Ancient History

I came across this last night while ransacking my DVD collection, looking for a missing Paranoia Agent volume.

The video quality isn't the best and the watermark is unfortunate, but I'm cheap and don't feel like buying the proper software just yet.

The whole thing was shot using a good ol' fashion Bolex with some under-the-camera shots using an Oxberry. Most of the effects are done in camera, though most of the tinting was added in post, editing in After Effects.

Chris Farinella (the spastic face that keeps popping up) did the lion's share of the editing while I stepped out to a Simon & Garfunkel concert. Then I took all the credit. Lauren Cipollo (now Etkins) and Adam Cusack are also seen in some of the clips, mostly the ones shot in a park off of South St. Stephen Murphy is the man who couldn't act his way out of a paper bag. I think his performance is hilarious and he was a good sport about us dragging him all over Philly. I'm the chick in the baseball cap with the serious biceps.

Towards the end of the video is the part I'm really proud of - some simple, yet still mind-boggling strata-cut animation. I'm pretty sure Chris and I are some of the only folks at UArts to have tried the technique.

At some point, I'll post the timelapse Bob Lyon's shot of us creating the strata-cut animation.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

In spite of the weather this weekend I manage to drag myself to opposite ends of the island this weekend for two - TWO - concerts.


Friday brought the first (and more interesting of the two). A film screening followed by a short concert hosted by friends (of friends) Ian and Jade Marshal. I haven't seen them since I first met them in Toronto this past August (and it was a wonderful relief that they recognized me!).

The film? Clips of a documentary Ian is putting together about Peter Ivers. I entered knowing next to nothing about the man or the movement (honestly, it was the cast of characters on the guest list that intrigued me) and left probably knowing just as much.


After the film, Jeff Jensen, Doug Pressman and Co. played a few Peter Ivers originals, welcoming one or two guest singers on stage as well. I was told Doug had spent the last few days stressing about what he was going to wear. He finally borrowed a pair stretch-pants from Shari.


I can't remember her name but hot voice and great hair (though I've never been one for cowboy boots).


Jeff upstaged himself by pulling this kid up from the audience. I believe Jeff is saying something along the lines of "Well, now your shirt is off." This was followed by an interest in having him double-check that they were both still male.


As for the other concert... You really don't want to know. It was so much worse.

Thanks...

Thanks to my Uncle Pete for taking care of Titus in his last few hours.


Thanks to Behemoth for showing me how many other rad cats are out there.

Thanks to Hiroko for an awesome and always educational day at the Natural History Museum.


And thanks to this mysterious woman here for finally filling up that empty wall space in my room. Of course, I still need to figure out what to do with the other half of the wall...

Windows 7 Whopper

I'm sure we've all seen the commercials for the new Windows 7, almost as grating as those arrogant Mac commercials. Maybe if I still ate meat, Japan's approach to advertising would have won me over.


Documented here by my friend Eric Robinson, a resident of Tokyo (where he has a plush job designing video games for a major studio - he can see Mt Fuji from his office!) this re-envisioned Burger King Whopper holds 7 -


Yes, 7, 'all-beef' patties. Now, while I can't ignore the very neat and organized tray (try getting that at your local Burger King) I must point out that Japan's population has been slowly tipping the scales in the past ten years, though certainly nowhere near America's waistline.


Yet.

The Job That Ate My Week

Last Wednesday I got a call from a production manager at DCA, a company I had done some freelance for in the past.

The job basically entailed drawing up about 15 boards in a specific style to illustrate 6 videos to be shot for a client of DCA. The final videos will involve an actor and no hint of animation, but they wanted some spiffy images to catch the clients eye.


The hardest part was making sure i captured the emotions of the man in the video. They started off by giving me very simple, rough boards with clear directions as to the setting, time of day and feelings the actor would be portraying.

Not entirely confident with my abilities to convey these emotions through a realistic sketch of an actor I had about 4 reference photos of, I decided the task would fall to his gestures and posture. Hopefully, it worked-


Busy.


Stunned.

In pain, trying to maintain.


Explaining, trying to be hopeful. Kinda like me right now. I definitely feel confident a few of the boards nailed the emotions. Hopefully, you'll agree. In the end, the client did and really, that's all that matters.

It's amazing how much this industry is all about who you know. A little over a year ago I was commuting out to Parsipphany, NJ, working on a hand drawn viral ad for FLOMAX at DCA.

My college friend and former roommate, Stephanie Yuhas got a call from Phil Schadt, a guy she use to work with at the local art store in Philadelphia. The company he worked for (DCA) needed an animator. While working there, I met Brian Russell. About three months ago, Brian called me up out of the blue to see if I could start 'tomorrow' at Special Ops Media.

Then this call. DCA needed a storyboard artist and Phil suggested they call me. We have come full circle.

44.3602943 milliliters

My first year abroad, the ALTs of Miyagi-ken organized a collaborative photographic project to go with the annual JET Art Show in Sendai. A single camera was past off from ALT to ALT either by hand or through the mail over the course of the year. You had about a week to capture what 'living in Japan' meant to you in one shot.

In fact, that's what the whole project was called - One Shot. It should also be noted that this was a disposable camera so you didn't actually get to see your picture till the show. After the show, someone was nice enough to scan them all in to the computer and hand off CDs to everyone involved.

Looking back at them now it's interesting to note certain themes.

photo by Amanda Wraight

photo by Chris Heyd

photo by Dave Freeborough

We were up north so I guess snow was on everyone's mind.

photo by Hannah Deacon

photo by Justin Day

We were also out in the inaka, so endless fields are an obvious choice.

photo by Phillip Wood

photo by Jae Acuncius

photo by Monique Moloney

It's strange how many people seemed to be obsessed with transportation.

photo by Mark Barr

Only a few pictures of students. I figured there'd be a lot more considering we spent more than half of our day with them but I guess we were pretty sick of 'em by that point.

photo by Selina Humphrey

Of course, technology and poor lighting conspired to produce a few images like this. Sorry, Selina... But then there were the surprising ones.

photo by Micheal Woodard

photo by Mark Cheverton

Some fun.

photo by Jackie Pang

photo by Sarah Tamoseti

photo by Maria Torres

Some well thought-out and composed.

photo by Kennard Herfel

Even stirring.

photo by William McDuff

This one may appear to be nothing more than scenery, but the poignant part of this image has to do with the fact that Will lived so close to Iwate-ken (the neighboring prefecture) he could walk down the road and turn around to see the coastline of Miyagi-ken unfolding in the distance.


And my contribution. I call it 'Year of the Dog' (it was). This guy worked at the gas station in my town. He took his job quite seriously.

When in Japan, eat Greek!

I just realized I made it through the entire week without posting any pictures from the Nippon archives.

If I was a better (meaning 'more motivated') cook, I'd probably whip myself up some Greek food at least four nights a week. I love the stuff. Gyros, tzatsiki, moussaka, any kind of cheese pastry or pie and lots of spanakopita.

So, you can imagine that living in rural Japan was pretty tough on me diet-wise. In fact, the closest Greek restaurant was in Shibuya, Tokyo, a two hour shinkansen ride from Kurihara-shi. Needless to say, whenever we had to make a trip down to Tokyo (conferences, flights, Tokyo Disney) we all went out for Greek. And you couldn't ask for a better atmosphere...


Down a narrow side staircase, you'd almost miss the place if you weren't looking. The only sign was a small Greek flag hanging behind a large sign for the shop next door.


Downstairs it was like walking into a cozy rembetika club. The owner was a Greek who had married a Japanese woman. He barely spoke any English so we had to order in a mix of Japanese and Greek which was always fun. The best part?


His paintings proudly on display about the restaurant. Who knew that sex and Kennedy would compliment each other so well?

Pre-history...

Elliot Cowan's blog last week reminded me of this great mural in Philadelphia and one that sadly, gets overlooked day after day.

Painted on the side of a hospital, right across the alley from the old townhouse I lived in during college, the mural (which I don't think is even technically a mural) was of a rather retarded looking dinosaur carrying a Chinese Take-Out box. I say was because I was almost positive it would have been painted over or removed by now.


A recent weekend trip to the city, however, confirmed that it is not only still there (unfortunately hidden from view by the bush on Google Maps), but thriving! With the help of a fresh coat of paint, the T-Rex now sports a leather jacket and mohawk. At least, I think it was a mohawk. By the time we got there it was pretty dark and almost impossible for me to take a picture of it.


Instead, you'll have to settle for an artist's recreation (at least till my next trip to Philly). I swear it really looks like that! I even have an eye-witness to corroborate my story.

On a slightly related topic, I came across this last night in Google Image Search.


It's of this exhibition going on now at the Natural History Museum. I need to see this! Who wants to go with me?!

Jack of all ______

Back in college, when I thought I knew it all I had an 'argument' with another student whose primary concern throughout school was learning all he possibly could about modeling, texturing and lighting in 3D. I said something to him like "I'd rather be a jack-of-all-trades than a one-trick-pony."

The whole 'argument' stemmed entirely from the fact that I was taking an extra Computer Animation course to learn Maya. He decided this was something like me waving a flag of surrender since I was considered one of the 'experimental' animators. So, today when I came across some work I'd done recently at 8 Hats High, I thought I'd post it here as proof I can at least model in Maya.


Unfortunately, since the Computer Crash of '09, I don't have a copy of Maya anymore so I can't render out an image of the finished character, hood, feathers, feet and all. He looks something like this chap here in the lower left-hand corner.


So who won the argument? The 'jack-of-all-trades' or 'one-trick-pony'?

I'd like to think I did but in hindsight, either is fine. Each is just better suited to different situations. He's doing great and I'd like to think I'm doing pretty good, too.

Short Fuse

WARNING: This blog has nothing to do with being short tempered or that film starring Art Garfunkel (more about that in future posts).

It does have to do with my good friend Stephanie Yuhas' film screening, Show Us Your Shorts, held at the Pour House last night. The size of the crowd below is deceiving, taken well before the screenings actually started. An hour into screening, the place was completely packed.


Honestly, I don't like going to these things. I don't really like straining to hear or be heard especially when I'm trying to hold a conversation with someone I may potentially work with in the future. But, it's a necessary evil. What got me there? The fact that Stephanie is, hands down, one of the most incredible folks that I know and she supports me, so I in turn...


All in all, though, it was a good time. Got to meet some new people, chat with a few people I knew but didn't really feel like I 'knew', and of course, run into some weird folks that will do nothing but add to my collection of "I met this dude once..." stories. And what art gathering would be complete without the typical doodle in the sketchbook?


I've been contemplating sending my cat out to work in one of the local delis.

As far as the films go, it was a mixed bag. Some angst-ridden student films, some surprisingly professional-looking shorts, a fair amount of fun animation and a few shorts where the audience's reaction was more entertaining than what was actually onscreen.


This one involved a dog eating a baby I believe. Best part of the evening?


My outfit.


Seriously. I won a rubber chicken as one of only two folks who actually wore shorts to the event despite the fact that it stated it on the poster.

Who you gonna call?

One of the main reasons I prefer doing stop-motion is that I like working with my hands. I'm pretty sure I get that from my father. I like building things, fixing things, taking things apart, putting them back together… the whole she-bang.

A long time ago I was hanging out at a friend’s house. How long ago? Let me put it in perspective for you: we all rented a VHS and had just popped it in when the VCR preceded to eat the tape. Typical. Well, for any number of reasons (none of which actually matter), I sat down and decided to fix the tape.

Now, for those of you who don’t remember the joy of VHS, you can’t just wind the tape back up like a cassette. You have to crack open the casing. Last night, I popped a tape into the VCR and heard the familiar sound of crinkling plastic. It actually kind of excited me.


If you ever find yourself in this kind of predicament, relax.


Find yourself a small screwdriver and, depending on the tape, some kind of edge you can cut with. Next comes the hardest part: fighting with the VCR to remove the video. Here’s where it can all go wrong: if you rip the tape, it’s all over.


Luckily, I was able to separate the VHS from my TV. Then I sat down to work on fixing what very well maybe one of the few surviving copies of The Real Ghostbusters: Showdown at the O.K. Corral on VHS (and yes, I paid for it).



Remove all the screws and try to keep in mind which holes they came from. Gently pry open the case. You may not be able to open it all the way. Some old tapes have labels and unless you absolutely need to, you probably want to refrain from removing them.


Wind the tape back in and screw the casing back together.


Ta-da! And for those wondering, I did manage to fix the tape my friends and I rented. I have no recollection as to what it was, though. Apparently, my joy at resurrecting the VHS overshadowed the feature.