ELLEN SU

This has been sitting around for like a year now. Finally got...

Tue, 21 May 2013 18:23:00 -0400

This has been sitting around for like a year now. Finally got the chance to finish it. Getting back into the swing of things.

spaceboundthemovie: Thank you guys so much for the love and...

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 20:53:26 -0400

spaceboundthemovie:

Thank you guys so much for the love and support! Here’s something extra I’ve been working on, post thesis.

The Fine Arts department in our school also offers a digital printing class, where I printed our 3D characters! Shout out to Erik Guzman and Luis Navarro for being awesome professors.

Hi Ellen... I Cry when I see your work. Space Bound, think enjoy the life at the last time. Sorroy for my English. Juan Pablo from Argentina thank you.

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 20:52:02 -0400

Thank you so much Juan!

OMFG I GET TO DRAW FOR MYSELF AGAIN. YAYYYYYY. Something...

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 04:49:10 -0400

OMFG I GET TO DRAW FOR MYSELF AGAIN. YAYYYYYY. Something I’ve been meaning to do to continue the fairy tale x McBess redux.

And without further ado...

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 14:22:29 -0400

spaceboundthemovie:

Video

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 16:39:58 -0400

Now on Society6.

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 18:41:49 -0500

svacomputerart:

Buy now on Society6!

Last one I swear. SVA Computer Art 2013.

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 03:31:58 -0500

Last one I swear. SVA Computer Art 2013.

SVA Computer Art - Class of 2013 Needed a break from thesis-ing...

Sun, 03 Mar 2013 23:51:07 -0500

SVA Computer Art - Class of 2013

Needed a break from thesis-ing while recovering from the plague.

We Dare You Hollywood

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 17:50:16 -0500

We Dare You Hollywood:

Dear Hollywood,

You schooled us pretty hard the last time there was a WGAw strike. You made a pretty convincing case for a Hollywood without writers, and while we’ll never admit it to you as a group, you broke us. You really did. And it has ruined the industry that I love in a million small ways that you’re not even going to notice for a decade or so, and when you do, it may well be too late. You fought us over money and your right to more of it, and you hurt us enough to make us take a deal that we knew in our hearts was not right.

If you try to do the same thing to the VFX industry, you are going to lose…

Read more at http://www.hitfix.com/motion-captured/the-visual-effects-community-sees-red-in-the-wake-of-oscar-protest-and-on-air-snub#Trp31impVPHm6CJ3.99

Pretty much my thoughts in my previous post but in a way better delivery. Stand strong guys.

madisleeps: thefauxtog: VFX/Animation Industry to protest the...

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 02:01:00 -0500

madisleeps:

thefauxtog:

VFX/Animation Industry to protest the Oscars

Life of Pi (Fox) and Snow White and the Huntsman (Universal) together grossed almost a billion dollars worldwide. Rhythm & Hues Studios, the company that brought Richard Parker to life and created the bulk of the visual effects for these two Oscar nominated films, has just declared bankruptcy. Many of the artists who worked nights and weekends to create those effects are out of work and unpaid for weeks of work (including nights and weekends) on new tent-pole films for the same studios, Fox and Universal. It’s time for change!

(via Cartoon Brew)

I always found it amusing when I hear that “VFX Artists are treated like shit in Hollywood”. Being a 3D major, we are often compared to film majors. There is a lot in common between us, but it comes down to this. While we are fully capable of making a short visual effects film on our own, a film major cannot do the same. If they have an idea that requires VFX, they are completely reliant on someone else to do the job for them or they’re fucked.

I’m constantly hearing these days that a movie was crappy but the visual effects were good. People pay money to see the VFX, not the story. It’s been mentioned that one solution to the collapse of the VFX industry is to have houses produce their own films. And why not?

Hydraulx did it with Skyline and while it wasn’t a masterpiece, it was certainly a success in terms of the amount of money it made compared to the amount of money went into making it (roughly $10mil budget, made around $70mil). District 9 is another example of feature film being produced and distributed outside the norms of Hollywood.

Employees for studios like Pixar don’t feel the weight of this as much because they are unionized with a goal to invest in their artists as opposed to burning through them. And they make their own films.

Blur is now in the process of pre-production for their Goon film, (check out the Kickstarter project here), possibly breaking open the gates to a new genre of animated films (aka feature animated films made specifically for adults). And without the money of Hollywood but the support of everyday viewers and fans.

The argument can be made that the vision and the ideas come from the directors, but let me redirect you back to examples like Pixar, Weta, ILM, and Blur. They are their own vfx house. They are their own creative house. And they’re doing just fine. I’ve been around enough smaller houses to know that we are ripe with creative genius. With talented people that are just waiting for their chance to direct that can at the same time execute their vision.

So from my standpoint, it isn’t the VFX artists that need Hollywood, but the other way around. I mean ideally we’d want for this to be a collaborative environment. I don’t want to take away from the amount of work that directors and producers put into making a film, but I feel like a certain level of respect should come with that. And certainly I am still young and naive to the inner workings of Hollywood politics/finance, but its the Intranet and here’s my 2cents.

Further discussion to fuel your thoughts.

spaceboundthemovie: 8 weeks to go. Everyone is dying crying.

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 21:17:10 -0500

spaceboundthemovie:

8 weeks to go. Everyone is ~~dying~~ crying.

spaceboundthemovie: 10 weeks to go!

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 23:55:37 -0500

spaceboundthemovie:

10 weeks to go!

Now on Society6!

Sat, 19 Jan 2013 22:29:00 -0500

http://society6.com/EllenSu

$25 portrait commissions of you or your loved ones (pets and...

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 00:09:00 -0500

$25 portrait commissions of you or your loved ones (pets and babies included)!

Get one now here. More examples here.

Lil Red makes a reappearance redux in a McBess inspired style. I...

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 04:47:00 -0500

Lil Red makes a reappearance redux in a McBess inspired style. I freakin love that guy’s work.

Hello! I randomly found your blog/portfolio while browsing through concept art haha. you're so talented omg i love all ur work!! but anyway I just wanted to ask, since I'm applying to SVA this year (for graphic design) - what do you think of your time there? like pros/cons, the environment, people, dorms, whether its easy to make friends, etc. I know its probably very different from department to department so I won't ask about academics, but anything you think would be super helpful. THANK YOU!

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 22:42:35 -0500

Hi! Thanks for your kind words. I really love SVA. During freshman year I stayed in the dorms (new res) and it was pretty fun. The people in my department including the chairman himself are great. We really became a family. Obviously the biggest con is that we don’t have an actual campus, but that is made up by the fact that we’re in NYC. You can go out at like 1AM and get food almost anywhere. Also the fact that we’re in the city means a lot of internship opportunities and the school is great in helping you network and meet industry professionals. If you do choose to come here, I don’t think you’ll regret it :)

spaceboundthemovie: Character and prop models thus far! Still...

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 16:54:46 -0500

spaceboundthemovie:

Character and prop models thus far!

Still trying out render styles and lighting stuff (Jimmy and Sammy are both alittle different besides the fact that Sammy has no textures on him whatsoever.)

Whooo progress.

My work from my internship at Pixar this summer.

Thu, 01 Nov 2012 14:42:44 -0400

My work from my internship at Pixar this summer.

spaceboundthemovie: just kickin back and watchin a sunset

Wed, 31 Oct 2012 20:36:00 -0400

spaceboundthemovie:

just kickin back and watchin a sunset