Time to play B-Sides

Hello! You can call me Moth | 24 "They got a name for the winners in the world. I want a name when I lose." Art/Animation Blog: mothoscope Currently reading: Dracula's Guest and Other Stories by Bram Stoker and A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

[repurposedmeatlocker]

Moth - 24 - Cartoon filmmaker

I like film, music, animation, history, animals (especially birds), and art. The weirder the better. My interests shift a lot, but those tend to be the most consistent threads.

🐦‍⬛ Art blog: @mothoscope 🐦‍⬛ Aesthetic blog (vaporwave, cyberpunk, early-internet, synthwave etc.): @wanttostartover 🐦‍⬛ Cowboy/western blog: @bl1ndedthel1ght 🐦‍⬛ Ed Edd n Eddy blog: @fish-bowl-2

Other socials (bear in mind, needs to be updated so check back later):

links

I'm an adult, so some of the content here will veer from suggestive to 18+. I also reblog lots of furry stuff, so if you aren't into that...you've been warned... I'm a dedicated tagger, but there are no doubt things I've missed. Feel free to request something specific to be tagged, and I'll do my best to oblige.

[repurposedmeatlocker]

Ok I need to say something about this story he reposted on here.

While I don't deny at all the info being shared about how "AI tools" have started to be implemented in animation workflows for a few years now, I find the refusal to discourse or criticize this decision from his end a problem.

While yes, shortcuts in digital art and animation have existed for a long time and will continue to do so, and I am sure a lot of them are beneficial and useful; comparing these to how generative AI works is grossly misinformed. The whole discussion surrounding generative AI in creative fields seems to be presented under a language of unavoidable "technological advancement". Basically, you either move in this direction or you will lose your place in this industry that is giving you an income. It is all about how gen AI will make animation, filmmaking, etc. "easier" and "faster" to get pumped out by the corporations that fund it and make them more money. For all his talk about how generative AI is a "new normal" or a "beneficial tool", Jorge doesn't seem to be thinking about the workers that would be replaced in a workforce that has only grown more and more unstable as the amount of hiring animation work becomes few and far between. This is not comparable to a tool that maybe automatically adds shading to 2D animation. This is actively replacing human workers.

Not to mention, Jorge's description on how much "easier" generative AI will make the animation workflow is confusing because...it isn't like he is doing the animating all himself as a showrunner and director. Yes, he does some work, but a brunt of this is done by a team of designers, animators, editors, etc. Why is he (and other big-name people in the industry) acting like they are saving themselves time when they are already handing work off to other people? Maybe what they really mean is it is saving the STUDIOS time. But I still don't think the growing attempts to normalize AI in creative industries has anything to do with saving time. It is that they want to create prompters and coders instead of artists. They want to have people that are capable of doing lots of things at once, so they don't have to pay more than a few of them for a single project.

I don't think Jorge was "bought out" like some people have theorized. He probably has been sitting on these opinions for a while, only to let the cat out of the bag now. At the end of the day, these guys art careers are, well, a career. For some people that means in order to continue having financial success they must blindly embrace whatever direction their industry goes. Each their own, but it doesn't sit well with me and makes me question their values as an artist and creative as a whole. It is something I think a lot of us should start questioning as I predict more and more professionals in the industry will start to espouse similar lines of thinking. I don't think people should be so fast in re-embracing this guy. It doesn't seem like he has actually changed his mind. He was just taken aback by the backlash and alleged death threats. The thing that gets me with his reaction (and most of the news circulation of recent AI backlash) is how it is framed as "over-reactions", "uncalled for", even "aggressive" as guys like Jorge are practically playing the victim for...getting called out for ignorance? I'm seeing this with articles talking about the "booing" graduation speakers have received for attempting to shill AI as a "new normal" to their graduates. It feels like another extension by old farts to de-legitimize the youth. They act all pompous, as if they feel they have one-upped the new generation when they all will ultimately get fucked by the corporate leaders they're kissing up to in the end.

[raven-bythesea]

Realized I never posted the updated ref for Cor the pallid bat

[haveyoureadthisbook-poll]

Have you read Charlotte's Web by E. B. White (1952)?

yes

no

I didn't finish it

I've never heard of it

Remaining time: 8 hours 44 minutes

[haveyoureadthisbook-poll]

Have you read Judy Moody Was in a Mood. Not a Good Mood, a Bad Mood by Megan McDonald (2000)?

yes

no

I didn't finish it

I've never heard of it

Remaining time: 1 day 10 hours

[haveyouseenthismovie-poll]

Have you seen Burning (2018)?

Yes

No

Haven’t even heard of this movie

Remaining time: 17 hours 40 minutes

[haveyouseenthismovie-poll]

Have you seen Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure (2001)?

Yes

No

Haven’t even heard of this movie

Remaining time: 1 day 8 hours

[haveyouseenthismovie-poll]

Have you seen Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)?

Yes

No

Haven’t even heard of this movie

Remaining time: 1 day 11 hours

[noahseby]

a socially isolated pervert is speaking. Listen carefully

[sabellart]

the ladybugs’ sgt pepper’s outfits

[ironmans]

SPIRITED AWAY (2001) dir. Hayao Miyazaki

[repurposedmeatlocker]

No sooner do I go into the Project Hail Mary tag and I see hate on Stratt. All you have to do is exist as a woman and people will hate you, huh.

[carpenter-sab]

Project Hail Mary (2026) dir. Phil Lord & Chris Miller

[aroace-ryland-grace]

"It’s a fitting last moment in their friendship. They just want to be close." - Phil Lord, director's commentary

[thereigning-lorelai]

ryland grace + ○

Project Hail Mary (2026) dir. Phil Lord, Chris Miller

[rylandsgrace]

Project Hail Mary (2026) + Tumblr text posts

[repurposedmeatlocker]

The thing that really stood out to me about Stratt and Grace's relationship in Project Hail Mary is the way it signifies the importance of having someone who believes in you. Not just your proficiencies, but sees you as capable of things you couldn't even imagine yourself capable of.

Grace is fixated on his failures to the point that he looks down on himself, and can't perceive of himself as being able to achieve anything. Let alone the responsibility of saving the Earth. He was hurt about being blacklisted from academia, and even more distraught that those very theories are proved false. He continues to second-guess himself when put in the presence of other scientists and researchers, to the point he struggles to discuss with them his own findings. Despite all this though, Stratt saw his potential. She knew he was capable of so much more and was selling himself short. While Grace himself is the bona-fide "teacher", I'd argue Stratt is sometimes framed like one herself. Especially during their discussion where Grace attempts to back down from the demand he go on the Hail Mary mission. Her tough, to-the-point attitude took me right back to hard conversations I've had with teachers and professors at school. Ones where I felt I wasn't capable or qualified, but would be immediately hit with the reality that self-depreciation and low-confidence gets you nowhere. We are all our harshest critics, and sometimes it really does take one person to call that out as the bullshit it is to make you realize you are worth counting on.