EmotiSocial

 I woke up pretty late Wednesday and rushed to screenwriting class in a Lyft. On the way, we got a BruinAlert about a shooting that had happened on campus. We ended up driving right by where it had happened, and when I got to class, UCLA was on lockdown. A lot of rumours followed and people in my class started to get scared. 3 hours later the lockdown was lifted, and we all went to eat our fear away.

When I got back home, I immediately fell asleep. And I did a colourful make-up to cheer myself up when I woke from my nap.

 Some of the animators got together to celebrating finishing our films. It felt so nostalgic drinking Calpico again.

I then headed to the DKA formal in the old Kerkchoff building. Three course dinner, speeches...

 ... and a lot of laughs and tears. The seniors were saying goodbye and everyone was shaken after the day's events.

I got a Sunshine gift from Carlos and Mira, a letter from Taylor, and a few DKA awards. It was a fun time and we all stayed and talked out front after we got kicked out of the building.

No one wanted to go home, so we decided to go to James' and hang out. We listened to Ghibli's 25th anniversary concert and talked for hours, comforting each other. I was feeling very happy to not have been alone.

I didn't get a lot of sleep, as I had to get up and shoot my 2D film and turn that in. But I felt all right. I even went to Westwood to eat asian with a few people.

After class I headed over to Natasha's to brainstorm my graduation cap's design. And Friday I went back to do the actual painting. We watched Hairspray while crafting, and then Lizzie came over too.

Creative products!

I then went to Barneys' with the animation people. A LOT showed up, so we almost didn't have enough room. But it was nice to just relax together without the deadline looming over our heads.

Saturday I watched some television for once, got a care-package from the parents, and made a mask for the Cinematographer's China Ball. It was nice being creative with my hands again.

Julia came over and made a quick one too. When we got to the party, James Franco was leaving and smiled broadly at us. Surreal.

We danced, talked, and just had a good time. I talked to some people from other classes too, and it was a good feeling - recognizing faces around me. Including the Disney twins haha (so random).

Sunday morning, the pledges had a gathering at Eve's. We ate delicious cinnamon rolls and talked future. The US summer vacation is so long! So people don't see each other for four months.
Mira came over Sunday night to wrap up this rolle-rcoaster of a week. We relaxed in the jacuzzi, participated in the midnight yell, and just had a good time.

Stop Motion Puppet WIP

Here is my rundown of how I made my Witch puppet!

We started by making the armatures - these were pretty simple wire ones made of aluminium and steal bound together by string. The arms were secured onto the body with epoxy putty.

We then used cotton pads and athletic tape to build up some muscle!

And Suzy and I met up for a crafting afternoon of muscle work and sculpting with Sculpey. Her puppet is the slender one!

I was working off of my scaled design drawing. I am very satisfied with my sculpt. Only problem might be the very small mouth-area - but it works for this specific project as it is without dialogue. Still, I had to make quite a few mouths. And pupils and eyelids... It feels so weird to spend so long on a miniature product.

And how the sculpt looked with some acrylic paint and a few of the replacements applied with wax!

Then came hands. Smaller wires with more thread. And then balloon latex mixed with acrylic. It was really tricky to get a colour that looked like her face - the latex dries darker!

Testing for colour combinations and then after some sowing on the machine I borrowed from a friend of the family!

Then came hair. I started with a spongy white core and then started gluing the embroidery thread on top, starting with the darkest colours and moving my way up my nuances. I used Joanne's for the appliance and then a coat of Elmer's to stiffen everything up when I was finished.

Then I made the final (so far) touches - sowed her witch hat and glued some jewels on her underskirt. 

Finished! Maybe. Her cape is difficult to animate with, so I might have to change it.

And a group photo with everyone's puppets!