Sometime around 1997 a friend and I were driving through our neighborhood on our way to see a movie or play basketball- I can't quite remember which- anyway- I spotted a doll head in the gutter and asked my friend to stop the car-
I got out and retrieved the doll head- I put it on the floorboards of my friends car- we went and did whatever we did and I took the doll head home-
At the time I was making live action short films using the name "SomeGuy"- I was just beginning to play around with animation-
I kept the doll head on my desk- this is some old album art where you can see the doll head sitting with my stuff way back when-
In that photo next to the doll head are some Barbie parts I found in the street- they had been run over a few times which gave them this nice texture that made it looked like they were burnt- asphalt road rash burn-
Why I am I talking about this stuff?
I kept that doll head around and started using it in my weird little animations- I used it in a short animation that played in a art/animation festival in Australia called "Straight out of Brisbane"- I think I met the curator through the 8bit/chiptune online scene I partook in at that time-
Anyway- thanks to that doll head I was able to get my work exhibited- that was the first time that had happened and I was excited about it- the festival peeps were really nice, they even sent me a dvd from the fest with all the works on it- that was the first time I had seen Paul Robertsons stuff-
I used to talk to the doll head- I felt like he wanted to be a star so I'd say to him "some day I'll make you a star"
I started to plan a full length film for him to star in- it ended up being my film We Are The Strange which opened the door to everything awesome thats happened in my life- it changed my life-
It was all because I happened to see that doll head in the gutter and asked my friend to stop the car- if I would have never found "Emmm" as I came to call him- my life would certainly be much different-
So a strange little decision ended up making my dreams come true (there was a TON of GRUELING work involved as well I must say) but who knows if I would have tried to do anything at all without that doll head?
That random doll head in the gutter caused me to make this-
Because of that movie I went on to make two more and tons of other stuff- I got to travel the world on someone else's dime- Like I said- almost all of the great stuff in my life came as a result of making that film which started with finding a doll head in the gutter-
At the time when I saw the doll head in the gutter- I just had this strong felling like " I must get that doll head! " and as it sat on my desk I had the same strong feeling " I must make this doll head a star! "
I also had to make him a body and get him some clothes- which I did on a stay in Yokohama with a friend in 2004- He ended up wearing a woman's uniform because thats the only one that would fit in the various Japanese shops I combed through-
So yep- I found a doll head in the gutter- made him a body out of wire, paper clay, and liquid latex- dressed him in Japanese women's clothing and it changed my life-
SO if there's strange little things that matter to you- do them! You never know- they might be the thing that ends up changing your life for the better!
P.S. I'll be in Japan in June for a few weeks- So if you have a doll head to give me I would gladly meet with you. Email me at mdotstrange@gmail.com
Thanks for reading and best to you my friends,
M doTs
Double P.S. - I'm working on my "big deal" game- a third person 3d platformer/adventure in my world + in the early stages of a new animated feature film
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