Hmph.

I haven't posted an entry in a few days. I wish I could offer a good excuse, but the only one I have is that I've been excessively bored.

It's been cold, windy, rainy, and snowy these last few days. Add to that that there's really nowhere to go around here that really interests me and I'm sure you'll get the picture that I'm already going a bit stir crazy. And it's not even November yet.

As I've said, I don't like the cold months all that much, but I am looking forward to November for two specific reasons:

1. The concert trip up to St Catharines
2. The end of the increasingly annoying political ads on TV

I'm still keeping myself really busy writing. I've written the next installment of Ask the Reading Monkey, I finished a poem for a friend, and I'm working out some ideas for possible film projects.

Along with all that, I'm also re-working my script. I was given some brilliant and very helpful advice from Rachel, who voiced Batgirl in Batman's Gonna Get Shot in the Face.
I took a few days off between drafts (as Larry advised) and like magic, I felt the creative spark. A tweak here, a minor change there, and I can already see some drastic improvements. It's always nice to have friends who know their stuff. Thanks, guys.

In the spirit of Halloween, I'll leave you with something kinda scary. Check out this creepy (and seemingly pointless) commercial for the upcoming Playstation 3.

Script Update

Weighing in at 95 pages long, this draft of the script is finished! I'm extremely pleased with it, but of course, it still needs some fine tuning.

I was a bit nervous sending it to Larry for feedback, but to my surprise, he really liked it. Larry's not one to hide it if he doesn't like a movie, so this was a big confidence boost for me.

Not quite sure what the next step is, but I'm excited.

Out With the Cold, In With the Cold

After about a week, my cold is finally gone. I still have the occasional cough, but it's done for the most part, thankfully.

I can't believe it, we got the first snow of the year today. Granted, it didn't stick and only lasted for a couple minutes, but it snowed. It was 70 degrees just a couple days ago.
Ohio.

The current draft of my script is just a couple pages away from completion. It'll still need some tweaking and polishing, but progress is progress.

I've been trying to write steadily, but keep getting distracted by my recently purchased box set of Scrubs: Season 4 and my resurrected addiction to Snood. Curse those freaky little faces and the joy of firing them from their cannon!

Back to work. Focus, Jacob. Focus.

Losers and Monkeys and Bats. Oh My.

After one week on iFilm, the films are doing pretty well. The Losers Have a Junkyard has chalked up 18,471 views so far at the moment I'm typing this, while Batman's Gonna Get Shot in the Face has been viewed 8,833 times and is currently the #1 most viewed animation in the past 7 days. A cool little bonus is that still hanging in at #3 is Nintendo: OldSchool Revolution, which is currently up to a total of 411,171 views. Thanks to everyone who's been watching!

I think Revolution spoiled me. In its first week online, it racked up over 200,000 views. I've been finding myself disappointed with Batman's numbers, thinking "Okay...only 8,000? What's the problem here?" Then I remind myself that a year ago I would have freaked at the thought of eight hundred people seeing my work would have freaked me out. No matter what the numbers, I'm extremely proud of Batman.

Another cool note, Batman and Losers are both officially listed on the Internet Movie Database! You can view the pages here and here.

I'm still plugging away at that script of mine. It's taking longer than I'd have liked, but I'd rather take a bit longer and get it right as opposed to rushing it at the cost of quality. Wow, with all this talk, this thing better not suck.

I watched Sin City again tonight and it's got me feeling the creative flow, not only because it's an awesome movie that was amazingly executed, but because, cheesy as it might sound, Robert Rodriguez inspires me.
I mean, the guy started out by basically being a guinea pig at a drug testing facility to make enough money to shoot his first feature. He worked his way up to where he is now because he loves doing what he does.
He's such a hands-on filmmaker, doing everything he can do himself to keep the films as close to his vision as possible. That's how I want to do things. It'd be torture for me to film a whole movie and then just pass it off to somebody else to edit.
His movies just get me pumped to make movies. Can you tell?

I'll end this post with something I have recently finished, the second installment of Ask the Reading Monkey! Enjoy!

The Big 2-4 and Other Tidbits

It's now the early hours of my birthday. Some time around 4:30 AM, I'll officially be 24. Mom and I are leaving in the morning and heading up to Niagara Falls for a few days, that'll be a nice little getaway.

I've still been keeping myself busy and creative. The script is moving along slowly, but I really do love how nicely it's coming together.
Jeff and I got together tonight and shot the 2nd episode of Ask the Reading Monkey. I'll cut that together and get it online after I get back from the Falls.

iFilm said Batman and Losers would go online on Monday. As in last Monday. It's been a week, but no films yet.
If you're waiting for them, I suggest you go and check out the shorts at How it Should Have Ended in the meantime. These guys are great, you'll see.

Well, if I don't post again before I leave, I'll be back Thursday. Y'all be good now.

The Dance of Creativity

It's come to my attention over the past few days that creativity controls you, not the other way around.

I've been sitting here with my trusty ol' iBook trying to force my brain into screenwriting mode. I have a lot of the groundwork laid for this script. I love the idea and think the finished product could be amazing. I've been playing with this story in various forms for a long time and I'm really eager to deliver this baby. There are just a few patches that need smoothed and a few gaps that need filled.

So, I sit here trying to get it going, get the story to flow from my fingers. I start typing and what comes out?

Poems.

I've written three poems this week so far. I'm not complaining, I really like two of them and the third one's not bad, I'm just saying creativity doesn't always cooperate. But hey, as long as it's giving me something, I'm happy.

Batman News and Other Updates

Hey gang, got some cool news! Last Thursday, I saw the finished version of Batman's Gonna Get Shot in the Face. I'm gonna be honest and I hope I don't sound too cocky, but this is going to blow Revolution out of the water. I'm extremely proud of how it turned out and I'm hoping everyone else enjoys it too.
Larry's talking about doing a premier for Batman and his new short film, The Losers Have a Junkyard. There aren't any details on the premier yet, but for now, you can view new trailers for both films over at Bullcrank.com

I also have to mention that late Friday night, Nintendo: OldSchool Revolution passed 400,000 views at iFilm and it's still going strong! It's like the little cartoon that could.

So, I've now been done animating Batman for almost two weeks. I'm definitely enjoying the break, but I'll admit, it's pretty weird not having a project waiting for me every day. After the initial aimlessness of the first couple days post-Batman, I haven't had much trouble finding ways to keep myself busy. I've actually been working on quite a few projects and hobbies. So far I've...

• Started rewriting a script of mine.

• Resumed reading Neil Gaiman's Smoke and Mirrors.

• Gotten roped into Monopoly madness with Mikey, Brendan, and Corey.

• Created some new artwork.

So, yeah, I'm keeping my hands full, but looking forward to the next big project.
Closing thoughts for now: Go see Clerks II, it's great. And while you're at it, see Superman Returns. That movie's amazing and beautiful and deserves more love from the moviegoing public.

A Blog For Adrienne

Tonight Adrienne told me, and I quote, "you need some more blogs." Who am I to argue? So here we go!

I'll begin with a little update on things. As of last weekend, the rough draft of my screenplay is finished! Right now, Zoe's looking it over and she'll be letting me know what areas I need to work on. I'll keep you posted as things progress!

It's been one hell of a week here in JacobLand! It's Spring Break around here, so everyone who's more motivated than yours truly and going to college has the week off. That means tons of catching up with old friends and getting to know new ones.

On Saturday night I was lucky enough to have the company of Corey and Adrienne. We chilled out, watched Garden State, and ate mint chocolate chip ice cream, courtesy of Corey. Let me tell you, that's an accurate name, it was in fact minty, chocolate chippy, icy, AND creamy. Delicious. Great movie, yummy snack, and the company wasn't too shabby either.

Sunday I met the cutest poodle on Earth and had a mini game night with Corey and Mikey. *sings* Madden '05 and Mario Party, TimeSplitters 2 and Soul Calibur also, playing those games until my fingers sting, these are a few of my favorite thiiiiiiiings.

Monday- Slow day. Corey left for Oregon, I worked on a cartoon for Adrienne.

Tuesday, Adrienne made a return visit! We basically just sat and talked from 8 PM to 1:30 AM and had such a great time. We watched American Idol and the judges contradicted everything I said. Jerks. Plus tonight my girl was voted off! Amanda got robbed. Anyway, after Adrienne went home, she came online and we chatted til 5 AM. She's definitely cool, plus she has some strange kind of superhuman tolerance for my rambling.

And the fun doesn't end there, folks! I'm hoping to fill out the rest of the week with more company, special guests may include such fan favorites as Bridget, Maria, and maybe a super special third visit from Adrienne!*
*card subject to change

I can tell all my readers are wetting themselves with excitement. Well, go clean yourselves up. that's all I've got for now. More soon...if you behave.

-Jacob

A Little Bit of Action!

Valentine's Day is nearly upon us, so what does that mean? Time for another one of my annoyingly overdue blog entries!

You may have noticed (yeah, all five of you) that updates to the site have drastically decreased. I assure you though, there's actually a good reason that doesn't involve me being lazy, quite the opposite in fact!

For those of you who don't know, a few months ago I found myself in contact with Zoe of Frankly Zoe Productions and we clicked. To make a long story short, Zoe asked me if I'd like to write a short film for her annual Youth Summer Movie Project. Excitedly, I accepted her offer.
I searched for an idea and finally thought of something we could possibly use, I tossed the idea at Zoe. She played with it a bit and tossed it back. We tossed it back and forth. Playing catch is fun. Anyway, Zoe finally said what I had been hoping she'd say. The idea had too many possibilities to be just a short film, we're gonna make it feature length!

So, ladies and gentlemen, that's why it's been so long since I've updated, I've been working on my screenplay, bay-bee!
I'm writing this bad boy, I'll be 1st Assistant Director, and yes, it appears I'll also be acting. What can I say? I'm a jack of all trades!
I'll be sure to keep you guys updated via this handy dandy lil blog here, so stay tuned...or favorite place...or bookmark...whatever you wanna call it.

I also promise the site'll have some more updates soon, including a brand new section I think some of you are gonna like. Oh, and do I have to beg you guys to make use of the Ask Jacob section? Come on! ;)

Until next time may you be Cupid's target. Happy Valentine's Day!

-Jacob

PS- The winner of the "Name My Computer" challenge is Sparroweye! Sure, she was the only one to enter, *glares at the rest of you* but she gave good suggestions. So, Sparroweye, Lois and I congratulate you!