Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Jet Plane on the Brain

So I'm pretty jazzed about traveling and starting my artist assistant gig this weekend. I'm a bit nervous as I've been perusing the artists' sites and taking in the scope of their work. You should definitely check them out.

Matt Madden

Jessica Abel

They are both severely talented and I'm eager to see them work together as a team. I'm interested to see how they work as artists and if being married and co-habitating their styles affects their work process. I hope I can help in the best way they expect.



So Chris Hallock of All Things Horror won my first blog contest from Z for Zombies. He did a fantastic post detailing his prize. You should check it out by clicking here.

Here's a couple of my own pics to showcase the work I put into it all. His piece was of the three film directors Tobe Hooper, George Romero, and John Carpenter on a life boat with a weapon in the middle of them. Their weapon of choice; a typewriter.








I constructed it out of almost all found and recycled materials. It was a blast to fabricate and I'm looking forward to doing it again. So much so, that I'm hosting another art giveaway in celebration of Z for Zombies's 200th post. Click here to learn more and enter for yourself.



I've had to accept that I won't be able to finish a submission for the Indy Mogul contest. It's a bit disheartening, but I just can't swing it. God only put 24 hours in a day, I'm just trying to do the best I can with the time I have and the energy I have to meet the challenges and obstacles that come my way.

Having said that, here's Blade: Food Runner and what could've been. If you have the means to pull this off by thier February 28th deadline, the script & storyline is yours. Just give me a little shout out.



FADE IN:

INT.RESTAURANT KITCHEN - DAY

The clatter of pots and pans is heard. The lunch rush is in full swing. With his back turned towards camera, a muscular black man, BLADE, the vampire slayer, steps into the chaos.


BLADE (V.O)
After the first film, war was declared on Vampires.

Blade turns towards camera. He pulls off his sunglasses and puts them in his jacket pocket.


BLADE (V.O)
With the second film, we were beginning to win the war against the Bloodsuckers.

Blade removes his leather trench coat, revealing his muscular build in a wife beater. He tosses the coat to the side.


BLADE (V.O)
The third time around I had a bit of help.

He grabs a short sleeved white oxford shirt and begins buttoning it up from the bottom.


BLADE (V.O)
The thing was there weren't that many vampires around anymore. I mean, we killed most of them in the first movie.

Blade grabs an apron and turns around. He ties the apron behind his back with the force accustomed for garrote wire.


BLADE (V.O)
That's not so good when you're vampire slayer. And now it's the economy that sucks. So I had to find a new job.

Blade grabs a pepper mill and spins around, bringing it down like a knife. He twists the cap and puts it in his apron. He adjusts his bow tie.

TITLE CREDITS: BLADE - VAMPIRE SLAYER. This job title is crossed out and is scribbled in with FOOD RUNNER.


MANAGER (O.S.)
Blade, you're 20 minutes late. Bring those plates to table 12 and then grab the mop. Some kid crapped all over booth in the back. Move it!

Blade grabs two plates of food and steps out to the dining room.

INT. RESTAURANT DINING ROOM - DAY

Patrons enjoy their meals. BELLA and EDWARD of "TWILIGHT" fame sit discussing their relationship.


EDWARD
Bella, I will always love you, but I can't be with you anymore. It's just too dangerous.


BELLA
Edward, I've never been with anyone like you before. You're... You're.

Edward holds her hand in his, sparkling like glitter.


EDWARD
Say it.

Blade arrives with the two plates for the table, unnoticed by Edward and Bella.


BELLA
You're a vampire.

Blade hears this and reacts. He drops the plates and reaches for his pepper mill, lunging at Edward. Blade lifts Edward above his head and rams the pepper mill through his chest until it sticks out the other side of his shirt. Blade drops the lifeless corpse on the ground. He brushes a large amount of glitter off of his clothing. Bella stands horrified.


BLADE
Always bet on black.

He smiles through his fangs. He walks out of frame. Bella smiles seductively and follows.


MANAGER (O.S.)
Dammit Blade! Not again.

FADE OUT:


The effect I wanted to showcase was building a shirt rig that shows the pepper mill poking through the back of the shirt and finally both sides of Edward with the pepper mill rammed through. I was also going to share my own blood formula you can make at home. Maybe I'll drop that bit of science another time.


I'm eager to get drawing and writing again. I have some ideas for sculptures too. I've been looking to try my hand at busts and figurines. I'm hoping to segue this into my own action figures. I am hoping to set up a few play dates where I can start playing with make up again. I'm severely missing making things pretty/ugly. I'd love to get to the point where I could maybe exhibit some of the work I have sitting around, maybe at a coffee shop or tattoo parlor. Or maybe I should try to take on some comissions and see if there's any interest in what I do. This is where my thoughts have been taking me. I'll keep you all posted as to the fallout from these brainstorms.




And now for another storyboard....



Looking back at this I'm not super stoked with the silhouette, but I do love the watercolor sunset behind them. I feel the body structure is too loose and rounded. I do like the composition I was trying to capture of the kneeling man getting his brains blown out from behind. I think this would be an epic way to showcase an execution when delivered by the right D.P.


Wish me luck with my workshop and safety with my travels. I'll be sure to update again with plenty of photos and tales of new adventures.

Friday, February 19, 2010

Updates & Downbeats

The Walter Gropius Comics Workshop is quickly approaching, I actually fly out Thursday and have made arrangements to stay a couple extra days. I'm hoping to really bond with the artists over their work and creative drive. I just received an itinerary update with what to expect.


I am a bit perplexed by drawing out a one page comic. I've only recently started toying with storyboards for my own scripts, but I've never delved into a comic book style narrative. My drawing style doesn't necessarily lend itself to unique and interesting action, but perhaps that's just premature anxiety setting in. I'm hoping to learn a ew perspective on storytelling and presenting a visual story to an audience in a new way. I've been toying with the notion of submitting a piece to Covered, the blog that features comic book cover page reinterpretations from emerging artists. You should check it out, some stellar work. It seems like a reasonable goal and I am all about accomplishing reasonable goals these days.


I've been trying to get the video equipment and such for my entry to Indy Mogul, but I'm losing hope fast. I have a short funny script (in my opinion) but I'm severely tapped on funds with these travel plans already in place. Excuses are easy to come by, I'm just frantically looking for solutions like a lost kid in a department store looks for Mom.

My submission for Indy Mogul is based on two scenes, here's the first look at Scene #1.




FADE IN:

INT.RESTAURANT KITCHEN - DAY

The clatter of pots and pans is heard. The lunch rush is in full swing. With his back turned towards camera, a muscular black man, BLADE, the vampire slayer, steps into the chaos.

BLADE (V.O)
After the first film, war was
declared on Vampires.

Blade turns towards camera. He pulls off his sunglasses and puts them in his jacket pocket.


BLADE (V.O)
With the second film, we were
beginning to win the war against
the Bloodsuckers.

Blade removes his leather trench coat, revealing his muscular build in a wife beater. He tosses the coat to the side.


BLADE (V.O)
The third time around I had a bit
of help.

He grabs a short sleeved white oxford shirt and begins buttoning it up from the bottom.


BLADE (V.O)
The thing was there weren't that
many vampires around anymore. I
mean, we killed most of them in the
first movie.

Blade grabs an apron and turns around. He ties the apron behind his back with the force accustomed for garrote wire.


BLADE (V.O)
That's not so good when you're
vampire slayer. And now it's the
economy that sucks. So I had to
find a new job.

Blade grabs a pepper mill and spins around, bringing it down like a knife. He twists the cap and puts it in his apron. He adjusts his bow tie.

TITLE CREDITS: BLADE - VAMPIRE SLAYER. This job title is crossed out and is scribbled in with FOOD RUNNER.




Then CUT to Scene #2 and the hilarious conclusion and the bloody special effect I have planned. I think it's good, cheap, and shootable, just not sure about the rest. I've been writing alot more, and scripting up the ideas I've had tinkering in the head for a while now. It feels good to get them out, but I need to more actively pursue putting them into the right hands.


On an upbeat, a short film that I served as 1st Assistant Director and Producer on has been selected by the NewFilmMakers Film Festival to screen in June. You can check out set photos and behind the scenes by clicking here. I'm just trying to take the good with the bad as best as I can handle it all.




Here's another storyboard from the series I've promised to post, titled GUN. I really miss water colors. I forgot how fun it is to blend the colors, that's something I always have the hardest time with though I'm more aware of it. My trouble is I like to ink everything out first and then water color and then go back and lay more ink, which is ok, slightly over redundant, but ok. The big trouble is when I forget which inks and pens are water soluble and those that aren't.





I am also hosting another contest on my blog Z For Zombies, where you can enter to win a piece of originally fabricated artwork from yours truly. You gotta be in it to win it.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Birthing a Mogul

If you're an aspiring film-maker or just a fan of cheap, awesome effects I highly, highly recommend checking out the site Indy Mogul. They basically show special effects tutorials, builds, camera effect, and even create test films to show the effect in action. They're very big on buiding a sense of community with their projects. Comments and requests for specific effects and builds are always welcomed and encouraged.

Here are few of my personal favorites...

Build your own MACHINE GIRL arm!!


Wolverine Claws


Halo Armor




The reason I included these is that Eric Beck, the host, is taking a step back to restructure Indy Mogul. He's now put out an open call to the interwebs to find a replacement for his show Backyard FX. It basically entails a 5-7 minute video of a tutorial build and a test film. Consider it an open audition/job interview.

I've crafted a short script for my test film and now I'm drafting out the tutorial. I'm not entirely sure how I can shoot this all myself, but I guess there lies the challenge. I don't even necessarily have the equipment. This will be something totally on me, and at times, I wish I had someone to share this anxiety with, an Ethan to my Joel Coen. But if this change of pace was easy, everyone would be doing it. Submissions are due by February 28th and you can find out more information if you want to submit yourself by clicking here.





As previously promised, here's another storyboard from my buddy's defunct short film. Looking back, I do miss the flow of watercolors, and compared to my current sketchbooks, my pen work has improved with stronger, steadier lines. I do need to work on drawing basic machinery too.

Here is: The Arrival