M dot Strange's blog

As I'm getting closer to starting animation on the film I figured I should start the production diary. I have broken the 101 page script into nine 10-12 page segments that I treat as individual sequences to be produced separately. I'm treating the film as if it were nine short films. I just finished storyboarding the first 11 page sequence- this sequence is 195 shots. Here's a look at some of my crappy storyboards that I promise will be epic when animated and all that ^_^ My plan is to do one sequence a month- so I'll be able to finish animation in 9 months. Sequence 1 is 195 shots- so to complete that in a month I'll need to animate 7 shots per day- entirely doable given my past output- I really want to finish by the end of the year so I'll shoot for a quota of 10 shots a day for the entire production. Right now the voice actors are recording their lines- as soon as I get those back I will start animating- their due date is the second week

The is the Uberectors cut of Heart String Marionette in 1080p- If you have the bandwidth have fun! HSM_uber_cut_1080p.7z.001 (999.0 MB) HSM_uber_cut_1080p.7z.002 (999.0 MB) HSM_uber_cut_1080p.7z.003 (999.0 MB) HSM_uber_cut_1080p.7z.004 (999.0 MB) HSM_uber_cut_1080p.7z.005 (999.0 MB) HSM_uber_cut_1080p.7z.006 (999.0 MB) HSM_uber_cut_1080p.7z.007 (999.0 MB) HSM_uber_cut_1080p.7z.008 (999.0 MB) HSM_uber_cut_1080p.7z.009 (310.6 MB) I tried to upload the whole 8gb file several times to no avail so I had to break it up into pieces. If you can download it/combine it/ reup in one piece to Mega send me a link/key so I can post it as one! Thanks! (requires 7zip to combine) You can pre-order my next film here or donate here if you desire. Thanks and bestesT!

It's easy to associate your art or craft with the tools you use to make it- BUT we should never forget what its all about- its not about the tools or even the medium- its all about us, our passion, our message, our stories, our emotions... A lot of excuses are made because a person doesn't have the "proper equipment" or a proper workspace- now don't get me wrong! Proper equipment and a proper workspace are great BUT if you don't have access to those things don't count yourself out! Passion and hard work can overcome any technical or workflow problems- its just about how bad you want it. If you want it bad you'll fight for it. If you don't want it that bad you'll give up. I sometimes find myself looking at new computer hardware or software BUT my old stuff works just fine- its procrastination that calls me over to look at new stuff- it says "wow if you had this new stuff your work would go so much easier and faster" but I know t

Making your own stuff is hard- some times things get rough- but you have to always keep moving forward- I'd like to share an old story from the making of my 2007 film We are the Strange. The year was 2006... I was in the middle of doing the stop motion animation for We Are The Strange... I had a small studio that I worked in with my Digital SLR camera to shoot the frames and my Macbook Pro that I used to preview the shots... I used to cry when alone in my studio because I thought the animation was so shitty and childish, the film meant so much to me and it was looking horrible- so I wasn't on top of the world doing the animation at that point... I went to a local art show opening one weekend with a few of my friends... as I was talking to someone in the middle of the show wherein there was 40-50 hanging around... one of my friends kneeled behind me while I was talking to someone else and two others shoved me from the front causing me to flip over backwards, landing hard o

Here's is an art mannequin of Samhaine Tsuke- from my last film Heart String Marionette- it was created by artist Tim the Scarecrow Tim is working on his own original animated film right now as well which I'll be doing some music for if he still needs ol M dot to make some music for him ^_^ You can learn more about his film in this video Thanks Tim and I'm looking forward to seeing your film!

Art by  Jordan Basuldua Siouxsie detail BE A HERO detail  Samhaine detail The artist with his work Thanks for making this awesome work Jordan! I'll be making a fan art gallery here soon and I'll add this super tight piece for sure ^_^

In my opinion a filmmaker can attempt to make two different types of films- A PROFOUND film that speaks to people on multiple levels or moves them beyond their reptilian brain A POPCORN film that seeks only to entertain and speak directly to the reptilian brain Whenever I go on a search for new(old) films to watch I come across and skip past the multitudes of POPCORN films- empty calories, forgotten passionless films with no memorable scenes or moments- then their are those rare PROFOUND films that offer something MORE and those are the ones I seek out... the films of Kubrick, Lynch, Cronenberg, Tsukamoto for example have something more than most others and they seem to be eternally interesting... (There's many more interesting directors whose films I love, these are just a few more well known examples) The POPCORN films usually address the language, trends, mainstream music etc of the times they were made so when you see them they seem outdated, out of touch and just bad..

A few people have asked me some audio questions in regard to recording voiceover's on the cheap- so here is my solution- To get high quality recordings you DO NOT want to use a built in mic OR built in sound card- now it can get a bit tricky and more expensive to purchase and setup a new mic AND a soundcard so I have a solution that solves both problems in one low cost($160) device ^_^ Enter the Zoom H2 or H2n I have the older H2 which isn't available anymore BUT the H2n looks even better- So it looks like a standalone audio recorder which it is, and it does a great job at that so you can record anything you want without a computer- so you could just record your voice acting straight into the Zoom then transfer them to a computer with the Sdcard The awesome thing is that you can plug it into a PC or MAC and it will function as a soundcard AND a microphone! So you can use the Zoom H2n to record into any audio recording software that supports it- on the mac I us

I'm going to share my process for casting my new film I AM NIGHTMARE The way I did it was like this... I searched youtube for voice over demo reels I found a few that I thought were really good I contacted the voice actors and gave them some background on the project If they replied with interest then I sent them pieces of the script with dialog by the characters I was interested in casting them as  I also sent them these character sheets as reference I also sent them two songs from the temp soundtrack to give them an idea of the films intended vibe so they could record a few screen tests of the characters I intended them to play... Once I received their screen tests I cast the film- that's where I am now- here is one of the characters screen tests- the animation/lip sync is temp crap so don't hate playa I'll tell you more about the voice actors as the project goes forward BUT I'm super excited as I got some REALLY talented people that are goi

My friend and fellow filmmaker Jimmy Screamerclauz needs some extras for his new animated feature film "When Black Birds Fly" Click the above image or HERE to learn more! I do a voice in the film as well so join your pal M dot Strange in the cast! ^_^

Everything is a mirror to us... we look for our own reflections in most everything we see... I believe that when we watch a film we cannot help but project ourselves into it some how... through a character... through a situation... Films for many people are an "escape"... an excuse to "turn their brains off"... films are often referred to as pure entertainment BUT if you fail to acknowledge that many people "learn" about historical events, themselves and the world through film than you're missing something very important... We live in the age of video... want to learn something easily and quickly? Watch a video... Now I'm not going to go batshit insane on you (just yet ^_^) and claim that there is an agenda behind Hollywood and the films it produces as the prime directive seems to just be to PROFIT above all things. Now WE are the media creators... WE are the filmmakers and authors.. WE have a chance to reflect the world through our films m

Here's the first video in what I'm hoping will be a series that shows you the insides of my newest film I AM NIGHTMARE As of right now I have all the main voices cast- my strategy was this- find one male and one female voice actor that can do a great range of characters from children to adults- with the ability to do the voices of children more important as most all of the characters are children... So if it all works out the two main voice actors will do ten characters between them... and I'll have a few actors from HSM including Ricky Grove in a leading role to handle the rest of the parts. One of the things I'm REALLY excited about is that this will be the first feature film of mine in which I'll be able to record the character voices BEFORE animation so I think my character animation will be better than ever as I'll do my best to make the lines really shine. If you haven't pre-ordered yet - you don't want to miss out on your hand drawn post

As I'm building out the sets for I am Nightmare I'm re-using a lot of props and objects from Heart String Marionette... I'm treating all the good objects from my past projects like a part of my digital backlot... I'm not trying to re-model the wheel ya know ^_^ So you strange super fans will see a lot of similar objects albeit with new meanings that hopefully make you go OMG WTF DOES IT MEAN?! My films are separate films BUT they are a part of one larger work... I am Nightmare feels to me like one part We Are The Strange, one part Heart String Marionette and one part something new... It's sort of like M dot Strange reframed... When I make a new film like this one I'm going to assume that the viewer hasn't seen anything else by me so this stuff is all new BUT to a long time fan I hope it will give them a new perspective on my past works... Production has been pushed back a little as I'm still trying to lock in all the voice actors... I had t