Saturday, July 07, 2018

Animation Bits July 001



Got some animation to start wrapping up. I will be posting some stuff to my Qilin project blog.

But, first we're wrapping up the old project to learn the  programs, and I've also been playing in After Effects. Tomorrow I'll be filming again on location in Bridgewater, but also have a long drive to Rhode Island because some of our talent is over there.

Fixed this sucker up a lot. But It's STILL not the  Raytrace Extrude in After Effects on the Logo. In order to get this to work, I had to blacken in some parts or it wouldn't build the mesh in Photoshop's 3D Extruder.


Another "butterfly wing flap" style puppet animation in Adobe After Effects. Real bird wings don;t flap this way, but whatevz. This one ALSO got picky with me.


Toon Boom Harmony animation. I can animate MUCH MUCH faster in Toon Boom Harmony.


Test footage for my Television show:




Wednesday, July 04, 2018

June Animation Stuffs



Well, let's just say, I did A LOT of animation in June. I also did A LOT of Video Editing, Special Effects Animation, Motion Graphics, and also got a  lot of my concept work done for my 2 TV Shows, networked with talent, scouted out a lot of locations, and shot LOTS of test footage at various locations, and we finally got BACK into production on "The Holy Maple Tree" on the 30th in Bridgewater. I also got MOST of the filming equipment I wanted: Jib camera crane, floating head Video tripod, waterproof selfie stick, gimbal.

Unfortunately, I CANNOT show share the visual effects animation, and graphics I did. I did stuff for a local TV show called "Tipsy TV" which is still in production, and I also finished up the main effects, clean-up, and compositing for the Gorgon Scenes of The Afterlife for "The Holy Maple Tree". I do NOT own the rights to those, so I will NOT be showing those works.
It's mostly just simple, basic effects, but TONS of layers. And I also re-shot some parts multiple times, MYSELF, and or with the Director.

I want to wrap up "Maple Bacon" which is a short film I'm doing with Pasteloween (my relative).

Here's a clip I just finished in Toon Boom HARMONY:


And, THEN there's THIS MOFO:


SO, THIS MOFO RIGHT HERE has been my lil PUNK! All I wanted to do was a SIMPLE Harry Potter/Warner Bros style Logo animation/motion graphics using Adobe After Effects' Extrude Raytrace. When I found it it could do that, I was like: OMG! I'm DOING THAT! But, I had a TON of setbacks for troubleshooting with After Effects multiple times (including again today).

I have tried SO many tutorials, and they're ALL outdated. I can;t get any technique to work. I did find out that the new version of Photoshop has a 3D extrude... but I don't understand it, but at least I could make THIS monstrosity.

I have worked on this LOGO motion graphic animation SO MANY TIMES, with SO MANY TRIES. I have multiple files. -and I don't really understand Adobe Illustrator, plus I HATE IT.

I used my old photography from around 2012 also.

I want to do a better version, and WAS working on that ALL OVER AGAIN from scratch 3 times TODAY, but now my After effects isn't working again. :( 

Pasteloween wants me to do more animation memes... but I kinda did a montage.

I'm keepin' it real: video editing is kinda easy for me. I especially like music video style, or montage, or "documentary":


This remix track is from a band in Philly from the Bush era called "Hail Social". 1 of the band members was my old co-worker from AMC Marlton 8, Richie Roxas, who was a pretty good friend of mine in the late 90s. He has an Instagram about New Balance Shoe collection stuff, and purple things. But, I juts recently deactivated ALL of my FB & Instagram profiles due to very bad privacy concerns as a result of the loss of net neutrality   But, my Twitter profiles are still up, and so is my Google+ stuff.

I have a profile on MeWe & Matadon which are much safer.


Monday, June 11, 2018

Concept: Symbols Logos


I haven't come up with a symbol or logo yet, because it depends on what the title is. I'm still deciding on the title.

But, I want some kind of symbol or logo that the characters often find or interact with within each video piece.

A really good example of this style was back in the 1990s with many bands, but especially video content created by a techno group "Dune" in Germany. They often made videos in which the logo was often a symbol, or even interacted with the subjects.





The Glitch Mob is very well known for incorporating geometric symbols in a lot of their video and stage content. They are mostly known for the one they use as their logo, but they use several others from advanced geometry.


If you have been following "Westworld" there's a symbol in the film that frequently keeps coming up within the show.






This is a very ancient style of Narrative Device that was perfected by the Ancient Greeks, even tho' it predates them.

In Westworld we see the character interacting with this symbol, or sometimes it's hidden within the scenes or scenery. It using foreshadowing, but also implies meaning, or revelation. 

In modern times symbolism and become "branding" and are often used to associate, evoke, or provoke a meaning or emotional feeling. Everything from Coca-Cola, to Nike, to automobile brands, or clothing lines and stores to shop at. But for thousands of years symbols were often used religiously, or culturally. It's also why religions still persist even tho' most of their ideologies are often outdated.

Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity have several symbols they often use which are usually geometric. When those symbols are inserted to a visual, or a film, it adds an extra dimension of abstract feeling or concept that will resonate with people aware of the meaning, or it can infer a meaning as well. It was a technique very much hones & perfected by the Ancient Greeks in storytelling, theater, drama, art, design, poetry, literature, rhetorical framing, and more.

This is also why I wish to have come up with a symbol/logo as well. I probably want the symbol to represent something like Freedom, Liberty, Free Spiritedness, whimsy or something like this.



Sunday, June 10, 2018

Weymouth Picturesque Filming Locations


Some Filming locations in Weymouth (Mass) where I have previously already shot multiple times.

Here are some of the Photo Albums I have up from my various photo shoots in the past. They're just as plausible for Filming. 

Whitman's Pond in East Weymouth
Grave Yard

Test Footage in North Weymouth at Dusk (June 2018):





Some Small Films I made Locally:

Each one evokes different kinds of moods, or feelings. all Experimental. And I did the audio Design for most of them.









Examples with Models, Figures, Actors at Picturesque Locations:



























Friday, June 08, 2018

Conceptual Ideas Dump: Artistic Cosplay Experimental

First of all, I actually DO NOT want this project to be ALL-ABOUT-ME. It's just that the only stuff I have to show is my own stuff.

Some conceptual ideas n content for possible local Television artistic content.

It's hard to just go up to a creative person and be like: Hey I want to do something creative, and artsy, would you like to do something too?

Because: WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

Well, I'd LOVE to go to a number of locations in Local New England and shoot there, but I'm also open to shooting creative things in a studio setting as well.

Here's loads of my own stuff, but I honestly don't want it to be ALL-ABOUT-ME!

So, I have cosplay characters, costumes, poetry, Shakespeare sonnets, and a lot of other ideas.

I like doing whimsical things, experimental art/film/photography, but I can also be deep, emotive, quirky, and comedic.



1 of several audio recording renditions of Shakespeare's Sonnet 29:


My Cosplay Pirate Character (Marshall Kändiß The Pyrate) whom is a quirky megalomaniac, is one I had worked on the most over the years. My blog is found HERE.

I had mostly enjoyed doing her character in the fall.

It was fun to play her because she's sort of self centered, full of herself, self important, but she's quirky so it's not abrasive, but funny or comedic. I actually never got around to creating her baton because she's a French Naval Marshall which outranks an admiral. (Yes. I did tell you she was a megalomania. It's NOT enough for her to be anything less than the top, but she sort of stumbles into these things, taking credit for it. So yeah, Moral Relativism... And, I'm also a Stephen Chow fan. )
She's selfish, but if it suits her purposes (ego/pride) she'd be generous, and Robin Hood-like.

But, she also has her down times, and when I explored her character further, I did things like quoting poetry, and drama. Especially Shakespeare, but other ones as well. AT times it could be EMO/Emotive, Gothic, dark, or deep.

I also had other concepts for her in Raves, and Pirate Pebbs & This Character went to cross dresser events, night clubs, raves, karaoke, fairs, festivals, conventions, parties, events, etc.

Pirate Pebbs n I were both in some parts of this film documentary (also the trailer):


I have also heavily dedicated A LOT of my time to Boho Chic, Bohemian, Gypset, Mori Girl, Hippie-ish stuff, and other free spirited styles including Tribal Fusion Bellydance & Rave.



My Boho content blog is found HERE.













My Animation Experimental Film Final Spring 2017 UMASS Boston


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These are several of the things I'd been coming up with. Much of it is VERY personal, and VERY emotional to me, and it's VERY difficult for me to put myself out there with. Much of it is still crude and unrefined.  The "Blue Fairy" melody was one I'd composed when I was 6 years old. I'd used it throughout my life.

And the other songs about dragons are incredibly personal, that I often cry when talking about it. It comes from the animated film/series I want to produce and had originally started creating in 1998, and well into 2004. But, the economy destroyed my hopes & dreams and I did not pick it back up until 2015 because I'd felt as tho' I was literally loosing my mind, and it was very painful.

I started taking walks in the woods and I started hearing the music inside of my head, which was really scary. But no matter how much I fought it, I couldn't win. When I stopped fighting it, the music came out of my throat, and and next thing I knew I was in a mania of jotting down the lyrics, and recording the crude stuff coming out of my throat. I was very happy with what came out.

(Just in case u were curious or interested, this is the concept art/work for my Dragon Film:  HERE I'm not in any particular hurry to go into full production yet, tho.)

(Concept art for "Eyewitness" series which I'm also NOT in a hurry to jump into full production on: HERE )







Original Texts "Get Ready To Fly": HERE


Original Poem Texts 
"The End Surreal To Start Parts 1-2": HERE



My original poetry n lyrics texts found HERE.

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Honestly, I DO NOT WANT the Artistic work on these projects to be ALL ABOUT ME. BUT, I DO need to at least SHOW what I mean, and it's pretty broad. So, most of what I have here is ME, because I'm the ONLY model available to me all the time, since my daughter won't model for me anymore. But, I am getting old.

Eventually I would LOVE to shoot in Morocco, but I'm not in a rush to do that either. I'd VERY much like to create collaborative content that is artistic, whimsical, beautiful, and eye catching.

But, I see no reason why New England can't be a beautiful place to shoot.






Salem Mass Burial Point:









Weymouth Waterfall at the Herring Run





Highland Colonial Cemetary in South Weymouth:






Pond Meadow Park in East Weymouth









Whitman's Pond in East Weymouth



















South Weymouth
















Indoors