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.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Friday, June 06, 2008
Tech Troubles, Movie Musings, and the Wee One
I hate those moments when I realize how much I rely on the internet. Our service has been wonky for the past three weeks. My high speed is slower than dial-up (when it even works) and only reaches close-to-normal speeds when someone's using the phone. We've called AT&T for help several times, obviously without any success as of yet. I'm pretty much fed up with them.
It's surprisingly frustrating to not be able to check your email or peruse YouTube whenever I feel like it. It does have its advantages though, as I've been getting loads of work done.
I've used the internet downtime to really hit the animation hard and finished the scene from The Greatest Fan Film of All Time that I've been dreading since the start. It was my first all out action/chase scene and I really questioned my capability to pull it off. Amazingly, I finished the minute-and-a-half long sequence and I love it. Progress is nice.
Speaking of progress, we had a recording session for Fan Film on Saturday night. Larry, Derby, Clint, and Ian came up and we got most of the remaining dialogue recorded. Jeff even pitched in and voiced the Atom. Everything went well, we had fun and got a lot done.
When I'm not making movies, I have been going to see a few. Iron Man was excellent and really impressed me. It seemed like they really went the extra mile to make it more than the average superhero movie.
I also saw The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, which I loved. I remember I wasn't sure what I thought after I first saw The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. It was so soon after The Lord of the Rings, it seemed to me like they were trying to make a kid-friendly version to ride the wave. I liked it, but that was it. Then, every time I watched it, my appreciation for it increased, I saw new sides to it and kept getting more from it, I grew to love it. Prince Caspian was a great follow-up that really felt like it moved the story and the characters forward. For such an action packed movie, it surprised me how the whole thing seemed to have a sad undertone to it.
I still want to check out Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls. I can't say I'm a huge Indy fan and I've heard very mixed reviews from friends, but I'd still like to give it a go.
It's looking to be a good summer for movies, my biggies are definitely The Dark Knight and Wall-E. I admit, I already caved and got myself a Wall-E figure, which is too cool for words, so here's a picture.
I'm curious about Hancock and hesitant about The Incredible Hulk. I'm in the minority in that I liked the 2003 Hulk movie and while the whole cast and so much about the movie tells me it should be great, the previews have left me cold.
I've gotten to hang with Cathy a bit lately, which has been really fun. She's getting married this weekend and moving to Seattle shortly thereafter. I'm so happy for her, though it'll be sad to see her go. I'm sure she and Ben will love it out there.
Matthew, me, and Hanna
Baby Matthew turned 6 months old last week. That went by really fast and yet it feels like he's always been here. The kids a bruiser and a ham, but an adorable one. His interests include drooling, eating, blowing raspberries, trying to eat things that aren't meant to be eaten, pulling his uncle's hair, hitting tables and various other surfaces, and did I mention he's a cowboy?
It's crazy to watch how fast he grows, you can see changes from day to day. He's already got a few teeth, he's very vocal, and he'll be crawling within days (right now he just rolls over and spins in circles on his belly). I discovered a few weeks ago that the Dixie Chicks song Lullaby has a powerful enchantment on him and will make him fall asleep nine times out of ten, it's hilarious.
I'm definitely keeping busy, but it's hot and I'm antsy. I want to go to Niagara Falls.
It's surprisingly frustrating to not be able to check your email or peruse YouTube whenever I feel like it. It does have its advantages though, as I've been getting loads of work done.
I've used the internet downtime to really hit the animation hard and finished the scene from The Greatest Fan Film of All Time that I've been dreading since the start. It was my first all out action/chase scene and I really questioned my capability to pull it off. Amazingly, I finished the minute-and-a-half long sequence and I love it. Progress is nice.
Speaking of progress, we had a recording session for Fan Film on Saturday night. Larry, Derby, Clint, and Ian came up and we got most of the remaining dialogue recorded. Jeff even pitched in and voiced the Atom. Everything went well, we had fun and got a lot done.
When I'm not making movies, I have been going to see a few. Iron Man was excellent and really impressed me. It seemed like they really went the extra mile to make it more than the average superhero movie.
I also saw The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, which I loved. I remember I wasn't sure what I thought after I first saw The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. It was so soon after The Lord of the Rings, it seemed to me like they were trying to make a kid-friendly version to ride the wave. I liked it, but that was it. Then, every time I watched it, my appreciation for it increased, I saw new sides to it and kept getting more from it, I grew to love it. Prince Caspian was a great follow-up that really felt like it moved the story and the characters forward. For such an action packed movie, it surprised me how the whole thing seemed to have a sad undertone to it.
I still want to check out Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls. I can't say I'm a huge Indy fan and I've heard very mixed reviews from friends, but I'd still like to give it a go.
It's looking to be a good summer for movies, my biggies are definitely The Dark Knight and Wall-E. I admit, I already caved and got myself a Wall-E figure, which is too cool for words, so here's a picture.
I'm curious about Hancock and hesitant about The Incredible Hulk. I'm in the minority in that I liked the 2003 Hulk movie and while the whole cast and so much about the movie tells me it should be great, the previews have left me cold.
I've gotten to hang with Cathy a bit lately, which has been really fun. She's getting married this weekend and moving to Seattle shortly thereafter. I'm so happy for her, though it'll be sad to see her go. I'm sure she and Ben will love it out there.
Matthew, me, and Hanna
It's crazy to watch how fast he grows, you can see changes from day to day. He's already got a few teeth, he's very vocal, and he'll be crawling within days (right now he just rolls over and spins in circles on his belly). I discovered a few weeks ago that the Dixie Chicks song Lullaby has a powerful enchantment on him and will make him fall asleep nine times out of ten, it's hilarious.
I'm definitely keeping busy, but it's hot and I'm antsy. I want to go to Niagara Falls.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Friday, May 16, 2008
"Cause This Is What You've Waited For..."
The weeks of anticipation and waiting came to a head on Sunday night as Mom and I headed downtown. It surprised me when I realized I hadn't been downtown since seeing Superman Returns at the Omnimax back in September.
I wish I had the camera handy while we drove. The sun punched through the cloudy sky and created a perfect shimmering reflection on Lake Erie just before we got into the city.
We were sitting in traffic behind the Allen Theatre , waiting to pull into the parking garage, when my filmmaker-sense started to tingle. I caught sight of a boom mic in the distance, then I saw the camera, in front of the equipment were the stars of the night, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. I still don't know what they were filming behind the theatre, but the little glimpse was cool.
Mom was nervous as we approached the 7-foot height limit sign at the entrance of the garage in our behemoth of a van. The woman in the booth assured us we'd be fine and told us to head up to the 5th floor. So we did. Noisily. The van was just low enough to clear the ceiling, but our non-retractable radio antenna wasn't. It scraped on almost every lowered area of the ceiling on our way up to the roof. It was a bit stressful, but the tension was cut when I caught Mom ducking to clear the ceiling. While in the van.
We found our way from the garage to the theatre and met up with Eric and Bridget in a stroke of perfect timing. The usher lady (Usheress?) led us on a twisted path toward our seats. Halfway there, I started having a bit of trouble driving my chair on the somewhat steep incline and actually got stuck against some chairs. Meanwhile, the usheress didn't notice and kept walking all the way down to our seats.
As I battled gravity, the slant, and the chairs, who bumps into us? Adrienne. I couldn't believe it, I haven't actually seen her in about three years. She chatted with Bridget and Eric as I tried to free myself, but once I finally succeeded, the usheress returned and we followed. I really wish I could've talked with her and caught up a little bit.
Now at our seats, we looked around at the impressive interior of the Allen Theatre for a few brief minutes before a burly Irishman walked onto the stage. It was the opening act, Damien Dempsey. I had heard his name before, but that was all I knew of him before Sunday night. Despite his suffering from hay fever, he really impressed me. He had a great sound that occasionally consisted of a unique blend of Irish music with a dash of Bob Marley. It was his last night accompanying Glen & Marketa on the tour, so the band snuck out and surprised him by joining him on his final song.
After a brief intermission, Glen Hansard took the stage by himself at 9:15. He stood at the very front of the stage with his eternal sidekick, the holey guitar. Minus microphone and guitar unplugged, he gestured for the audience to quiet down. Seconds later, the theatre was complete silence and Glen played Say It To Me Now. No matter how hard I try, it would be impossible to put that performance into words. The closest I could come up with, and I know it probably sounds a bit over-the-top, would be to say it was a transcendental experience, he removed us from our daily worlds and brought us into theirs with that song and would keep us there for the rest of the night. The song was met with an uproar of applause.
Marketa Irglova joined Glen and took center stage, singing All the Way Down and sounding amazing.
They were then joined by the rest of the band, who I realized were Colm Mac Con Iomaire, Rob Bochnik, and Joe Doyle of The Frames. This made what would have already been an incredible concert even better.
They went on to play a fantastic mix of songs from Once (Lies, Falling Slowly, If You Want Me), some Frames songs (True, What Happens When the Heart Just Stops), and even a handful of new songs. Marketa sang one I particularly liked, called I Have Loved You Wrong.
She blew me away when she sang Lullaby from The Wicker Man (the original of course, as she referred to the remake as "kind of shit").
Glen went crazy on guitar for his awesome rendition of Van Morrison's Astral Weeks.
Colm even got his moment in the spotlight, performing a beautiful solo piece on the violin.
As usual, a highlight of the night was Glen's talking between songs and introducing them. He's a hilarious storyteller, he even got so into it at one point that he reenacted the classic near/far bit from Sesame Street, repeatedly running from the front to the back of the stage.
He briefly reminisced about how crazy these last couple years have been with the huge success and Oscar win of Once. His thoughts reflected my own when he expressed amazement at how the venues they're playing have changed from the venues they played before the film, giving the example of going from the Beachland Ballroom last time they were in Cleveland to the Allen Theatre this time.
After more thunderous applause, they all returned for a nice long encore which included Star Star, Fitzcarraldo, and a traditional Irish song, The Auld Triangle, for which Damien Dempsey returned to the stage. That rounded out the night of great music. I can't speak for anyone else, but I was left in awe after the show and still feel it when I think about it.
Bridget and Eric made their way to us, battling against the current of audience members leaving the theatre. We all talked about how much we loved the show before heading out to the merch booth in the lobby, where I grabbed Damien Dempsey, Rob Bochnik, and Colm Mac Con Iomaire's CDs along with a Swell Season tee-shirt.
We said our goodnights and parted ways, making our way back to the van, then scraping and ducking all the way down to the street.
That was a night I'd love to revisit, and thanks to technology I'll be able to once PlayedLastNight.com puts the show up.
Pure greatness.
I wish I had the camera handy while we drove. The sun punched through the cloudy sky and created a perfect shimmering reflection on Lake Erie just before we got into the city.
We were sitting in traffic behind the Allen Theatre , waiting to pull into the parking garage, when my filmmaker-sense started to tingle. I caught sight of a boom mic in the distance, then I saw the camera, in front of the equipment were the stars of the night, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. I still don't know what they were filming behind the theatre, but the little glimpse was cool.
Mom was nervous as we approached the 7-foot height limit sign at the entrance of the garage in our behemoth of a van. The woman in the booth assured us we'd be fine and told us to head up to the 5th floor. So we did. Noisily. The van was just low enough to clear the ceiling, but our non-retractable radio antenna wasn't. It scraped on almost every lowered area of the ceiling on our way up to the roof. It was a bit stressful, but the tension was cut when I caught Mom ducking to clear the ceiling. While in the van.
We found our way from the garage to the theatre and met up with Eric and Bridget in a stroke of perfect timing. The usher lady (Usheress?) led us on a twisted path toward our seats. Halfway there, I started having a bit of trouble driving my chair on the somewhat steep incline and actually got stuck against some chairs. Meanwhile, the usheress didn't notice and kept walking all the way down to our seats.
As I battled gravity, the slant, and the chairs, who bumps into us? Adrienne. I couldn't believe it, I haven't actually seen her in about three years. She chatted with Bridget and Eric as I tried to free myself, but once I finally succeeded, the usheress returned and we followed. I really wish I could've talked with her and caught up a little bit.
Now at our seats, we looked around at the impressive interior of the Allen Theatre for a few brief minutes before a burly Irishman walked onto the stage. It was the opening act, Damien Dempsey. I had heard his name before, but that was all I knew of him before Sunday night. Despite his suffering from hay fever, he really impressed me. He had a great sound that occasionally consisted of a unique blend of Irish music with a dash of Bob Marley. It was his last night accompanying Glen & Marketa on the tour, so the band snuck out and surprised him by joining him on his final song.
After a brief intermission, Glen Hansard took the stage by himself at 9:15. He stood at the very front of the stage with his eternal sidekick, the holey guitar. Minus microphone and guitar unplugged, he gestured for the audience to quiet down. Seconds later, the theatre was complete silence and Glen played Say It To Me Now. No matter how hard I try, it would be impossible to put that performance into words. The closest I could come up with, and I know it probably sounds a bit over-the-top, would be to say it was a transcendental experience, he removed us from our daily worlds and brought us into theirs with that song and would keep us there for the rest of the night. The song was met with an uproar of applause.
Marketa Irglova joined Glen and took center stage, singing All the Way Down and sounding amazing.
They were then joined by the rest of the band, who I realized were Colm Mac Con Iomaire, Rob Bochnik, and Joe Doyle of The Frames. This made what would have already been an incredible concert even better.
They went on to play a fantastic mix of songs from Once (Lies, Falling Slowly, If You Want Me), some Frames songs (True, What Happens When the Heart Just Stops), and even a handful of new songs. Marketa sang one I particularly liked, called I Have Loved You Wrong.
She blew me away when she sang Lullaby from The Wicker Man (the original of course, as she referred to the remake as "kind of shit").
Glen went crazy on guitar for his awesome rendition of Van Morrison's Astral Weeks.
Colm even got his moment in the spotlight, performing a beautiful solo piece on the violin.
As usual, a highlight of the night was Glen's talking between songs and introducing them. He's a hilarious storyteller, he even got so into it at one point that he reenacted the classic near/far bit from Sesame Street, repeatedly running from the front to the back of the stage.
He briefly reminisced about how crazy these last couple years have been with the huge success and Oscar win of Once. His thoughts reflected my own when he expressed amazement at how the venues they're playing have changed from the venues they played before the film, giving the example of going from the Beachland Ballroom last time they were in Cleveland to the Allen Theatre this time.
After more thunderous applause, they all returned for a nice long encore which included Star Star, Fitzcarraldo, and a traditional Irish song, The Auld Triangle, for which Damien Dempsey returned to the stage. That rounded out the night of great music. I can't speak for anyone else, but I was left in awe after the show and still feel it when I think about it.
Bridget and Eric made their way to us, battling against the current of audience members leaving the theatre. We all talked about how much we loved the show before heading out to the merch booth in the lobby, where I grabbed Damien Dempsey, Rob Bochnik, and Colm Mac Con Iomaire's CDs along with a Swell Season tee-shirt.
We said our goodnights and parted ways, making our way back to the van, then scraping and ducking all the way down to the street.
That was a night I'd love to revisit, and thanks to technology I'll be able to once PlayedLastNight.com puts the show up.
Pure greatness.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Another Left Foot
How could I forget? WrestleZone.com mentioned and The Wimp Whose Woman Was a Werewolf and The Greatest Fan Film of All Time in a recent article.
Take a look!
Take a look!
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).
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).
Friday, April 04, 2008
New Bullcrank Short
I didn't have anything to do with this one, but man, do I love it.
In 2008, a film was rediscovered from long ago. The film, titled "Bad Dudes With Attitudes", had begun production in 1983 and had been promptly shut down when film studios realized it was the greatest film ever created. Its lighting was brilliant, its acting top notch, its special fx immortal, and its story unparalleled. Studios knew its success would never be duplicated and that any films that came after would forever be poorly received simply because they were nothing compared to "Bad Dudes With Attitudes". This is the only finished and existing footage. Enjoy its awesomeness.
In 2008, a film was rediscovered from long ago. The film, titled "Bad Dudes With Attitudes", had begun production in 1983 and had been promptly shut down when film studios realized it was the greatest film ever created. Its lighting was brilliant, its acting top notch, its special fx immortal, and its story unparalleled. Studios knew its success would never be duplicated and that any films that came after would forever be poorly received simply because they were nothing compared to "Bad Dudes With Attitudes". This is the only finished and existing footage. Enjoy its awesomeness.
"Take a Ride Down That Yellow Brick Road..."
We took a last-minute one-day roadtrip last Friday. Raine Maida had been on tour to promote his CD, The Hunters Lullaby, for a couple weeks, but all of the shows except for two (Buffalo and Detroit) were too far away for us to make. As it neared, we decided to battle the winter doldrums and head for the Buffalo show.
Mom, Maude, and I hit the road a little bit after 1 PM. The ride was smooth until Maude started to vie for control of my iPod, a struggle which was waged all the way to Buffalo. Many excellent songs were tragically skipped as a result.
Not wanting to sit all the way in the back of our enormous van, we had a little setup with a lawn chair so Maude could sit near the front with us. It worked out fairly well, until we hit the parking lot of the rest stop in Angola, where a left turn sent her flying.
Once again, MapQuest dropped the ball at the end of our journey, leaving us circling a block, looking for the venue. Maude took a second spill as we circled. We ended up asking in a nearby police station how to find the Town Ballroom. It was two buildings down the street. In plain view from the police station parking lot.
After parking, traversing a shady alley, waiting outside the front of the building, backtracking down the same shady alley, and conquering a 5 inch step up through a doorway, we were greeted by Raine and led in to watch the the familiar faces of Chantal, Kevin, and Randy during soundcheck.
It's a music fan's paradise to sit and watch a soundcheck, I'm in awe every time. As amazing as it is to hear an artist play live, there's just something magical about watching them play without an audience. Those little random moments.
In between songs, Chantal would start playing different tunes. A few notes of Hallelujah, a Sting song I'm not familiar with, and despite it just being spur of the moment, it was beautiful. I felt so lucky as I took it all in, knowing I was seeing something not many get to see.
We chatted with Raine a little after they finished and even got to briefly meet their adorable son, Lucca.
After a few minutes, one of the opening acts took the stage for soundcheck. He didn't look or sound familiar, but it didn't take Mom, Maude, and I long to agree we liked what we were hearing. His name was David Ford and he impressed me. His voice is great and his use of a looping machine filled the room and made you forget he was performing alone on stage.
Here's a clip someone posted on YouTube from a performance in 2006.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=6XZpQPJWzQ8
We sat by ourselves until doors opened and we positioned ourselves by the stage for the show.
"Good evening..."
My photogenic aunt
David Ford did his thing and sounded great. He was followed by spoken word artist Jared Paul. Aside from a few times on TV and the net, I've never been exposed to spoken word performance, but it was definitely interesting and thought provoking. I'm not sure yet if it's my cup of tea, but I am glad to have experienced it.
Raine and company took the stage shortly after 9. Aside from some audio trouble with a guitar early on, it was a flawless show. They played through all the songs from The Hunter's Lullaby, including Sex Love and Honey (a personal favorite). He also covered Neil Young's Ohio and did an excellent acoustic version of Innocent, which the audience helped out with.
Chantal had her moment in the spotlight as she performed a haunting cover of Where Is My Mind? by The Pixies.
I had such a great time and can't thank Raine & Chantal enough.
After the crowd cleared out, we headed for the doors we came in through. Before we made it outside, we ended up hanging out and talking to drummer Randy Cooke and some of the crew for a while. It still cracks me up that we've been around backstage enough that the crew recognizes us and vice versa.
On our way to the van, I recognized my friend from the internet and fellow fan, Gail as she chatted with Randy and Kevin Fox. I stopped to say hello, but it was just a quick chat, due to the cold night air of Buffalo in March. It was really nice to finally meet her though.
Randy, Kevin, and me (Thanks, Gail!)
Me & Gail
We were on our way home a little after 11 PM. Wrong turns are getting to be something of a tradition on roadtrips with Mom and me, but this is the first time it's happened on a toll road and we literally had to pay for our mistake.
We made our second stop at the Angola rest stop to eat before the rest of our late night drive home. We were back on the road around 1. The ride was smooth and peaceful. Maude slept for most of it and my iPod was free to shine.
The long, but fun day was rounded out when we arrived home a little while after 3 AM. It was a crazy day, but a much needed break, I had a blast.
Until the next one.
Mom, Maude, and I hit the road a little bit after 1 PM. The ride was smooth until Maude started to vie for control of my iPod, a struggle which was waged all the way to Buffalo. Many excellent songs were tragically skipped as a result.
Not wanting to sit all the way in the back of our enormous van, we had a little setup with a lawn chair so Maude could sit near the front with us. It worked out fairly well, until we hit the parking lot of the rest stop in Angola, where a left turn sent her flying.
Artist's rendition
We peeled her off the floor and made our way inside to Denny's for a mid-drive bite. I loves me my mashed potatoes.
Once again, MapQuest dropped the ball at the end of our journey, leaving us circling a block, looking for the venue. Maude took a second spill as we circled. We ended up asking in a nearby police station how to find the Town Ballroom. It was two buildings down the street. In plain view from the police station parking lot.
After parking, traversing a shady alley, waiting outside the front of the building, backtracking down the same shady alley, and conquering a 5 inch step up through a doorway, we were greeted by Raine and led in to watch the the familiar faces of Chantal, Kevin, and Randy during soundcheck.
It's a music fan's paradise to sit and watch a soundcheck, I'm in awe every time. As amazing as it is to hear an artist play live, there's just something magical about watching them play without an audience. Those little random moments.
In between songs, Chantal would start playing different tunes. A few notes of Hallelujah, a Sting song I'm not familiar with, and despite it just being spur of the moment, it was beautiful. I felt so lucky as I took it all in, knowing I was seeing something not many get to see.
We chatted with Raine a little after they finished and even got to briefly meet their adorable son, Lucca.
After a few minutes, one of the opening acts took the stage for soundcheck. He didn't look or sound familiar, but it didn't take Mom, Maude, and I long to agree we liked what we were hearing. His name was David Ford and he impressed me. His voice is great and his use of a looping machine filled the room and made you forget he was performing alone on stage.
Here's a clip someone posted on YouTube from a performance in 2006.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=6XZpQPJWzQ8
We sat by ourselves until doors opened and we positioned ourselves by the stage for the show.
"Good evening..."
My photogenic auntRaine and company took the stage shortly after 9. Aside from some audio trouble with a guitar early on, it was a flawless show. They played through all the songs from The Hunter's Lullaby, including Sex Love and Honey (a personal favorite). He also covered Neil Young's Ohio and did an excellent acoustic version of Innocent, which the audience helped out with.
Chantal had her moment in the spotlight as she performed a haunting cover of Where Is My Mind? by The Pixies.
I had such a great time and can't thank Raine & Chantal enough.
After the crowd cleared out, we headed for the doors we came in through. Before we made it outside, we ended up hanging out and talking to drummer Randy Cooke and some of the crew for a while. It still cracks me up that we've been around backstage enough that the crew recognizes us and vice versa.
On our way to the van, I recognized my friend from the internet and fellow fan, Gail as she chatted with Randy and Kevin Fox. I stopped to say hello, but it was just a quick chat, due to the cold night air of Buffalo in March. It was really nice to finally meet her though.
Randy, Kevin, and me (Thanks, Gail!)
Me & GailWe were on our way home a little after 11 PM. Wrong turns are getting to be something of a tradition on roadtrips with Mom and me, but this is the first time it's happened on a toll road and we literally had to pay for our mistake.
We made our second stop at the Angola rest stop to eat before the rest of our late night drive home. We were back on the road around 1. The ride was smooth and peaceful. Maude slept for most of it and my iPod was free to shine.
The long, but fun day was rounded out when we arrived home a little while after 3 AM. It was a crazy day, but a much needed break, I had a blast.
Until the next one.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
"...I Can't Believe How Much I Love the Rain"
Easter weekend was a fun, but exhausting one. Thursday through Saturday were dominated by Rock Band, especially Friday, when we went from 9 PM until 3 AM and played 58 songs in a row to reach legendary status. My voice, surprisingly felt completely fine afterwards. We had our biggest band lineup yet, rotating between Corey, Eric, Brendan, Mikey, Jeff, Jake, and myself throughout the course of the night. While we played, the skies opened up and the guys had to dig their cars out from under several inches of snow by the time we finished.
After our Saturday night session, I was up until about 9 AM, putting another family video together for everyone for Easter. The video turned out nicely, but having gotten only 4 hours of sleep, I was pretty much shot for the rest of the day. It was nice visiting at Granny's though.
When we got home, I had an email from Larry with a link to a recent article about Bullcrank and our movies. Check it out here:
http://www.fallsnewspress.com/news/article/3503402
So, the crazy weekend is over and I return to cartoonland once again. People seem to be responding positively to the trailer, which is a nice bit of fuel during the long nights of animating.
For now, I'll leave you with another family video I cut together earlier this week. This one features baby Matthew and I'm calling it The First Four.
After our Saturday night session, I was up until about 9 AM, putting another family video together for everyone for Easter. The video turned out nicely, but having gotten only 4 hours of sleep, I was pretty much shot for the rest of the day. It was nice visiting at Granny's though.
When we got home, I had an email from Larry with a link to a recent article about Bullcrank and our movies. Check it out here:
http://www.fallsnewspress.com/news/article/3503402
So, the crazy weekend is over and I return to cartoonland once again. People seem to be responding positively to the trailer, which is a nice bit of fuel during the long nights of animating.
For now, I'll leave you with another family video I cut together earlier this week. This one features baby Matthew and I'm calling it The First Four.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Something For Your Easter Basket
Larry threw together a brand spankin' new preview for The Greatest Fan Film of All Time. It's a nice mix of old footage, new footage, and pure Bullcrankocity. Feast your peepers on this!
Happy Easter!
Happy Easter!
Sunday, March 09, 2008
A Note From Beneath the Snow
The outside world has been swallowed and now looks like this.
Would someone kindly send the rescue dogs?
Would someone kindly send the rescue dogs?
Saturday, March 08, 2008
Back to Earth
As of Wednesday, my work in space is done. I finished that scene just a couple hours before Larry and Derby stopped by for a visit, so I got to show them the footage while it was still fresh out of the oven.
I'm extremely proud and happy with how these shots came out and I guess I'm not the only one. Larry's loving it and says the rest of the Bullcrank guys and gals are impressed.
We ended up talking about the rest of the movie and the big shots still ahead of me throughout most of the visit. It helped pump me up a bit and got the creative juices flowing, we even came up with a few amazing ideas I'll be including.
Aside from a few extra pick up shots, filming of The Wimp Whose Woman Was a Werewolf wrapped this weekend. It's looking to be excellent and a real step up for Bullcrank. You don't have to just take my word for it though, being the crazily driven madman that he is, Larry has already put together a trailer. Check it out here:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=zYGzUJBmoUU
And you can take a look at the creation of the werewolf here:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=PLo8btWkj40
I've been ridiculously amused at how dark, depressing, and continuously hilarious Garfield comic strips are when you remove Garfield from them and it's all thanks to Garfield Minus Garfield. I'll never look at John Arbuckle the same way again.
Our tickets to see Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova arrived a couple of days ago and the seats look great. This is going to be a fantastic show.
On to the next scene I go. We're expected to have between one and two feet of snow on the ground by tonight, so the weather's right for animating.
Stay warm.
I'm extremely proud and happy with how these shots came out and I guess I'm not the only one. Larry's loving it and says the rest of the Bullcrank guys and gals are impressed.
We ended up talking about the rest of the movie and the big shots still ahead of me throughout most of the visit. It helped pump me up a bit and got the creative juices flowing, we even came up with a few amazing ideas I'll be including.
Aside from a few extra pick up shots, filming of The Wimp Whose Woman Was a Werewolf wrapped this weekend. It's looking to be excellent and a real step up for Bullcrank. You don't have to just take my word for it though, being the crazily driven madman that he is, Larry has already put together a trailer. Check it out here:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=zYGzUJBmoUU
And you can take a look at the creation of the werewolf here:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=PLo8btWkj40
I've been ridiculously amused at how dark, depressing, and continuously hilarious Garfield comic strips are when you remove Garfield from them and it's all thanks to Garfield Minus Garfield. I'll never look at John Arbuckle the same way again.
Our tickets to see Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova arrived a couple of days ago and the seats look great. This is going to be a fantastic show.
On to the next scene I go. We're expected to have between one and two feet of snow on the ground by tonight, so the weather's right for animating.
Stay warm.
Monday, March 03, 2008
One Night On Campus
As we got on the freeway, One Night in Bangkok started playing on the radio. I asked Mom to change it.
That's not how this day's story actually began, I just really wanted to open this blog entry with it.
Mom and I took a mini-roadtrip yesterday to see a play. Nikki has been working her butt off preparing for her school's production of Dead Man Walking. Last night was the final performance, so I thought I'd surprise her and make the trip down.
The hour and a half drive was a long, but enjoyably scenic one. The hills and valleys mixed with the clouds and setting sun were an impressive sight. I wish I had my camera handy.
The ride was broken up by a series of odd discussions with Mom, including the pros and cons of various utterances when those ever-present bad drivers make themselves known on the road.
MapQuest is great for getting you near your destination, but we've realized that actually finding the place you're going isn't always that simple. We spent a while navigating aimlessly on the roads of the campus before finally finding the Arts & Humanities building. We hustled through the cold and got our tickets. With a few minutes to spare, I found myself in an odd, funny, but unbloggable (to protect the innocent, of course) situation in the restroom.
That was immediately followed by Mom and I frantically trying to figure out how to silence or shut off my new phone as showtime approached. It would've been somewhat awkward to get to Matthew Poncelet's execution scene and suddenly have John Williams' Superman theme blare from my pocket. It took me an embarrassing amount of time to notice the button with the power symbol on it.
We were led to our seats and within moments, the lights dimmed and the show started. I'm not much of a theatre guy, I don't think I've actually seen a play since probably the 5th grade, but I have to admit I really enjoyed myself. Not being very used to the stage approach of storytelling, it took me a couple minutes to settle into it, but once I did, I liked it. A lot of work went into this and it showed.
The protest scene was especially beautiful and haunting.
Parts of the play were filmed beforehand and projected onto screens on and around the stage during the show. I thought it was a cool and interesting mixture of media.
The cast was excellent and did a great job. Acting seems daunting enough in front of a camera, but I imagine it's a lot more intimidating doing it in front of a live audience.
It was really cool to see Nikki in her element and doing what she loves. She really impressed me.
Afterwards, we headed out to the lobby, where the cast was gathered, and said hello to Nikki and congratulate her on a great show. It was just a brief chat before we exited the lobby, hoping finding our way to the freeway would be easier than finding the theatre was.
A few minutes later, we were on a long, dark, skinny road in the middle of the boonies.
It took some backtracking and a lot of reassuring talk to the nervous driver I call Mom, but we found our on-ramp. Around 10:30, we were on our way home. As we got on the freeway, One Night in Bangkok started playing on the radio. I asked Mom to change it.
The long ride home was smooth, despite accidentally taking an exit ramp in some unknown town. I was reminded as we drove just how bad the radio is on Saturday night.
We got home just after midnight, tired and hungry, but the good kind. It was a nice little detour from the norm, taking a break from creativity to absorb creativity.
Now, back to space.
That's not how this day's story actually began, I just really wanted to open this blog entry with it.
Mom and I took a mini-roadtrip yesterday to see a play. Nikki has been working her butt off preparing for her school's production of Dead Man Walking. Last night was the final performance, so I thought I'd surprise her and make the trip down.
The hour and a half drive was a long, but enjoyably scenic one. The hills and valleys mixed with the clouds and setting sun were an impressive sight. I wish I had my camera handy.
The ride was broken up by a series of odd discussions with Mom, including the pros and cons of various utterances when those ever-present bad drivers make themselves known on the road.
MapQuest is great for getting you near your destination, but we've realized that actually finding the place you're going isn't always that simple. We spent a while navigating aimlessly on the roads of the campus before finally finding the Arts & Humanities building. We hustled through the cold and got our tickets. With a few minutes to spare, I found myself in an odd, funny, but unbloggable (to protect the innocent, of course) situation in the restroom.
That was immediately followed by Mom and I frantically trying to figure out how to silence or shut off my new phone as showtime approached. It would've been somewhat awkward to get to Matthew Poncelet's execution scene and suddenly have John Williams' Superman theme blare from my pocket. It took me an embarrassing amount of time to notice the button with the power symbol on it.
We were led to our seats and within moments, the lights dimmed and the show started. I'm not much of a theatre guy, I don't think I've actually seen a play since probably the 5th grade, but I have to admit I really enjoyed myself. Not being very used to the stage approach of storytelling, it took me a couple minutes to settle into it, but once I did, I liked it. A lot of work went into this and it showed.
The protest scene was especially beautiful and haunting.
Parts of the play were filmed beforehand and projected onto screens on and around the stage during the show. I thought it was a cool and interesting mixture of media.
The cast was excellent and did a great job. Acting seems daunting enough in front of a camera, but I imagine it's a lot more intimidating doing it in front of a live audience.
It was really cool to see Nikki in her element and doing what she loves. She really impressed me.
Afterwards, we headed out to the lobby, where the cast was gathered, and said hello to Nikki and congratulate her on a great show. It was just a brief chat before we exited the lobby, hoping finding our way to the freeway would be easier than finding the theatre was.
A few minutes later, we were on a long, dark, skinny road in the middle of the boonies.
It took some backtracking and a lot of reassuring talk to the nervous driver I call Mom, but we found our on-ramp. Around 10:30, we were on our way home. As we got on the freeway, One Night in Bangkok started playing on the radio. I asked Mom to change it.
The long ride home was smooth, despite accidentally taking an exit ramp in some unknown town. I was reminded as we drove just how bad the radio is on Saturday night.
We got home just after midnight, tired and hungry, but the good kind. It was a nice little detour from the norm, taking a break from creativity to absorb creativity.
Now, back to space.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
The Hundred-Year Winter
I woke up today feeling like I had somehow been transported to Narnia. A big snow storm hit last night and boy did it hit hard. Take a look for yourself.
See? Told you.
I'm still pumped up about Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova's Oscar win on Sunday night. I've been following Glen since I saw him and his band, The Frames, back in 2004. I had gotten used to most people being unaware of who I was talking about, so it's been really cool to see Glen, Marketa, and Once getting all of this much deserved attention and recognition.
I recently heard they'll be playing in Cleveland in May. It's been a while, so I'm really looking forward to that.
And now I retreat to under a blanket and get back to work. Still in space.
See? Told you.
I'm still pumped up about Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova's Oscar win on Sunday night. I've been following Glen since I saw him and his band, The Frames, back in 2004. I had gotten used to most people being unaware of who I was talking about, so it's been really cool to see Glen, Marketa, and Once getting all of this much deserved attention and recognition.
I recently heard they'll be playing in Cleveland in May. It's been a while, so I'm really looking forward to that.
And now I retreat to under a blanket and get back to work. Still in space.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Meanwhile, Deep in Space...
It's tough to believe I was in Windsor a year ago today, seeing Chantal and Raine play. I remember checking my email in the hotel and getting a note from Larry about a bunch of ideas he and the guys were coming up with for a new animated short. It's hard to explain, but when Larry's in his creative groove, you can somehow see his excitement in how he types his emails and IMs. He was in his groove that day as he asked me if I'd be up for taking on the project.
Fast forward a year. Those ideas evolved into The Greatest Fan Film of All Time and I'm animating like a kid in a candy shop (that is if kids could animate and chose to do so in a candy shop, which, as far as I know, they can't and don't, but I'm doing it anyway, so nyah).
I'm currently working on a recent addition to the script, which is a scene that takes place on a certain alien world. It's been interesting creating my own version of a world from scratch.
I'm having fun playing with lighting to set the mood. It can be tricky, but I'm really happy with the results so far.
A little peek
I'm really excited about this. The look and feel from Batman's Gonna Get Shot in the Face is still there, but the actual animation itself is vastly improved. I can't wait for this puppy to be ready for unveiling.
Last week's Rock Band weekend was awesome. We played for three nights and I loved it, even with the songs I'm not into. Except Suffragette City. And Brainpower. Friday was the big night of the weekend, we played through until 4:30 AM. Corey's our guitar guru, Brendan rocks out on the drums, and Mikey and Eric usually alternate on bass while I sing. Maria even hung out for a bit on Saturday and classed things up with some boxed wine.
Now I must return to space. Goodnight, Reykjavic!
Fast forward a year. Those ideas evolved into The Greatest Fan Film of All Time and I'm animating like a kid in a candy shop (that is if kids could animate and chose to do so in a candy shop, which, as far as I know, they can't and don't, but I'm doing it anyway, so nyah).
I'm currently working on a recent addition to the script, which is a scene that takes place on a certain alien world. It's been interesting creating my own version of a world from scratch.
I'm having fun playing with lighting to set the mood. It can be tricky, but I'm really happy with the results so far.
A little peek
I'm really excited about this. The look and feel from Batman's Gonna Get Shot in the Face is still there, but the actual animation itself is vastly improved. I can't wait for this puppy to be ready for unveiling.
Last week's Rock Band weekend was awesome. We played for three nights and I loved it, even with the songs I'm not into. Except Suffragette City. And Brainpower. Friday was the big night of the weekend, we played through until 4:30 AM. Corey's our guitar guru, Brendan rocks out on the drums, and Mikey and Eric usually alternate on bass while I sing. Maria even hung out for a bit on Saturday and classed things up with some boxed wine.
Now I must return to space. Goodnight, Reykjavic!
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