Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from April, 2013

I AM NIGHTMARE Production Diary #12

I just finished animating the third sequence of the films nine sequences- this sequence was 177 shots and I completed it in about 12 days for an average of about 15 shots animated per day So now the rough cut of the film with these three finished sequences is about 45 minutes long I was animating live on ustream for the past week- thanks to Jemilla, Dash, Dave and the few other peeps who stopped by to see what I was doing. The last thing I animated was this scene with the town drunk named Flan- it was fun to do as the voice actor does a hilarious and awesome job so I was laughing the whole time ^_^ I was laughing but its a pretty dark and creepy scene I'll be in Iceland for two weeks come tomorrow- so I won't be animating the film live on ustream for another two weeks- follow me on twitter @mdotstrange as that's where I post the ustream links when I'm working on there So yeh just moving forward on the film enjoying the animation/filmmaking process!

Getting back in the flow

I took five days off animating last week to go to a film related event and when I got back I had a bad case of "IT'S SO HARD TO SIT STILL AND WORK ON THIS" I'm locked back in now after 3-4 days of struggling with the evil forces of procrastination- I'll be starting work in a little while which you can watch me work live on Ustream It got me thinking about taking time away from your passions- I took five days off and felt totally lost and confused as to what I was doing for a few days- I got out of the flow- that was five days- What would it be like after five weeks? Or five months? Or five years? Or if you buy the big lie and only chase your passion once you've "retired" how bout fifty years? 0_0 The more time you are "away" from actually working towards your passion the further out of the flow you get- the more alien it seems- the more difficult it is to get started- so we need to chip away each day even if we can only draw a fe

Watch me work on I AM NIGHTMARE live!

As an experiment I'm going to be streaming my desktop as I animate I AM NIGHTMARE for the next week or so- you can watch it here on Ustream I HIGHLY recommend you install ADBLOCK for your browser or else Ustream is annoying with all the ad's I can't guarantee how entertaining/educational it will be- just trying new things. In the future I plan to do live Q&A's where I'll turn my mic on and answer your live questions about all things cg filmmaking and M dot Strange.

Get your garbage thrash on with KOOL SKULL

So I've known this d00d online for years- his name is KOOL SKULL- he's a dope artist and his newest album is awesome- I just bought it and if yer into edgiest underground stuff from the streets of LA throw KOOL SKULL some dollars on his bandcamp . The songs are dope and they appease my inner old skool hiphop/chiptune geek. My favorite song is probably "Cold Pizza" COLD PIZZA by KOOL SKULL The hook is "Fuck everything I don't really care- I just wanna eat cold pizza and skateboard to nowhere" If you've ever seen the wastelands in downtown LA known as "Skid Row"- the box cities, the grime- this song really captures that- I imagine some young crazy d00d skatin through those areas with a gameboy in his pocket writin rhymes on street corners eating cold pizza. "Cowboy Hat" features KOOL SKULL rappin in old skool BIG EGO style "I'm from LA and I'm cooler than you"  COWBOY HAT by KOOL SKULL The hook

I AM NIGHTMARE Production Diary #11

I just got back from Texas where I got to hang out with my friend and fellow forever alone filmmaker Jimmy ScreamerClauz- here's Jimmy and food poisoned me in some cafe (I ate a little too much Tex-Mex and ended up half dead for two days 0_o) Jimmy ScreamerClauz and a sick M dot Strange Thanks to our homie Josh for flying us out there! It was nice to take a 5 day break and geek out for a bit. I just finished storyboarding sequence 3 of the films 9 sequences. This sequence is 177 shots and covers  14 pages of script. I'll have a 15 shot/day quota this month- I start animation tomorrow and I'll finish Sequence 3 on the 21st of this month. First page of I AM NIGHTMARE sequence 3 storyboards and 2013 schedule Since I'm able to crank out animation so fast I'll be able to release the film on Xmas 2013 with no problem whatsoever- I'll be in Iceland to visit my girlfriend and lovely assistant April 22nd - May 8th we're also going to planning a live act

New Rabbit Junk music video + making of

I AM NIGHTMARE Production Diary #10

I just finished animating the second sequence of the films nine- the sequence was 137 shots Shot files produced in the past two weeks The 136 shots equal about 10 minutes of screen time Rough cut timeline- about 10 minutes of screen time So when you add what I just finished to the films first sequence that I finished earlier this month I've produced 27 minutes of completed/edited animation from this month alone 0_0 At this rate I'll finish the whole film in 3 more months- BUT the films ninth and final sequence is more complex than the entire film before it so I'm going to dedicate 1-2 months for that final sequence- but I have moved up my new target release date to late October I could have done MORE this month but I took five days off of I AM NIGHTMARE to do an animated music video for Rabbit Junk which they'll release on the 5th   As fast as I'm going the shots that take the longest to animate are ones like the above with multiple cha

Redefine your limits

You truly don't know what your capable of until you go all out and push your limits. The limits and boundaries you have built for yourself are only theoretical until you have REALLY given %100 effort for a prolonged period. The limits or boundaries you have accepted may have come from other people... Recently I received a comment online that I was making my new film too fast! haha Pushing the boundaries may make other people uncomfortable- but thats not your problem. Pushing the boundaries may make whole groups or organizations uncomfortable to the point where they pretend you and your work don't exist- thats not your problem either. When I see great work it shakes me up- it makes me feel inadequate and drives me to work harder and improve- if we never admit other things exist that are beyond us- we'll never have to drive to push our limits. The more you know, the less you know- the more you want to learn and improve. When it comes to film/art/animation- hum