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.

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.

Blogging As I Watch Sesame Street with My Nephew

Well, I've finished my antibiotics and I'm finally feeling mostly better. Still need to shake some of the cobwebs out, I think. But, I'm happy to say I am finally feeling good enough to get things rolling again.

There was a little trouble with getting The Greatest Fan Film of All Time to Stan Lee's people via the internet, so I put a DVD together last night and mailed it today. It's on its way!

I've been in writing mode this week and have the groundwork laid out for what could turn into new animated short. It's still early, but I'm really excited about this idea. I'll update more as it evolves.

I was feeling artsy recently and figured I'd try to illustrate one of my Mucinex/dehydration hallucinations from my hospital stay. I chose one where my hospital room wall appeared to be a hellish cavern with an old lady holding a cat standing in the middle of it.
(We've all seen that one before, haven't we?)

click to see bigger

Mom and I went and saw the new Star Trek movie yesterday. I've never been a Star Trek fan, but I thought it was pretty good. A decent start to my summer movie-going season. Personally, I can't wait for Terminator Salvation.

Not much else going on at the moment... I'm boring.

Big Things

So, I'm still working on bouncing back from the pneumonia thing (and now, a cold on top of that), but I'm getting there and things are happening. I've been writing and Larry's been writing and there are new projects in the works. But they're still cooking, so stay tuned for more info on those.

On Monday, the folks over at Fan Cinema Today posted a review of The Greatest Fan Film of All Time.
My personal favorite part?

"Despite all the yuks, however, there are moments when the movie shifts moods. The flick starts out with baby Superman’s departure from Krypton, which is depicted with a melancholy that Richard Donner never managed to achieve. Later, too, when the bad guys have all but won, the tone is genuinely grim—not an easy thing to achieve in a fan film."

A scene from our fan film just got compared (and favorably) to a scene from Richard Donner's classic Superman film? A scene featuring Marlon Brando?
I can't wrap my head around that one. Wow. Just awesome.

Check out the whole review here:
http://fancinematoday.com/2009/04/20/the-greatest-fan-film-of-all-time-is-it/

If that's not enough, I got this text message from Larry on Tuesday.

"Stan Lee's people asked for fan film to show him"

I heard from Larry again today and I guess that'll actually be happening tonight.
It's insane. I seriously can't think about it too much, or I may go nuts.

I mean...Stan...Lee. Watching Fan Film.

Stan. Lee.

Odds and Ends- Ghosts, Batman, and Ric Flair

Seems I've suddenly got a surge of creative energy as of late. I've now got two new animated projects on my plate. Currently, I'm tweaking one I'm writing on my own, tentatively titled The Girl and the Ghost. It's just a weird little ghost story I came up with that actually loosely ties in with an older script of mine.

The other project lined up is...brace yourself...an unofficial sequel to Batman's Gonna Get Shot in the Face. It's gonna be crazy, nerdy, and a sight to behold. We've got some wild stuff lined up for it, just wait and see.

I recently did a tiny bit of animation for a skit Aaron was working on. Well, that skit's now finished and online, so check out WOO! and prepare yourselves for this random ode to wrestling legend Ric Flair.

http://www.ifilm.com/video/2827436

And now I'll be quoting a bit of insanely cool news from Larry's blog:

I was on page 12 last night when I told Jake (our animator) that I hadn't checked my bullcrank.com email in weeks and that I was about to. I opened it and flipped out. There was an e-mail from Mark Ordesky, the Vice President of New Line Cinema and executive producer of Lord of the Rings. If you remember or have read the other blogs, you know that Aaron and I met him in LA and that he's been a fan of our stuff ever since.

He had seen "Batman's Gonna Get Shot in the Face" and "The Losers Have a Junkyard" upon returning from the UK where he was working on Nicole Kidman's "Golden Compass" trilogy. He loved both, as well as "Nintendo: Oldschool Revolution" and "Blow Pop" and he asked me to send every short film I do to his office from now on on DVD. Also, he reminded me that he's waiting to read the script to our feature film. Here I am with the damn second draft open in front of me and I'm so amazingly happy with it and I get an e-mail from Ordesky reminding me that he wants a copy right away. I flipped out. I didn't even read the other emails until a few minutes later.

While reading the other emails I spotted one from a college student in Texas. He asked permission to show "Nintendo: Oldschool Revolution" locally and on Time Warner Cable. I said of course he could as long as he credited Jake, myself, and Bullcrank.com

How's that for awesome?

You might notice (but probably not) that I've played with the site's layout a little bit. Only the sidebar really. Now links to my various projects are more easily available just under my little bio box to the right. Below that, you'll find my recent ramblings, then links to my stuff and friends' websites, and finally, the blog archives. I think it's a bit more user friendly, let me know if you think otherwise.

It's looking like spring is finally in the air. The sun's out, it's warm(er), and the snow is melting rapidly. I even heard birds on a couple mornings this week. I did some running around to stores with Mom yesterday and barely even had to bundle up, it was nice. I may head out with Jeff tonight to see 300.

It's nice knowing summer's not that far off.

"They mostly come at night...mostly"

As of early this morning, Harvey Daggit and the Devil's Olives is being featured on iFilm's front page. If you haven't checked it out yet, what are you waiting for??

Things are pretty slow around here. The weather's ridiculous, we have between one and two feet of snow on the ground and some pretty hefty icicles hanging around. I'm ready for summer. Cabin fever's a pain.

I've been writing a little bit lately, but nothing too intensive, just playing with some ideas.

Mostly, I've been doing my best to whittle down my Netflix queue a bit. I've watched quite a few movies lately, but almost none have left an impression. That's not to say they're bad, I've enjoyed watching them, but so many lack that "wow" factor and I end up forgetting what I watched within a few days. Though last night was good. I watched Aliens.

I'm sure I've seen the whole movie over the years, but in bits and pieces spread out over God knows how long. This was my first time watching it all at once. I saw the wow factor. The movie's just awesome. Period.
It ended up leaving me mad at current movies. With all the advanced technology out there, these aliens from 20 years ago look better than most of the creature effects we see today. And not only do they look amazing, but they're actually scary. Sure, CGI creatures can look great, but more often than not, it's blatantly obvious that they're CGI and that's a problem. It's so much more effective when the monster's actually tangible. Tell me the alien queen wasn't terrifying.
Movies need a resurgence of animatronic creatures.

My nerdiness is showing, I better quit while I'm ahead.

I'm Feeling It

It's been snowing like crazy here for the past week. Maybe longer. It had been a virtually snowless and very mild winter up until recently. I guess the Snow Miser was saving it up to just bombard us, the frost-bitten little creep.



As a result of the nasty weather, I've remained cooped up in the house and not too thrilled about it. I'm itching to get out and do something, but alas, there's not much to do around here. I'm going stir-crazy. As soon as the snow lets up, I need to go see Pan's Labyrinth. I've been waiting for ages to check it out and it's finally showing at the local theater, likely thanks to all of its Oscar nominations.

One fortunate byproduct of my cabin fever is that I've been feeling really creative these last few days. I've been writing (first time in a while) and I've done some computer art, or as I call them, cyber paintings. I'll post one or two of them as soon as I decide whether or not they're finished. On top of that, it looks as though I'm helping Larry and the guys out with a few seconds of animation for an upcoming short film. More on that as it progresses.

It feels nice to be productive.

Expect more cool news later today. Possibly tomorrow. Definitely sometime this week.

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.

Shiny and New

My MacBook rules. Flat out. Without a doubt. No ifs, ands, or buts.

I'm finally able to play The Sims 2 and I'm addicted. I'm a police officer on the vice squad, I married Andrea Corr, and we have a son named Fernando.


He looks nothing like me. Scandal!

I've also been having lots of fun with the built in iSight and a program called Photo Booth. It lets you take snapshots and warp them in various ways in real time. I now have a bunch of creepy pictures of myself.

I've got my iTunes library all set up and organized, including cover art for the cool new jukebox-like feature. It's not really important, but man, it looks slick.

So, I've set up shop on my new computer, now it's time to get to work again. If only the writing bug would bite me.

That wasn't meant to sound mean, I have no animosity toward the writing bug. You know what I meant.

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 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.

Feelin' the Flow

After a bit of an inspirational dry spell, I feel like I'm back in the creative flow finally. I've been working on the storyboards for The Robin's Song and I'm feeling good. They look and flow so much better than I expected, it's resulting in a rush of confidence like I haven't had in months. It's like a barrier has been kicked down and ideas are just stampeding out.
In the past week or so, I've gotten an idea for what I hope will be a beautiful picture for a friend and I've been writing a lot. I'm feeling good about this.

To top it off, tonight I saw my friend, Amanda, for the first time in five years. We just sat as we reminisced and caught each other up on our lives. It was great!

I think I'll start to tell the tale of my adventure from last year now. Stay tuned, kiddies...

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!