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...

It's Time

On my way to the premiere, hope this all goes well.

Be sure to head to DailyMotion.com around 9 PM tonight to see The Greatest Fan Film of All Time.

Here goes...

For Those Who Can't Attend

As of Tuesday, animation for The Greatest Fan Film of All Time is finished. I finished the main footage at 10 AM on Monday morning, Larry came to pick it up for editing that night. He showed up with Clint and Vince around 9 PM. We expected speedbumps, but not in the amount we experienced that night while copying the footage. By the time we got everything squared away, the guys ended up heading home after 7 AM Tuesday morning. It was a long, frustrating night.
Now, we find ourselves in a mad rush to get the film finished on time. No pressure. We'll get there, though. One way or another.

Have you gotten your tickets yet? If not, grab 'em up!
http://kentstage.org/december.html#werewolf

For those who can't attend, you'll still be able to see Fan Film on Saturday night. Here's a new trailer to tide you over.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3Nz516HYEY

Almost There...

The premiere is exactly one week from tonight. In dramatic fashion, we're cutting things a little close, but we're doing it. Larry finished up The Wimp Whose Woman Was a Werewolf a few days ago and I'll wrap up animation on The Greatest Fan Film of All Time tomorrow night/Monday morning.

I hit the 1,300 hour mark last night and have somehow managed to animate over 40 minutes of footage so far. I completely lost track of how many different characters I've put in there. This thing is epic. You'll see in just a week. Which reminds me, tickets for the premiere are now on sale at this link:

http://kentstage.org/december.html#werewolf

Get 'em while they're hot!

We want to fill this place up, so let's get some butts in these seats. Spread the word, bring some friends, tell them to bring friends (but not that guy, you know the one). If it sells out, I will personally hug everyone in attendance, and let's be honest, who wouldn't want a hug from a shaggy, wheelchair-bound animator?

So, yes, you go get your tickets and I'll go work on finishing this movie once and for all.

It's clobberin' time!

Tootsie Pop on PopTub!

While I'm animating giant robots, check this out. PopTub Daily featured Tootsie Blow Pop on their show today! It's Sansoneriffic!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afRxSX2D-ps

Crunch Time

The premiere is one month from today. I'm working as hard and fast as I can to make sure I've got a completed movie to show. Maybe people wouldn't notice if I switched to stick figures...
I'm well over 1,100 hours in with many more to go. My brain hurts. I'm hoping for a burst of speed and stamina on my part. Wish me luck.

Pumpkin Fun

Happy Halloween from me and my Christopher Walken jack-o-lantern.

The Time is Near

I know, it's been nearly a month and I've yet to post anything about the trip yet. I promise I have a good reason, really I do. We have a premiere date for The Wimp Whose Woman Was a Werewolf and The Greatest Fan Film of All Time. On December 13th, the films will finally hit...the silver screen. Yes, we have a real theater booked for the premiere. Fan Film and Wolf will show at 8:00 PM at the Kent Stage in Kent, Ohio. We have an awesome night of entertainment lined up, so be sure to get there early.
Contact me at jacobdrakemail@yahoo.com for ticket information.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjfOlmxh-gk

For you out of towners, fret not. At some point on the same night, The Greatest Fan Film of All Time will go live exclusively at Dailymotion.com

Want some good reading? Of course you do. Felix Vasquez of Cinema-Crazed.com has once again witten an excellent article about our films, in which he interviews Larry and Aaron. Check it out here:
http://www.cinema-crazed.com/0-g/bullcrank-interview.htm

Right. Back to work so we have a movie to show. I'll post vacation stuff soon.

One of Those Weekends

It's been one of those weekends where things just don't go smoothly. And they don't just not go smoothly, they tend to go badly or plain old weirdly.

Earlier in the week, I happily popped online and booked a hotel room for this Monday in Niagara Falls. All was well, I was excited.

As the week progressed, we were taking care of all those little pre-trip things that need to be handled, like making sure the van is all ready to go. We've had the van for eight years now and I've been noticing for a little while that the wheelchair lift sags a bit when I'm on it, so we thought it wise to take it in and have it looked at.

Dad took it in on Friday. He sat and waited for a couple hours before they came out and told him everything looked good. Making sure, Dad asked if they had checked the hinge pins, which hold the lift level and steady. They went and took a look, stating that they should be good for another one to ten years. Having seen how it sags, Dad wasn't convinced, so they offered to remove a pin so he could get a better look.

Upon removal, the pin broke, rendering the lift useless.

Of course, they had none of those pins in stock, but they could order them and have them shipped on Tuesday. Installation would be $700. Dad raised a bit of a fuss and they came down to $400, at which point he got in the van and left.
(Further research revealed the pins to cost only $30 a piece.)

Having worked in a steel mill for thirty years, Dad resolved to fix it himself.

So, I've been nervous about whether or not that'd be fixed or if the trip would be canceled. To add to it, Friday was the last day I could have canceled the reservation without having to pay any fees.

Later that day, we ended up stumping the phone repairman. We just upgraded our phone, internet and TV services with a package deal a few weeks back. Earlier this week, our phone service stopped working right. While still able to make calls, we haven't been able to receive any. They were finally able to get someone here, but after much troubleshooting, he concluded he had never seen an issue like this before. He said the source of the problem wasn't on our end though, and it should hopefully be fixed by Tuesday.
Seeing a pattern here?

Things got relaxed as the evening came and brought game night with it. Corey and Eric came into town for some early birthday fun and Mikey joined us. That's when the surprise came. Everyone secretly chipped in and got me an XBox 360 for my birthday. I'm still surprised and it's Sunday now. Thanks again, guys!
For the rest of the night, we played Rock Band. And we ruled.

Eventually, game night came to an end. Mikey was the last to leave, taking off a little after 1:30 AM. A few minutes later, Mom and I heard the whooshing sound of a car speeding down our street. From the sound of it, he was easily doing 60 or over. Then came the series of thuds.
Mom immediately dialed 911 and ran outside.
At some point during the swerving of the vehicle, one of the tires blew out. Out of control, the car jumped the curb, roared across three lawn, and crashed into the side of an empty house, maybe 7 or 8 houses down from our own. A few minutes later, a police officer handcuffed the driver as he was loaded into the ambulance and taken away.
Word is that there were no skid marks, so the guy didn't even attempt to hit the brakes.

Definitely one of those weekends.

Now, to end on a lighter note, Dad and his buddy Jimmy were able to fix the lift earlier today. Trip's on.

Tootsie Blow Pop- Now Jumbo-Sized!

I got an email from Brian Lee, a cadet at West Point yesterday. Apparently they're looking to expand their number of wheelchair bound recruits to create a new special strike force called "Hell on Wheels" and they want me to lead them. I leave tomorrow.

Okay, not really, but that'd be kind of cool. Mount a cannon on my chair and I'm good to go.

For real though, Army has a football game against Temple this Friday night. Temple's mascot is the owl, so Army is going to play Tootsie Blow Pop on their Jumbotron.
I can't believe I just typed that. I love it.

Fan Film is still rolling along as fast as I can push it, which, sadly, never feels fast enough. One way or another, it will premier in November (more on that soon).

In other news, I'm leaving Monday morning for my birthday trip to Niagara Falls and I'm really looking forward to the break.

A Lunchbox Full of Bullcrank

Aimee Carlson just featured us on her web show, Lunchbox, over at ifc.com
I may be a bit biased here, but I think it's a pretty cool piece. Check it out here:

http://www.ifc.com/video/Web-Series/Lunchbox/1715738416

A million more thanks to Aimee!

Updatery

I know I'm ridiculously overdue for an update, so let's fix that, shall we?

I'm still working my butt off on The Greatest Fan Film of All Time. I still love how it's looking, though it's still taking forever. I tallied it up a couple weeks ago and found I have well over twenty minutes of it animated. I'd expect that would make the finish line feel closer, but so far no dice. I'm currently working on the major action scene of the film. Once that's finished, I think I'll start to feel good.

I'm still frequenting the movie theater when I need a break. As I anticipated, I'm a big fan of Wall-E. Cool story, amazing visuals, very touching, Pixar didn't let me down.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army was a blast and a great followup to the first.

Hancock was just okay for me. It was fun and had it's cool moments, but I wasn't blown away. I liked it though.

The Dark Knight, as I'm sure most of you know, is a beast. It's been a long time since I've enjoyed seeing a movie as much as I enjoyed that midnight screening. Eric, Jeff, Mikey, Mo and I were there in the sold out theater for the first showing. Everyone there was pumped and we even had a Robin and a Nightwing in attendance. Turns out I actually knew Nightwing.
The movie itself was great. Intense, dark, and managed to surprise me several times. I'm looking forward to a few more viewings.

DailyMotion has been awesome and very supportive of our films. After they gave Nintendo: OldSchool Revolution a couple months back (giving it an additional 89,000+ views so far), they ended up showing it at a screening at their offices last week. It's pretty wild to think that the project I animated nearly three years ago was just shown on a rooftop in New York City. Craziness. A million thanks to Aimee.

Even crazier, I got an email requesting I submit Sex Love and Honey to the Anim'est International Animation Film Festival in Bucharest, Romania. I still can't process that people on the other side of the world have seen my work and are even requesting it.
Now as part of the submission, I need to create a press kit for myself. That ought to be bizarre.

Who wants more baby Matthew pictures?

Also, some long overdue pictures of my autographed prize from Stan Lee, which turned out to be a poster for The Incredible Hulk.

I'll have to find a prime spot on my wall for this beauty.

23

Happy 23rd.
Miss you. Love you.

Simply Marvelous

Still animating, still making progress. After doing that action scene, I've realized that, though relatively much simpler, animating dialogue-heavy scenes is painfully tedious and pretty boring. Just gotta get them done and get to the meat.
Our internet is finally up and running again, though I'm thinking I may continue to lay low with my online activities a bit longer to keep focused on Fan Film.

Mom and I went and saw Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls on Thursday night. I was surprised that there was nobody else in that theater when the movie's still so new, but it's always nice to have a whole theater to yourself.
As I mentioned before, I'm not the hugest Indy fan. I only saw the movies a couple times when I was younger, so I guess the nostalgia factor most people have with the movies isn't quite there for me. I recently rewatched the original trilogy and though I enjoyed them, they didn't fully do the trick for me. I get and appreciate that they're a big nod to the old serials, but the cheese level kept getting pretty high at times (especially in Temple of Doom) and that always tends to bug me. I think without Harrison Ford's performance, I probably wouldn't have liked them much at all, but that's just me.
That said, I really enjoyed Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls. Sure, there were things I didn't like (the nuke scene, all the CGI animals, the killer ants, and everything between the Tarzan bit and the waterfalls), but I did end up really liking it. I won't give any details incase anyone reading hasn't seen it yet, but it was fun.
It amazed me how it was such a big gathering of sci-fi/fantasy movie stars. I mean, not only do you have Ford, who is both Indy and Han Solo, you've got people representing Lord of the Rings, Narnia, Transformers, Beowulf, Hellboy, and possibly my personal favorite brief appearance, though not sci-fi or fantasy, was the Janitor from Scrubs himself, Neil Flynn. That cracked me up.

Yesterday we went and saw The Incredible Hulk. I was nervous, I didn't like any of the trailers for the movie, I thought they were terrible. To my surprise, I loved the movie. I couldn't believe how much I enjoyed it. I thought the effects were great, but I'm worried how they'll look on DVD. CGI almost always looks better on film, but then looks really fake on DVD, in my opinion at least.
I even had a nerdy moment during the final fight when I realized I was sitting there slackjawed.
I'm surprised I'm saying this, but The Incredible Hulk is right up there with Iron Man. The movies share the feeling of a deeper world by acknowledging the existence of other superheroes and even appearing in each other's movies. It opens thing up SO much. Before this, the closest thing I can recall is a mention of Metropolis in one of the Batman movies and a mention of Gotham in Superman Returns. The result is that instead of just having Marvel movies, we now have a series of movies taking place in the Marvel Universe. I can't wait for The Avengers.
It's time for DC to step it up. I loved Superman Returns and Batman Begins and The Dark Knight looks amazing, but it's time to open up the Universe.

I got a surprising and awesome note on MySpace the other day. It turns out I was the 20,000th friend added to Stan Lee's MySpace page and will be receiving a personalized autographed prize signed by Stan Lee himself. How insanely cool is that? Expect pictures when it arrives.