Tuesday, February 26, 2008

The Hundred-Year Winter

I woke up today feeling like I had somehow been transported to Narnia. A big snow storm hit last night and boy did it hit hard. Take a look for yourself.


See? Told you.

I'm still pumped up about Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova's Oscar win on Sunday night. I've been following Glen since I saw him and his band, The Frames, back in 2004. I had gotten used to most people being unaware of who I was talking about, so it's been really cool to see Glen, Marketa, and Once getting all of this much deserved attention and recognition.

I recently heard they'll be playing in Cleveland in May. It's been a while, so I'm really looking forward to that.

And now I retreat to under a blanket and get back to work. Still in space.

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Meanwhile, Deep in Space...

It's tough to believe I was in Windsor a year ago today, seeing Chantal and Raine play. I remember checking my email in the hotel and getting a note from Larry about a bunch of ideas he and the guys were coming up with for a new animated short. It's hard to explain, but when Larry's in his creative groove, you can somehow see his excitement in how he types his emails and IMs. He was in his groove that day as he asked me if I'd be up for taking on the project.

Fast forward a year. Those ideas evolved into The Greatest Fan Film of All Time and I'm animating like a kid in a candy shop (that is if kids could animate and chose to do so in a candy shop, which, as far as I know, they can't and don't, but I'm doing it anyway, so nyah).
I'm currently working on a recent addition to the script, which is a scene that takes place on a certain alien world. It's been interesting creating my own version of a world from scratch.
I'm having fun playing with lighting to set the mood. It can be tricky, but I'm really happy with the results so far.


A little peek

I'm really excited about this. The look and feel from Batman's Gonna Get Shot in the Face is still there, but the actual animation itself is vastly improved. I can't wait for this puppy to be ready for unveiling.

Last week's Rock Band weekend was awesome. We played for three nights and I loved it, even with the songs I'm not into. Except Suffragette City. And Brainpower. Friday was the big night of the weekend, we played through until 4:30 AM. Corey's our guitar guru, Brendan rocks out on the drums, and Mikey and Eric usually alternate on bass while I sing. Maria even hung out for a bit on Saturday and classed things up with some boxed wine.


Now I must return to space. Goodnight, Reykjavic!

Monday, February 11, 2008

Really, Who DOESN'T Like Turtles?

The wayward blogger returns. I really do need to stop disappearing like that.

I suppose I'll start by wrapping up the loose threads I left in my last entry. A month ago.
Cloverfield was a fun time. I ended up going on opening night with Mikey, Corey, and Brendan and we ended up sitting in nearly the front row. The movie itself was a ride. Cool idea, nice visuals, and I'm glad I went. I wouldn't mind catching it again before it leaves theaters.

Eric joined us the following days as we had a Rock Band weekend. I really didn't expect to be into it, but I had a blast playing that game. We played for hours on end for two days, which resulted in my voice taking a couple days off to recoop.
Round 2 is this coming weekend and I can't wait.

The weather's been crazy, varying from freezing temperatures to oddly warm to ridiculously rainy to producing Hoth intensity snow storms, the latter being what we've had for the last couple days. We even had some unusually bright lightning during Saturday night's snow.

There haven't been many openings to get out to anywhere lately, but that's actually been helpful to my animation. I've been getting quite a bit done, especially this last week. I'm not one to toot my own horn, but the last shot I finished is quite possibly the best four seconds of animation I've ever created.
Tonight was a mini-milestone. As of 2:00 AM, I finished work on one of the more important scenes in The Greatest Fan Film of All Time. I won't spoil what happens in the scene, but I'll say this...someone does something to someone. Excited yet?

It'a after 6 AM, so I guess I'll do the logical thing and go get some sleep. I'll leave you with a video that has made me crack up every time I've watched it. I still don't know what's funnier, the kid or the reporter's awkward reaction.