Pirates

Crazy PiRATE from a new animation I'm working on.

My Cat will read your fortune...

Here is a test of my cat reading from a fortune cookie fortune.



It's to test the quality of out put. I've collected a lot of fortunes, now to put them to the test....

Doomsday Catch Phrase

Sent off a shortened version of Doomsday Catch Phrase to H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival. I included their logo in one of the shots, so I think they'll like it.

Won't hear back for a couple of months.

...

Doomsday Catch Phrase

I got into deadCenter Film Festival. I've been in for all 10 years now!

Time to crank up the PR work.

...

new short animation

Finished another short animation last month.

"Doomsday Catch Phrase."

I've entered it in the deadCenter Film Festival but haven't heard from them yet.
I think if I edit it a little more, I can send it to the HP Lovecraft film festival.

It's kind of a horror-sci-fi story.
I think it's more sci-fi because it deals with black holes.
My wife thinks it's more horror because it ends with a skull.

Can't wait to get an audience reaction to it.

....

Hard drive crash

It happens to others.

And it happened to me.

The hard drive crashed and not everything had been backed up.

I've reloaded most of my programs.

I've recovered most of my art and photos.

Some of the animation and music might be lost but at least I'm up and running again.

...

Casting for a Short Film

So... I'm working on several different stories and animations simultaneously, seeing which one will get done first for this year's deadCENTER Film Festival. This happens every year.

Except last year. I finished one way early for the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival so it was ready when deadCENTER rolled around.

Anyway... today I'm visualizing one of my stories as a live action short and the image of Robert DeNiro playing the lead popped into my head.

Wow.

That would make my funny short film marketable.

I've been thinking of animating it and doing all the voices myself (like I normally do.)

But now I'm seeing it as a live action with a star actor as the lead.

Sometimes you can hire one that's not too expensive. And it gets you a name to use on the posters for film festivals.

I don't know if Mr. DeNiro does these kind of things.

But there are others who add to the part just by showing up.

I'll start a list soon.

...

11 second club follow up

Well, the December competition is over. My animation came in 128 out of 134. So I stay in the same spot each month.
Most of the comments were positive. Most thought if I had more time I could have made it better.
Which is true.
I had a few days off at the beginning of the month to experiment with Anime Studio 6. Then I went on to some other experiments.
Maybe I'll skip a month and try again in February.
I have a bigger project I need to finish by March 3 for the deadCenter Film Festival deadline.
...

11 second club Dec. 09

I did another 11 second club animation. This is the final version I sent in. (The dialog must be from Young Frankenstein.)

I did it using Anime Studio 6 Debut. I like the program so far. Wish I had more time to use it.

11 second club follow up

My animation came in at 6 or so from the bottom.

Again.

But I'm okay considering with the amount of time I spent on it.

I just wanted to finish a project. Any project.

And that's what I did.

And I tried some new tricks in Sony Vegas and Toon Boom.

...

Dancing Girl

This is a girl dancing that I used in a 30-second animation for a commercial contest last summer.

I may re-use in a gallery scene in an animation I'm working on now involving a rookie photographer and an experienced figure model.

It will be a comedy or it won't get done.

...

Sydney, Australia

My now international animation is screening this Saturday at 4 pm at A Night of Horror Film Festival in Sydney. It's in a block of animations.

http://www.anightofhorror.com/

I'm in some good company.

Joshua Long starts the program with "EM". Then they're showing Bill Plympton's "Shut Eye Hotel." And Devi Snively's "Death in Charge." John Lustig has a stop-motion animation "C/O Flap Jackson". Graham Rathlin from the UK has "Little Snaps of Horror". Tom Flynn has his "Soul Mates". Yun Wang screens "Evil Twin." Fernando Huerto has a funny video, "Aim for the Heart" where demonstrates how to kill a vampire. Kyla Ward screens "Bad Reception." Jason Eisener shows his "Treevenge" to round out the set.

Oh, yeah, my "Where Nightmares Feed" is slipped in there somewhere.

Sounds like fun!

...

11 second club Placement

Well... I didn't make the top 25... or the top 50
... or the top 100...

I was 123 out of 128.

Sting.

http://www.11secondclub.com/

Even the ones I gave my highest marks to did not perform well overall.

Most of the comments had to do with the "limited animation" and how quick and unclear the ending was.

I am NOT an animator's animator.

I'm still doing one for this month. And hopefully one for next month.

I'm not going for complete animation domination.

I am going for entertainment.

The competition just gives the entertainment some framework.

...

New animation for February

Here is my Work-in-Progress for February 2009.

I'll let you know in a couple of days how my robot faired for the January competition. There were a lot of good animations, both 2D and 3D. There were 128 or so entries in all. I hope to be in the top 25 but we'll see.

http://www.11secondclub.com

It's hard for me to judge mine. I liked the initial idea but got tired of it by the end of the month. I tried to be real involved in the forums for January. This month I think I might be less involved so I can spend more time writing on my screenplay.

I like the idea of a monthly competition. I want to get better in going from idea to execution of a story.

I'm a storyteller.

A filmmaker.

I do more than just write. Or just animate. Or just direct.

I'm a storyteller. So I'm going to finish a story this month.

I must write... I must write...

...

4th Work in Progress

Here is my latest update for the January 11 Second Club animation competition.

Some more polishing needs to be done before the end of next week.

3rd Work in Progress

Here's my 3rd WIP for this month's animation contest.

I've reduced the number of camera moves.

"Sync-ing loose lips" and animating the characters is next up for this weekend.

...

2nd Work in Progress

Here's my 2nd version of my 11Second Club Work in Progress. The ending action still needs to be clearer.

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Animation Sketches

Here are some of my first sketches for the 11Second Club animation:

New Animation Contest

It's a new year.

I'm working on an animation for the 11Second Club. It's got a huge robot and a little man. The man, a scientist of sorts, has an eye patch. (The eye affliction worked for John Wayne and it'll get Tom C. his Oscar this year.)

I'll try to post some of my sketches. This is a VERY rough idea of what it will be like:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2610703780662851924
...

3December Reflections

Just got back from 3December here in Oklahoma City. We had folks from Dallas and other places attending. (Big crowd at Harkins Theater in Bricktown.)

Here's the list of speakers:

Greg Punchatz of Janimation

Scott Gagain with Vicon House of Moves

Dale Carman of Reel FX Creative Studios

Jesse Seppi of Tronic

Anjelica Casillas with Rhythm + Hues

Piyush Patel of Digital-Tutors (and host of the conference)

Anthony Chritov with Pixar Animation Studios


Most of the speakers spoke of change and passion. A passion for the work and the need to constantly change and update.

....