Ain’t Misbehavin’ Poster First Pass

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The art for the Ain’t Misbehavin’ poster is a rare case where my first impressions were right on point. I think I had to work on the title and credits but the art itself held up. There were a whole list of instructions on how big each credit should be related to the other credits. Actually now that I am thinking back, several of the facial expressions on the men had to be changed. So the final poster is a bit different than what I first created. If I remember right one of the men’s fces looked a bit painted as he was singing. It is always a challenge to get just the right expression while someone sings.

Ain’t Misbehavin’ runs at the Orlando Shakes between April 10-28, 2024. I watched the original cast perform to get inspiration for the poster and the show is a blast.  Tickets run between $32.86 and $48.76.

This is the first post I am writing after moving into a new home/studio in Orlando. I spent the morning setting up the modem and router and this is the first time I have hit the internet. I am surrounded by mountains of boxes mostly filled with art books. I unpacked a couple of boxes because I had to find the phone and computer charging cables. I unpacked 3 boxes before I hit the power chord pay dirt.

Yesterday most of the moving was done but a few things remain, like my Disney Desk and a mattress and box spring. I was stiff as a rockk after a day of lifting. I could baily turn my head. I slept hard last night. This place has two bedrooms and one is now filled with art. The other is mostly empty but I layed out the camping mats in case I decide to sleep in there. The living room which I am using as the studio, has tons of light. I will do a sketch of the chaos tonight after I finish working with an online student between 6-8pm.

COVID Dystopia: I saw Cthulhu Break the Surface

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This scene from COVID Dystopia shows a giant octopus though the lyrics refer to Cthulhu. A single giant tentacle raises an oxygen canister. This scene was first painted when India had people dying in the streets unable to get oxygen. A religious organization took it upon themselves to offer oxygen in the street.

Cthulhu, first created by H.P. Lovecraft was a gigantic entity worshiped by cultists, in the shape of a green octopus, dragon, and a caricature of the human form. My depiction doesn’t quite live up to that description but I felt it was close enough to tie in with Andy Matchett‘s lyrics.

I picket on particular oxygen canister to animate so that it would tie in with where I wanted the audience to be looking on the next scene.

I was surprised at how well the depth map worked on this scene, the Earth actually looks like it is turning and the foreground tentacles follow that rotation.

I am satisfied with the scene. All the tentacles could be animated but then the audience would not be sure of where to look. I am following the KISS rule. Keep It Simple Sally.

COVID Dystopia: Sinking Ship

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This scene from COVID Dystopia is less than a second long.That isn’t enough time to read any of the protest signs, like, lifeboats are for sheep. Hopefully an audience has just enough time to notice that all the passengers in the life boats have masks on and the protestors on the deck do not.

The depth effect ass the camera trucks downward works well. I had to create a patch so some of the foreground passengers do not distort too much.

Of course there are plenty of opportunities to fully animate the scene. The woman in the foreground could turn and look towards the camera and or protestors could be waving their signs. The lifeboats themselves could swing as they are lowered.

With all that said, I think the simple camera move is enough to keep the scene moving. This single scene could be cut apart into a series of shots. A close up pf the protestors, the concerned look on passengers faces, another passengers leaping onto a boat. All of that would be for a much longer film.

I have already created a film that people love to hate. Do I really need to invest the time in making it longer?

Empire State Demo

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This sketch was a demo for one of my online students. The class is called, “Sketching People, Places and things.” Since the class was held on Zoom we couldn’t go to a location to sketch. So I showed the student how to use Google maps and turn on street view.

I explored around Cleveland to see what the theater looks like where my film will be screened on April 12. I found the theater district and walked around until I found a good view of the Allen Theater.

My student decided to explore NYC. He wanted to draw the Empire State building. He stood directly in front of the building and looked up. From that angle you couldn’t see the top spire. So I advises him to walk around the building several blocks away and look back for the Empire States Building. He was delighted when he found this view so this became the focus of our lesson.

This became a lesson on using three point perspective. One point is at the end of the street as the road converges to the horizon. Another point is off screen to the left, and a third point is high in the sky which affects how the buildings converge and get smaller as they rise into the sky.

This is my old stomping grounds. I used to work in the empire State Building about 2/3 of the way to the top. I could open the office window and sit on the ledge looking out over the city. I vastly admired the window washers who would clean the windows from outside several times year. That is a job I could definitely not do. I clench my butt just thinking about it.

My student made a fun creative decision and he had a subway train run up the avenue. I finished this in the class, but his piece still needs work. Then again, is a sketch ever really finished? I see things I would like to change and details that could be added.

Control of the Dirt

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Control of the Dirt by Louise Schwarz will run from March 29 – April 7 2024 at The Marchall Ellis Performing Arts Center (1300 LaQuinta Drive Orlando Fl.) It is presented by Playwrights Round Table.

I went to sketch a dress rehearsal of the show. As I walked to the theater entrance, Jac LeDoux, the director, was laughing and delighted. They had found a living room lounge chair on the drive to the theater. That chair was now part of the set. It didn’t smell. I had passed a chair on the drive to the theater as well but had decided to let it sit. I would be moving in a couple of days and didn’t need another item to haul.

The set was simple with three flats which could be rotated if needed. There were quite a few set changes as scenes jumped form one setting to another. The stage would go dark with faint blue light as stage hands moved furniture into place.

The first few moments of the show had me laughing out loud as Susan Woodbury  as Selina, performed an awkward and hilarious interpretive dance for her iPhone. She was a social media influencer in theory. he claimed to have many hot pokers in fires but they seemed to be false leads. She was staying with her sister in law but had overstayed her welcome.

In another story line a very intelligent high school student played by Hafsa Zuberi shared her concerns about her father with her counselor Vanessa, played by Taylor Byerly. It turns out her middle aged father had fallen for the Selina. The father performed by Tom Leahy, was much older than the Selina but she needed a place to land since she was being evicted. The concern was that she only was interested in him for his money. Selina had a tendency to exaggerate truth to make herself look good. Though her confident airs were fun to watch it became clear she manipulates people and she lies.

The characters must live in a small town, because all of the separate story lines suddenly converge towards the end of the play. Tensions flared. At one point there was an argument about funeral ashes possibly being laundry detergent. The ashes were thrown and the fine dust lingered in the air for a good 10 or 15 minutes drifting through the theater space. It wasn’t clear if it was detergent or ashes. It would be in character for Selina to get confused. The lingering dust in the air was a fine visual demonstration of aerosolized spread and I was glad I had my N95 on. I didn’t notice any HEPA air filters in the theater.

This dark comedy is a world premiere about grief, empathy, breaking points, and suspended libidos. I love dark comedies and I enjoyed this show. Tickets are $20.

 

COVID Dystopia: From the Observation Dome

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This scene from COVID Dystopia has a waves crashing against a lighthouse. The movement was created using animation pins in After Effects. I think the shot works as it is.

I made a drastic change to she whole film yesterday. I got feedback from a viewer from South Africa that he felt the film moves too fast. His wife kept asking him to pause each scene so she could take in the details. He wanted me to do an entirely different version of the film that runs half as fast.

I am not going to go back into each shot and add twice as many drawings to extend the animation. I did however decided that all the snap zooms that transition between each shot might not be needed. Each snap zoom happens over 3 frames, so each shot loosed 6 frames to the quick transitions. Most of the transitions were on a separate layer in the timeline, so I simply turned off the visibility of that layer and watched the film again.

Nothing was lost when the snap zooms were dropped. As a matter of fact the animation became the focus since it is no longer competing against the fast transition effects. I still need to do quite a bit more tweaking since the timing of each shot has to be adjusted, but the next cut of the film will be much cleaner and focused.

I discovered that an out of focus scene needs to be re-animated to make it 4K high resolution. I thought I had revised the scene already but apparently the work was never done. I have to move my studio in a couple of days so that scene might start after my Disney Animation Desk is set up in the new studio space.

COVID Dystopia: Ocean into Foam

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This shot in COVID Dystopia pans up to show just how tall the wave is and then there is a fast snap zoom into the foam. I could animate the woman shifting her weight a bit but there really isn’t time to notice such a subtle movement.

The iron beach barricades are from scenes in Ukraine. During the pandemic Russia decided it was time to invade the small neighboring country. War it an amazingly effective vehicle for spreading disease during a pandemic.

America has shown its weakness for allowing this invasion to continue. Of course there is the fear of complete nuclear annihilation since Russia and Americas could end all life on earth ten times over. The virus is ending life in a much slower and more indigenous way that can be ignored until it affects you or your loved ones.

My vote on this scene is, no change,

COVID Dystopia: Churn the Ocean into Foam

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In this scene from COVID Dystopia, the carrier rolls downward from the force of the wave. I used the pin tool in After Effects to add some rolling action to the wave. Some distortion was added to the foreground to get those waves moving.

There is a distant wave that could be hand animated to add motion but I honestly doubt that is needed. The shot is over before the audience can register that they are looking at a sinking carrier. The subtle hint of a skull in the foam is probably lost on most.

I entered the film into the Austin Film Festival yesterday. I visited Austin once and liked its “Weird” vibe. My film is certainly weird so I hope it is a good fit. You never can tell. I am getting better at picking out quality festivals from bait and switch operations who are only in the business of collecting entry fees.

I was looking on FilmFreeway yesterday and was surprised to find one of my location sketches as the header of a film festival. I contacted the organizer to be sure my signature is added. The need to educate even film festival promoters that an artist should get credit for their work is exhausting. COVID Dystopia would never be accepted to this festival since the Film Festival only shows 1 minute films and my film is 4 minutes. Also the festival wants films that promote sunshine and butterflies and my film it the polar opposite. COVID Dystopia shouts bloody murder into the void.

COVID Dystopia: I Saw a Megapod

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In this shot from COVID Dystopia, the life boat surfs down the wave. The implication is that the wave will crash down and capsize the boat. Does all that action need to be animated? I don’t think so. I could animate the wake spray at the bow of the lifeboat and there is one rope hanging from the mast which is hanging awkwardly forward. I should probably just erase the rope.

To add more motion to the crashing wave I rotated the camera as it zooms in. I could also add some fish eye distortion to the ocean which would further curve the wave. Would I, should I, could I? At what point should the short be considered done. Animation has so many variables that any should could always be improved. I am going to compile a list of what I have noted here as possible changes on a spreadsheet. Right now I am swamped with doing theater posters, but when settled into the new studio, I could start going back and making improvements.

I signed up for passes to the Cleveland Film Festival. As a filmmaker, I also get 10 comp tickets to the screening, so if you happen to be in Cleveland on April 12, look me up.

COVID Dystopia: I Saw a Megapod

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This scene from COVID Dystopia simply shows the submarine captain looking through the periscope. No animation was required but depth was added as the camera tracked from left to right.

This was a late replacement scene. Originally the scene showed a 911 operator encased in a glass dome as he looked at computer screens that had large COVID virus images on them.  In that scene I could have animated the fingers typing on a keyboard but such small actions go largely unnoticed in this fast moving film.

The plane tickets I ordered from a company called EDreams were canceled. I called my bank to find out if the funds had been taken out of the bank and I was told they were. I preemptively warned the bank of possible fraud. I had to have my credit card canceled and I will get a new one in 5 business days.

Pam helped me order new tickets direct from the airline and they were about $40 cheaper. Hopefully this is a lesson learned. Do research on sites like Kayak, but order the actual tickets from the airline website.

I have to get up at 5am to get to the airport and I will spend much of the day exploring the Cleveland International Film Festival with luggage. At 9:50pm that night COVID Dystopia will screen in the historic Allen Theater which can seat 500 people. Naturally I hope for a full house. I am excited to hear the soundtrack which in now in surround sound. I am now sending out press released to Cleveland media in the hope of generating some interest in the film. Sitting on an airplane being the only passenger masked, and sitting in a 500 seat theater will be the largest risks I take this month in my effort to convince just a few that COVID is far from over.

I found out that three virtual classes were scheduled during the Cleveland International Film Festival. I have to decide if I will teach from the air B&B or if I should be at the awards ceremonies. The festival is an Academy Award qualifying festival so my hope are high but I also know that most minimizers are insulted by the message of COVID Dystopia. Clean the indoor air with HEPA filters, wear masks and isolate when infected. These are pretty simple steps but Americans can not be bothered.