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Showing posts from October, 2011

From film----> Musical?

So as we're making our final push to complete the film its been interesting... as we watch it over and over we see the confusing parts... we see the holes... so I re-edit and fill the holes... I animated about a minute of new stuff we added to the beginning to make some emotional connections stronger in the film... We've also added a lot of songs in the film ^_^ I won't say its a straight up musical because its not but it does have about 6-8 songs in the film sung by the characters BUT NOT like lip sync singing... more like music videos where the imagery supports the lyrics... its been really interesting and fun... Endika and I have been talking about doing a straight musical in the future... so HSM is sort of a film/musical hybrid... So 6 more weeks and this thing is done ^ ^

New stuff from my homie KOOL SKULL

An interesting book for marionette enthusiasts and weirdos

Massive chanGES

As we are less than a month away from finishing HSM Endika and I have taken to the task of sitting down and watching a new cut of the film so far every night... I make dinner... bring it over to the studio then we watch the film projected on the wall while eating dinner... then we discuss our issues with it and I go make editorial changes that we view the following day... Right now we're making some pretty major changes to the beginning of the film... there was too much dialogue/chattiness in the first 20 minutes... too many characters talking about things that don't necessarily push the story forward and made the energy go into a holding pattern SO its all been CUT! So I cut that out and I'm animating some new sequences that show some backstory of the main characters that will go in its place... So we're going to watch it every night for the next several weeks so that when you see it... it will be the best film that we can make... AND you'd be surprised that

Unlocking and rooting the worLD

So I have this Google Nexus One smartphone thing... I've never had a simcard for it so its not much of a phone... BUT anyway... I wanted to use it as a wifi phone because I think mobile carriers are CRAP and I want no part of them... so I want use it like a phone to talk to people for free internationally... So Google releases an update to their Google Talk app to include voice and video chat on Android BUT it is NOT available for the Nexus One and NOT because of technical limitations... they just decided that people with the old phone don't get it... prollY so you'll by they new one... So I looked into unlocking and rooting an Android phone which I knew NOTHING about... a few hours later I unlocked and rooted the phone and installed the latest Cyanogen Mod on it... NOW I'm running Google Talk with voice and video chat and TONS of other things I wasn't allowed to do ^ ^ I'm sure a lot of the decisions that Google has made to limit Android is based o

Completing Heart String Marionette+ LIFE

Endika with the cast Like any film creating HSM has been a journey... a production journey from idea-->script-->screen of course but also a personal journey for me as well... One of my heroes Motokiyo Zeami -the creator of Noh said something about being interested in creating real human emotion on the stage... And since this is our first production in StraNOHme... it is heavily influenced by Noh... and its our try at creating real human emotion on the screen... and I can say with confidence that my real human emotion is on screen... it almost makes me feel vulnerable watching it with the music... because watching the film has taught me things about myself... its like watching my life so far flash before my eyes.... I mean not literally of course but since I made it I know what really lies behind everything in the film... Its my own trauma.... my own sorrow... my own passion... my own tears... my own fire... my own sadness.... I don't have a face Heart String Mar

I r liking this d00ds music: WASTEFUL

Every once in awhile peeps email me they music/art/films and I always check it outs... I was away from the internets for a week in Las Vegas for some reason and I had a mail from this d00d in my box... I checked it out and I thinks its TITE! Check out WASTEFUL HERE I especially like the track "Chemical Reign" He's a one man band too so if you like it let him know!

We've come a long way!

Heart String Marionette was a journey that I started alone in 2007... then my friend Endika joined the journey sometime in 2008... since then we've had many awesome people join the project and make great contributions...(full credits soon ^ ^) HSM is the first major collaboration between me as Uberector and Endika as Composer/player/performer/engineer/story consultant... I can say now after a few days with little sleep having meetings wherein we discussed the final act of the film that WILL be completed within a month ^ ^ Here' some photos I took inside his studio during our meeting... The main vocalist for Heart String Marionette... I bought her hair in Iceland at Tiger for like $5 WHAT A GREAT DEAL! Endika started the film with a like normal piano and will finish it using a GRAND piano and it sounds SO tite! Before Ableton Live there were loopstations and before VST's there were fx pedals... use the analog AND digital tools together and you got some c00

Why not you?

Why shouldn't you believe in yourself? Why shouldn't you believe that if you work hard you can become awesome at whatever you want to do? I mean WHY NOT YOU? SOMEONE has to be an awesome actor, filmmaker, musician, or artist so WHY NOT YOU? Do you think maybe because you're life story isn't interesting enough? Because your appearance isn't edgy enough? Because you're not in LA or NYC or London or Paris or Tokyo or whatever? Because you don't know any famous people to usher you in to awesome-famous-people-land? Because no one see's your true potential? Because no one believes in you? As long as YOU believe in YOU...YOU can do it!...NOW do the work and show the rest of us fools how awesome you are! ^_^ Notice I said SHOW and not TELL... don't tell us you're awesome... SHOW us your awesome work! I mean WHY NOT YOU??! Somebody has got to do it... So YOU should believe in YOU! You have to do that BEFORE other people will me thinks... S

WHoa this guy is totally an avant garde 3d artist?!

It's NOT the last film you'll ever makE

When working on a film... or a big project that you really care about... or it even applies when choosing a major if you go to college... You feel a big pressure because you believe the decision in question will dictate the direction or outcome of your entire life... For example.... right now I'm storyboarding my next film and I feel a pressure to make the most amazing visual storytelling sequences EVER?!? Now I feel that pressure but I tell myself "I'll do my best right now... if its not the "best ever" I'll try again next film because this ISN'T the last film I'll ever make" Unless you QUIT you're going to get another crack at whatever it is you're doing... you can always make another film... create another song... make another painting... you can always go back to school and get a different degree... The status quo LOVES to LIE to you and fool you into believing the decisions you're making are FOREVER... what the fuck does

Occupy@EVERYWHERE

After watching what has been going in the rest of the world wherein the people are showing they disgust for those in control of theY country I was glad to see something similar come to the U.S. ^_^ It seems Occupy@your city is going on all over the U.S.... I was happy to see a little something starting up where I live here in San Jose #occupysj... I read that the police are issuing citations to people for hanging out around city hall.... the city hall that the people paid for 0_o So yeh imma start hanging out there when I'm not working ^_^ I mean WE actually have an opportunity to change things! So if you don't like the way things are going then go voice your opinion and see suP with the whole occupy thang... just google occupy(your city) The mainstream media will of course drag its feet in covering these events or not cover them altogether or attempt to make it seem like a bunch of wacko's or extremists or lump it in with some political party or some bullshit... so

Monster

The whispers at the periphery of your consciousness are his... He reminds you of your fear... of your FAKEness... You can try to convince others... and even convince yourself that you're not a wannabe... a poseur... but he knows the truth... you may look the part and act the part... but inside your mind he laughs at you... Run as you may from here to there...this city to that city... change your hairstyle or clothing but he's always there inside your mind... There is no escape... he'll whisper... he'll scream... there is no escape as you must face him... To face and defeat him is to face and defeat yourself. Until you defeat that monster you'll always be a victim...you'll always be a wannabe... you'll always be a poseur... you'll always be a fake... That monster won't let you fight with all your heart... he'll make you a complete wimp... he'll help you make up excuses as to why you can't FIGHT... as to why you can't WORK.

Knowing what to be afraid of when making films

Filmmaking is a very fearful process at first for most people... WHAT IF THIS GOES WRONG?! WHAT IF THAT GOES WRONG?! WHAT IF ITS NOT A SUPER ULTIMATE MASTERPIECE?!?! I've found through experience... you learn what you DO need to fear or be careful with and what you can IGNORE... knowing these things makes all the difference when it comes to TIME... or how long its going to take you to make a film... In my experience you SHOULD be afraid of having a CRAP or SLOW character rig because it can make production a NIGHTMARE... You SHOULD be afraid of falling behind on your daily shot quota as it can make the production last much longer than you'd like... You SHOULD be afraid that no one is going to know what the fuck is going on so you should really focus on clarity What happens when making cg animated films is that there are SO MANY things to think about... SO MANY technical issues you can easily forgot about what is important... like FINISHING THE FILM and  making somethin

Imagination to reality

The thing that excites me most about animated filmmaking is that you can take something... ANYTHING you can imagine and run it through this fun pre-production/production/post-production process and make it a reality... any WORLD... any CHARACTER... any SCENARIO...any MOOD... and make it REAL... At first all you need is an idea, a computer to write a script, access to a printer to print it out then pencils, and paper That's where I'm working right now and for the next 2 weeks doing the storyboards for my next film... NO ONE has even seen my last film... NOW I want as many people as possible to see my films and I want to be able to make a good living off of them as well BUT this idea to reality thing is the real GOLD... To create films and to create MORE I just have to hope and believe that in the future people will see these films... and hopefully enjoy them and share them with others... Because I know my job is to create and to just keep doing that for as long as I c

WHERE THE DEAD GO TO DIE by SCREAMERCLAUZ

Trailer for my homie Screamerclauz's new film... I've seen the whole thing and I can say it is unlike anything you have ever seen! It's so warped and fucked and out of this world YET the characters are very real and their motivations are very moving... the situations the characters are in are very dark but also very REAL... he explores subjects that other filmmakers are afraid of or know nothing about... So if your a person whose had a lot of darkness in your life... this film will really speak to you in ways film's and art never do.

MORE MORE MORE

The only thing better than making your own animated films is making MORE of them.... OMG to write again?! To Storyboard again?! TO SHARPEN PENCILS?!?! To come up with NEW IDEAS...NEW CHARACTERS... NEW SETS?! All the CRAP you made in the past... all the MISTAKES you can fix THIS TIME.... IF YOU MAKE MORE! So when in doubt make MORE! The point is to NEVER GIVE UP... to always strive to LEARN MORE... DO MORE... and keep creating MORE. So starting TODAY... write MORE! Draw MORE! Sculpt MORE! Animate MORE! P.S. We might be working on an HSM secret premiere within the next 2 months OMG?!?!??! ^_^

Mysterious Doll Film Storyboards

Back when I started this blog... it was supposed to the the blog for what ended up being "Heart String Marionette" but I didn't know the title yet... I just knew it was going to have dolls and be mysterious so I named the blog mysteriousdollfilm... Now since I'm in pre-production on my next animated feature and it is yet another animated film with dolls I was like HEY thats my thing making mysterious doll films! So if I am one man studio its totally called "MYSTERIOUS DOLL FILMS" ^_^ New film script+ M dots fancy storyboarding kit Today is the day I start storyboarding my next animated feature film... you can see my setup above... an old ram module case for my pencils and storyboard pages.. and of course the script... "Thinking in pictures" is what you're supposed to do eh? When writing the script you're thinking in pictures as well BUT when it comes time to draw it out you really see if your idea works or not visually and whethe

Defeating the enemy within

I forgot the exact quote and who said it but its goes something like this "I don't know how to defeat my enemy- I only know how to defeat myself" We ALL have something we're trying to accomplish that lies outside the realm of basic human survival... whether it be some personal project or accomplishment... to get it DONE we've got to fight with and DEFEAT ourselves... We're always full of EXCUSES... we can come up with 9001 reasons why we couldn't make that film... or record that song or write that book... and we like to make it seem like there are some external forces at work throwing these roadblocks in our way... like there is some external enemy... but I believe most of the time the one throwing the roadblocks out there is US... the real enemy is INTERNAL. And everyone LOVES their excuses... they hug them... they cuddle with them... if you meet another self sabotaging person yall can share sob stories and hug your excuses together so you can convi

My dysfunctional FAMILY film HEART STRING MARIONETTE

Some peeps out there have emailed me or messaged me questions about HEART STRING MARIONETTE... When will be it be shown? Can I pre-order it? The earliest it will premiere is in late November of this year... the latest is early 2012... I can't  say where/when/how right now because I just don't know... Since its not done I can't sell it yet... well I guess if I was a better business man you'd already have bought the toys and the board game and pre-ordered the box set eh? ^_^  I'm going to pursue theatrical deals for the film first... If not in the US... in whatever countries/territories where it can be sold... I'm going to pursue the BEST deals I can get for it... and based on the surveys I did some time ago YOU want to see it in a theater as well eh? Adult animated features don't have the best theatrical track record compared to "family friendly" animated films 0_o BUT there hasn't ever been one like HEART STRING MARIONETTE... and I know M