2010年6月27日星期日

PIXAR: 20 Years of Animation


今天,走了一趟时光隧道,看到了Pixar这二十年在动画的辛路旅程。去过环球影城(Universal Studio)的朋友,应该记得其中一个最有趣的项目就是坐着巴士,参观影城,同时体验电影中的水灾、爆炸、地震,让游客仿佛走进了电影里面。Pixar Exibition,有异曲同工的效果,让我更了解动画片的制作。

其实,这个展览从4月就开始了,只是我在上周才知道,今天是最后一天,庆幸我没错过:)
还好我们去得早,不至于太多人,中午时分人多了好多,哈哈,那时我们已经要离开噜。

一部动画片,基本上从故事开始。有了故事,就塑造人物,从平面到立体,种种细节都考虑在内,为求逼真。人物的脸部表情、言行举止、毛发的飘动、一举手、一投足,都一一画出来,甚至还用黏土、陶瓷做成模型。故事背景也非常细腻,比如说,同一片叶子,在不同的季节,应该要有不同的颜色;故事中角色的住所要如何设计,以符合性格,等等。

这个展览,展示了很多动画家的手稿。走进展览厅,简直就是动画片大复习:Toy Story, Bug's Life, Monster Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille, Wall-E and Up. 熟悉的人物,熟悉的背景,很开心喔,就像重新再看这些动画片 :)

展览中,最令人印像深刻的,就是Zoetrope。这是个很神奇的东西。基本上,是由很多个,同一个人物的模型所组成,这些人物的表情、动作是带连贯性的。就是动画片的原理,把人物的动作分解成几个图片,只要快速的翻阅这些图片,人物就会动起来了。Zoetrope只是把2D的图片变成3D的模型,把这些模型排成圈圈,然后快速的旋转。配合闪烁的灯光,灯光亮时,人类的眼睛就把其中一个模型记入脑中,然后灯光一暗,模型旋转到下一个模样,当灯光再亮时,人类的眼睛又把这个模型摄入脑中,当旋转的频率,配合灯光闪烁的频率,人物就动起来了。虽然知道,这是我们的眼睛欺骗了我们,但是当模型动起来那一刻,还是又惊又喜的!很激动!我把展览会中的原文解释,一一记载。


[ Zoetrope
The zoetrope, which can be translated as "wheel of life" Was a popular form of late-nineteenth-century home entertainment and demonstrated the basic principles of animation before the invention of cinema.

Using characters from Toy Story and Toy Story 2, the Toy Story Zoetrope is rooted in an eighteen frame cycle. Each frame of the cycle is represented by a three-dimensional character figurine, or "maquette".

These figurines are mounted at precise points on the disk, which spins at the speed of one revolution per second. A strobe light triggering on each frame freezes the motion, enabling the human eye to perceive the character's motion as a single image. When the eye sees a number of these frozen images in quick succession, the effect of "apparent motion" strings them together to create the illusion of a fluid motion.

This Toy Story Zoetrope was inspired by the three-dimensional "Bouncing Totoro" Zoetrope created by our friends at Ghibli Museum in Mitaka Park, Tokyo, Japan.]

这次展览也是不可以拍照的,当然还是有些没文化的人,不听劝告,这里就不提了,毁我兴致。以下看到的照片是在展览会外,售卖纪念品的地方拍的,让大家过过瘾噜。


2010年6月26日星期六

回家(4)

休假一周,我回家了。
参加了一个老友的婚礼,和家人去了一趟马六甲。
去马六甲是为了探望大伯。
从小,大伯就很疼我和弟弟,也会常到我们家小住,现在他年纪大了,就换我们去看他了。
他身体还不错,人也比较豁达了,可能很多事情看开了,人变得很健谈。
我们一家,看他如此,也很开心。:)

那是题外话,这篇不是要写那个的 :P
我很想念和家人一起吃早餐的日子。想念每到午餐和晚餐时间,就有热腾腾的温暖餐。
现在一人在外,每到吃饭时间,就烦恼,要从一堆油腻腻的食物中,挑一些自认比较健康的食物。“要吃什么?”成了口头禅。
我想,我最想念的是家人团聚的感觉吧。。。

2010年6月22日星期二

Durian Fiesta 2010

I am a durian fans. When I was in Penang, during durian season, all of us, the durian kakis, have durian almost every weekend. Sometimes, durian was my dinner, haha crazy right? Sigh, kind of missed those days :)

After move to Singapore, those become memories, I'm craving for ang hea (红虾) every year, hehe. Actually, a lot of my friends had told me that, durian dessert in Goodwood Park Hotel is the best in Singapore, I should give a try.

This year, my aunt who is also a durian fans, decide to celebrate her birthday with durian fiesta, hehe, is a good choice, no doubt :)

Besides durian desserts, we ordered cappucino and latte, let's take a look.

What do you think? Nicely serve right? The most special is brown sugar stick. I thought using brown sugar is also something unique about them, then I realise they served (ordinary) sugar stick also, haha, to kids :)

Ok, back to durian desserts:

1) Durian Mousse Cake ($8.50/slice)

This is the legendary durian mousse cake, we must give a try, don't you think so? Well, is kind of disappointed, as the durian paste is not rich enough. But the cake is nice, soft and melt in my mouth. Take a look at the picture, those cubes on top are cakes :)

2) Mini Durianmisu ($4.80)

Combination of durian and tiramisu, no worry, this is a no alcohol version. Chef is professional, of course he knows durian and alcohol is not a good combination :) If you think the strong durian taste will cover the coffee taste, then you are wrong. These two flavour mix along so well, such a great combination :)

3) Durian Puff ($2.20)

The signature durian puff, yes, this is the best. Creamy and rich, remind me of ang hea, yum yum. I love this so much, that's why this is an all time favourite. Those who love strong durian, like me, must give it a try! An advice from me, take the durian puff as your last dessert, else make sure, you "clean" your mouth before you take other dessert. If not the strong durian flavour from the puff will mislead you. You might think the other dessert is not as nice. If you happen to order dessert as what we did, you can consider having them according to the order I introduce them, hehe, this can make sure you get the real taste :)

If you notice, some of the pictures are not taken by me. Yup, I totally forgot about taking picture when the desserts were served, haha, so I dig some photo from the web :p Beside the dessert, we ordered a chicken masala pie as well. It costed us $4 but its really worth the price. It was not too spicy, chicken were tender and pastry were crispy. A salty dish after sweet desserts is always a good choice :)

If you interested to know more, visit this website:
http://www.goodwoodparkhotel.com/promotion-dining.htm