Just a post to say that my epic new ten-second film is done. In total the animation took two evenings, and I actually had to trim quite a bit to get it down to ten secs. Ultimately it's a bit of a clusterfuck that speeds by, so it might take a couple of views to really get it. That being said, it turned out quite well, and there's something to the idea that makes me think this may grow into a bigger film if time allows. You can download it in hi-res here, or have a look at some stills (with the obligatory warning of it being, I dunno, kinda-sorta-not-really adult): NOTE: For this version I've put an Auf Der Maur poster on the wall which I guess I'd have to change if I ever make this into a proper film.
Here are some drawings for an itsy-bitsy new film I'm doing. This one's the shortest yet, running at no more than 10 seconds. I decided to throw together the story of how I lost my tooth a little while ago, an anecdote which takes me about half an hour to tell as I love my voice so much. Turns out if you cut out the irrelevant bits ten seconds is ample time to tell it. So, yeah, I need better anecdotes. Anyway, it's for a ten-second film competition being held at this month's 'Straight To Video' screening at Start The Bus. A couple friends of mine are also contributing entries, including Jo (she who done all that stuff on my film innit). It's a nice idea and sounds like it'll be a fun night. I also thought you might enjoy two slightly grotesque line tests. First off is the last layout in motion. You might want to cover your gums. And here's some classy'n'mature contruction-line shagging to go out on. Look at the fat bastard go!
Here's a sneak peek at the still-in-progress adaptation of 'House Guest' into a graphic novel. I'm not a big fan of the lettering - computer fonts generally look out of place when it comes to comics - but that can be changed later on.As I really need to spend my time on work (or searching for work) that pays, I can only spend time on this project in fits and starts. It'll definitely get done, I'm sure of that, but it may not be for a while. So Frank Miller needn't worry just yet :P
Thought I'd show some photographic evidence that all this zombie duck cartoon nonsense actually had some legitimate application when it came to getting me an MA. I'm highly edumacated! Along with several others who helped out here and there with 'House Guest', so thanks again in photographic order to Hanna Merilainen, Verity Ross-Smith (script supervisors), Helen Shaw, Cari Merryman, Vibeke Cleaverly (clean-up/colouring assistants) and of course my family for their amazing support.
'I Castelli Animati', an Italian animation festival, has picked up 'House Guest' and will screen it as part of their International Showcase on November 27th! So, if you've been looking for an excuse to visit that delightful city, why, this should be the clincher. In truth I'd be there myself except, naturally, it falls on the day of my graduation. Not only would it have been amazing to get over to Italy, but the whole festival looks like it'll be a blast. Check out what's on offer at their website if you don't believe me.
On a related note, my MA coursemate Michael Rokes's film 'Bertha & Bruno' was recently shown at this year's 'Flip Animation Festival' in Wolverhampton, alongside such greats as Smith & Foulkes and even Bill Plympton! Having had a front row seat to all the blood, sweat and bloody, sweaty tears that went into the film, I have to say it undoubtedly deserves all the success and accolades it will hopefully garner. Plus, my name's on the credits for composing the score and I need all the exposure I can get. Ah, backhanded, self-serving compliments. They make the world brighter, don't they?
Rather than let the idea evaporate in the wind (as ideas are wont to do), I'm making a concerted effort to find time to make 'House Guest: The Graphic Novel' a reality. Indie publishing companies like Cafepress and Lulu would make distribution a breeze, and I can say that from experience. I've sold albums, merchandise and books through them in the past at no cost, and if the product is good, people do buy it. Of course, if the product is crap, then not so much. Hopefully the 'House Guest' book will fall into the former category. The bulk of the book will, naturally, be the adaptation of the film itself. I've broken it down in an almost-indecipherable way:Believe it or not, those have proved very dependable in terms of laying out the comic. It comes to about 64 pages though, which in my opinion is a little skimpy. I think to graduate it from just a 'comic' to a 'graphic novel' it'd need to be 100 pages, minimum. So I'm not quite sure what to do next. Do I have enough material to pad out 40 pages? I could possibly collect some roughs and concept art, or maybe even include another story ('Ground Running', being largely a visual film, would translate very easily into a comic). I guess time will tell.
After the encouraging news of the 'Ground Running' festival premiere the other week, I'd been pondering as to whether or not 'House Guest' would ever get screened, being such a different type of film. It was nice to see it responded to positively at the bar screening last month, so it seems a fair enough assumption that it won't send the average festivalgoer fleeing up the aisles in revulsion and disgust. With that in mind, it was a well-timed piece of good news to hear recently that on November 30th 'House Guest' will get its UK festival debut during Nottingham's 'Bang! Short Film Festival'. Yahoo! This festival has in the past shown films by my MA coursemates Miho Matsuda (including her super-creepy graduate film 'Dancers of the Stolen Heart') and Maria Gracia Bisso. Check out their website and, if it's your thing, go along and give my flick a look see on the big screen. Well, I'm assuming it'll be a big screen. Big-ish at least.
Well, it didn't get snapped up by Depict, but my naked-baby-adventure-romp 'Ground Running' has fared better elsewhere. God bless those Greeks, particularly the ones at the Thermaikos 2Min Film Festival. Although it was only confirmed today, 'Ground Running' is among the films that will be screened at the event which starts this saturday (Nov 1st). For more info check out their website. So, if you've always wanted to go to Greece but never had the right excuse, what better than to see a film of mine that runs at about 90 seconds? Okay, there are many, many better reasons to go to Greece. Culture and architecture and blah-de-f*cking-blah...but, I mean, c'mon, look at how cute the little rascal is...
When ‘Ground Running’ was screened for the first time one of the evening’s fellow directors came over to our table to say some nice things, mentioning briefly that my film reminded him of a viral Xbox commercial he had seen. I told him I’d give it a look and, well, I did. Frankly, I’m a little freaked out as the commercial is staggeringly similar to the first few seconds of my film. A woman in the agonising throes of childbirth shoots the baby out of her v’jay and it smashes through a hospital window. From there the similarities diminish, with the baby aging as it flies through the air and landing in a coffin (I guess somehow representing that…I dunno, ‘Life is short’, so waste it playing Xbox games?). As my film is primarily about being a postgraduate weighing up his options, the bulk of it is, in its own right, original. But watching this commercial is unsettling as it’s like looking at my idea done in live action and with a budget. Here’s the kicker - they did it first. I am making absolutely no claim of being ripped off as this advert was made years ago (the youtube upload is from 2006) - but at the same time I am absolutely certain that I never saw this commercial. If I had, I probably would’ve sent it to everyone I know as, to be fair, it is pretty cool. So, it’s a dark night of the creative soul for me. Is it really just a coincidence that my film’s opening is so similar? I decided the only way to make peace with myself is to dissect the process. Looking back at a previous entry I remembered thinking about other funny birth scenes from film and TV. The ones that stick out in my head include the fantastic intro to Addams Family Values, the pacing of the birth scene being very cartooney in and of itself.
I think other inspiring elements came from Ren & Stimpy… …As well as a lovely sequence from Big Fish where the baby is popped out and slides along the floor. Given that was a pretty high-profile flick, I’d imagine that said sequence could’ve also been a springboard for the Xbox ad. Elements such as the timing and the ‘bungee umbilical cord’ are unique to my film as far as I know, but as a visual it could easily have been done before. The real pisser is the baby flying out the window. I can think of a number of sequences from cartoons and movies where things are hurtled out of windows comedically, Looney Tunes, Farrelly Bros. movies, again Ren & Stimpy most likely. Later on in the Addams Family film the baby gets hurled through a skylight... With all this in mind I’m fairly confident that my idea was the product of my own independent bricolage process. Bricolage being, essentially, the deconstruction of pre-existing ideas and their subsequent reassembly to create something new. To be honest, all creativity could be seen as a type of bricolage, as nobody can really create something new without drawing upon the cultural and societal influences around them. I think it would take a particular brand of arrogance to dispute that. I’m still not comfortable with it, though. I think it might be worth it to create new footage for ‘Ground Running’, maybe get the runtime up to at least two minutes and change the structure of the opening scene so that it doesn’t share the same similarities. Until then, I think I’ll put further festival submissions on hold. Now I find myself asking that vital question every young man asks himself at one time or another - ‘how do I get that baby out of the vagina and into the street without accidentally plagiarising an Xbox viral?’ Why, it’s a question as old as time itself.
A couple months ago I wrote about the possibility of developing a character from my old webcomic ‘Mitchells In England’ for a graphic novel (or possibly several). This has been incrementally taking shape, but only as far as the writing is concerned. I think it’ll be a funny and interesting story when it comes together, but I’ve been going back and forth as to what kind of visual style I should use. While my usual ‘Mitchells In England’/’House Guest’ look seems logical, it may be better to approach the artwork in a more contemporary way. I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it, I guess. In the meantime I’m still eager to produce a graphic novel of some sort, and a friend of mine came up with a pretty nifty idea: adapt ‘House Guest’ into one! In theory it’d be pretty easy - as all the artwork produced for the film could be used, converting it to a comic-book format would just be a matter of laying out the stills and text. I could probably even include segments that were eventually edited out of the film, so it wouldn’t just be a picture-book of material people are already familiar with. It’s early days (well, early first day) but I think that with some thought it might come together really well. I actually got so enthused last night that I even whipped up a concept for the book cover:How do you like them apples, Spiegelman?
As I really need to spend my time on work (or searching for work) that pays, I can only spend time on this project in fits and starts. It'll definitely get done, I'm sure of that, but it may not be for a while.
Thought I'd show some photographic evidence that all this zombie duck cartoon nonsense actually had some legitimate application when it came to getting me an MA.
'I Castelli Animati', an Italian animation festival, has picked up 'House Guest' and will screen it as part of their International Showcase on November 27th! So, if you've been looking for an excuse to visit that delightful city, why, this should be the clincher.
Believe it or not, those have proved very dependable in terms of laying out the comic. It comes to about 64 pages though, which in my opinion is a little skimpy. I think to graduate it from just a 'comic' to a 'graphic novel' it'd need to be 100 pages, minimum.
This festival has in the past shown films by my MA coursemates Miho Matsuda (including her super-creepy graduate film 'Dancers of the Stolen Heart') and Maria Gracia Bisso.
Well, it didn't get snapped up by Depict, but my naked-baby-adventure-romp 'Ground Running' has fared better elsewhere. God bless those Greeks, particularly the ones at the Thermaikos 2Min Film Festival.
So, if you've always wanted to go to Greece but never had the right excuse, what better than to see a film of mine that runs at about 90 seconds?
A couple months ago I wrote about the possibility of developing a character from my old webcomic ‘Mitchells In England’ for a graphic novel (or possibly several). This has been incrementally taking shape, but only as far as the writing is concerned. I think it’ll be a funny and interesting story when it comes together, but I’ve been going back and forth as to what kind of visual style I should use.
How do you like them apples, Spiegelman?
