Getting Unstuck (Hopefully)

Well, would you look at that?  It's been forever since I last sat down and really wrote anything in this blog.  I'm well aware that it's not the first time this has happened and I always say I mean to write more.  And I do.  I really mean to write, I want to.  The thing is, life has been crazy for a while now.  Honestly, it's been a very extended stressful period and personally, I haven't felt like writing about all the chaos going on.  When you're living in craziness, living it is enough, you don't necessarily want to write about it too.  At least that's how it is for me.  I know a lot of people are able to take turmoil and shape it into their creative outlets and create something good from it, but that hasn't been the case for me. I tend to get overwhelmed and it creates a creative block.  Frustratingly, this applies to both my blog and my other creative outlets.  I've done a few small art projects here and there, but the animation front has been extremely slow for a while.  It's not for lack of desire, I've been wanting to make something, but the spark just hasn't been there.  I've been aware of it and trying to overcome it, but it's easier said than done.

Even though I haven't really done any animation in quite some time, something I worked on was recently released and I can't say enough how proud I am to be part of the project.  A few years ago, America Young asked me to do a tiny bit of animation for a movie she was making.  America is one of those people who is so fantastic on every level, I'll jump at the chance to help her out in any way I can, so of course I did just that.
A couple months ago, The Concessionaires Must Die! was finally released into the world.  It's currently available pretty much anywhere you might find yourself digitally purchasing a movie.  ITunes, Amazon, Xbox...  Have a look and you should be able to find it!
It's good, heartfelt, nerdy fun and I'm so happy I got to have even the tiniest hand in bringing it to life.  Seek it out, take a look, enjoy, and when you see those dancing snacks, well, you'll know that that was my little contribution.

While things have been slow and difficult on the creative front for a while now, I feel like the tide is beginning to turn in unexpected and potentially exciting ways.  Over the past few months, ideas have been beginning to spark.  New ideas that range across several different, tones, intended audiences, and types of media.  It feels strange that after spending so many years primarily focusing on animated projects, nothing I'm doing right now has anything to do with animation whatsoever.  Though strange, the change is nice.  I feel like I'm suddenly working with a much broader canvas.

I don't want to prematurely go into too much detail regarding the things I'm working on, but I will say this- while one of the projects is still heavily centered on me creating visual art, the others, so far, have had me focused on writing.  I haven't actively written a story since I wrote The Girl and the Ghost.  The shift has been a bit bizarre, but honestly, I've been loving it.  I don't think I've ever experienced something like this where the story has just been pouring out of me and all I can do is try to keep up with the words.  I really feel like something special might be happening right now and I can't wait to share it.

So, yes, that's where things stand right now.  It's a short blog post and I don't have much to show at the moment, but after a long drought, I feel like new, hopefully good things should be coming to light in the not too distant future.

Fingers crossed.

Giving Life to the Ghost

The Girl and the Ghost has been out there for a little while now.  It seems very odd to type that.  I worked on this project for so long that I don't think I've processed that it's actually finished and available for all to see.
A few nights ago, while working to promote the movie and get the word out, I started thinking about how it all started and thought maybe I should write it out for posterity and for anyone interested in the behind-the-scenes aspect of things.

I think it was Christmas 2006, I was at my Grandma's house and surrounded by family.  Some of my cousins were pretty young at the time and I found myself frustrated that I couldn't show them most of the animated shorts I had worked on.  My most recent projects were Tootsie Blow Pop and Batman's Gonna Get Shot in the Face and while I'm proud of them, they definitely aren't for little eyes and ears.  I wanted to make something that anybody could watch.  So, I started brainstorming.

My goal was to create an animated short that kids could enjoy, but I didn't want it to be so "kiddy" that it would turn adults off.  I wanted something that would let me play with atmosphere.  In early 2007, I came up with the idea for The Girl and the Ghost.  I liked the idea enough that I went ahead and wrote a script.  The script led to the creation of some concept designs.

I actually started animation almost immediately, even before giving voicework a single thought.  I was trying out ideas and techniques that were new to me and it was exciting!  Time consuming, but exciting.  Even early on, I was pulling off shots and visuals that I didn't think I'd be able to.  Anyone who knows me can attest to the fact that I'm my own harshest critic, so for me to impress myself like that was rare and surprising.  I had a feeling this project might actually work out and possibly even be something special.

Eventually, the time came when voicework was needed.  Larry and Aaron came onboard.  Larry was set as William and Aaron would be Harold, a character who actually first appeared in a script I wrote back in 2002 or 2003.  I remember Aaron was so excited, he volunteered to do a voice before I even had a chance to ask him.  As for the voices of Annabella and her mother, my friend Laura Segura recorded a test all the way out in LA.  I loved it.  She was in.  The cast was set.

The original cast.

Time passed, I kept working, and I got a good look at a bunch of the speed bumps that pop up during the movie making process.  I was excited to have the cast recording their parts from all over the country (Laura in LA, Aaron in Charlotte, and I recorded Larry here), but I soon saw the problem in that arrangement.  Everyone was in different places and using different equipment, this resulted in the audio quality of their recordings not matching up.  I tried to fix up the audio, but the difference was still jarring when the characters talked to each other.  I'd be able to record Aaron whenever he was back in town, but for my little no budget project, meeting up with Laura or getting her into a studio just wasn't possible.  I hated to make the call, but I was going to have to go another way for Annabella and her mother.
I had no idea who else I would get to play the parts, but the answer came at our premiere for The Greatest Fan Film of All Time and The Wimp Whose Woman Was a Werewolf in the form of my then new friend, Marisa Zakaria.

So, over the course of animating the movie, I'd record Larry, Aaron, and Marisa individually whenever they were free and/or in town.  If any lines ended up needing to be redone for whatever reason, it could be a long time before things lined up for us to get together and try again.  It was tricky, but we made it work.

Our recording studio was my living room.  Most of the dialogue was recorded on my MacBook using my Rock Band microphone.  Credit goes to Marisa for that one.  We were all set to record her lines and the microphone I planned to use wasn't working.  Marisa noticed my Rock Band setup and suggested we try that mic.  It worked beautifully.

For a pop filter, we used a piece of nylon legging stretched over a bent piece of wire hanger.  Fancy?  No.  But it got the job done.

Jake Ruby helped out with sound effects and did a fantastic job.  Everything sounded just how I wanted it to, but one sound eluded me.  In the movie, just before William appears, Annabella hears bumping and scratching sounds coming from her closet.  Jake tried a few things, I searched, but we couldn't find a sound effect that sounded right to me.  So, I took my trusty Rock Band microphone, put it inside a cardboard box, and had my mom scratch and tap on the outside of the box.  Got it.

The ability to work with what's available to you is important.  A little ingenuity can really save the day when you're in a pinch.

Video games to the rescue!

Music is a huge part of movies.  It helps create moods, it amplifies emotion, it helps the story flow.  I wanted great music for this.  Not good, great.  It was very important to me, but I was nervous because I didn't know who to go to that could do what I wanted.  Larry put me in touch with composer Mike Wilkinson.  We emailed back and forth a few times before he came up with a sample of music to suit the story and sent it to me.  It was outstanding.  I was blown away and felt so lucky.  As things went on and the project was delayed a few times (which I'll discuss shortly), our schedules no longer lined up.  By the time the movie was finally ready to be scored, Mike was committed to other projects and couldn't do Ghost.  It was totally understandable, but disappointing to be sure.  I didn't think I'd get that lucky again, but I had to keep looking and hoping.

I had met Karen Graves several times over the years, as she frequently plays violin with Chantal Kreviazuk and Raine Maida.  I took a shot and asked her if she might be interested in lending her musical talents to the project.  It was a long shot, but I had to try.  To my extreme surprise, she said yes.  I got lucky again.

What Karen came up with caught me off guard.  I knew she'd create something beautiful, but I never could have dreamed it'd turn out as beautiful as it did.  Every time I hear the music she made, I'm taken aback all over again.  Karen raised the project to a whole new level.

It's a winding road loaded with detours.  Changes can pounce out of the blue and target any number of aspects of a project.  I had to learn how to assess and handle each change in its own way.  I even started making changes on my own.  Originally, there was one more character in the story, an evil shapeshifting shadow creature that was pursuing William and appeared in the finale.  He actually made it into the animation phase, but I realized he slowed things down and wasn't really necessary in the story, so I cut him out.  Change can be scary, but sometimes it can be a blessing and improve the end result in unexpected ways, so don't be afraid to embrace it.

Maybe he'll get his chance in a future project.

I know how long these projects can take, I know how long animation alone takes, but I can say without exaggeration that I had no idea how long The Girl and the Ghost was going to take.  I would get on a roll and make big strides with the animation and then put it on hold when I was needed on another project, or I'd be sick for a while, or life in general would have other plans for me and keep me away from working on it for extended periods of time.

Animation is a slow, tedious process and I'm fully aware that my situation exacerbates that.  Most digital artists use a drawing tablet for their work, but my disability doesn't allow me to do that.  I have very limited movement in my arms and hands, so I can't draw in the traditional way.  Everything I make, I make using only a mouse.  The Girl and the Ghost is 17 minutes long and animated at 24 frames per second.  That's a lot of images.  Drawing and animating with a mouse is time consuming, frustrating, and can really tire me out, but it was the only option available to me, so it's what I did.  Living with a disability, you learn how to adapt to situations that aren't always suited to you.  You have to.  Using a mouse isn't the ideal animation method, my actual techniques may not be the "right" way to do things, but I do what I need to do in order to make it work.

Years have passed and it's finally done.  My cousins are older.  Since I set out to make this movie, I've become an uncle.  My nephew, Matthew grew up watching me animate it.
One of my favorite memories is when I was syncing a character's mouth to the dialogue while Matthew was sitting next to me.  He was maybe two years old at the time.  Hearing the audio playing one individual frame at a time, he started to mimic the choppy sound of it.  "Eh.  Ooh.  Eeh.  Uh."
During one of the project's delays, he would watch the first 6 minutes of the movie over and over again, despite its unfinished state.  My cousins may have inspired me to make this kind of movie, but Matthew fueled me to see it through.  Watch for it and you'll even spot some of his own artwork in the movie.

Over 800 hours of animation, plus voice recording, plus sound editing, plus music creation, plus editing, spread out over nearly 6 years.  If I've done my job well, you won't think of any of that while watching the movie.  You'll only think of Annabella, William, and their story.  I hope I've done my job.

The Girl and the Ghost went online on November 19th, 2012, almost two months ago.  As I write this, it's been viewed 746 times.  In the scope of the internet, that's not great, but for a 17 minute long film by an unknown animator?  I'm happy.  That's 746 more people than had seen it before November 19th.  And far more important than the numbers- the people who have seen it, both child and adult, have responded positively.  That's what matters.  This is what matters.

So, now that it's out there, I'm going to continue to email, tweet, and do whatever I can do to get more people to see the movie.  If you haven't seen The Girl and the Ghost yet or if you just want to help spread the word, here's the link:

http://youtu.be/0R_A8NC6jLM

To those who helped me make it, to those who have watched it, to those who supported me throughout this long haul, to those who have shared it...thank you.  From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Now, as the Ghost Hunters would say...on to the next.

Jacob's Semi-Yearly Year's End Review of the Year- 2012

We're already 10 days into 2013 and I've yet to post my reflections on 2012.  I'd like to keep the semi-tradition going, but I feel like a full recap isn't really necessary, since the year's blog entries are all right here, so I'll be keeping this one brief.

Honestly, 2012 was a long, frustrating, and exhausting year on a personal level.  It was rough and I'm glad to put it behind me.  Amidst the negative, there was positive.  I visited California.  I saw my friends.  I went to Niagara Falls.  Grandma's doing better.  On October 13th, little lady London was born, making me the uncle of three beautiful, smart, and strong little people.  I'm thankful for those good notes of the year.

Creatively, things shifted a bit over the course of the year.  I helped Teal with My Gimpy Life, I created the music video for My Dear with Sébastien Lefebvre, and I finally released The Girl and the Ghost.  Looking back, I'm so happy with how everything turned out.  I'm proud of the results.  It feels good.  2013 is shaping up to be a good one too.  I'm helping out on a secret little project with my new friend, the amazing America Young and I'm hoping to make something happen with Waiting for the Sun.

So, thanks for the good stuff, 2012.  Here's hoping 2013 brings more good to us all.  Let's rock it.

The Girl and the Ghost

It's been a long time coming.  Setback after setback kept popping up and delaying the project at every turn.  At this point, it's been five years since I had the idea, wrote the story, and began animating it.  I actually finished it a few months ago, but wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it.  A few weeks ago, I thought "it's nearly Halloween, it's the perfect time."  So, I decided that Tuesday, October 30th was going to be the big day.  Then, true to form, just as I was about to upload the movie, another setback popped up.  What was it this time?  Hurricane Sandy.

On Monday, October 29th, at 10:30 PM, an hour and a half before I was going to start the upload, I suddenly found myself sitting in the dark.  The winds proved to be too much and ended up snapping three electrical poles on our street and splitting a fourth in half, not to mention the tree that came down and blocked our street.

So, on October 30th, while everything was supposed to be happening, we were packing up to head over to Grandma's house, where there was still electricity, and more importantly, heat.  And that's where I stayed until November 3rd, along with Mom, Dad, Kris, Jessi, Matthew, and London.  It was an interesting few days.

Then I found myself back at home, but Halloween week, the ideal time to release the project, had passed.  I regrouped and weighed the options, trying to decide when the next best time would be.  One could go nuts trying to plan this stuff, so I decided.  What better time than right now?

At long last, I'm finally able to present to you… The Girl and the Ghost.

http://youtu.be/0R_A8NC6jLM?hd=1

I'd love if you'd let me know what you think of it.  I'd be honored if you shared the film with your friends.  Most importantly, I hope you enjoy it.

A Ghostly Update

The Girl and the Ghost has a history of being delayed.  Example- one year ago today, I announced the completion of animation for the project.  Is the movie done yet?  No.  But that will soon change.

Both the sound effects and music are extremely close to being finished, thanks to the fantastic Jake Ruby and Karen Graves.  Once they're done, I'll put them together, and The Girl and the Ghost will finally be complete.  It's just days away now.

With the movie being so close to done, cool things are already starting to happen.  First up?  The poster is here.

Also, the official Facebook page is up and running.
http://www.facebook.com/TheGirlAndTheGhost

And finally, the trailer is online.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5Ci7AXrIVE

Watch.  Enjoy.  Pass it on.

It's almost here!

Jacob's Semi-Yearly Year's End Review of the Year- 2011

Here we are at the end of another year.  In what seems to be a a pattern, this was a weird year.  As per tradition, let's take a look back at the highlights, lowlights, and in-betweenlights.

2011 started with a mix of excitement and exhaustion after the recent completion of Four Tanks and a Healer.  I took a brief rest, then shifted back into work mode and finished animating The Girl and the Ghost while Marisa and Larry had some big meetings in LA about Four Tanks.

Following completion of the animation for Ghost, I laid low for a while and let myself decompress a bit.

After a long, rainy spring that lasted into the summer, in late June, I took a trip to Niagara Falls and met Teal Sherer.  We spent a few days hanging out, saw Chantal play at Jackson-Triggs and just had a great time.

Sadly, the vacation ended with me getting sick and it took me until the end of July to feel back to normal.

At the end of August, I was ready to donate again, so I went and got my hair chopped.

In September, Mom was out of commission with an infection in her finger and took most of the month to recover.  Before the month was over, Mom was back on track and we took an interesting trip to Toronto, which I still need to blog about.

In October, nearly a year after its completion, Four Tanks and a Healer premiered at TheOneRing.net and received very positive reactions.

In November, Bridget, Mom, and I saw Marketa Irglova in an amazing, intimate concert.  Still need to blog about that one too.

This strangely rainy December saw the release of a great holiday video Teal came up with.  I was happy to have been involved, even if I only lent a small hand.

http://youtu.be/6ZnxWz3NAY4?hd=1

Christmas, though snowless, was nice.  I loved watching Matthew experience the magic and fun of it all.

Overall, 2011 was a slow year that flew by.  It was also, as most years are, a year filled with change.
One big change is that 4Reelz now consists of just Marisa and me, as Larry left to start his own company, Eddy Spaghetti Productions.  I'm sure we'll still team up on plenty of stuff though.

Another notable change is that Matthew has grown from this little guy...

...into this less-little guy.

Entertainment-wise, I'd say it was a decent year.  A brief rundown of what entertained me this year...

Movies:
The Muppets
Super 8
Thor
Captain America
Hugo
Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Music:
Marketa Irglova- Anar
Anna Nalick- Broken Doll & Odds & Ends
Billy the Kid & The Southside Boys- Ours
and even though it wasn't actually released this year, Jenny Owen Youngs- Transmitter Failure, which features probably my most listened-to song of the year, Last Person.

http://youtu.be/vLsV1IWB8nY?hd=1

I don't want to risk jinxing anything, but I have to say, the coming year is looking like it could be pretty outstanding.
In the next few weeks, music and sound effects for The Girl and the Ghost will be done and this seemingly endless project will finally be finished.
Things are in motion for my next project, currently titled Waiting for the Sun, to really get moving.  Fingers crossed, this one could be a dream project.
And without giving anything away just yet, if all goes well, the coming summer could include a trip out west...
Also coming up in 2012, my 30th birthday the release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, and who knows what else?

Here's hoping 2012 is full of happiness, health, love, and success for all of us.  Happy New Year, everyone!

A Boring May Update

I wish I could blog more often.

Correction- I wish good, exciting, blogworthy things occurred more often. Truth is, everything I'm involved with seems to have a long and involved process with not many exciting updates until the very end. So, looking at my blog may give the impression that I'm lazy and not doing anything at all, that's not the case.

For the most part.

Most recently, I've been working on editing The Girl and the Ghost. I'm happy (and relieved) to say it's nearly finished. The next step, which I'm very pumped about, will be adding sound effects and music. After that, it should finally be finished. Then comes the task of figuring out what to do with the finished film...

I've been doing a little bit of plotting and outlining for a new script that I really think has the potential to be unique and special, but it's too soon to get into details on that, so consider yourself teased.

Besides that, I've got a new animated short written and ready to go whenever I am, plus Larry and I are talking about coming up with something new to work on. So, when it comes to what's next, I've got options aplenty.

As for Four Tanks and a Healer, I've got no real news to share as of yet. Hopefully I'll have something exciting to share soon.

Other than that, I've pretty much just been laying low and hanging out with my constantly growing and ridiculously smart nephew. I brag, but it's true.

Movie-wise, I've only gotten to the theater to see Paul and Thor, both of which I loved.

I'm looking forward to all the movies you'd expect me to, like Green Lantern, Captain America, and Super 8, and I'm surprised to say I'm (cautiously) looking forward to the new X-Men and Transformers movies, even though their previous installments left me cold.

So, cartoons, writing, and movies...yep, I'm boring. I will be having a much anticipated adventure next month, so I know I'll at least have some excitement to write about then, if not before.

Until then, stay snazzy.

From OldSchool to the Future

It's crazy the way things align themselves sometimes. Today, January 26th, 2011, is the fifth anniversary of the release of my first animated short, Nintendo: OldSchool Revolution.

It just so happens that today, on the anniversary of our first project together, Larry's out in LA with Marisa and Mark Ordesky for some big meetings with some big networks regarding Four Tanks and a Healer. Cross those fingers.

But wait! There's a third cool tidbit about today I'd like to share. As of a couple hours ago, animation for The Girl and the Ghost is finished. There may still be some minor tweaks to be made, but for the most part, it's done. Next up is editing and some audio work, then this baby will finally see the light of day. It's been a long time coming.

We've certainly come a long way since posting our little cartoon on iFilm in 2006. Howsabout we celebrate by taking a stroll down memory lane and revisiting this old boy?

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xdbl0s_nintendo-oldschool-revolution_fun

PS- You can also read a couple awesome articles from our wrap party here and here.

Completion and Relaxation

Well, since my last blog entry, I've been busy. Very busy. I suppose the biggest news would be that after 7 months of working like crazy, I've finally finished animation for Four Tanks and a Healer. Completion was reached in the early hours of November 13th. I was exhausted, but so relieved.

The guys are currently editing and scoring it, then it'll be totally done. In the meantime, here's the most recent trailer:

Four Tanks and a Healer- Full Trailer
Uploaded by JacobDrake. - Full seasons and entire episodes online.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xf8621_four-tanks-and-a-healer-full-traile_shortfilms

I hope people will like the finished product once it's released. It was a long road of many many late nights spent sitting by myself in the dark and animating. I won't lie, it was rough. My sanity was frequently saved by watching The Nostalgia Critic and more recently, old clips of The Kids in the Hall on YouTube. I had forgotten how great that show was, I really need to get myself the complete series on DVD soon.

Since finishing my work on Four Tanks, I've spent this last week living a fairly hobbitish lifestyle- eating, drinking, relaxing, and enjoying my sleep more than I have in quite a while. It's nice. It actually took me a couple days to get over feeling guilty for relaxing instead of working, but I'm good now.

So, now that that's done, what's next? Well, after I decompress a bit more, my top priority is to dive in and finally finish The Girl and the Ghost once and for all. After that, I've got a few potentially amazing projects in the works, but we'll discuss those once they're a little closer to fruition.

Now I've got more time to blog and I've got tales going back to March waiting to be written about, so it'll be nice to sit down and tackle those.

For now, I'm just looking forward to enjoying Thanksgiving week, hanging out with friends, and just being.

Amusing and Creative Entry Title

My brain may explode soon. I've been going nonstop for so long now, I thought I'd take a minute to update the ol' blog. It's been three months since my last entry. Shame on me.

So, what have I been doing?

Shortly after I last wrote, I snuck away for an awesome Toronto trip which will get its own entry (or entries) on here soon. Really. I mean it.

Upon returning, my aunt and uncle came down from way up north in Canada for a visit. It had been a few years since I last saw them, so it was great to spend some time with them.

A few days later, Larry, Aaron, Marisa, and I had our first 4 Reelz production meeting. Hmm... Come to think of it, I don't think I've mentioned 4 Reelz on here yet. Go to 4Reelz.com and take a look-see.

Anyway, the meeting was at Mirabile's, a little family-owned Italian restaurant. The neighborhood's not the best, but the place itself was nice.

After the production meeting, Vince and Travis joined us for some food and a table read-through of Four Tanks and a Healer.

The food was great and they had me drinking homemade wine before noon, which helped numb the ache of actually having to be up before noon.

The read-through went nicely and we were ready.

They recorded all the dialogue for Four Tanks the next day and I went back to working hard on The Girl and the Ghost. I had hoped to finish it before starting Four Tanks, so I would have one less thing to worry about. I got close, but it didn't quite pan out that way.

In the following weeks, Larry drove up and we recorded the last of his dialogue and I directed Aaron's recording session via Skype.

The animation is about 95% finished, but I got to the point where I had to start Four Tanks. So, right now I'm a little over a month in on that.

Here's a little teaser peek at Four Tanks and a Healer...

I'm working hard and putting in long hours so I can make sure this thing is as good as it can be. It's turning my brain to mush, but it must be done.

I'm a machine.

This weekend, I'll be recording the last of Marisa's stuff for The Girl and the Ghost and I'm going to see The Swell Season. Should be a good weekend.

I'll be blogging again soon and I'll be posting some long overdue Ghost goodies, so stay tuned.

2010: Time to Catch Up

It's been over two months already?

Oops.

I've never claimed to be a punctual (or good) blogger, but I'll always keep coming back and updating. The main problem for me with blogging is that when nothing's happening, there's nothing to write, but when things are happening, there's no time to sit and collect my thoughts into a semi-decent entry.

I'm pretty busy these days, but I want to get an update out before it gets too out of control.

Let's do this.

Christmas was a great time. Lots of long-running traditions failed to come together, which was a bummer, but Christmas Day made up for that. Kris, Jessi, Hanna, and Matthew came over on Christmas morning and we did presents here. I loved watching Matthew have the whole experience, that was the highlight for me.

Keeping with tradition, the afternoon and evening were spent over Grandma's, just hanging out with the family.

Matthew spent the night on New Year's Eve, so I hung out with him and Mom all night. Ate some cheese and crackers, had a little drinky drink, it was nice.

The highlight of that night was the pudding episode. Matthew was sitting next to me as I putzed around on my laptop. He was eating pudding, so I asked "Is that good?"

He looked at me, gave it some thought, and said "Have some."

He then grabbed his spoon and stretched, trying to get it to my mouth. Half of it smeared across my cheek, the rest across my teeth. He said "uh oh", grabbed his napkin, climbed up, and started wiping my face. I was laughing too hard to make a sound. When he started wiping my teeth, I closed my mouth to avoid getting a mouthful of paper napkin. He then proceeded to grab my beard and pull down, trying to open my mouth.

The kid's a trip.

2009 got off to a rough start and never really seemed to recover. There were highlights and bright spots, but the overall tone of the year wasn't all that great, so I was happy to see '09 go so 2010 could get a shot at not sucking.

So far? I suppose it's been okay. The winter weather's been pretty rough, so I haven't been able to get out much. Honestly, I've pretty much gone stir-crazy at this point.

I've been using my indoor-time to catch up on some of the movies I missed last year. I've recently watched The Hangover, 9, District 9, and Zombieland. All were good, but my favorite movie I've seen recently was easily Moon. Blew me away. See it.

I also saw Avatar in 3D. I can't say I fell in love with it, but I definitely liked it.

I've mostly been spending my time working to finish animating The Girl and the Ghost. It's been a big test, trying to push myself without burning out on the process more than I already am. But I'm moving forward. I wouldn't say I'm in the home stretch just yet, but it is in sight. This movie's almost done.

Want something to watch now? Dolly Oxem's Traveling Video Circus premiered a few weeks ago! Check it out!

DOLLY OXEM'S TRAVELING VIDEO CIRCUS!
Uploaded by Bullcrank. - See more comedy videos.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xbvvtu_dolly-oxem-s-traveling-video-circus_fun

Production for Four Tanks and a Healer begins next month. Craziness, I tell ye.

I better get back to work.

Late November Catch Up

Well, it's been a while since I've blogged. Why? Because my days have been pretty boring. My change-of-season-sickness turned into a sore throat/cough/ear infection/sinus infection...thing. It ended up hanging around in some form for about two months. Thankfully, it has FINALLY passed as of recently. I am still fighting with my ear as it continues to randomly plug and unplug. Fun, fun, fun.
Oh, and I also got my swine flu shot two weeks ago today, so hopefully I won't have to worry about sprouting a twirly tail and feeling the urge to roll around in the mud.

So, the major frustration of the long sickness (besides being sick), is that my work on The Girl and the Ghost was delayed. Bigtime. I had hoped to have it finished by the end of the year, at least the actual animation phase, but that's pretty unlikely now. It WILL get done though. This one has been far too long of a journey to turn back now.

Some recent highlights have included Halloween and Thanksgiving. Halloween was great because little Matthew made me proud and dressed up as Superman.
Check this awesome little nugget out.


I also carved a Jeff-Goldblum-O-Lantern.

Thanksgiving was nice, I had fun just chilling out with all the family. On top of that, it was also Matthew's second birthday. It was a blast to watch him open his presents and dive into his cake. Can't believe the little bugger's only been around for two years, it kind of feels like he's always been here.

As one of my gifts to him, I made another video to follow The First Four and The Following Fifteen. Here's Eighteen Through Twenty Four.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ly7y7vqqSAQ

Thanksgiving weekend was rounded out with lots of hanging with the gang. It was the first I've gotten to hang with Corey, Eric, Brendan, Jeff, Mikey, and Mo all together in ages.
Twas a good time.

There's also a bit of big news I'm excited to share. A couple weeks ago, Larry, Aaron, and the guys headed out to LA for a week of meetings. On November 19th, I got a text from Larry that read

"Lotr producer just took us to breakfast to tell us he's investing in our new toon"

Mark Ordesky, producer of Lord of the Rings, is investing in our next animated project, Four Tanks and a Healer.

You can read Larry's account of the trip here.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/notes/larry-longstreth/onward-to-awesomeness/207207984601

This is so mind-boggling to me that my brain has yet to fully process it. It'll definitely be interesting to see where our projects go in 2010.

But before that? Christmas. I'm really looking forward to it this year. I'm ready for some Christmas spirit.

A Picture, Some Video, and a Ghost Update

Haven't been blogging much lately, since I finally jumped back into animating The Girl and the Ghost again. Animation resumed on August 5th and I've been going full force ever since. Until last Thursday, that is.

I sent the MacBook in to get checked out before the warranty ran out. So, I've been on my old iBook ever since. It's been killing me to not be able to animate (or watch YouTube videos, or play games, or do anything entertaining) for the past week. It should be back soon though, then it's back to work.

Animation-wise, I recently passed the 500 hour mark and have just over six minutes of completed footage. I'm usually extremely critical of my own work, but I honestly love how this is looking. It's finally coming together and actually feels like a movie. Can't wait to finish it and get it out there. For now, here's a still shot.

While we're in sneak peek mode, here's the trailer for Dolly Oxem's Traveling Video Circus!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpftKra7PUk

The computer downtime, though annoying, was timed well, as this past weekend was my birthday weekend. I was busy hanging with Corey, Eric, Mikey, Brendan, and Jake. Even got to see Aaron for the first time in ages on Sunday.
Much Rock Band was played and much fun was had. Thanks, guys.

I saw Our Lady Peace in concert on August 20th and had an amazing time. There's a detailed blog entry about that on its way as soon as I'm back on a computer better suited to handle pictures and video. For now, though, here's their latest music video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nK4MwL5p_o

Now, I better go get some rest. I'm in the middle of my usual change-of-season sickness.

Bleh.

More soon.

Full Plate. Here, Have a Bite.

It's getting busy again, kiddies. The projects are a-stackin', so I'm gettin' crackin'.

Currently, I'm finishing up work on an animated intro for Larry and the gang's upcoming comedy sketch show, Dolly Oxem's Traveling Video Circus. From what I've seen, I can tell you it's going to be bizarre, ridiculous, and hilarious. They're sort of going back to a style similar to their classic Eyeball Papercuts days, but applying all the things they've learned about filmmaking in the years since. I can't wait to see the finished product.

As soon as I'm done with the intro (within the next couple of days), I'm finally going back to dust the cobwebs off of The Girl and the Ghost. It's been about two years since I put it on hold to focus on The Greatest Fan Film of All Time.
I haven't resumed animating it yet, but I have spent the last few weeks slowly dipping my toes back into that world. Two years is a long time, creativity-wise. Ideas change, situations change, and the production of The Girl and the Ghost is definitely reflecting that. I've rewritten the climax of the story and the cast has some new blood in it.
Marisa Tomasic, who you'll remember as Cheyenne in The Wimp Whose Woman Was a Werewolf, is now on board as the female lead. I spent the past two Fridays with her, recording all the lines for her parts. Yes, I typed "parts", she's pulling double duty on this one and doing an amazing job. Can't thank her enough.

Recording with Marisa

And there's more lined up once that's finished. Remember my big dramatic announcement that I wouldn't be working on Larry's next animated project? Scratch that, I'm on board now. It's still a little ways off and the details are still being figured out, so there's not too much to say about it just yet. But yes, it's called Four Tanks and a Healer, I'm working on it, it will rock, and the Longstreth/Drake magic will continue. Or is it Drake/Longstreth? Drakestreth? Longdrake?
Whatever. It's continuing.

And somewhere in there, there's the new story idea I want to get moving on. I recently put together some concept art for it and I'm completely in love with it. It has me beyond excited, I've even had moments of temptation where all I wanted to do was push everything else aside so I could focus solely on this new idea.
I'll get to it though, hopefully sooner than later. Right now, it's the carrot dangling in front of me.
No, I don't like carrots, make it a soft pretzel. With cheese.

Here's something visual for this entry. I needed a break after animating a few nights ago and thought I'd have some editing fun.
During the editing process for Nintendo: OldSchool Revolution, there was a bit of quality loss in the picture. It bugged me. So, I went back to the original Flash files and re-rendered them in high definition, then edited the footage exactly as Larry did originally. The colors are vibrant, the lines are clear, and the lip-syncing is fixed.
Now, nearly four years after I began animation for it, you can finally see Nintendo: OldSchool Revolution in full quality, flaws and all. HD, baby.

Check it out and tell me what you think!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV1a_1ubJuo

So, that's what I've been up to and will be up to for the next little while. Who knows what other projects might sneak their way in there too?

Right. Gettin' crackin' now.

Running to Catch Up

Happy New Year!!!

...Yeah, a little late, I know. So, where have I been? Right here, pretty much. To be honest, I've just felt completely burnt out since finishing The Greatest Fan Film of All Time. I really haven't wanted anything to do with anything and I've been keeping a low profile, both online and off, in hopes of recharging myself a bit. Hasn't quite worked yet, but I'm slowly getting there.

Over the course of my journey to recharge, the holidays came and went and were nice. Santa brought me a digital video camera I'm hoping to put to good use.
In January (and beyond), Mother Nature unleashed her fury and gave us near-record-setting amounts of snow and left me stranded inside the house for a long, long time. On the bright side, it gave me a chance to make a dent in my monstrosity of a Netflix queue. Unfortunately, most of the movies I watched were disappointing. But I discovered how much I love the Bourne movies.

I broke my long streak of not going to the movies by going to see Coraline in 3D a couple weeks ago. The movie itself was great and the RealD 3D was amazing. Stylin' glasses too.


Tomorrow night I'm heading to the midnight showing of Watchmen. Can't wait.

Matthew has been a constant source of entertainment and exhaustion. He's 15 months old, huge, and smart.


On the movie-making front, Larry and the guys are working on both a new film and a new animated project. After a lot of hard thought, I made the difficult decision not to head up this animated project. I need to take a little time for myself and wrap up some of my own projects that have been sitting on the back burner. The Girl and the Ghost is still unfinished and I want to finally get it done and out there, even if only for myself.
I'm sure they'll do just great without me on this one.
It's been insane and great working with the guys these last few years and I'm sure we'll be teaming up again on something spectacular before too long.

You might notice the site's looking a bit different. I'm in the process of giving it an impromptu update, so hang in there and we'll be snazzified soon.

Before I wrap this entry up, I just wanted to take a minute to mention my niece. A few months ago, we found out Kris & Jessi were expecting another baby, a little girl. We found out a couple weeks ago that Jessi lost the baby. It's been hard on all of us. So, I wanted to take this opportunity to write this in memory of the niece I never got to meet.

I know I keep saying it, but I really will try to post more often. I swear.

Weekend Recap and Beyond

Well, Saturday night came and went, it's high time I update the ol' blogaroo.

The Greatest Fan Film of All Time was finally completed the day before the premiere. We cut it close, but we made it. The premiere, thankfully, went really well. True to fashion, the speedbumps continued right up until showtime. Apparently Larry and the gang were having tech troubles with the projector, but managed to straighten everything out with fifteen minutes to spare.

I arrived at the Kent Stage around 7:30, bought my tickets from Derby, and made my way into the theater. It was a great setup and I was surprised how many people were already in there. And they kept coming. We planned to start the show at 8, but waited a half hour, as there were still people lined up outside.
It was great, a bunch of family came, including cousins Bob & Fran, who made the drive in from Pennsylvania. The biggest surprise was seeing Lindsy, who I haven't seen in about a year and a half. That was awesome.
I was really glad to see Aaron even made it in from the Carolinas.
The theater can seat 600, we had an audience of about 400 to 500. Not too shabby.

Before the lights went out, Larry showed our own version of the pre-movie trivia slideshow. Next up was a series of new skits the guys made. They were sprinkled throughout the night, popping up before, after, and between the movies. You can see them here (not suitable for youngins):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rw2WAK9xyRM

Next up was the debut of The Wimp Whose Woman Was A Werewolf:

THE WIMP WHOSE WOMAN WAS A WEREWOLF

http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=48264163

Finally, it was time for the unveiling of The Greatest Fan Film of All Time (it was even my first time seeing the finished film):

The Greatest Fan Film of All Time
Uploaded by Bullcrank

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7pw7l_the-greatest-fan-film-of-all-time_shortfilms

It was great seeing the films with a crowd and hearing everyone laugh and react at all the right places. Just wild.

After the theater cleared out, I hung in the lobby with the remaining cast and crew for a while and just chatted. Of course, we took the obligatory group shot.

It was a crazy night and went by in such a blur. It still hasn't processed that after all those hours of work, Fan Film is finally done.

It went live on Dailymotion as the premiere was going on and has already been viewed over 11,000 times. Many thanks to Aimee Carlson yet again.

Speaking of Aimee, she gave us another shoutout on Lunchbox over at ifc.com:

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1454928837/bctid4691270001

It's been a crazy year, culminating in a crazy weekend.

Next up? I'm taking a break. A nice, relaxing break full of movies, Rock Band, and World of Warcraft. Then I'll push forward and finish The Girl and the Ghost and see what happens after that.

Mmm... downtime...

Left Foot, Right Foot

Still working on Fan Film. I still love how it's looking, though I must admit I'm getting a bit restless. I always seem to get an influx of ideas for other projects while I'm working on one and they have to wait until I finish and can focus my attention on them. I suppose I can try to use that as motivation to help make it to the finish line.

It is nice while in the midst of new-project-frustration to see that an old project is still going strong. Aimee from Dailymotion.com contacted us asking if we'd be interested in creating a Bullcrank channel. So we did. On the first day (last Sunday), they featured Nintendo: OldSchool Revolution on their front page. One week later and it's been viewed (at the time of this writing) 50,993 views.
It's crazy to see my first project still getting numbers like that after two years.

Bridget came by for a visit on Monday. I haven't seen her since September, so it was nice to hang out and catch up. We swapped some music and she told me about her new job at The Toledo Blade, where she recently got to interview Ben Folds. Not too shabby, eh? Nicely done, ma'am.

Fan Film is calling, I better answer.

In the meantime, check out this video Larry made showcasing seven years of Bullcrank filmmaking. There's even a glimpse at The Girl and the Ghost in there (no, I haven't forgotten about that one).

http://youtube.com/watch?v=X_ercEWYTik

Jacob's Yearly Year's End Review of the Year- 2007

If you're just joining us, howsabout a brief recap of 2007?

Creatively, the year jumped off with an amazing start. January started with Batman's Gonna Get Shot in the Face being voted the 4th Best Short film of 2006 by FilmThreat.com
I also finished my work on Harvey Daggit and the Devil's Olives as well as the music video for Raine Maida's Sex Love & Honey.
Personally speaking, things were rough, as things were a bit turbulent in Kris' life.

February saw an amazing trip up to Windsor to see Chantal Kreviazuk and Raine Maida.

March brought Harvey Daggit's acceptance to the website for Spielberg's show, On the Lot. Sadly, that's as far as it went.
It was also in March that we announced The Greatest Fan Film of All Time and The Girl and the Ghost.

April started with my very first newspaper interview about our films and continued with Tootsie Blow Pop exploding after being featured on MySpace.

The summer was mostly quiet as I worked away on Fan Film and Ghost until late August, when Mom and I embarked on another Canadian adventure.

More animation led me into November, which brought my first experience in live action filming. In a complete turnaround from the way the year started, Kris became a father and I became an uncle.

December was mostly more animation, enjoying being an uncle, and prepping for Christmas. Which leads me to now.

As I type this blog with the arrival of a new year at hand, I find myself feeling more optimistic than I was at this time last year. Though busy working on things I love, I spent most of 2007 frustrated and stressed out. In recent weeks, things have changed and I feel I've changed (for the better) too.

2008 will bring the completion of Ghost and Fan Film and, if my hopes become reality, the start of some wonderful new things.

I wish you all joy, health, and prosperity in the year ahead. Happy New Year!!!

October? Already?

It's cold and grey out, must be Fall. We were actually up near the 90s and sunny last week, which was nice, but now things are as they should be, which in turn means I'm sitting under a blanket, feeling under the weather and wishing I was somewhere warm and sunny.

Two months from now, we'll most likely be buried under snow.

Along with the gloomy weather comes the new TV season, so it's not all gloom lately. There aren't many new shows that have grabbed me this year, but I'm really happy with the ones that have. Most people seem iffy on it, but I'm liking the new Bionic Woman and Reaper is pretty cool so far. Chuck is much better than I expected, I'm really enjoying that. Easily my favorite of the new shows is Pushing Daisies. It was created by Bryan Fuller, who was one of the creators of Wonderfalls (an all time favorite of mine), so there's that same quirkiness to it, but with more of a fantasy feel. Here's to hoping it gets more of a chance to thrive than Wonderfalls did and maybe it can even help fill the void left by the recently departed Veronica Mars.

Both animated shorts are still chugging along. I was worried about what I'd do about music for The Girl and the Ghost since the start of the project. A couple weeks ago, Larry suggested I get in touch with an old friend of his about music, so I did. A few emails later, he sent me a sample and I'was blown away. I'm ecstatic to announce Mike Wilkinson is officially doing the music for The Girl and the Ghost.

It's a nice step forward for a project that feels like it's moving so slowly. I'm sure the pace will pick up once the rest of the voice work is finished.

I needed a change of scenery so to speak, so for the last couple weeks, I've had my attention fully focused on The Greatest Fan Film of All Time. I'm trying a bit of a different animation technique at the moment and I'm loving it so far. It's surprisingly strange to be animating these characters again. It's been almost a year and a half since I finished Batman's Gonna Get Shot in the Face and now I'm back in that world again.

Dad pointed out the other day that when these two projects are finished, their combined length will most likely be more than every one of my previous projects combined. That's a bit of a freak out.

Well, I'm cold. I think I'll go throw a log on the fire. First I need to find a house with a fireplace and residents who won't be alarmed by a strange man in a wheelchair wielding a log outside their door.