【推荐1】Toy Story, Cars, Finding Nemo, Wall-E, Up — you have probably watched all these films.     1     Let’s go through the process of creating a cartoon film.

Creating the storyboard

The first step is to write down the main ideas of the story.     2     Based on the storyboard, the art department creates the first draft for the characters, their clothing and emotions, and the design sets.

Making characters using 3D modelling

A special computer program is used to create 3D shapes of the characters, sets and props—this is called modelling.     3     Special equipment is used to record points on these shapes. This information is then sent to a software program which recreates the 3D shape.

Making them move

The layout crew (摄影构图组) decide how these characters should move and then the cartoonists take over. They use 3D software to create the movements of each character, the skeleton’s (骨架) movements, facial expressions and more, between key frames (帧) in the story.    4    

Dressing up for the show

The sets and props are “dressed” according to the designs laid out by the art department. The skin and hair for the characters, their costumes as well as special lighting effects such as shadows, shining reflections are also created.

Letting the show begin

    5     The computers draw each frame one by one, with each frame slightly different from the previous one. Each frame takes 5-6 hours to create — imagine how much computing power and time it will take to create 24 frames per second of a 2-hour film!

【推荐3】Chernobyl’s Strange Charm

1 The film festival is frozen for lockdown (隔离), so how are independent filmmakers to do their business? Cultures of Resistance Films has released this documentary, which deserves a lot of attention.

2 The film Stalking Chernobyl (切尔诺贝利) is exciting and sensitive exploration of how ordinary people are reclaiming (改造) the site of the world’s worst nuclear accident.

3 In 1970, near the Ukraine-Belarus border, ground was broken for the Chernobyl nuclear complex and the neighboring workers’ city of Pripyat. Chernobyl was constructed in a worrying rush, but Pripyat was appreciated by many who lived there. It was a comfortable, well-designed and familyfriendly city full of trees and roses. It had good public transport, a river to walk in, excellent day care and schools, and so on.

4 On 26 April 1986, Chernobyl’s No. 4 reactor (核反应堆) exploded. People escaped from Pripyat and a 30-kilometer-radius exclusion zone (禁区) was established while people fought — and died — to prevent a further disaster.

5 The zone is still in place, but it can be visited. I got to walk around inside of it four years ago, during the depths of winter. Guides showed us the main sites under snow, fed us in Chernobyl’s very large and empty canteen, and led us through Pripyat, already half-covered by surrounding forest. It was lonely and cold. There were wolves.

6 Since then, the number of visitors to the exclusion zone has doubled each year. That’s 40,000 people, now walking about the place aimlessly.

7 With them come problems and annoyances. Visitors build fires at night with local wood, not realizing how much radiation they are releasing. Tourists dressed up the sites to get better photos. The dolls you find littering an abandoned school are dropped there by tourists and so are half the books.

8 Stalking Chernobyl’s great strength is that it doesn’t rush to judgment. Isn’t leaving a doll here a little like living a wreath (花环)? Since when was it wrong to want to explore?

9 Old citizens in the zone complain about the cluelessness (无知) of visitors who go into the site secretly. Yet everyone — even the mayor of Pripyat whose job is to keep the zone secure — understands what brings them here.

10 Meeting communities of tourists and guides, we discover that the groups flow into each other. A tourist wants to become a guide, an ex-guide says she will return as a tourist. Several interviewees say the zone is a special place, one that will punish them in some way if they mistreat it.

11 The film doesn’t leave much room to get into the pros and cons (利弊) of nuclear power. To my mind, though, director Iara Lee has made something more valuable, and certainly more unusual. She has shown how ordinary people — police officers, base jumpers and festival organizers — are showing love and care, each in their own way, to one of the saddest places on the planet.

12 Stalking Chernobyl had me trusting much more than usual in the ability of people to make the best of their society’s most terrible mistakes.

【推荐1】The Best Art Competitions to Enter in 2021

Check out our guide to some of the best art contests to enter this year.

Acrylic Works 9

Prize: $2,000 first prize, $1,000 second prize Entry Fee: $45

Requirements: Open to artists in the United States and Canada Closing Date: October 18, 2021

For the Acrylic Works 9 competition, the organizers are looking for the best in acrylic (丙烯酸) painting of a variety of styles and subjects. The entries will be judged in two rounds according to artistic technique, design and creative elements, as well as overall impression and impact. Winners’ works will be shown in Artists magazine.

Splash 23

Prize: $2,000 first prize, $1,000 second prize Entry Fee: $45

Requirements: Open to artists in the United States and Canada Closing Date: June 14, 2021

For the Splash 23 contest, the organizers are looking for original watercolor paintings. Each entry must be painted with watercolor. However, some minor use of other mediums may be acceptable. Top paintings of winners will appear in a special edition of Watercolor Artist magazine.

The Lumen Prize for Digital Art

Prize: $4,000 first prize Entry Fee: $48 for two works

Requirements: Open to artists worldwide Closing Date: June 8, 2021

This digital art competition is organized by Lumen Art Projects Ltd, a non-profit organization that’s aimed at providing new opportunities for digital artists around the world. Categories include Still, Moving Image, 3D/ Interactive and Artificial Intelligence.

California

Award Prize: $3,000 first prize Entry Fee: Free

Requirements: Open to artists in California Closing Date: July 31, 2021

Hosted by the Brea Gallery, the competition intends to provide a great opportunity for all artists based in the state of California. All artworks will be considered. And there is also a solo (单独的) show opportunity for artists who submit a body of work containing 5-10 pieces.

【推荐2】Book Reviews

Review: This book is about friends giving advice and sending advice to one another by letter. I like the book because it is funny. The author describes the characters very well and they are very believable. I also like the author's writing style.

Review: I like this book and the way it tells the story of Hanukkah. We did read the story of Hanukkah at school in year l in RE and so l have known some of this already. It is nice to hear the story again and remind me of the special words like “Menorah" which I have forgotten.

Review: This story is really fun and it's cool how the dog is a dragon at night. It is a nice short story to read before bed and my class fiends enjoy the book.

Review: I enjoy this book very much but it can be too scary if I am younger than 7 years old. It is an interesting way to learn about Boudica and British history. The book is exciting and unpredictable. The main character is Rihanna and I find her very reliable.