crossplayed, or even considered it really. I've always thought of myself as too hippy, too girly,... and really just not assertive enough to cosplay as a strong
male character. I think costuming Der Tod was a bit of an eye-opening thing for me. It's "OK" for me to be tall when I'm cosplaying as a guy, isn't it? It's nice to have something where my height isn't a liability.Don't get me wrong, it's not that I want to be a guy, or that I want to dress like a guy all the time. But dressing like a powerful, dark (but pretty) male character is well... empowering! Kinda like a Paula Abdul powersuit.
Judy says it's just because I like to costume where I get to be a pimp and mac on all my girlfriends, which is probably also true. :X what can I say, I'm a goofball.
------------------------
Doctor Who
AJ and Judy had been trying to get me to watch it for a while and I kept putting it off, but I was spending the night at their apartment while working on costumes one time... and they forced me to watch Girl In the Fireplace, which has 18th century ball gowns,... which I'm a sucker for. I'm also a notorious sap. I was trapped. The next morning, I had to drive home, but I didn't have to leave at a particular time. After AJ and Judy left for work, I watched like 5 episodes of Doctor Who. (the first series)
As clarification, I'm mostly a fan of "NEW" Who. (Starting with the 9th Doctor) I have seen some of the classic series and plan to watch more, though.
I love SMART heroes who are slightly tortured (like Sherlock Holmes) and I love witty dialogue (like Firefly) and I love history and fantasy,... and I love romance. Doctor Who has this for me, and does it in a really fun way. Also, what's not to love about a "hero" who runs around time and space in a pinstriped suit, chucks and geek glasses spouting things like "Allonsy!"
Perhaps the biggest draw for me though is some of the overall themes of the show. That an average human can do incredible things... and just in general the feeling of joy de vivre. Life can be FANTASTIC and we can do AMAZING things.
to that effect, I leave you with rhoboat's fanvid, GLORIOUS, mind it has some spoilers up to s.4. However, if you've never watched ANY Doctor Who, you can watch about a 2:15 imho in without really spoiling anything for yourself and it gives you a nice feeling! :)
------------------------
Lolita
Lolita fashion, ie... nothing to do with the novel or young girls dressing sexy to lure an older man. It's a Japanese fashion genre with poofy skirts covered in lace and confection. For me, Lolita fashion is basically a fun fantasy. It's complete whimsy. It's like what you could imagine when you were a little girl, but never existed.
Because of my height (and I grew very tall at a young age), I outgrew young girl fashion very quickly. You know those jelly shoes everyone wore? I could never wear them! And then people in general just gave me the feeling that I was "not cute" because I was so tall. That I was intimidating and such... but my feeling inside was "oh... I really want a pink skirt with candy on it." And yeah, due to my height, some of it does look a bit ridiculous on me, but I love it anyway. I've never treated it as a full wardrobe choice, it's more of a occasionally I want to be a giant cupcake sort of thing.
Lately, I've been cutting back,... and I've been gravitating more towards mixing "lolita" items with my "normal" clothing... (ie, a bit more like KERA and less like the Gothic and Lolita Bible...). but I still like to admire the outlandish super sweet stuff.
------------------------
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2009-03-03 07:28 pm (UTC)I couldn't wear jellies either. T_T I feel your pain.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-03-03 08:35 pm (UTC)And, dressing up as a guy for fun now and again: even if you are straight as a pencil, nothing beats the knowledge that your Dark Mysteriousness has induced swooning in a fellow babe. Uh-HUH.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-03-03 09:00 pm (UTC)EXACTLY. XD
(no subject)
Date: 2009-03-03 08:28 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-03-03 09:23 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-03-03 09:48 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-03-03 08:29 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-03-03 08:59 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-03-03 09:49 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-03-03 10:41 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-03-03 10:51 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-03-03 11:22 pm (UTC)It's funny how you never expect to find yourself where you are. I never expected to make dolls or doll clothes, but I do. I never expected to be going back to 3d stuff, and here I am. o_o;
Yay I like this meme :)
Date: 2009-03-04 12:51 am (UTC)Ah! Thank you for posting that link to the interview, that was part of what peaked my interest in animation too when I was young! I remember you mentioning Takarazuka in your book, I know if I got into any of the music side of Japan I'd be lost forever in fandom *lol*...soooooooO I try to avoid it.
Keep it up with the books! I enjoy you're first book about your trip to Japan. With me getting into 3D animation, it can be daunting. I'm excited about my 3D classes but at the same time I'm afraid I'll get overwhelmed... I just want to say I really enjoy your posts about animation :)
*nerding out*
Edit: arrgh I need to slow down before hitting the "post" button. My grammar is so horrible.
Re: Yay I like this meme :)
Date: 2009-03-04 01:18 am (UTC)Takarazuka is really more about a full performance, a play/musical, than the music specifically. :)
some people really enjoy 3d, I just prefer working with pencil. I'd rather do storyboarding than animate in 3d. they're all different aspects
(no subject)
Date: 2009-03-04 12:58 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-03-04 01:16 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-03-04 01:20 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-03-04 03:14 am (UTC)I actually have a pair of waffle-stompers from when I was about 10, and they still fit! (i wear women's 11) Ah, how awkward that is!
(no subject)
Date: 2009-03-04 11:43 am (UTC)( ps- I love learning so much about you)