HALLOWEEN COSTUME

Hello hello,

For my Halloween costume this year I bought myself a Jumpsuit from ARAMARK and proceeded to trick it out with dozens and dozens of lights. After many many hours of hard work...

THE INTERNET WAS BORN!

Here are some pics of my Halloween costume as the internet:







TIIIME LAAAPSSE PHOTOGRAPHY!!!


Stats:

Lights: 217
Time spent: 15 hours
Cost: $175

FUN FACT: The medical condition know as "Alien hand syndrom" is extremely rare, so much so that it has been potrayed in movies and television more times that acctual documented cases in real life.

CHARACTER DESIGNS:

Here are some glam shots for my upcoming film about Presidential Bad-Assery

GEORGE WASHINGTON

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

FUN FACT: So much for unlucky 13, in many Asian countries the number 4 is considered unlucky because its pronunciation is similar to the pronunciation of the word for "Death"

FOR NON-ANIMATORS...

There is nothing more impressive looking than a screen shot from a 3D modeling program...



Cool looking right? I could have drawn that in 30 seconds but instead I've been sitting here for over an hour figuring it out! Everybody has to start somewhere though right?? RIGHT???

FUN FACT: During medical procedures redheads require 20% more sedation than there non-fiery counterparts. On top of that, no one really knows why...

STORYBOARDS!

Here are some storyboards for my 4th year thesis film: "GEORGE WASHINGTON VS THE SKY SHARK(S)" they are hastily draw thumbnails, but who knows, maybe you'll find them interesting.











Hopefully you all won't have to wait too long for this one, thesis projects for graduating students (like me) are due in mid April of next year if you want a diploma... a pretty tight production schedual for a 3 minute film... Keep on the lookout for updates!


FUN FACT: Swallowed gum does not actually stay in your stomach for 7 years; though some ingredients are non-digestible, that doesn't keep them from keeping pace with the rest of the gastrointestinal traffic.

WELCOME TO THE 3RD DIMENSION...

I just got done taking my first 3D animation class and we came out of it with a "Rubin Vase" which is to say, a vase where you can see the image of a person in the negative space. Notice anything familiar in that handsome profile? You guessed it, its me.



FUN FACT: It might be safer not to wear a bike helmet, drivers unconsciously drive on average 3 inches further away from bike riders without helmets because they perceive them to be more reckless and unpredictable.

ITS THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN...

Time for another school year at CalArts has begun and thus it is time to start work on my final year "Thesis Film."



The working title for this one is "GEORGE WASHINGTON VS THE SKY SHARKS." and yes, it is all capital letters...

I've got a good set of classes this semester including but not limited to: 3D Maya intro class, Screen Printing (Hopefully), Color & Design 101, and After Effects... so with any luck I should have lots of interesting stuff to post here.



In other news, I have been musing over the possibility of getting another internship since the last one went so well... This time the studio I'm interested in would in NEW YORK CITY. I've got the application all ready to send out, just need the stamps.

I really have no idea how something like that would work out, it being my last year and all... but ya know, I'm resourceful and junk so whatever.

FUN FACT: In America, the least trusted ideological group are the Atheists

TRIPWIRE

Tripwire Magazine has an upcoming expose on Titmouse Inc. Until published, it can be read online here:

http://www.tripwire-magazine.com/?p=358

Look carefully and you can see me in the first picture.

Fun Fact: Statistcally speaking, roughly 3 out of every 100 people in America lives in LA.

BLACK PANTHER PREVIEW

Here is a preview of the upcoming animated BET show "The Black Panther."



During my time at Titmouse I've been lucky enough to get to work on this show doing actual animation, I'M A REAL ANIMATOR AT LAST!

FUN FACT: In a time when pale skin was in, famous fashion designer Coco Chanel fell asleep on the deck of a cruse ship and awoke with a golden tan. Being such a trend setter, the rest of the world followed suit and a sun soaked look has been desirable ever since.

NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS?

I know it's been a while since I've had anything to say on here, I've got myself one of them 9 ta' 5 jobs and it's keeping me pretty busy... Acctually its more like a 11 to 7 job... If I had to spend 40 hours a week somewhere Titmouse Inc is definately a good place to do it!




Although it is nice to have a steady income it has put all of my personal projects on hold for a while...

FUN FACT: Texas used to be it's own country and still maintains the right to secede from the union at any point in time.

THE PORK-POCALYPSE IS UPON US

The Game is out, play it if you know whats good for you!



http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/495307

FUN FACT: A year on Jupiter is equivalent to 11.86 earth years, but a day lasts merely 9.9 hours.

THE PORK-POKALYSPE IS NIGH!

Screen shot from the intro of our 5 day game project "SWINE FLU: PORK-POKALYPSE"



Our goal was to have it done by Monday evening, its gonna be close, but I think we can do it!

FUN FACT: Swine Flu is less deadly than regular flu.

OMFG SWINE FLU!

Sean Lavery, programmer and co-creator of my most recent flash game 'Pandemonium!' contrived an idea of making a game over the coarse of this weekend to capitalize on Swine flu hystaria... below is a screen shot from our mini project "SWINE FLU: PORKPOCALYPSE"



Our goal is to complete the entire game by the end of Monday... I started working on it two days ago... Stay tuned to see if we can pull it off, I've got my work cut out for me!

FUN FACT: prof·it·eer·ing: The act of making excessive profits at the expense and suffering of others.

TITMOUSE, BLACK PANTHER, & B.E.T.

Hello hello,

Summer is quickly approaching and I am still trying to figure out my plans,
I have been offered a summer job at Titmouse inc. the studio I have been interning at this semester.

They would have me working on a awesome new mini series that would be coming out on BET, based on the well known super hero The Black Panther



When I say it's gonna be awesome, I mean it's gonna be awesome...

This however brings up a tricky problem though... I must choose between a summer dream job in California or spending the summer months with my dream girl in Portland... Poetic ain't it?

A lot of it will come down to if I can find a good place to live for the rest of the summer...

FUN FACT: The term Mad as a Hatter was coined in the 19th century, mercury was key component in the hat making process this resulted in mercury poisoning which cause symptoms attributed to insanity. Even today mercury poisoning is reffered to as "Mad Hatter's disease"

Comic-Con Hammer

So, as some of you may know, for my 21st birthday, I got tickets for me and my girlfriend to go to... COMIC-CON!

For the last couple of days now, I have been working on a prop hammer for my girlfriends costume. She is planning on going as the ever illustrious Ramona Flowers (see below) from the amazing Scott Pilgrim comic book series.




Ramona's weapon of choice in this series is a large hammer. (+2 against girls)


I have a few pictures from the creation process...

The first step was to make the basic shape of the sledgehammer, I did this by stacking 20 strips of cardboard on top of each other. (Alyx's idea)



Then comes the paper mache...



And then the trusty "Stone texture in a spray can" (no joke) and...

Voila!

HAMMER TIME!

A mighty looking, yet lightweight hammer that won't be too much of a burden to carry around all day.

FUN FACT: When George Lucas first dreamed up Star Wars, he envisioned his main character being named Luke "Starkiller" Rather than Skywalker... Oh yeah, and he also wanted him to be a midget.

JULY IS IN THE SHOWCASE!

In the CalArts Experimental Animation program there is an end of the year event called "Showcase" in which the heads of the department choose 12-15 films created that year by the 90+ Bachelors and Masters students.

This yeah I have been fortunate enough to get accepted into this presigiouse line up with my 5 minute film "July." I have been working on it since January of 2007. The film contains several different styles of animation in it such as hand drawn, stop-motion, live action, rotoscoping, stratacut, sand animation, and After Effects.

At the time of the film's creation most of these techniques of animation were very new to me, so I learned alot along the way...

For a taste of what the film is like I'm including some new screen shots and some old ones you've already seen








Fun Fact: on an airplane the black box is acctually bright orange so it is easier to spot in the wreakage of a crashed plane.

RAAAAAWWWWR!!!

Screen shot from the upcoming game "Disneyland or BUST!"



My goal for this game is to have all of the art done before school gets out and program it over the summer.

Fun fact: When Superman was first created he could not fly, only jump really far.

SMASHING PARTY 2009

Titmouse 2009 smashing party...
The day that humans get revenge upon the machines that make there lives miserable....



You show up with your TV that doesn't work anymore, the toaster that always burnt your toast, or the fine china of your great aunt who you never really liked... Sledgehammers, Axes, Crowbars, and lead pipes are provided by the studio... Oh what sweet revenge... Oh what a sweet place to work.........

Here are some pictures of Smashing Parties of years past...
(Click to enlarge)



We'll just have to wait and see if any good pictures turn up of this years party with yours truly...

UPDATE:

MAC SMAAASH!!!




Fun Fact: April 4th was international pillow fight day... I'm pretty sure we one-upped them...

Oranges...

Here is a concept shot of a film I have been pondering in my head... take it for what you will...



Fun Fact: Bamboo can grow really fast, in fact a shoot of bamboo was recorded to have grown 47 inches in a single day.

HOLOTASTIC!

Well, would you look at that, I made a hologram!



I must say, making a hologram is the most delightfully SciFi thing I have ever had the pleasure of undertaking... It involves the use of Lasers, beam splitters and lots of toxic chemicals!

Kinda hard to appreciate when your not holding the actual hologram, but filming it seemed like the best way to show it off... It may not be the most high-tech method of display, but I think it gets the point across...

Fun Fact: In the times of Christopher Columbus nobody actually believed that the earth was flat.

Hello All,

This is an update to show you all my acting debue. Over last summer I was a Production assistant at LAIKA house for a few days.

LAIKA as most of you Portland folks know is the animation company that made the film Coraline that came out a few weeks ago. Well, they also make commercials. I was a helper on the shoot; setting up green screens, helping the lighting people, carrying heavy things... and in the end, winding up in the commercial.

"you probubly won't even be able to recognize yourself" they told me.

Well, it turns out I was right smack dab in the center of the spot.


THATS ME!!!

Its still on the LAIKA site, but a little hard to get to, all you need to do is follow this link:
http://www.laika.com/house/

Then click on "Reels" > "Most Recent Spots"

Its the last one on the right.

Did any of you happen to see this when it was on TV? I know a few people who saw it after I told them to keep a lookout for it... I didn't own a TV at the time :(

I do feel the need to mention that for 10 minutes of pretending to walk while in front of a green-screen than I did for moving heavy things around the set for two and a half days... Draw your own conclusions.

Fun Fact: The top 3 most disliked vocal styles in music: opera, rap, and children choirs.

THE RED BARON

Let me tell you a story... Once upon a time... about 4 years ago... there was a contest to design an enemy for a side-scrolling beat'um up flash in production called "Red Baron."

I entered the contest and took one of the 3 first place spots, won a copy of Street Fighter for PS2, and then never heard from them again... I just assumed the game sorta died... or something...

WELL I WAS WRONG!



The game was finished over 3 years ago, and apparently was a major success; garnering over 1,700,000 hits on Newgrounds alone. How I missed it, I'm not quite sure...

The enemy that I created for this little gem was a red little Pygmy/Beetle person, he can be found on the 2nd level, so it won't be too hard to get to for those who are motivated enough to find it.

You can see him for yourself in this screen shot:



For interested parties the link can be found....... HERE:
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/347399


FUN FACT: Scalding water, not fire, is the most common cause of major burns.

BATON Update

The offical website for BATON is up and running! mind you it is all in Japanese, but there are cool pictures.

LINK: http://www.baton-y150.jp/




FUN FACT: Vatican City has its own internet country code: .va - it has a whopping total of 9 publicly registered websites.

DON'T GET MAD, GET SCOTT PILGRIM!

If you only have time to get addicted to one indie comic this year, make it the Scott Pilgrim series by Brian Lee O'Malley.



To learn more about the awesomeness contained within this book, you can visit the official website HERE!

FUN FACT: In the Roman empire, soldiers had to keep their hair short as to avoid hair pulling in the midst of battle, this is where the tradition of men having short hair and women having long hair originated.

BATON update

Heres another screen shot from BATON:



From what I've been able to gather it's "a 50-minute animated film titled "BATON." The movie has been commissioned for the 150th birthday of Yokohama*"

Nobody at the studio still has any clue as to what the plot is... Not only is it really weird, its also in Japanese... which we do not speak.


*Yokohama is a big city in Japan

Fun Fact: The CO2 emissions one creates while surfing the web are equivocal to the CO2 emissions one creates while breathing.

Zoë is a good artist.

Well, its that time of year again folks Valentines day, when couples get cutesy and single get bitter.

I being in the first of those two categories, commissioned a good friend of mine by the name of Zoë Moss to draw my lady a picture. the end result, as you will see below, turned out amazing.

No, its not the thing from Never Ending story, that's Appa the Flying Bison from the Nickelodeon series "Avatar the Last Air Bender."

If you want to see more of Zoë's work, you should check out her website and Deviant Art page

Fun Fact: Worldwide, there are roughly 15 million people of Jewish faith and over 2 billion Christain.

RANDOM UPDATE

On a random note, fellow Experimental animator Oliver Anderson just happend to find a turtle roaming around in the parking lot out front... so now he is ours.



And just to clarify, there are no turtles in Valencia, so it is really weird to find one wandering around...

Fun Fact: Turtles are awesome.

The results are in..........

Coraline is a really good movie



Waaaaaaay better than corpse bride, the first good stop-motion film since Nightmare Before Christmas, I recommend you go see it!


Fun Fact: 34% of Americans belive in UFO's

Baton Update

The first press release for "Baton" occurred yesterday in Japan,
for those of you who don't know, Baton is a rotoscoped feature film currently in production at Titmouse studio.

Below is a still frame showing the style of the upcoming movie:



Nifty eh?

My job is to take the line art and color it, so not a half bad cup o' tea for an intern, especially since I get to spend the whole day listening to Harry Potter books on tape!

Also at 4pm every day there is a Mario Kart DS tournament in the main lobby... So that's awesome too. Oh and there's free beer on tap all day everyday... That would be cool if I drank beer.

Fun Fact: George A Romero, master of the undead movie genre, with very few exceptions, never uses the word Zombie in any of his films.

Welcome to the 3rd world...

Here's a screenshot of a video I worked on last summer, its a music video for the Portland based band The Dandy Warhols named "Welcome to the 3rd World"



I had a very, very, very small hand in this, I think it was a whopping total of 48 frames... but hey, it still counts right? The video is too big to post here but if you follow this link it will take you straight there:

Welcome to the 3rd World

Hope you enjoy it.

Fun Fact: only 21% of Americans have passports.

BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING!

I added a little something called Google Analytics to my website and blog the other week, as to track my websites traffic. Now, as an added bonus however - I have the magical powers of being able to tell where all of my web visitors come from... So far the highest contigincy is from the west coast as this handy chart so clearly shows



So far the most exotic visitor I've gotten is someone from Moscow who dropped in for a couple of minutes.



Oh, did I mention it can track visitors down to the city? Creepy right? Yeah, I think so too.

THE FUTURE IS NOW!!!

Fun Fact: Londoners are under higher surveillance than any other population in the world, having their picture taken by closed circuit security cameras on average 300 times a day.

CatsAreNotDogs store is GO!

The CatsAreNotDogs.com online store is now up, operational and ready to take orders!

So far there are only three items for sale in the store, but it is none the less an exciting development!

As you can see to the left we have my roomate Bradly Schaffer modeling the limited 1st edition CatsAreNotDogs T-Shirts! Get them while you still can!

Fun Fact: Funner is not a word... even though it should be.

Updating you all on my recent goings on, here are some screen shots from my student film "July" that has been in production for a little bit over a year now:



Its still a little bit on the secret side, so I won't say anything about it, but leave you with some tantalizing still frames...



Fun Fact: according to some statistics, as many as 1 in 4 people claim to have seen a ghost.